CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 7. RODENTIA. 445 



and they use them as levers to spring by when about to jump. Opening the cage to examine 

 them, one escaped, running under my hand. It took myself, three other persons, and two dogs, 

 three-quarters of an hour hunting in my room to catch him again — so active was the little brute. 

 We were obliged finally to kill him to get him at all; one of my friends present very appropri- 

 ately called him 'black lightning.' 



"The other species of rat, now so universally known and generally esteemed a pest by all, ia 

 commonly supposed to have come from Norway, and is therefore called the Norway rat. Tlii 

 a strange mistake, for it would imply that this animal was aboriginal in that country; whereas 

 in fact, at the time when the name was first applied to it, it was not even known to exist there. 

 How this mistake arose I know not, except from the fact that there exists in Norway a little ani- 

 mal, not unlike a rat, called a lemming, described in a treatise entirely devoted to it bv the cele- 

 brated Danish historian and antiquary, Wormius, about the seventeenth century. This may be 

 the origin of the name; but, however, it made its appearance in Paris about the middle of the 

 eighteenth century, and in England not many years earlier. It is now agreed by most natural- 

 ists that it is a native of India and Persia ; that it spread onward into European Russia, and was 

 thence transferred by merchant-ships to England and elsewhere. 



"The rat is a most strict observer of the law 'Be fruitful and multiply;' for Madame la Iiatte 

 is generally in an interesting condition thrice a year, and on these occasions she does not look 

 forward to nursing one helpless little individual, but thirteen or fifteen small unfortunates. I have 

 had practical demonstration of the aptness of this family for propagating its species. In cleaning 

 out the cage containing a little happy family of five rats, of variegated colors — all of which were 

 perfectly tame, and lived in peace and harmony — I felt something among the hay, warm and soft : 

 on taking it carefully out, it proved to be a little tiny rat, hairless and eyeless, but nevertheless 

 endowed, like a biped baby, with the full and audible use of its infant lungs. On hearing its 

 cries, the mother — a beautiful snow-white rat, upon whose head maternal cares were pressing at 

 the early age of eight weeks — rushed forward, and seizing her screaming infant between her teeth, 

 hastily ran off with it. Tfpon further examination, ten other young innocents were found care- 

 fully packed up in the corner of a cigar-box, which had been placed in the cage for the use of the 

 colony in general, but which had been kindly vacated by the other considerate rats in favor of 

 the lady who was literally in the straw. The owner is happy to announce that the mother and 

 her little family are all doing well. Such, indeed, is the amazing; fecundity of this animal, that 

 they would soon overrun the whole country, and render all our attempts to destroy them fruit- 

 less, had they no enemies to lessen their numbers. But this baneful increase is happily counter- 

 acted, not only by numerous foes among other animals, but by their destroying and eating each 

 other. The same insatiable appetite that impels them to indiscriminate carnage, also incites the 

 strongest to devour the weakest, even of their own kind ; and a large male rat is as much dreaded 

 by its own species as the most formidable enemy. 



"During summer the rat resides chiefly in holes on the banks of rivers, ponds and ditches; but 

 on the approach of winter they visit the farm-houses, and enter the corn-ricks and barns, where 

 they devour much of the corn, and damage more than they consume. They are very fond of pig- 

 sties, running about among the pigs, picking up the leavings of the oatmeal out of the troughs,, 

 and even nestling down near to the warm body of the fat unwieldy porkers, whose obese sides 

 make not bad pillows for his impudence — the rat. 



"On one occasion, when a boy, I recollect secretly borrowing an old-fashioned flint-gun from 

 the bird-keeper of the farm to which I had been invited. I ensconced myself behind the door of 

 the pig-sty, determined to make a victim of one of the many rats that were accustomed to disport 

 themselves among the straw that formed the bed' of the farmer's pet bacon-pigs. In a few min- 

 utes out came an old patriarchal-looking rat, who, having taken a careful survey, quietly began 

 to feed. After a long aim, bang went the gun — I fell backward, knocked -down by the recoil of 

 the rusty old piece of artillery. I did not remain prone long, for I was -soon roused by the most 

 unearthly squeaks, and a dreadful noise as of an infuriated animal madly rushing round and round 

 the sty. Ye gods! what had I done? I had not surely, like the tailor in the old song of the 

 'Carrion Crow,' 



