Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-10-22
OFFICIAL REPORT on RATS FRANCE.

OFFICIAL REPORT ON RATS IN FRANCE
Report ola French Commission appointed inquire reeci-
ng the immense swans aad DEF Tedauns Of Rats
Monfaucon.
PARIS, July Slh.--The section Of the Re-
port relating TO the Rats Of Mont laucon is not
a little curIOus:-
To ascertain the number OF these animals is.
of course, impossible. but that il must be o,ivr-
nous will be judged of, from The facts we are
going TO state, aud from the circums,a ance that
one Of the chief obstacles 10 the removal, Of
the horse slaugh,e or house TO a greater distance
from Paris, is The fear entertained OF the dan
gerous consequences that may result to the
ncighborhood from suddenly depriving tbess
voracious vermn OF their accustomed susie
nance. Tho carcasses Of the horses killed IN
the day (and sometimes these amount TO 35)
are found the next morning picked bare to t,o
bone. Now. as besides that il is known that
they devour considerable quantity Of tho
muscular parts aud intestines that have been
| thrown tog.tber in heaps, and the quantity
| necessary TO the support Of single rat being
asceriaIned, some idea may be formed OF their
amazing number. Dussa ussois, a proprietor OF
one Of the ,slaughler-houses, has, however,
made slill more conclusive experiment. A
part OF hIs establishment is enclos ., -,y,n
, ~nii-. e. ITO foot Of which are several holes
made for the ingress and egress oil tho rais;
this ue put the cafCAsee5 Ot TWO
or three horses, and towards the middle Of tho
night, having first cautiously, aud with as little
noise as possible, stopped up all the aboye-
mentioned holes, he. accompanied by several
of his workmen, each having "A torch n one
hand and stick IN the other, entered the yard.
and, closing the door behind them, commenced
| u general massacre; II was not necessary 10
take any aim, for no matter how the blow was
directed, IT was sure 10 immediate a rat; and
those who endeayOred to escape by climbing
| up the walls were made to descend in double
quick time. by applying torch to their neither
ends. BY a recurrence Of this expedent. at
intervals Of few days, he killed in the space
OF month l6,O5O rats. After one nights
massacre the dead amounted to 1850, and tho
result OF four hunts was .. IOl. Even this can
give but an imperfect idea Of the number Of
these vermin, for the closure in which they
were thus Killed contains not above the TWEEN.
tleth part OF the space which are spread
the dead bodies of horses, which Il IL bui nat
ural TO suppose must equally attract the rats
upon oil points. These ANNALS have mado
burrows for themselves, like rabbns, in the ad-
joining fields, and hollow ed out into galleries
all the surrounding emlnences, and tha 10 such
an extent that 1t Is not unusual to see the lat
ter cruinble away at The base, and leave ex-
posed these<subterraneous works. They have
undermined all the walls and construci ions IN
the neIghborhOod, and il ~ only by taxi ing tho
most particular precautions casing the fs5un-
daiioDs with broken bottles, Nc.-ihat Dus-
saussols has been able to preserve from falifny
a small house attached to his es'a bshment.
So great is the number of these animals, that
have not all been able to lodge themselves in
the Immediate vicinity Of the slaughtt r ho ses.
for there are most distinctly traced and WE'LL
known paths leading the fields fran Tho
enclosures M which the horses are killed 10 q
burrow about five hundred pa ces distant. These
paths are particularly remark able IN wet wenth-
er, as they are covered the whole Of thoir
length with ciayey mud, that ndheres to tho
feet OF the rats on coming out Of their burrows.
There Is peculiar c,rcums, ance worth rela Ting
relative TO tho predictions which those am
mas snow 10 one particular part of The horse;
they always invariably begin by devouring tho
eyes, drinking the liquid cont ained in them,
and eating tho fat at the bottom of the qrb,t.
There never has been an instance. of a dead
horse Ieit one night exposed, the eyes OF wbrh
were not devoured before morning. During
very severe ross, when II becomes impossible
to fay aud cut up the bodies OF horses that have
been Tor any time exposed to he air, and when
even the fragments OF flesh lying about have
become so hard as to render il dlfiicult for tho
rats to feed upon them, they resort To The fol-
loving expcdient: They penetrate into tine
body. either through the wound. when the an
lmal has been pu, To death by punging knde
INTO the breast, or through the anus when tho
SKIN Is not cut, the ANIMAL hat wing been Killed
by blow Of slodge. There they es,sbiwh
themselves. and dcvour the flesh. SO that when
the thaw comes, the workmen find nothing bot
n skin aud skeleton underneath. as clea n and
clear Of flesh as If u had been prepared by tho
most skilfut operator. irtia
These ANNALS are extremely prolific = the
females bear i've or six iin,cs years Insev-
crai that we opened. We found Ia. 10, and even
Is young ones. II ,s only nee, ssary iorurn
up the earth wi:h tho fool 10 lind nests co,ta n.
ing as m'ny. Thei fecurdi'y aud vofsc ty
surpass anything that can he maemsd- 10
prove which. we need only state tho following
iacii--M Magendis having gone hinreH TO
Montfaucon, to procure twelve rats, upon which