VERMIN 185 



twenty millions a year a heavy price 

 indeed to pay for the entertainment of 

 so unlovely and undesirable a guest. 



Up to the present time, despite theheavy 

 tax he levies on rich and poor, countrymen 

 and townsfolk alike, the rat has enjoyed 

 a strange toleration at the hands of man. 

 This can only arise, one would think, from 

 ignorance ; the bulk of his depredations 

 take place unseen or underground ; what 

 the eye does not see the heart will not 

 grieve for, and while the farmer seldom 

 fails to take instant notice of a single 

 turnip broken by a hare, he often acquiesces 

 with seeming indifference in supporting a 

 host of hungry dependants on the produce 

 of his farm. Spasmodic efforts are indeed 

 made from time to time to deal with the 

 trouble in places where the rats have 

 increased beyond all measure, but such 

 local and independent efforts can scarcely 

 touch the fringe of the evil, and leave 

 no permanent effect. This may be easily 

 understood when we consider the amaz- 

 ing fecundity of the rat. Mr. Millais 



