Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1857-04-15
MisrgllQngOllg.
THE RAT TRIBE.


The last number Of the London Quarterly
Review contained an Interesting article on the
habits &C.. Of rats, in which the instcnces Civ
en- of their fecundity, ferocity and ingenuity,
are almost incredible
A single pair of rats, in three years, if un-
disturbed. will have thirteen itters of eight
each at birth. and .ie young viii begin lit
terug In the ratio when SIX months Old, so
that a. the end Of three years single pair
! will have multiplied to CSC, ,808. Calculating g
that ten rats eat as much in one day as a man.
the consumption of these would be equal to
that of "a ,60S men, 1t is clear then, that it
it were not for the extraordinary diminution
in their numbers, caused By the ceaseless war
fare carried on against them by dogs, cats,
polecats, offers, snakes, aud beyond all, hu-
man rat-catchers, the whiskered vermin would
speedily cause famine in every part Of the
world in which they are found
Rats are great travellers. The ship rat in
tests vessels of all classes as many as five
hundred have been found in single East In
diaman. Their greatest difficulty, when on
shipboard, is that OF procuring water; and
they have been known 20 ascend the rigging
/ By night, after storms, and sip the rain found
! in the folds OF the sails When on shore, ship
ra>s are exceedingly fond Of prime fruit and
! By burrowing under the walls of gardens will
/ help themselves to . taste Of the choicest mel
ons, strawberries. grapes &c, that they can
ind.
! Rats exist iu millions in sewers and drains,
particularly where there Is not q good supply
1T fiushwater. By bursowing in every direo-
:ion they do immense karm to the brick work
of the sewers. and frequently spoil pipe drains
by causing them to dip at the joints, under
which they have cxcavated the earth. In
London aud Paris numbers Of professional rat
oatchevs God lucrative employment in hunting
them J.. the sewers. VI ngn caught, they are
disposed Of either ior sporting purposes. for
which they commaad ready sale IN London
at u Cts per dozen, CT t!cy are Killed for the
sake Of their fur. which is extensively used
in getting up the unrivalled beaver hats sold
| by i'arisiun hatters. The hide also. is useful
for making the thumbs of the best $50 calIed)
kid gloves
Rats also commit great depredations in
slaughter houses and knackcts Yards. In
the severe froSts, when it is impossible to cut
up the bodies Of the horses and when the out
side flesh is too hard to feed upon, they enter
the body and deyour the flesh from the inside
so that when the thaw comes the workmen
find nothing below the skin bat skeleton,
better cleared Gifts fesh Than If it had been
done by the most shi.fal operator. When rats
have 40 other food they VIII destroy each 9th :
er. N. Majendie placed dozen rats IN b.x
in order to try some experiments, when lie
reached home and opened the box, there were
but three remaiuing. These had deyoured
the rest, and left only the bones and tail
These httle animals are indefatigable in the
pursuit Of food, and hardly any amount Of
procau.iJn can keep them from place where
they know there Is . supply 10 be had. The
proprictors Of bonded warehouses know this
to their cost. They infest the London Zooo-
gical Gardens, in immense numbers have
eaten their way through the copper wire ioor
OF the tigers dens. The proprietors OF the
gardens have been compelled in self defence
10 keep Z pack Of terriers to hunt them, by
whom as many as 2 hundred are sometimes
destroyed IN enc night
The propensity Of the rat TO cnaa through
even the hardest obstacles is not merely era
wing, but necessity. uis/teeth are so for
nled as to continually grow towards each 9th
er, SO that nothing but the constant wearing
away BY friction could prevent his inesors
from passing completely through his lips "a
good sized sewer rat can intiiet very severe
bites, even in soEle instances enabling him to
vanquish terrier dog or even ferret
There has been instances in which rats have
become thoroughly domestcated like a cat or
dog and when this is the case they render
good service by driving from the premises ali
others of their tribe One mode of riddipg a
house of rats is TO catch a single specimen.
and fasten a small bell round his neck. the
tinkling of which, as he approaches the haunts
Of his comrades, will frighten them away An
expert rat catcher however, familiar with the
habits of his prey, viii very soon clear house
of It's obnoxious visitants.
In China, where the excess Of population
has driven the inhabitants to economise every
species of food, rats are eaten and esteemed a
great luxury and cases are recorded in which
ships crews, when short of provisions, have
avenged themselves on the rats for lesseninr
the supplies, by cooking and eating them ia
the form Of baked pies, which it is said have
been deemed quite dainty by the partakers.
One Of the most common modes OF ridding
premises Of these unwelcome inmates, is that
OF administering arsenic to them. This, how
ever, is attended by very great danger. for
rats which have partaken of arsenic make at
once for the nearest water, aud if there be a
clstern in TIE house they are apt to poison it.
Our readers are aware that case of this kind
has recently occurred in Washington, in which
the lives OF President Buchanan and several
OF the most prominent politicians of the day
were placed IN imminent hazard by partakingy
or water from cistern, the contents Of which
have heen thus poisoned.
Boy" said fashionaMy dressed young
( MON to ha eor,-o-t of ono Of his