Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-11-26
STORY OF THE TRUMPET RAT"


How a Clever French Zouave Duped an
U-nsuspecting Naturalist.
When the French a were first
in Africa a new sort of rat made its ap-
p%earance there. Ii was called the
trumpet rat. having a long probos-
els. The sale of a specimen by one Of
the soldiers to an enthusiastic natural
list gave rise to an action at law. Said
the plaintiff in court:
This zouave has cheated me out Of
100 francs. He knows that | am much
interested in natural sciences. | have
collections Of fossils. Of shells. of rare
animals, Of curious plants. One day
he called upon me and said Sir, /
have a kind Of animal which has never
been mentioned 10y any naturalist. IL
l. a trumpet rat, and has a trunk like an
elephants. IL Is alive and well. II
You wish 70 see it you have only 10
come 10 my house
Il was very anxious 10 behold this
strange animal. We arrived at his
house and he showed me in a cage an
enormous rat. very lively and iu good
condition, which really had on it, nose
"a slender cNcre>ceuce more than ana
inch iu length. The eNcre,ceuce wa,
covered with hair like the body of tine
animal, with vertebre iu il. and 0a
most extraordinary % u-I larger at the
summit than at the l-e-the contrary
TO what it ought O. Dee iu tine usual
course Of things 20 convince myself
that i- was not "a dr pc and % my~tiHc1-
ton / stuck "a D.. into the trumpet
The animal cried out and "a drop of
blood came from the prick. The az.
perimentl was COZ Iusive. Il was really
"a trumpet foruI = part of the rat.
Il was maze . asked thi, man If
he would sell b rat. lie said Yes. and
/ paid him ty francs for 10. Nv
friends and ser amt all admired il. and
/ was enchanted Ny rat was "a male
Some one said To me that / ought o.
procure a female. ] asked the zpuave
if he could procure for m. O. f--
male, and he said be bad .ru
l saw them and bought .
them for fifty francs. some
afterward the female hai r.
looked at them and they I.I ..
pets. l said 20 myself
sprout. l waited one month
months. six months; every
looked at the noses of my rats. ....'
trumpets never appeared.
In a house where ! 20 fregr..
made the acquaintance of am officer
who had served "a long time in Africa.
i told him about my trumpet rats and
he laughed as though his sides would
split. When he was calm again he
told me that the trumpet rat was not a
freak of nature. but an invention due
20 the leisure moments Of the zouaves
This is how they make them: You take
two rats and fasten their paws firmly
10 a board, the nose Of one close 70 the
end Of the tail Of the other. Then
with a penknife or a lancet YOU make
an incision into the nose Of the rat
which is hindermost and you graft the
tail Of the first into the nose: YOU tie
firmly the muzzle 70 the tail and YOU
leave the two rats in this position for
forty-eight hours.
AT the end Of that time the union
has taken place and the TWO parts are
together then you cut off the
tail Of the rat which il go front 20 the re-
quired length and LEI him 20. but still
keep the other fastened 10 the board
with his head loose. and you give him
something 20 eat. At the end Of a fort
the wound is perfectly healed and
the eye of rhe most curious investigator
would not see "a trace Of the grating.
Tins is the way the zouaves make rats
with trumper~.
On the part Of the defendant it was
that he had certainly made up
the rats a, stated, but he affirmed that
be had not sold themLt 20 the plaintiff as
being born with tfimpets. Verdict
Tor the z~0uave.-Washington Star