Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 689 March 10, 1877

This lively Victorian essay opens with a fond recollection of keeping rabbits—once called “kinnins” or “coneys”—in small garden hutches, where children delighted in watching the fluffy critters nibble dandelions. The author explains how a modest pair could be turned into a tiny source of pocket‑money, then shifts to the harsher side of rabbit life, describing how their unchecked numbers become a serious nuisance for farmers whose hayfields are devoured overnight.

Beyond the English countryside, the piece turns its eye to distant Australia, where a handful of introduced rabbits have exploded into a devastating plague. The writer outlines the natural checks of hawks, stoats and weasels, laments their decline from over‑hunting, and details the desperate legislative attempts to curb the pestilence. The article blends practical observation, economic anecdotes, and early environmental awareness, all conveyed in the warm, conversational style characteristic of 19th‑century popular science writing.