278 Mammals of Eastern Asia 
irate lady who had purchased the chutney, though she ad- 
mitted that the bottle had been opened in her home and that 
the top might subsequently have been left off, insisted that the 
Mouse in question was an Indian species that had been embalmed 
in the chutney in India when the bottle was rilled. The animal 
proved to be Mus musculus, indistinguishable from those of the 
United States, which fact considerably weakened the lady's posi- 
tion. 
Robert Burns may have addressed one of the races of Mus 
as "Wee, sleekit, cow'rin tim'rous beastie." On the other hand, 
the nest plowed up in his poem may have been that of a Meadow 
Mouse, Microtus, or even a Wood Mouse, Apodemus. 
The House Mouse, well known as it is, has probably been 
viewed by very few people motionless and at close range. The 
color above and below is dark slate-brown; the feet and tail 
are dark slate. The females usually have 10 nipples, 3 pairs 
thoracic and 2 pairs inguinal. The length of the head and body 
is 3% inches, tail 3% inches, hind foot % inch. The nest is made 
of paper, old bits of rag or wool, and other debris. From 8 to 12 
pink naked young are born. They soon become covered with 
fur and in a few weeks are able to shift for themselves. 
The House Mouse has been used extensively in the study of 
genetics. Under laboratory conditions many striking color vari- 
eties have been produced : yellow, brown, white, and variously 
dappled and pied races. The waltzing Mice are a strain in which 
a defect of the nerves controlling semicircular canals, the ap- 
paratus that regulates the sense of balance, is passed on from 
generation to generation. 
In the interior of China the House Mouse is replaced by the 
local native mouse, M. m. bactrianus, and in eastern Siberia by 
M. m. vinogradovi. A form found in Nepal is named M. m. 
homourus, while others from Japan are designated M. m. molos- 
sinus and from the Kurile Islands M. m. kurilensis. This is 
merely a sample of the many named forms of Mus. The races 
