THE BROWN RAT. 



Mus decumanus. PALL. 

 PLATE XXIV. 



Greyish-brown above, greyish-white beneath ; ears about 

 a third of the length of the head; tail shorter than the 

 head and body. 



Mus decumanus, Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 127 ; Desmar. Mam- 

 mal. 473 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 32 ; Bell, Brit. Quadr, 

 315. 



THE Brown Rat, although not originally a native 

 of Britain, is generally dispersed there, being met 

 *ith from one extremity of the island to the other. 

 t is supposed to have been introduced from Persia 

 and the East Indies about 1730, and gradually to 

 nave spread over the greater part of the continent 

 of Europe, as well as America, by means of the 

 frequent commercial intercourse established among 

 the nations of these regions. It is larger and more 

 powerful than the Black Rat, which it resembles in 



