MICE. 



SINCE men and mice first became acquainted with each 

 other, the mouse has been an enigma to the man. 

 That it possesses strange and mysterious powers he is fully 

 aware, although himself unaffected by them; and to this 

 day neither naturalists nor philosophers have been able to 

 account for, or explain, the abject terror with which the 

 mouse is capable of inspiring the female mind. To the 

 male eye, the mouse is one of the most harmless and 

 inoffensive of created things. With its soft coat and its 

 bright eye, there are few prettier little creatures. It .is very 

 easily tamed and domesticated; and most boys have, at 

 some time or other, kept mice as pets. It is affectionate, 

 intelligent, a*nd capable of acquiring all sorts of tricks. It 

 is afraid of man, but it rapidly acquires confidence in him, 

 and after a very few visits it will, if undisturbed, fearlessly 

 pick up crumbs close to the foot of any man who will sit 

 still and watch it. Mice at play are as pretty as kittens, 

 without any of the spitefulness which readily shows itself 

 in even the youngest of the cat tribe. Were the mouse 

 unknown in England, a few imported here would soon, it 

 might be thought, be regarded as the most charming little 

 pets ever introduced. 



