RATS. MICE. 



where it propagates, it is really a scourge by the damage it occa- 

 sions by eating linen, leather harness, bacon, in a word, every 

 thing that falls in its way. 



35. The Simnulof, - Mm Dwumanvs, (the Norway or Brown 

 rat,) is the largest of the rats ; it is seven inches long, without 

 including the tail, and its coat is reddish brown. Though very 

 abundant in Europe at the present day, it was not introduced < 

 there till sometime in the eighteenth century. Vessels trading to 

 India carried it to England, whence it found its way into France 

 and all other parts of Europe, America, and wherever Europeans 

 have settled colonies. About the environs of Paris, brown rats 

 are very numerous on the commons, and particularly on the voirie 

 of Montfaucon, where, towards evening, they may be seen 

 entirely covering the carcasses of horses that have succumbed 

 during the day ; they are also found in the sewers in the neigh- 

 bourhood of markets, and in all places where animal substances 

 in a state of decomposition are accumulated in any quantity, and 

 where grain is abundant. They dig holes scarcely deep enough 

 to hold their bodies.* 



36. The Mouse, Mux Hlusculu$, \s the smallest species of 

 rat that inhabits our dwellings, and it is the only one that was 

 known to the ancients. In the wood-work of our houses, and in 

 old walls where the plaster is easily detached, these little animals 

 excavate galleries of greater or less length, in which they habitu- 

 ally dwell ; they feed on all articles whether animal or vegetable, 

 that fall in their way, and are particularly fond of tallow, bacon, 

 and other fat substances. Sometimes they are found wild in 

 the woods, where they feed chiefly on acorns and beech-nuts. 



37. The J/ii/o/, or field-mouse, Mus Syloaticus,\s a species 

 of the same genus as the preceding, which is intermediate in 

 size between the rat and the mouse, but it does not visit the 

 habitations of man ; its ordinary dwelling place is in forests where 

 it often commits considerable havoc, either in digging up the acorns 



* The voirie of Montftuoon, or commons, is the place where the filth of 

 the city of Paris is deposited, and where dead animals are flayed for the sake 

 of their skin?, and the purls which are fit for the manufacture of glue, &c 

 It has been said, with what truth we do not know, that the rats found hero, 

 were killed, and sold to the masters of eating-houses, who served them to 

 their customers. 



35. What is the Surmulol? Was this rat always known in Europe 1 

 Where is it originally from ? Where does it most abound 1 What does this 

 rat feed on 1 



36. What is the Mouse 1 Where does it dwell 1 What does it feed upon 

 when wild? 



3? What is the Mulot? What are its habits? 



