246 B-ROWN RAT. 



any degree useful to man. Its flesh is not eaten 

 by him, although it is probably good ; it is not of ser- 

 vice in destroying animals that are injurious, and its 

 fur is not applied to any useful purpose. It is there- 

 fore everywhere proscribed, and various expedients 

 are used for its destruction. It is poisoned with 

 arsenic and other substances, caught in traps, hunted 

 by cats and terriers ; and yet, in spite of every effort 

 to extirpate it, it not only maintains its footing, but 

 appears to be yearly increasing ; for its sagacity is 

 great, and the cunning which it employs to elude 

 its enemies often preserves it from destruction. 



Although naturally frugivorous, it accommodates 

 itself to circumstances, living on the sea-shore on 

 mollusca, Crustacea, and fishes ; in the fields on 

 roots, herbage, and seeds. " The Brown Rats," says 

 M. Milne Edwards, " are very carnivorous ; thost 

 which in small numbers reside in the country at- 

 tack young animals, and those that infest the 

 towns feed chiefly on carrion. In Paris they ar 

 very common in the sewers situated near the mar 

 kets and slaughter-houses, the public latrines, th 

 boyauderies, and especially the slaughtering estab- 

 lishment of Montfaucon, where, towards evening, 

 they are seen covering the carcases of the horses 

 that have been killed through the day/' In Jesse's 

 Gleanings of Natural History, it is stated that in a 

 report made to the Government with reference to 

 the removal of this establishment to a greater dis- 

 tance from Paris, " one of the chief obstacles urged 

 against such a removal was the fear entertained of 



