117 



CHAPTEE XI. 



THE RAT AXD THE CAT. 



The rat is perhaps the worst pest we have 

 to contend against in the present day, and 

 one of the worst injuries he has done us is in 

 bringing upon us his supposed antidote, the cat. 

 He is so clearly a parasite on man, and man has 

 so abundantly supplied him with food and a 

 warm and comfortable habitation that his 

 numbers have increased imtil he is far beyond 

 the control of his natm'al enemies. We can 

 fancy the stoat and weasel, with a little as- 

 sistance from the owl, keeping down the num- 

 bers of our old English water rat, or the black 

 rat as he existed a thousand years ago, but 

 they are powerless against the grey or Hano- 

 verian rat. Can we fancy stoats and weasels 



