18 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 
however, a matter of grave interest to inhabit- 
ants of the village as well as of the city. Quot- 
ing Lantz again,— | 
‘‘The damage to houses and furniture by rats con- 
stitutes a large item. They burrow under founda- 
tions or through the plaster in a stone wall and 
admit streams of water that eventually weaken or 
undermine the structure itself. They seem to be 
able to penetrate almost everything except stone, 
brick, cement, glass, and iron. They gnaw into a 
grain bin, or through a wainscoting, a floor, or a door 
in a single night In the same way they enter chests, 
wardrobes, bookcases, closets, barrels, and boxes for 
the stores within. Almost every old dwelling in the 
country bears abundant evidence of its former or 
present occupancy by rats. Rats gnaw through lead 
pipes or wooden tanks to obtain water, and sometimes 
before the leak is discovered, ceilings, wall decora- 
tions, and floor coverings are flooded and practically 
ruined. All this is waste of a tangible kind and a 
constant drain on the prosperity of the people.’’ 
Then there is the ever-menacing devastation 
from fires due to rats carrying matches into 
their nests and there igniting them by chewing 
them, or simply by overheating; or due to their 
gnawing the insulation from electric wires—a 
surprisingly frequent origin of fires of late 
years. , 
