Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1857-06-06

IlS ClA4tlatliIiA I'll "A4t'I lAtD1sAit 1bEtiiut-
ty is severely taxed to supply mans natu-
raj and artificial wants Cur efaudfthers
would have said that the destructive vernin
Which inlsst our cellars under the name Of
rats, waald ba She last thing Which could
ever be turned 10 useful purpose. Even
the fine lady OF the present day, who piques
herself on her exquisitely fitting gloves,
would give one Of those little shrieks, which
she thinks so 8weetly feminine, If told that
the thumb Of her glove was made of rat
skin, as more elastic yet tougher tia n kid
The nineteenth century, in fact, sees rats
elevated to All article of commerce. In Eu-
rope the fur of the rat is used by hatters,
having been found to exceed in delicacy,
even that of the beaver. y company ex-
lists in Paris, on the principle Of the Hud-
sons Bay Company, to buy up all the rats
j Of France In London many persons earn
a livelihood by hunting in the sewers a
late number Of the london Quarterly Re
view makes these facts the text Of a curious
and interesting article on the habits Of the
rat, an animal heretofore considered unfit to
be introduced into decent society, but
which, under the auspices of the Quarterly.
makes quite respectable figure.
Nearly every portion Of the habitable
globe is infested with these yormin. Hard
! ly q vessel sails without carrying with it
colony, and thus even tho islands Of the Pa
cdc are supplied with rats. Gu board Of
/ ship they generally keep out Of sight, proyi-
ded they can command that great necessity,
water; bat # this is guarded against their
+ Expectations, they will come On deck, Oh
rainy nights, to drink, and viii even ascend
! the rigging fer tie sake Of the moisture "
ing in the folds Of the sails. When very
thirsty they have been known to attack the
spirit casks, and get, like wiser beings tip
sy, though, we believe. they never beat
their wives even when drunk. Sometimes
same ship; one occupying the stem aud the
other the stern. Il is 10 uncommon thing
to destroy five hundred il single East In
Idiaman on her arrival at Calcutta. Often,
when water has been scarce on the voyage,
they voluntarily desert The vessel the night
after her casting anchor, generally passing
to land IN single file, along the mooring
rope, though, if this is impracticable, they
do not hesitate to swim. The genuine ship
rat is q more delicate animal than the large
brown rat, and approxinates to the original
English rat, which is not yet entirely ex-
tinct, though some naturalists have asserted
the contrary
Few persons have an idea Of the vast
numbers of these vermin The Quarterly
says, Gratis are to the earth what swallows
are to the air, universally present" But,
unlike their feathered rivals, we rarely see
them, and hence are ignorant Of the count
less millions that burrow Uudcr our cellars,
run up and down between our walls, haunt
the sewers Of great cities, and deyastato the
grauaries Of farmers But it is about
slaughter that they ''most do con-
gfegate. At Nonttaueon. in France, the
proprietor of slaughter-housc had wall
/ ed enclosure, where, one night, he threw
/ the carcases Of two or thrce horses, anl
then went quietly with his workmen and
stopped up al the holes ~ which the rats
had entered it, after which lie went N, with
these sama worlmen, each armed vita
stick The rats, thus entrarped were slain
by hunirods In a single month he killed
/ Is, 058 aud ,, 900 in Que night. Tt has
been estimated that the progeny Of single
pair of rats would amount, in three years,
Ito six hundred and ifty-six thousand. if
they could all find food and escape the ac-
cidents that makes the mortality among
them 50 great. Between the large brown
rat and the smaller species, there exists
mortal antipathy II an equal number of
each breed are put into q cage over night,
the bigger ones, if not hungry will eat of
the long, delicate ears of the smaller, which
they seem to consider a great luxury; but
if half starved, nothing will be seen in the
morning Of the smaller species, except the
tails and bones.
The rat, according to the Quarterly, has
never received the credit for sagacity which
! lie deserves although the phrase "as cum
ning as Il rasa testiies to the popular opin-
ion of his abilities 1t is not fable that q
rat robs a hens nest by lying on his back
and holding the eggs between his paws,
while his companions pull him along. Rats
have been seen, one on each side, leading
blind or aged rats to water A gentleman
once noticed that several rats ate at the
trough with his dogs so. Que day, he kept
che dogs back, after the trough was filed
intending to shoot the rats when they came
to eat but the latter were too wise to make
their appearance till he let the dogs in,
whon he was sfrail To shoot, and this eau
ton they exhibited, day after day, till he
gave up in despair Sometimes, when fam
shed, a rat will attack poultry. Rats fire.
,quently gnaw through the leaden pipes of
houses, for the sound of running water
seems to fascinate them, q rat, curious to
get at the cause of this strange noise, has
suddenly found himself dcluged in shower
bath. The teeth of a rat are so formed and
grow 50 fast that if he does not gnaw almost
necessarily, and BY this process wear them
away at the point, they become enormous
circular tt,sks. Rats have been, killed which,
having lost lower TOOTH have had the cor
responding upper one grown intoa complete
circle, the point of which in winding a.
round, had passed shrough the lip of the
animal The Qnarterly insists that the rat
is really q beautiful animal, especially when
seen sitting on his haunches and licking his
paws but we confess that our preudices
prevent our discerning this beauty and we
are orthodox enough still to think that rats
should only be named with traps and guns,
to which, ii III our power, We woull pan