New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1912-07-27
-USE- -
|IAYLoR's PRIcKLy HEAT POWDER.

like in shape, and cont;nr.
grow throughout the life y i
animal. Only the front a. J,
teeth is covered with ensm.
provision which keeps them I
by the more rapid wearing y
of the softer dentine in d. n NJ
OF the tooth, as the upper II
lower pairs meet in gnaw;na
tween the incisors and ths Il i 4
or moIar, teeth of rodents tbs''
a wide, vacant space, maj.
the entire absence of canine,
The most extensive fams's
rodents is the Mudridae, J. y,
which applies to rats and ~; .''
the widest sense of those ss,'
1t is difficult to characteri,s
family, since its members ~
widely. However, most Of \
are rat-like in form and lios, N
active IN movements. Nom I
the family have premolan. :,
except in "a single genus n
Grmys) the number of mol.. \
three. Oldfield Thomas. IN. Il
inent Engl sh zoologist, inehaE
in this family no less than
genera, or almost half the TOT, I!
159 which he ascribes to the mn
order of Rodentia. He furIE
subdivides the Muridae inh +
dozen sub-families, of which
Nurinae and the Sigmodout,
are the most extensive. The M
eric etinae is now generally N
instead of Sismodontipae thn|
not always with the same EuI
tiops.
The Murinae comprise only #
World rats and mice, while 4
Cridotinae are, in the main, AL
lean forms. In the Murinaa T
cusps, or tubercles, Of the T
worn upper molars are arss|
trseriallu, or in three longitad5
rows; in the Cricetinas thsr L
arranged bisirially, one row Il
the outer and one on tie m
margin, The wearing aHay
these cusps leaves character
curved lines of hard enanel
rounding areas of define. N
the cusps are in pair the N
pattern looks somewhat Hks !
Greek letter sigma "a, VIA
the name sigmOdont, often
piled to native American rsh
mice.
The Murinae are the tru(
and mice, typif;ed by t. h
Mus, which contains By A.
larges number Of species. m
sart, in his Catalogus Manu.
enumerates 260 species Il IA
described before 1905. Sinrt
date a number of new forms n
been described.
The genus Mus L charaeten
by narrow, ungrooyed incix
three small, rooted moIars; 4
fur MIXED with hairs aolfsI
with spines; a rudimentafy AZ
having a short nail instead I
claw; a hong tad hearing rlnr
overlapping scales ard "A
naked or nearly so. The e6ns
rather large, the eyes bright 4
prominent, and the muzzk ~
what pointed. The mmhel
the genus are natives Of TIE
World, throughout which, u
the exception Of Madagase1f,
are quite generally distfA1
Nearly seven-eighths Of thelu
number of species ars csIlIn
called rats.
The distinction between
and mice is arbitrary and -
on size. Exclusive Of ~
rats may be said to vary n ~
from 4 IL to 10 inches o. =
! while mice measures iron z
inches. With few excortN
rats have six well-defned
pads (planter tulnrcles), "
the hind foot bing lDne1M
shape; the last hind-foot ~
mice is usually circular.
OF the many species Of Mc11
three or four have develops
ability TO adapt themselves y
a variety of conditions a.
come cosmopolitan. -Four
| have found lodgment in Ar!
The common house mouse
musculus) /; the old Enelish
rat (Mas rattus); the Eeyp
| or roof, rat Mus alexandra
/ and the brown rat (Mus morn
cus), known also as the eray
barn rat, wharf rat, sewer y
and Norway rat. The blaek
and the roof rat differ from =
other chiefly in color.
! some biologists regard thG
| races of the same species,
! trinominal Mus rattus allen.
us for the roof rat il nov =
among biologists.
| (Continued in our next