The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-06-25
The Rats Of Europe-ArmIes OF
Them.

An Interesting article recently appear
ed in l. Fig1ro. giving an account Q
the INVASION OF Europe by The brown
rats. PrOr 70 their coming The blaSI
rats were Que Of the scourges OF EuroUe
but they were driven from their stroug
hold b. tie >urulalot, or brown rat
Here j. the portrait OF this new
.courge OF God Long. coarse. scanty
reddish ;u~r,-repellant smell. ierociou,
aspect. Lives in sewers and cutters
Very rapid ~propagators having ten o.
twelve young al 4 time very daring
strong, fierce, filthy and ~yoraciOus. Pos
sessee al the vice, and all tlle worsl
instincts or ~ronquerlug races. Alas
such races stll exist IN the world o.
men,-to the shame o.: humanity
In the spring 0: the year l727 an
awful army Of brown rats lett Persia.
their native country. The army divided
Itself INTO three columns.
The first column. following tile shore
Of the Caspian Sea. had commenced to
TO swim the Eolga River, when a sud
den rise OF water caused it 10 lose a great
part Of It's effects and the river banks
were long infected with inuumerablc
corpses OF the drowned Those who
survived the disaster threw themselves
upon tie city OF Astrakhan, took it by
storm, and pillaged il for three months,
alter which the satiated hordes advanc-
ed, by way, of KEEL, upon GalIcia, aud
thence spread themselves few in Z years
al over SaXOny and Prussia.
In the meanwhile the other two col
umns, separated by only a few leagues
distance, crossed the great chain OF the
Caucasus, and descended in famished
millions upon Southern Russia. Their
passage was marked by 1.-TWO vast swaths
OF deyasted territory, over which every
thing eatable-even to the leaves of
trees-had been devoured. The houses
were SO riddled that daylight was visi-
bic through them; and over all the
naked fields nothing was visible hut the
bleaching bones Of animals deyoured by
these rayenous hordcs.
Finally the invaders. greatly reduced
in numbers by privations and battles,
scattered themselves through bohemia,
where the wreck of their great army
long sOiourned without creatin" any
great excitement.
The vanguard of the Brown-Rat army
crossed the Rhine in the month Of july.
1881. 1t advanced only by night, through
woods and harvest fields and SO well
were the movements of the force con-
cealed that It's presence was not observed
until it had gained the heights of Saint
Denis.
In the month of October following.
the market gardeners OF the PLANE des
Vertus related that, for seven whole
nights, they had watched enormous rats
running toward Paris in infinite multi
tude. The roads were alive with them.
black with them the ground was COM
pletely hidden by their long and closely
packed columns. 1t was the fantastic
hlllng-by OF a whole nation rushing to
war-pourlng into subterranean Paris
through innumerable openings.
The brown rats OF the sl1ughter-houses
descended the Rue Lafayette one fine
and took their way to the Bots de
Boulogne-their destination seems to
have been the Avenue de Longchamps.
They trotted along in regular battalliol.s.
N very close ranks, right along the mid
die of the street. The few eye-wit
nesses of that extraordinary spectacle
all testify to the perfect order displayed,
md h a iron discipline to which the
brown rats have always owed their won
tertul success. Wherever the leader
goes, all the rest follow. fla vehicle
;rosses the dark line, they. the fanatical
slaves OF order, turn aside-not
.ne of them will quit his place in the
to save himself from the crushing
eet otthe horses or the merciless wheels
the vehicle. A rear guard, chosen
lmong the most voracious veterans. is.
such cases, charged with the duty of
ievouring the dead. the lame ana the
aggard.
Meanwhile the rats ofthe Bots de Bou-
ogne, having been warned by vigilant
'entlnels, advanced to meet the invader
n order OF battle. The struggle was
ltroclOus, without truce or quarter. The
lead and the wounded encumbering the
We're, without exception, de-
by the survivors. But whichever
lde was victorious, the people of Au-
eull had to pay the cost of war; for the
yanquished took refuge in their homes,
nd did not fail 10 commit the usual dep
relations.
For more than a half a century, ever
lnce they became masters of Paris. the
'rown rats have multiplied exceedingly,
Until their numbers are frightful to think
II. In one single establishment. where
he carcasses of the old horses are utiliz-
ID, for fertilizer manufactured 2 a man
lad s., 900 rats killed on a wager in one
week and their numbers, nevertheless
eemed not In the least diminished. The
.lllers at once comprehended their help
essness In the presence of such hordes,
stopped the massacre for very stupe,
action.
At the present moment the rats are
tosely, packed in that vast network of
which underlies the great city,
IN unaccustomed movement among
hem, as OF change Of residence, and MANY
umultuous assemblies, evident show that
hey are preparing for another expedi
o u