PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 123 
and H. murina in the fleas Lemopsylla cheopis and Cerato- 
phyllus fasciatus. 
In the rats found in a ship trading to Sydney in 1915, 
and identified by Oldfield Thomas as Hpimys terra-regine, 
cestodes were present. These were forwarded to Harvey 
Johnston, who informs me that the species is apparently 
Hymenolepis dinunuta. ‘‘It is rather broader, but I have 
not so far been able to find any difference justifying its 
separation from H. dinunuta.’’ 
TREMATODES.—No trematodes have been met with in any 
of these three rodents in Australia. 
Previous Phenomenal Visitations of Rats or Mice 
in Australia, 
‘*Placues’’ of rats or mice in other parts of the world 
are well known. I do not propose to dwell on them, so will 
merely indicate several. There are two legends of the 
Rhine district concerning great hordes of mice invading 
stores of grain after years of famine. One mentions Hatto, 
Archbishop of Mayence, who in 970 was devoured by mice— 
he had previously assembled the poor in a barn and burnt 
them to death to save for the rich the corn the former 
would have consumed. The other is that a wicked Count 
Graaf was similarly treated by mice attracted to his tower 
by the grain collected there. Lantz! records instances of 
vast numbers of rats invading Astrakan in 1737, the Ber- 
mudas (E. ratiws) in 1615, various parts of the United 
States in 1877, 1903 and 1904, and parts of South America. 
Various American bulletins deal with the economic losses 
from species of mice other than Mus musculus. 
Longman’s list? shows that the following numbers of in- 
digenous species of rats and mice occur in Australia pro- 
4tLantz. The Brown Rat in the United States, U.S. Dept. of 
Agric., Biol. Survey, Bull. 33, 1909. 
2 Longman, List of Australasian and Austro-Pacific Muridae. 
Mem. Q.- Mus., V., 1916 
