348 
NOTES TO THE 
Bats in Churches. — The following is a prescription which 
will be of use to country clergymen who are plagued with bats 
in their churches. " I can inform a brother clergyman that I 
have succeeded in keeping bats out of my church by stuffing 
bits of gorse or furze into the small recesses where they take 
up their quarters. The same remedy applies in the case of 
sowing peas ; if they are covered with small sprigs of f arze, 
the prickles will prevent their being attacked by mice. I am 
now applying it also as a means of keeping slugs from young 
plants of dahlias." 
Mouse Caught by an Oyster, p. 37. — I have in my museum, 
at South Kensington, preserved in spirits, an 'excellent speci- 
men of a mouse caught by an oyster. When oysters are 
exposed to the air any length of time, especially in hot weather, 
they always " gape their shell ;" probably seeking for a drink of 
MOUSE CAUGHT BT AX OYSTER. 
water. The beard at this time lies flat upon the shell. In the 
case portrayed in the picture the oyster must have been placed 
without water, in a larder. The mouse hunting about for food 
put his head in to nibble at the oyster and was trapped. A 
second specimen of the same occurrence was sent me in August, 
1875. In both cases the mouse was killed by the pressure 
of the oyster's shells. The adductor muscle which works 
the shells of the oyster is very strong. The oyster that 
caught the mouse is very handsome ; the points of a good oyster 
