The Opelousas courier., 1892-01-30
THE QUEER WAYS0F RATS
UNPLEASANT LITTLE BEASTS,
BUT WORTH STUDYING.
What Their Tails Are Good For
Clothes of Their Skins-Teaching
Them Tricks-Ra ats as Food.

| What Their Tails Are Good FOR
Clothes of Their skins-Teaching
Them Tricks-Rats as Food.
A rats tail is a wonderful thing. The
great naturalist, Cuyier, says that there
are more muscles in this curious append
age than are to be found in that part of
the human anatomy which is most adj
mired for its ingenious structure-namely,
the hand. To the rat, in fact, its tail
serves as a sort of hand, by means of
which the animal is enabled to crawl
along narrow lodges or other difficult
passages, using it to balance with or to
gain a hold. 1t is prehensile, like the
tails of some monkeys. By means OF 1t
the little beast can jump up heights
otherwise inaccessible, employing it as a
projectile spring.
1t has often been said thW the glove
makers of Paris make use in their trade
| of the skins of rats which are caught in
the sewers, but this is denied. Certainly,
says the Washington Star, the material
would not be strong enough to success
fully counterfeit the kid, unless it were
for the thumb parts only, which are gen.
| orally of a thinner and different kind of
leather from the rest. Suggestion has
| been made that the trade might be
opened with the Chinese for the skins of
the rats they cat. A thrifty Welshman
at one time exhibited himself publicly in
England attired in a costume composed
from top to toe of ratskins, which he had
| spent three years and a half in collecting.
The dress was made entirely by himself.
1t consisted of hat, neckerchieF, coat,
| waistcoat, trousers, tippet, CATERS and
shoes. The number of rats required to
complete the suit was $40. Most curious
of the garments was the tippet, com-
| posed entirely of rats tails. At one
time a batch of several thousand ratskins
was imported from France into England
for manufacturing purposes, but they
were found too small and too fine III
texture to be useful.
DR.. auckland says that many OF the
elephants tusks brought to London for
the use of workers in ivory are observed
| to have their surfaces grooved into small
burrows Of unequal depth as though cut
out by a very sharp-edged instrument.
This is done by rats, which are fond of
the gelatine or animal glue in the sub
stance. The ivory cutter selects for his
purposes by preference those tusks which
have been gnawed in this way, because
they are the ones which contain the most
gelatine and are therefore the best in
material. Curiously enough, the trade,
while giving this much recognition to
the rats work, has not recognized them
as the authors of it, the common belief
in the business being that the ivory has
been thus gnawed by alligators. How
it is imagined that alligators get chance
to chew elephants tusks is a problem.
How many people have ever eaten Jelly
made from elephants tusks? Yet it is
very good indeed. In, the English
factories where many tons of ivory are
sawn up annually to make handles for
knives and forks, great quantities of
ivory dust are obtained. This dust is
sold at the rate of sixpence a pound,
and, when properly boiled and prepared,
it makes the finest, purest and most
nutritious animal jelly known. Years
ago ivory jelly was a very fashionable
remedy and much sought after.
Rats are remarkably intelligent ami
mails, as may be perceived from the diff
Guilty that is experienced in catching
them. They can be taught many tricks.
Among other things it is possible to
make them learn how to beg, to jump
through a hoop, to drag a little cart in
harness and to carry sticks or money.
Rats have never found favor as a deli
cacy for the table in Europe or in this
country, but in many lands they are EEL
ished as an article of diet. The slaves
of Jamaica used to regard them as a
dainty, their masters not providing them
with any other meat. Their method OF
cooking the toothsome rodents was to
impale each n OF a long wooden
skewer, after cleaning the animal and
cutting off the tail, turning it briskly
around over a fire until the hair was all
burnt off. Then it was scraped until
free from fur, and finally the end of the
skewer was stuck into the ground, in
clined toward the fire until it was toasted
dry and crisp, thus being made ready
for the meal. Rats may commonly be
seen for sale in the markets of any Chin
ese town, split and pressed under a heavy
weight, SO as to look somewhat like dried
fish. In this shape the pig-tailed orien-
tai buys them, soaks them in water and
then boils, roasts or fries them.
Rats cause great annoyance on board
of ships. DR.. Kane said that if asked
what, after darkness, cold and scurvy,
were. the three besetting curses of his arc
tic s%ojourn, he would say rats, rats, rats.
Nevertheless, when in distress for other
food, he was afterward very glad to eat
the pests. He writes:
Through the long winter night Hans
used TO beguile his lonely hours of watch
by shooting rats with bow aud arrow.
The repugnance of my associates to share
with me this table luxury gave me fire.
quent advantage of fresh-meat soup,
which contributed no doubt to my COM
p~arative immunity from scurVy."
Again he writes: sour diet will be
only a stock Of meat biscuit, to which /
shall add for myself a few rats chopped