Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1894 — TRICKS OF TIPSY RABBITS. [ARTICLE]

TRICKS OF TIPSY RABBITS.

Bunny Behaves Pretty Much Like ■ Man When Under Alcoholic Influence. A number of experiments are being tried in the pathological department of the John Hopkins Hospital to ascertain the effect that alcohol has on rabbits, says the Baltimore American. Six rabbits were several weeks ago started on a diet of alcdhol and whisky and were given a dram each day, diluted with water. The object of the experiments is to ascertain the amount and degree of fatty degeneration that follows the use of stimulants, and interesting results will probably be attained. The process is something like this: A rabbit is selected which ’is apparently thoroughly healthy and is given little to eat. When ready for his first dose he is taken from his cage by the ears or back and placed flat on his back on a small piece of plank, with slipknots to hold his feet firmly extended. In the meantime the little animal begins a sharp, shrill cry, not unlike that of a child screaming from temper. It is during.the process of these cries that the rabbit will bite and painfully wound his tormentors if he gets a chance. As soon as his cries cease, however, forceps are put over his mouth and held open by an assistant, while the operator passes down through the mouth and gullet into the stomach a soft, hollow rubber tube, into the outer end of which is placed a small glass funnel. By this siphon-like arrangement the dose of alcohol or whisky is administered. It takes but little more than a minute for the effects to become manifest, and unmistakable signs of bunny on a drunk are witnessed. These drunks, as with men, differ according to the nature and disposition of the subject. In one case a lively mood supervenes, and, if the rabbit could get out, he would show how much of a sport he could be. He jumps up and down in his little cage, and is pretty lively in showing the stage of excitement from his drink. He will then become stupid and heavy, his breathing will become fast and deep and he will stagger like a drunken man and fall down as fast as he gets upon his feet.