" Reptiles r 7 



" vermin," under which title they include all the creatures 

 they most object to, such as rats, mice, spiders, black- 

 beetles, earwigs, and snails. The right of the sex to dislike 

 what they choose is of course indisputable, and in the vary- 

 ing technical definitions of the word "vermin," they have a 

 plausible excuse for ranging far. Thus, the professional 

 "vermin-killer" is a rat-and-mole-catcher. 



" Som poison, that he might his ratouns quell 

 And eke ther was a polkat in his nawe 

 That, as he sayd, his capons had yslawe : 

 And fayn he wolde him wrekin if he might 

 Of vermin, that destroied hem by night." 



On the gamekeeper's table of the proscribed are the weasel 

 kind, and many birds, such as the owl, jay, hawk, heron, 

 and hooded crow. On the Continent, beasts of prey, such 

 as wolves and foxes, are so styled. In Australia official 

 enactments call rabbits and wild horses "vermin." In 

 Western America the Red Indian himself goes under the 

 same name. And in the West Indies, according to 

 Montgomery, the man "of colour" 



1 ' Lives there a reptile baser than the slave ? 

 Loathsome as death, corrupted as the grave, 

 See the dull Creole." 



Nor do poets of a more robust sort hesitate at similar 

 licence. Man himself, as in Cowper, is " vermin ; " lawyers 

 in Somervile are " the vermin of debate ; " and courtiers 

 in Thomson are " the vermin of state that on our substance 

 feed." Gutter-children have in Mackay the same ill- 

 sounding name : 



' ' Take them away ! Take them away 



Out of the gutter, the ooze, and slime, 



Where the little vermin paddle and crawl 



Till they grow and ripen into crime. " 



Criminals and " parasites " too, and Jesuits and critics are 

 all "vermin." 



