38 J. B. CLELAND. he 
than the length of the body (80 per cent.), and shorter and 
thicker ears. It is also a larger and more robust rat. There 
seems to be little variation in colour, our specimens being 
all of a general greyish-brown. Though sometimes called 
the Sewer Rat, it does not confine itself to such localities. 
I remember in the early nineties frequently seeing it near 
Adelaide, climbing up into hedges of the African thorn, 
probably to eat the fruit. 
Mus musculus L., the Common House Mouse.—This al- 
most universal domestic pest varies little in size with us. 
when adult, nor have I personally met: with decided varia- 
tions in colour in wild specimens submitted for examination. 
Mus adelaidensis Gray (1841), and M. simsont (1882) 
from Tasmania, are both, Mr. H. A. Longman informs me, 
this species. 
The Damage done by Rats and Mice. 
I do not propose to deal fully with this aspect. The 
damage may be direct by eating foodstuffs or gnawing goods 
and spoiling them, or indirect by causing fires, or flooding 
by water, or expense in suppressing an outbreak of plague. 
References to details will be found in many publications 
dealing with rats. Mr. H. A. Longman,' of the Queensland 
Museum, in his introduction, gives some information, men- 
tioning for instance that in Great Britain the loss has been 
estimated at £15,000,000 a year. He also refers to a re- 
turn prepared some years ago in an Australian capital, 
where a firm dealing in meat products calculated the dam- 
age done by rats at a loss of £500 per annum. 
A few years ago, Dr. J. 8. C. Elkington,? then Commis- 
sioner of Public Health for Queensland, drew up a sche- 
dule of questions on this subject and submitted them to 
i Longman, Notes on the Classificat. of Common Rodents, C’ wealth 
of Aust., Quar. Serv., Serv. Publ. 8. 
2 Ann. Rep. Comm. of P. Health, Q., to June 30th, 1910, p. 7. 
