DO RODENTS REQUIRE WATER ? 



I BEG to state that I have kept squirrels, dor- 

 mice, and rats in perfect health with a constant 

 supply of water in their cages, and have never 

 known an instance of death or even disease arising 

 from it, the animals having, in many cases, lived 

 for several years. Rats especially, I am certain, 

 are unable to exist for more than two days with- 

 out water or milk, and any one who may have 

 taken shelter from a shower beneath a corn-rick 

 will, probably, have observed the mice come out to 

 drink the drops of rain hanging to the straws. 

 Milk, I admit, in confinement, answers the purpose 

 very well, furnishing more nutriment to the system, 

 but no case has come under my own notice of harm 

 occurring from the consumption of water, which in 

 most instances is the only fluid obtained by them 

 in a state of nature. 



L 2 



