RATS- 45 



more dangerous enemy. It iuliuulu Europe, 

 northern Asia, and North America, according to 

 Linnaeus. I have seen it in remote parts of the 

 Country, and it is a deadly foe to canals and mill 

 ponds. So far as I can judge from a hasty glimpse 

 in the boat, I have also seen the mus busarius 

 which was some time ago discovered in the inte- 

 rior of Canada, and which from the magnitude of 

 the claws of its fore feet, is formed for burrowing 

 in the ground. It is thus described in the fifih 

 volume of the Transactions of the Linnsen Socie- 

 ty — " Mus ciner^is, cauda tereti brevi subnuda, 



geniis saccatis, unguibus palmarum maximis 

 fossoriis." 



But afresh water lobster, a species ofcray fish 

 which I have not yet seen, is said to be peculiarly 

 dangerous to mill dams by its perforations ; It 

 inhabits the Genesee river in great abundance, 

 and is seen in many other streams. If it establish- 

 es itself in the canal, it will do great injury. 



The most formidable foe still remains to be 

 noticed. The mus zibethicus, muskrat or mus- 

 quash : 1 have already seen his holes on the 

 banks of the canal. He is next to the beaver, the 

 greatest architect of the brute kind. He builds 

 his house on bogs, in summer, of reeds, and aban- 

 dons it in winter, when he lodges in holes. He 

 also makes a hole in the side of a pond, or brook. 



