June 1, 1866.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIJENCE- GOSSIP. 



135 



very delicate markings ; at all events they are 

 always worth a tentative tap with the hammer. 

 Sponges, again, often present themselves on the 

 shore in hemispherical shape, the flat side usually 

 bearing plain indication of what lies within. A 

 gentle tap with the hammer on the edge of the flat 

 surface will soon decide the value, or otherwise, of 

 a stone thus shaped. White-coated stones should 

 not be despised ; the outer envelope may be chalky, 

 the inner may be flinty, but within may lie a very 

 gem. A minutely speckled or dotted stone should 

 always be attentively examined. With regard to 

 agates, we may say generally that the finer — that is 

 the larger— the " bubbles " of chalcedony, the finer is 

 the pebble that contains them. And as a last hint I 

 may add, "Don't be too hasty with the hammer!" 

 JBut at the same time, if your doubts are so strong 

 as to lead you to risk a fracture, and your hammer 

 is left at home, take your suspected specimen home 

 to the hammer, and don't throw it down, by which 

 action you go beyond a fracture too often, and 

 obtain only a long-repented smash. 



Worthing. Rev. W. E. Hambrougii. 



KING OE THE RATS. 



THERE is a remarkable disease which appears 

 to be not uncommon among rats in Germany 

 (but of which I never heard mention in either 

 England or Erance), and there known as the 

 " Ratten Konig," or " King of the Rats." I have 

 before me two zoological works in the German 

 language, by well-known naturalists, both quite 

 recent — in fact one of them is not yet completed ; 

 and in each this singular disease, or whatever it 

 is, takes its place among the phenomena of rat 

 life. The accounts are so curious that I will tran- 

 scribe them (promising only that the first is con- 

 siderably condensed for brevity's sake), in the hope 

 that this notice may elicit some information from 

 readers of Science-Gossip. 



A very peculiar'disease sometimes attacks the rat 

 in its wild state. The tails of several grow together, 

 forming what is called a n .Ratten Konig— examples 

 of which may be seen in various museums. At one 

 time it was believed that the veritable king of all 

 the rats, wearing a gold crown on his head, sat 

 enthroned on one of these groups of combined tails, 

 and from thence administered the affairs of the 

 whole rat world ! 



Certain it is that occasionally numbers of 

 rats are discovered with their tails closely united 

 together ; and as it is impossible for them to move 

 about, they must of necessity be fed by others of 

 their owm species. The particular cause of this 

 strange phenomenon has never been clearly ascer- 

 tained. It is supposed that a viscid matter exudes 

 from the tails, which binds them firmly together; 



but no one is in a position to say whether this is 

 positively the case or not. 



There is a Ratten Konig at Altenburg, consisting 

 of no less than twenty-seven animals ; others are to 

 be seen at Bonn, near Sclmepfenthal, at Erankfort, 

 at Erfurt, and at Lindcnau, near Leipsig. The 

 genuineness of the last-named example was regularly 

 certified before the proper authorities ; and perhaps 

 I shall be doing my readers a service in reproducing 

 the documents. " On the 17th January, 1774, there 

 appears at the Council Chamber, at Leipsig, 

 Christian Kaiser, miller's assistant, of Lindenau, 

 who states that early on the previous Wednesday he 

 had captured and killed in Ike mill at Lindenau 

 a Ratten Konig, consisting of sixteen rats ; that on 

 the aforesaid day he heard a noise behind a beam, 

 which proved on inspection to proceed from several 

 rats ; that on procuring a ladder, and examining the 

 spot with care, he, with the aid of an axe, managed 

 to extract • the above-mentioned King of Rats ; 

 that the mass was so firmly combined by their 

 tails, that not one of them was separated from the 

 rest when they fell from the beam to the ground ; 

 indeed, so closely where they all united, that the 

 deponent does not think it would be possible to 

 part them without using considerable force," &c. 



Other attestations follow, confirming the above 

 statement in every particular. The last document 

 given is the evidence of a surgeon, who was com- 

 missioned by the magistrates to examine the Ratten 

 Konig. He states that he found the animals laid 

 on a table, with their heads forming the circum- 

 ference of a circle, in the centre of which were the 

 tails, so united and involved as to form a large knot — 

 the centre itself having the appearance of a piece of 

 rope with the ends unravelled. The union in many 

 of the tails extended to within an inch or two of 

 their base. After giving the matter a careful 

 examination, he says, " I am of opinion that these 

 sixteen rats, differing in size, colour, and age, had 

 collected in the hole where they were found for the 

 sake of warmth, for the weather during the week 

 preceding their discovery had been singularly cold." 

 In conclusion, he asks, "Is it impossible that the 

 moisture exuding from these animals, combined 

 with their natural secretions, might, through the 

 agency of the prevailing frost, glue their tails 

 together to] such an extent as to prevent them 

 from separating again ?" 



It is not unlikely that these curious phenomena 

 are of more frequent occurrence than is generally 

 supposed, for in most parts of the country super- 

 stition still forms so strong an element in the popular 

 character, that a Ratten Konig is no sooner dis- 

 covered than it is destroyed. 



Lenz, the accurate observer of facts connected 

 with natural history, vouches for the truth of the 

 following tale : — 



"In December of the year 1822, two Ratten 



