712 MR. W. B. ESPEUT ON THE ACCLIMATIZATION [NoV. 28, 



4. On the Acclimatization of the Indian Mungoos in 

 Jamaica. By W, Bancroft Espeut^ F.L.S. 



[Eeceived November 13, 1882.] 



In 1871 the loss in sugar-cultivation in Jamaica from the ravages 

 of rats was so great that 1 was convinced that something more than 

 poison, traps, &c. was required to reduce it, if sugar-culture was to 

 continue. For nearly 200 years the sugar-planters have had to 

 contend with this serious difficulty ; and on most estates from 36200 

 to a630O a year have been expended in destroying the rats by poison, 

 traps, and baits, and in ratcatchers and dogs. This expenditure, 

 however, only represented a fraction of the loss resulting from the 

 injury and destruction of the canes, and of the sugar they con- 

 tained. 



Besides the ordinary Black and Brown Rats of Europe, the Island 

 was infested with the Grey Rat, or, as it is locally called, " Cane-piece 

 Rat" {Mus saccharivorus) . Whence the species came is known to 

 no one ; probably it is indigenous, as it is found in Cuba, Porto 

 Rico, and other islands. The Brown and Black Rats cause com- 

 paratively small loss ; but the Grey Rat is most destructive. 

 Nesting in old stone walls, in holes in wet banks and tree-roots (but 

 not on trees like the Black Rat), it falls an easy prey to terriers ; 

 but as dogs suH'er much from injuries to their eyes in traversing 

 cane-fields, owing to the serrated edges of the leaves and the spines 

 on the young plants, it was futile to expect much relief from 

 them. 



More than 100 years ago Sir Charles Price, then a large sugar- 

 planter, introduced ferrets and English rat-catchers ; but the ferrets 

 were destroyed by chigoes, and were of little use. Tradition says 

 Sir Charles Price then obtained from Central America some other 

 animal ; but nothing is certainly known about this ; certainly no 

 animal belonging to the Musteline group exists in the island. Con- 

 founding the ferrets with the Grey Rat, the negroes appear to think 

 Sir Charles Price introduced the latter ; and, in consequence of this 

 strange error, they even now call the Grey or Cane-piece Rat 

 *' Massa Price's Ratta." 



In 1844 Mr. Anthony Davis imported from Barbadoes some two 

 dozen Agua Toads {Bufo agua), in the hope that they would 

 mitigate the rat plague. These toads were introduced from Cayenne 

 into Martinique, and thence to Barbadoes, and were regarded as 

 useful in destroying the young rats. But in Jamaica they certainly 

 proved not only valueless, but a nuisance : the noise they make is 

 most disagreeable ; and they are very destructive to poultry, chickens, 

 and eggs. 



Sir Stamford Raffles, the first President of this Society, intro- 

 duced into Jamaica from Cuba the Formica omnivora, now known 

 locally as the " Raffle ant." This formidable insect certainly keeps 



