' ' The rodentia constitute by far the largest 

 order of mammals, and one of the most impor- 

 tant from an economic standpoint. Though 

 the species are mostly small and apparently in- 

 significant, their relations with man are of much 



moment." 



~F. V. Hayden, 



"Some have gone back to the water and 

 imitated the fish in their ocean home ; and 

 others, smaller and feebler, have lived on by 

 means of their insignificance, their rapid multi- 

 plication and their power of hiding." 



— Arabella B. Buckley. 



