GNAWING ANIMALS — RODENTS 125 



long in England as to leave any fossil remains, still 

 we know that it came to this country before the 

 brown rat arrived, that is now so rapidly exter- 

 minating it. 



Mr. Millais recognises three varieties or sub- 

 species — the Alexandrine rat, the Northern Alexan- 

 drine rat, and the black Alexandrine rat. All these 

 are smaller than the brown rat, they have more 

 pointed muzzles, longer tails — as long as head and 

 body together — and longer whiskers. It is probable 

 that the Alexandrine rat is the parent species, and 

 that it was introduced in remote times from the East 

 into Europe. In colouring it resembles the brown 

 rat, but has the characteristic long tail and pointed 

 nose. It is occasionally met with in seaport towns. 



The Northern Alexandrine rat was formerly common 

 in England and was known as the " black rat,^^ but 

 its fur is dark bluish-grey rather than black. 



The black Alexandrine rat, which really has a 

 black pelage, would appear to be a recent introduc- 

 tion. It is a native of the Black Sea ports, and has 

 found its way to us on board ship. 



All three of these rats are to be found in docks 

 and warehouses of seaport towns, and they occur in 

 the neighbourhood of the London Docks, St. George 

 in the East, and Eatcliffe. It was my habit fre- 

 quently to walk through Leadenhall Market in the 

 early morning on my way to my work. At that 

 hour the dust-bins belonging to the various shops 

 had not been emptied of their contents. On the top 

 of these I often saw the corpses of numerous tailless 

 rats. Several times I have recognised a striking 



