ee Ae 
1883.] ` Recent Literature. 269 
membrane or carapace, formed of two scales soldered on the me- 
dian line. Externally the animal resembles a root, or sausage- 
barnacle. Within this singular membrane is situated the body 
of the crustacean, which is about a centimeter in length, the test 
or carapace being from two to four centimeters long. Laura is 
referred by the author to a new sub-order of barnacles which 
stands between the Rhizocephala and the true barnacles, though 
the Nauplius is very different from that of Cirripides, having no 
carapace. 
Tae Muncoose tn THE West Inptes.'—In all the West In- 
dian Islands the black and brown rats are cause of great loss to 
the sugar-planters, spite of rat-catchers, with the bow-string traps, 
and their aids in the shape of dogs and poison. Jamaica has also 
become possessed of the formidable and destructive Mus sac- 
charivorus, an animal with a body ten inches long. To combat 
these pests, various animals were introduced, but the ferret suc- 
cumbed before the attacks of the chigo; the Cuban ant (Formica 
omnivora), though it maintained itself and remains one of the 
planter’s best friends, destroying the young of the rapacious ro- 
dents, also attacks kittens, puppies and calves, and the agua 
toad, devours young ducks, depopulates bee-hives and drives 
away sleep by its croaking, but does not eat rats. In 1872, nine 
mungoooses were brought direct from India and turned loose. In 
ten years these have so multiplied that they are abundant all over 
the island, and are now found even at elevations of 5009 feet. 
Cuba, Porto Rico, Barbadoes and Santa Cruz have also been sup- 
plied with these animals, and their first patron, Mr. Espent, has 
undertaken to ship some to Australia and New Zealand to com- 
bat the rabbit pests. As a rat-catcher this animal has proved 
itself worthy of its reputation, as it has reduced the expenses of 
fat-catching fully 90 per cent., and has reduced the quantity of 
Tat-eaten canes to one fourth or one-fifth of what it was previously, 
esenting an annual saving to the island of nearly £45,000. 
3 Nothwithstanding this benefit, the short history of the mungoose 
i island goes to prove that the introduction of a new spe- 
| _ ies into a district should not be done rashly. The mungoose is 
now too common, and is’ making itself felt in other ways beside 
ne It to some extent preys upon eggs and chickens 
_ ever dogs are not kept, and quail, wild guinea-fowl, game- 
ea Senerally, as well as sea and water-fowl, are rapidly diminish- 
ng before its attacks, as are also the yellow snakes, themselves 
ie a erttchers (Chilgbothrus inornatus), and the ground lizard 
especi: areala): s the mungoose cannot climb a tree, the rats, 
Pecially the black species, take refuge in cocoa-nut plantations, 
Pe Pi Prove more destructive than formerly, but, on the other hand, 
€ coffee and cocoa plantations profit greatly by its introduction. 
i 
The Mungoose on Sugar Estates in the West Indies, By D. MORRIS. 
Vou, XVIL—no, m. L 
