The waltzing (circling) phenomenon in rabbits
Abstract
"A family of rabbits is described in which five rabbits of a litter of eight were waltzers. The syndrome in these abnormal rabbits consists in hypoactivity or complete absence of labyrinthine reflexes and in circling. It is presumably a congenital familial defect. In rabbits the phenomenon is similar in its manifestations to waltzing in guinea pigs and mice, except that the amount of circling is less and corresponds to the spontaneous activity of these different species. The analogy of waltzing in animals to certain cases of deaf mutism in man is suggested. In the family of waltzing rabbits there were ocular abnormalities consisting of iris colobomata in four of the waltzers and corneal opacities in the fifth."