The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-14

own. Nature originally intended that the
brown rat should have one part of The
earth for its habitation, the back rat an
other section, and the white-bellied rodents
a third division. While these great ma
tons oVerlapped each other a little, their
boundaries were pretty arbitrarily fixed
by the great oceans and other large bodies
of water. A colony of powerful rats might
swim across the straits and channels sep
arating two islands, and thus take posses
sion of a new country for their descend
ants, but they could not hope to cross the
Atlantic or Pacific and journey unaided
from England 10 America, or from this
country to Australia.
So 1t was that the ships of men brought
about the FIRST great change in the distri-
button of ratss-sF From the first the rats
took to ships as ducks take to water.
They found grain, provisions, and water
in the hulls of The Old wooden ships of
two centuries ago, and ever since then
they have reared a race Of hearty eeamen
that know the ways of the ocean as well
as any jack tar. They have been travelling
back aud forth TO all parts of the earth for
many centuries now, and they have Gre
ated great changes in the rat population
of the globe
This country never had any typical rats
Representatives of the genus Mus-until
the old black English rat came over here
on the ships of the early colonisis. Ac-
cording to the best authorities, this rodent
originally came from India, from which
it has penetrated to every part of the hab-
liable globe. Wherever ships go these
black rats are found. In three centuries
they have penetrated to every mainland
and island of the tropical, temperate, and
Arctic zones. They have become familiar
objects on all ships that travel the seas,
and they are the wharf rats of every sea-
port, differing only a little in size and col
or. according to the abundance Of the
food and the nature of the climate. In
temperate regions the English black at
is of a blush black, but in tropical coun-
tries H. is often several shades lighter. II
Is about seven 40 eight inches long, with
tail about one inch longer than its body.
For two centuries this English black rat
held undisputed sway on the ships of the
worlds commercial navies, and they dis
trbuted themselves over the greater part
of the worlds surface, Then gradually
there appeared upon the seas another rat,
differing materially from the black rat.
This alien creature had black body with
a white belly Sometimes the body was a
reddish gray, which made the creature
look larger and fiercer than it really was.
A trihe larger and stronger than the black
rat the white helied, or AlsXandriap, rat
made war upon the English rodents. The
two could never ship upon the same vessel.
There would be a war to the death before
cessful race would hold undisputed sway
on that particular vessel This new race
of rats came from the tropical countries.
Every ship that started from Galapagos,
Keeling. or Ascension Island was sure 10
carry away with il a company Of The
white-belliod rats. They would board the
ship as soon as she was tied up at the
wharf, and the English black rats would
be ruthlessly destroyed. Then the hercer
Alexandrian rats would sail away to an
known ports. IL soon became evident chat
they liked tUarm countries, and they re-
fused 10 land at any except tropical
port. Thus they have spread to nearly all
tropical countries. especially in south
America and our Southern states, leaving
the colder countries for their black rivals.
A ship that comes into port with Alex
andrian rats on board undoubtedly halls
from some tropical land, and they do not
come ashore to settle down as inhabii-
ants.
But more recently a third race of rats
I has appeared upon the ships, and these
threaten to exterminate and displace both
the black and Alexandrian rodents. This
brown or Norway rat is a native Of China
and the interior of Asia. Ii is huge, f.
| rocious creature, and wherever il goes it
destroys al competitors and takes COM