80 
THE RAT. 
of one montli, 16,050. After one night's killing, the dead 
amounted to 2,650 ; and the result of four hunts was 9,101. 
Even this can give but an imperfect idea of the vast 
number of these vermin ; for the enclosure in which they 
were thus killed contains not above one-quarter of the space 
over which the dead bodies of horses are spread, and which 
it is but fair to suppose must equally attract the rats upon 
all points. These animals have made burrows for themselves 
like rabbits in the adjoining fields, and hollowed out into 
catacombs all the surrounding eminences ; and this to such an 
extent, that it is not unusual to see them crumbled away at 
the base, and leaving their subterraneous works exposed. 
So great is the number of these animals, that they have not 
all been able to lodge themselves in the immediate vicinity 
of the slaughterhouses ; for paths may be distinctly traced 
leading across the fields, from the enclosure in which the 
horses are killed to a burrow about five hundred paces 
distant. These paths are particularly remarkable in wet 
weather, being covered with a clayey mud, which adheres to 
the feet of the rats on running out of their burrows. 
The liking which these animals show for one particular 
part of a horse is curious. They invariably begin by devour- 
ing the eyes, and eating the fat at the bottom of the orbit. 
There has not been one instance of a dead horse being left 
for one night exposed when the eyes have not been devoured 
before morning. 
During very severe frosts (when it becomes impossible to 
skin and cut up the bodies of horses that have been exposed 
to the air, and when even the fragments of flesh lying 
about have become so hard as to render it difficult for rats 
^o feed upon them), they eat their way into the bodies of 
the horses, and there establishing themselves, devour all the 
flesh ; so that when the thaw comes, the workmen find nothing 
but a skin and skeleton underneath, as clean and clear of 
flesh as if it had been prepared by the most skilful operator. 
The conclusion of the French commissioners' report (says 
Mr. Jesse) is of too great importance to be omitted. It con- 
tains a useful hint to those who maybe inclined to frequent the 
minor restaurateurs, or humbler eating-houses of Paris. It 
goes on to state, that a man and a woman are employed the 
whole year round in flaying and dressing up dogs and cats. 
