THE MICE—MICE PROPER. 



333 



It is sufficient for the present to describe the two 



best known species, the Black and the Brown Rat. 



The Black Rat— The Black Rat {Mus rattus) attains a 



its Origin and length of body of six and one-half 



Peculiarities. inches, and a length of tail of seven 



and one-half inches, or a total length of fourteen 



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I ' ' I 



IJ 



It is still distributed sparsely over nearly all parts of 

 the globe, however. It rarely occurs in Europe in 

 compact bodies, existing nearly everywhere it is 

 found at all in small, straggling and widely dis- 

 persed colonies. In Germany it seems to be nearly 

 extinct; but there are yet a few places infested by 



it, such as Bremen and 





THE BLACK BAT Th s was formerly the nost comii on of the Rats n Europe and unt 1 the invasion of 



the Brown Rat the most form dable It is st 11 found not only n Europe but also n Asn Amer ca and nearly all 

 parts of the world. Its vicious head, coarse fur and scaly, hairless tail are well depicted here. (Mus ratius.) 



inches. Its upper surface is dark brownish black, 

 the lower parts being of a somewhat lig'hter grayish 

 Wack hue. The feet are of a grayish brown tint, 

 slightly lighter on the sides. The relatively slen- 

 der tail shows from two hundred and sixty to two 

 hundred and seventy 

 scaly rings. White in- 

 dividuals are not un- 

 common. 



The time when this 

 species first appeared 

 in Europe cannot be 

 •definitely determined. 

 Albertus Magnus is 

 the first naturalist to 

 mention it as a Ger- 

 man animal ; conse- 

 quently it was a com- 

 mon animal as early 

 as the thirteenth cen- 

 tury. Gesner speaks 

 of it as being "an 

 animal that is better 

 known to many than 

 is agreeable to them;" 

 the bishop of Autun 

 excommunicated 

 it from the church in 

 the beginning of the 

 "fifteenth century. 

 Possibly it originally 

 came from Persia 

 where it still exists in 



Brodigious numbers, 

 p to the first half of the last century it reigned 

 alone in Europe; since that time the Brown Rat 

 has contested the field and has been so success- 

 ful that the Black Rat has been oGliged to recede. 



Luneburg in northwest- 

 ern Germany, and Rud- 

 olstadt in Thuringia. It 

 has followed Man into 

 all climes of the globe, 

 wandering through the 

 world over land and sea. 

 Undoubtedly it was not 

 indigenous to America, 

 Australia and Africa; 

 but ships conveyed it to 

 all coasts and from the 

 coasts it penetrated far- 

 ther and farther inland. 

 At present it is found in 

 the southern parts of 

 Asia, especially India; 

 in Africa, especially in 

 Egypt, Barbary and the 

 Cape of Good Hope; in 

 parts of America, in Aus- 

 tralia and the islands of 

 the Pacific. 



The Brown The Brown 

 Rat— its origin, Rat {Mus 

 ^*°- decumanus) 



is considerably larger, measuring nearly seventeen 

 inches, inclusive of the tail, which is seven inches 

 long. Its color is different on the upper surface 

 from that of the lower parts of the body, the upper 

 parts being a brownish gray; the under parts grayish 



THE BBOWII BAT. The animal snown in tne picture is oniy too lamiliar. Originally a native of India, he has, 



during the past two centuries overrun all lands, driving out the weaker Black Rat. The animal in the picture has evi- 

 dently been despoiling the poultry yard. Rats of this species are the most destructive of all Rodents. (Mus decumanus.') 



white, the line of demarcation being quite sharply 

 defined. The tail has, approximately, two hundred 

 and ten scaly rings. The upper surface of the fore- 

 feet sometimes shows short, fine brownish hairs; 



