R A T. 301 
will turn when clofe purfued, and fallen on the Hick 
or hand of thofe who offer to ftrike it: has deftroyed 
the common black rat in moll places. 
Le Rat d’Eau, Belon Aquat. 30. gata pilofa plantis palmatis. Lin. 228. Water, 
tab. xxxi. fyjl. 82. Faun.fuec. No. 32. 
Mus aquatilis Agricola An . Subter. M. cauda longa pilis fupra ex ni- 
488. Gefnerquad. 732. Raiifyn. gro et flavefcente mixtis, infra 
quad. 217. Klein quad. 57. cinereis veftitus.Bri/fonquad. 124. 
Waffer-maus Kramer Aujlr. 316. Le Rat d’Eau de Buffen , vii. 348. 
Mus Amphibius. M. cauda cion- tab . xliii. 
R. with a thick blunt nofe: ears hid in the fur: 
eyes fmall: teeth yellow : on each foot five toes; 
inner toe of the fore foot very fmall * 5 the firft joint 
very flexible: head and body covered with long hairs, 
black mixed with a few ferruginous hairs : belly of 
an iron grey : tail covered with Ihort black hairs ; the 
tip whitilh: weight nine ounces : length, from nofe to 
tail, feven inches *, tail only five : lhape of the head 
and body more compadt than the former fpecies 
Inhabits Europe and North America f : burrows in 
the banks of rivers, ponds and wet ditches : feeds 
on fmall filh and the fry of greater, on frogs, infedls 
and roots: is itfelf the prey of pike: fwims and 
dives admirably, though it is not web-footed, as 
Mr. Ray fuppofed, and Linnaeus copied after him : 
brings fix young at a time. This animal and the 
Otter eat in France on maigre days. 
* It has fome refemblance to the Beaver, which induced JJnnaus, 
in the firil edition of his Fauna Suecica , to llyle it Cajlor cauda lineari 
tereti. 
t Lanvfon hifl. Carolina, 122. He alfo mentions another, which 
he calls the Mar/I) Rat, being more hairy than the common rat$ 
but apparently is the fame with this. Thofe of Canada vary 
Uwny and white. Vide de Bujfon, xiv, 401, xv. 146. 
Mus 
