56 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



if it would be possible to procure a single 

 specimen of this rat at the present time. It 

 would be, at all events, a very difficult matter. 

 Such few specimens as may from time to time be 

 procured, I believe, come from Scotland. I have 

 spoken of this rat as the original British rat ; 

 such is, however, not exactly the case, since it is 

 stated to have been brought over to this country 

 from the Continent, having doubtless escaped 

 from foreign merchant vessels when in port. 

 Most naturalists, however, agree in considering 

 that, whatever vices the black rat may have pos- 

 sessed, they were inferior to those of its successor. 

 Goldsmith states that the brown rat first made 

 its appearance on the coasts of Ireland, having 

 been brought thither by ships which traded 

 between that country and Gibraltar ; whereas 

 Buffon asserts that it came to us from the southern 

 regions of Asia ; Jardine, that it is supposed to 

 have been introduced from Persia and the East 

 Indies about 1730, and gradually to have spread 

 over the greater part of the Continent of Europe, 

 as well as America, by means of the frequent 

 commercial intercourse established between the 

 nations of these regions. Other naturalists term 

 it the Norwegian rat, by reason of its being sup- 

 posed to have come from Norway. I think that 

 this latter suggestion is the most probable, but 

 from wheresoever it may have come to us, its 

 presence is most undesirable. I think that, in 

 addition to its many other sins, it may be 



