Rabbit Notebooks : Rabbit breeding notebook marked 'Rabbits' [A], 1907-1910

Rabbit Notebooks

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Notebook recording rabbit breeding experiments conducted by Bateson and Punnett between 1907 and 1910. The notebook begins with a three-page index providing summary information for 150 rabbits: the sex, colour, and parentage of each, with a checkmark to indicate rabbits used for further breeding. This is followed by a list of breeding pairs showing numbers of male and female offspring [<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(10);return false;'>page iv(v)</a>]. More detailed records for each rabbit begin on [<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(11);return false;'>page 1</a>]. The general format of the record is that each animal has a separate page. The page is headed with the cross, e.g. ex 1 x 8, which denotes the parents. The birth date is recorded, together with phenotypic characteristics like coat colour etc., descriptions of litters if the animal was allowed to breed, and notes on when each rabbit died or was killed. Some entries are marked ‘stuffed’ [<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(132);return false;'>e.g. page 122</a>] or ‘skinned’ and some have drawings [<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(30);return false;'>e.g. page 20: rabbit's head drawing</a>]. Lists of matings showing number and colour of offspring are provided at the back of the notebook [<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(162);return false;'>pp.152-164</a>].</p>