100 
Quadrupeds. 
and rapid motions of the dam did not oblige her litter to 
quit their hold, especially when it appeared that they 
were so young as to be both naked and blind. Mr. White 
appears to be the first to describe and accurately examine 
that diminutive creature the Harvest Mouse (Mus mes- 
sorius), the least of all the British quadrupeds. He 
measured some of them, and found that from the nose to 
the tail they were two inches and a quarter long. Two 
of them in a scale only weighed down one copper half- 
penny, about the third of an ounce avoirdupoise ! Their 
nest is a great curiosity, being made in the form of a 
ball, and either suspended between the stems of rushes 
and other tall slender plants, or placed amongst the 
leaves of some large thistle. 
-:<Vz*p-r| 
THE KAT. (Mus decumanus.) 
The Rat is about four times as large as the mouse, but of 
a dusky colour, with white under the body ; his head is 
longer, his neck shorter, and his eyes comparatively 
larger. These animals are so attached to our dwellings, 
