of the fore-feet, but are a little stouter, and have more spread. The inner one, representing
a thumb, is nearly as long as the outer one, though it is situated further back. The
posterior half of the sole is hairy. The claws are like those of the fore-feet.
D im e n s io n s .
Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines.
Length of the head and body • , 9 0 Length from the wrist joint to the end of the
,, tail (vertebrae) 6 6 middle claw .. . . 0 8
„ tail with the fur . 7 6 ,, of the middle fore-toe and daw . 0 5
,, whiskers . . 3 6 ,, from heel to the end of the middle
Height of the ears posteriorly . 0 10 daw , - • , . 1 6
Breadth of ditto . 0 9 „ of the middle hind-toe and claw . 0 7
Distance from the tip of the nose to the „ of the fur-on the back . 1 0
anterior angle of the orbit . . » 0 11 Height of the back of the prepared specimen
standing on its palms and soles . . 3 9
•f 1. Mus r a t t u s . (Linn.) The Black Rat.
G e n u s . M us. C u v i e r .
_ Black Rat. P e n n a n t , Arct. Zool., voL i.p. 129. G o d m a n , Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 83.,
Mus rattus. H arla n, Fauna,]). 148.
This Rat was, most probably, not originally an inhabitant of North America, but
was brought thither by the early European visitors of that continent. It seems to
have multiplied exceedingly fast in its new quarters, until the introduction of the
still more destructive brown rat thinned its numbers, and it has now become as
rare as it is in Europe, from the same cause. We did not observe the black rat
in any part of the fur countries ; and I may also venture to affirm, that it has not
advanced farther north than the plains of the Saskatchewan. Indeed, I have no
other reason for supposing that it may have got so far, than that an animal
resembling a Musk-Rat, with a long round tail, is mentioned by the Indians of that
quarter, under the name of meest&hce appeceooshees.
-j- 2. Mus d e c u m a n u s . (Linn.) The Brown Rat.
Brown Rat. Penxast, Arct. Zool., vol. i. p. 130. G o d m a n , Nat. Hill., vol. ii. p. '78.
This very destructive animal came, according to the accounts of historians, from
Asia to Europe about the beginning of the seventeenth century; was unknown m
England before 1730, and, according to Dr. Harlan, did not make its appearance
in North America until the year 1775. Pennant, writing in 1785, says he has no
authority for considering it to be an inhabitant of the new continent, although he
thinks it probable that it must by that time have been carried thither in ships. It
is now very common in Lower Canada; but I was informed that in 1825 it had
not advanced much beyond Kingston in Upper Canada. We did not observe it
in the fur countries; and if it does exist there, it is only at the mouth of the
Columbia River, or at the factories on the shores of Hudson’s Bay.
f 3. Mus m u s c u l u s . (Linn.) The Common Mouse.
Mouse. P e n n a n t , Arct. Zool., vol. i. p. 131.
Mus musculus. Say, Long's Etcped., vol. i. p. 262.
Common Mouse. G o d m a n , Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p- 84s
I have seen a dead mouse in a storehouse at York Factory filled with packages
from England, and it is probable that the species may have been introduced into
all the posts on the shores of Hudson’s Bay; but I never heard of its being taken
in the fur countries at a distance from the sea-coast. Mr. Say informs us, that
it was introduced at Engineer Cantonment, on the Missouri, by Major Long s
expedition.