THE HOUSE MOUSE 653 
ance. Finally the mouse made a third exit over the trap; 
we stamped the floor loudly, and (rather sorrowfully) saw the 
frightened little beast jump on to the trap in trying to return 
to its home. If alarmed in a room, a mouse will usually try 
to reach its hole by running round close to the wall, or along 
the top of the skirting, seldom taking a direct course across 
the floor. 
Though usually extremely timid, the House Mouse some- 
times, when not molested, will show a certain amount of 
impudent boldness. We know of one case where a mouse 
entered a paper bag containing biscuits, and began to nibble 
them, with much rustling, within a few inches of a man lying 
in bed reading.’ We knew an actor who used to eat a lonely 
and frugal supper long after midnight. One night a mouse 
climbed on to the cloth at the other end of the table, and 
finding our friend both harmless and hospitable, it became a 
regular visitor. Nor is such audacity exhibited before man 
alone, for Mr Beavan mentions mice running between the 
legs of the Golden Eagles and scampering over the Tiger 
at the Zoo. 
The eyes of the House Mice are described by Prof. 
C. V. Boys (Mature, 1st February 1912, 447) as_ being 
‘‘autophanous ”*—shining pale ruby or rather spinel—and 
1 Mr Cocks (zm dit.) says :—‘‘ One night, soon after I had fallen asleep, I was 
awakened bya mouse sitting on my pillow, nibbling my hair (I use no lubricant). 
I stealthily put my arm up and made a grab, but not being able to see it, besides, 
perhaps, being hardly fully awake, I missed the mouse, which jumped off the bed 
and ran away. I soon fell asleep again, but before long was again awakened by 
the mouse eating my hair ; the process as just described was repeated not only that 
once but two or three more times, at intervals of perhaps half an hour or rather 
longer. At last I made rather a better shot and touched the mouse, though again 
failing to secure it, and it finally disappeared. The mouse no doubt was ravenously 
hungry.” 
2 The term “autophanous” was introduced by Col. J. Herschel (Vature, 18th 
Jan. 1912, 377) to describe eyes which (like those of cats and dogs) appear to emit 
light, by shining when seen in the dark. Such eyes are, of course, not autophanous 
at all (as Herschel points out) ; they merely reflect light which is seen when the eye 
of the observer is nearly in line with the illuminating source ; and they act exactly 
as do the “reflex lights” used by cyclists. When the retina is backed by black pig- 
ment, as in normal men and monkeys, the eye is not autophanous, but forms the best 
possible means for obtaining sharp and clear vision. When the pigment is lacking, 
the retina rests directly upon a burnished surface—the tapetum; the eye is then 
autophanous ; and while clearness of vision is impaired, the greatest possible power 
of detecting motion, in objects under observation, is conferred. 
MOI am LT. PIA a 
