THE BROWN RAT 



against its chest with its chin, and in this way 

 carries it off. A rat is, as a general rule, incapable 

 of gnawing a hole through the slippery shell of a 

 fowl's egg, unless, for instance, it securely wedged 

 the egg in a corner so that it could not roll about. 

 There is little room for doubt that, like the Meer- 

 cat, the Rat breaks the shells of fowls' eggs by tilting 

 them with its nose or paws against some hard sub- 

 stance, such as a stone or wall. The Barn Rat is truly 

 an omnivorous feeder, for nothing comes amiss to 

 it. From the delicacies contained in the pantry 

 of the housewife, its diet ranges to the produce in 

 the outhouses, the contents of garbage barrels, 

 manure heaps and privies. On account of these 

 filthy habits, it becomes a source of grave danger 

 to man and beast, for in its quest for food amongst 

 the household garbage and various unmentionable 

 filth, it gets smothered with disease microbes, which 

 are carried by it to the food-stuffs in the various 

 households, stables, cattle kraals, etc. Enteric 

 fever, tuberculosis, and a variety of other serious 

 diseases are spread in this way. The damage done 

 in warehouses by the gnawing propensities of rats 

 is immense. I happened to be present one day 

 when a great case of cane-bottomed chairs was being 

 unpacked. The case contained the cane seats of 

 the chairs only, which were packed one upon 

 another in piles. A Brown Rat, desirous of emi- 

 grating to South Africa, had hidden herself in the 

 case before the lid had been nailed on. During the 

 VOL. iv 113 8 



