i: AT 



RATEL 



have 1 .I. in tlie East, perhaps in Persia, bnt it 

 inii-i have reached northern Europe by the 13th 

 century nt leant, for it* troublesome presence is 

 noticed by Allx-rtiis Magnus. 



These species of rat have similar habit*, and tlie 

 stronger, latter, and fiercer form sometimes tends 

 to exterminate the other, this being one of the few 

 instance* which Darwin gives of his conclusion that 

 the struggle for existence is keenest between closely 

 allied species. As to the linbitH of rats, it is well 

 known that they find their way everywhere ; no 

 door is shut to them: they gnaw and burrow 

 through almost all obstacles. They run and leap, 

 they climb and swim. They are fond of animal 

 food, hut will eat almoHt anything' ; corn, fodder, 

 all kinds of human food, eggs, young birds, small 

 mammals, all is grist to their mill. In illustration 

 of their voracity it is often related that in a 

 laughter-house near Paris thirty-live dead horses 

 were picket! to the tames in a single night. When 

 pressed by hunger they display much boldness, 

 and tlieir skill in stealing even snch unmanageable 



BUck lUt ( Mut rattut); Brown Rat (Mia deeumanut). 



goods as eggs is well known. Their senses, espe- 

 cially of smell ami hearing, are acute, and their 

 intelligence is well develojied. The mothers are 

 careful of tlieir tender offspring, but the males dis- 

 play the reverse of parental affection. The albinos 

 are delightful pets. Itrehm cites several strange. 

 observations in regard to the so called 'rat-kings,' 

 which consist apparently of a number of diseased 

 rats with entangled tails. It is said that over two 

 dozen individuals have been found thus entangled. 

 Rate are very prolific, breeding four or five times a 

 year. Four to ten young are brought forth at a 

 birth, after a very snort gestation of about three 

 weeks. Moreover, the young become sexually 

 mature in about six months. All the conditions 

 favour rapid increase, and plagues of rat* by no 

 means easy to cope with not unfrequently occur. 

 Kate do much damage in various ways -by their 

 burrows, by their voracious gnawing of all sorts of 

 things, by their omnivorous appetite. They under- 

 mine walls, destroy woodwork, devour stores. 

 When pie.ssed with hunger they may attack large 

 mammals, and even man himself sometimes falls 

 a victim. They have been known to eat holes in 

 fat pigs, to gnaw oil' the legs of birds, and even to 

 destroy the soles of elephants' feet. Their destruc- 

 tion may in many cases be left to their natural 

 enemies bints of prey and carnivorous mammals 

 but it is often necessary to resort to the use of 

 traiis and jmisons. One of the most effective ways 

 of OMtnqriBg them is to feed them with a mixture 

 of meal and plaster of Paris. Their skin is some- 

 times mml for making glove-leather; and their 

 flesh, according to The Farmer't Friend* and Foe*, 

 by Theodore Wood (1887), is, if similarly cooked, 

 superior to rabbit 



There are several genera nearly related to Mus 



e.g. Nesocia, of which an East Indian species, the 

 Bandicoot-rat (\. bandicota), may measure over 

 a foot in length ; Hapalotis, represented by little 

 jerboa-like animals in Australia; Echinothrix, 

 with one species in Celebes, a rat with a very long 

 muzzle, and spines among the fur; Cricetom\-, 

 represented by a formidable African species < ' '. 

 iiiiinliitnins) of large size and ferocious voracity. 

 To some more remotely related rodents the term 

 rat is often popularly applied e.g. to the Water- 

 vole (Arvirii/ii <nn/i/iibnts ; see VOLE), and to the 

 American Musk-rat ( fiber zibelhicut). See MOUSE, 

 RODENTIA. 



Rata (Metrotiderot robiista), a New Zealand 

 tree related to various species of Ironwood (q.v.). 

 The seed is believed to be swallowed by a rater- 

 pillar, and to sprout in its interior, the fostering 

 grub being of course killed. The tree begins life 

 as a climber, attached to other forest-trees, and 

 attains a height of ISO feet : but when it has killed 

 the supporting stem the rata is able to sustain its 

 own weight and to grow on as an independent tree, 

 attaining ultimately a height of near 200 feet. 

 The wood is very hard, formerly much used for 

 making clubs, and is valuable for shipbuilding. 

 See Abercromby, Sea and Skies (1889). 



Itatati a. a flavouring essence made with the 

 essential oil of Almonds (se,. \I.MI>MM). The name 

 is sometimes given to other essences. 



Ratak. See MARSHALL ISLANDS. 

 Ratclifle Tables. Sec- FHIENDLY SOCIETIES. 

 Rate. See BOROUGH, COUNTY, POOR-LAWS, 



ami ( under Tax ) TAXATION. 



Ratel (Mcllivora), a genus of quadrupeds of 

 the Bear family (Arctoidea), nearly allied to the 

 Glutton (q.v.), from which it differs in having one 

 false molar less in each jaw and the upper tulier- 

 cular teeth slightly developed. The general a*]>ect 

 is similar to that of the badgers, but heavier and 

 more clumsy. Three species are known, which 

 inhabit Africa and India; one species, the Ca|>e 

 Katel (M. ratel or rajxnsu), inhabits the south of 



The Cape Rtcl (Metlirora ratel). 



Africa, and is said to feed much on bees and their 

 honey, it* thick fur protecting it against their 

 stints; the other inhabits the north of India, 

 prowls aliout by night, is a voracious dcvourer of 

 animal food, ami often scratches up recently 

 interred bodies from their graves. The Cape ratel 

 is alMtut the size of a badger, gray alx>vc, black 

 below. It is easily tamed, and is amusingly active 

 in confinement, continually running about ite cage, 

 ami tumbling strange somersaults to ^attract tlie 

 attention of spectator-, from which it seems to 

 derive great pleasure. 



