PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD. 69 



and attics, and become members of every household. 

 They find a living in the contents of the sewers, and they 

 feed upon the garbage which is left in neglected corners. 

 They prefer a frugal diet where there is no fear of en- 

 emies ; but when driven by hunger they courageously face 

 great danger to get at the supplies of the family. "While 

 destroying much that is valuable, they also do a beneficent 

 work as scavengers. From their place in the drains they 

 devour every morsel of concentrated fever and cholera as 

 it comes down to them, so preserving their own lives, and 

 saving the lives of little children playing above. 



7. Then the rat is one of the most cleanly animals in 

 his personal habits. No matter how filthy the streets he 

 traverses, no matter how foul the air he breathes, or the 

 food he eats, he allows no soil upon his person. When 

 we see a rat at rest, he is always cleaning himself. Frank 

 Buckland says, " Never does a rat finish a bit of food, or 

 is touched by a human hand, but that he cleans himself 

 immediately afterward." 



8. In London and Paris rat-catching is a regular pro- 

 fession. The rat-catchers, with lantern and bag, enter the 

 larger sewers and pursue the rats into some blind alley, 

 and then, when there is no chance for escape, they are 

 seized and bagged. The hand of the rat-catcher must be 

 protected by a thick leather glove. When driven to bay, 

 the rats will make a ferocious attack upon the man, when 

 nothing but the thickness of his long boots will preserve 

 his life. 



9. In country places, when rats congregate in great 

 numbers, they become an intolerable scourge. Impelled 

 by hunger, they eat the crops of the farmer, and when 

 they have devoured the contents of one barn they migrate 

 to another. They often may be seen pursuing a direct 

 course toward the mow of unthrashed grains, and all 



