Ground Vermin The Brown Rat. 395 



it soon multiplies to such an extent that the other quickly 

 disappears before its ever-increasing hordes. 



The Brown Rat is also called the Norway rat, for what 

 reason we cannot say. Norway is least likely to have 

 furnished us with the animal which, above all others, is 

 undoubtedly the greatest nuisance and the most destructive 

 pest. It seems pretty clear that it emanated from a warmer 

 and more genial climate than ours, and, further, that its 

 arrival took place about the beginning of the eighteenth 

 century. It is of a greyish brown colour on the upper and 

 outer, and a greyish dirty white on the opposite surfaces 

 of its body. In this mus the muzzle is elongated, as in 

 the other kind mentioned, but the upper jaw does not 

 project to the same extent, while the whiskers are softer 

 and less prominent. The average size of a full-grown 

 rat is from roin. to nin. without the tail, which measures 

 from Sin. to S^in., thus being about four-fifths the length 

 of the body ; the ears are very prominent, and in a full- 

 grown specimen are about three-quarters of an inch long ; 

 the tail proves, on close examination, to be a wonderfully 

 constructed appendage. The female is slightly smaller 

 than the male. 



The rat is well adapted to the course of life it follows, 

 not only by its physical qualities, but also by its character. 

 It is fierce to a degree when attacking or attacked, and 

 at all times excited in the pursuit of its food, or when 

 bent on the mischief it continually commits. Its voracity 

 is considerable, and few animals have more elastic capa- 

 bilities of stowing food without inconvenience. Its food 

 is of every sort and shape. Its chief means of subsist. 



