Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/22

 MOUSE ton, Lafayette, and Lincoln. Members o: legislative, civic, military, and other associa tions usually wear a piece of crape on the lef arm on public occasions for 30 days after th< death of a comrade. MOUSE, the common name of the smaller members of the rodent subfamily murince, This subfamily is characterized by incisors smooth in front and compressed laterally ; mo- lars f if or fif, rooted, the anterior the largest ; the ante-orbital foramen a deep narrow slit, widening above ; palate mostly on one plane ; the descending branch of the lower jaw has not the angles above the plane of the crowns of the molars ; other characters in the palate and lower jaw sufficiently distinguish them from arvicolinm or meadow mice ; feet usually naked beneath ; the hind legs the longest and five-toed, the anterior with only four and a kind of a wart for a thumb; clavicles com- plete ; tail scaly, with hairs between the whorls of the scales. They hold their food in the fore paws, and sit on their haunches to eat it ; most of them burrow and swim well. ^Reserving the larger species for the article EAT, this subfamily may be subdivided into two princi- pal groups : mures, confined in the wild state entirely to the old world; and sigmodontes, exclusively American. The former have very large and broad molars, with three tubercles in each transverse series of the upper jaw ; the latter have narrower molars, with two tuber- cles in each similar series. A third group, merionides, intermediate to the above, with plane molars and transverse complete lamellae, is found in Africa and central Asia. In the murine group of this subfamily, the genus mus (Linn.) has the molars of opposite sides parallel to each other, no cheek pouches, the upper lip divided, the whiskers in five series, the nose sharp and hairy to the cleft, and the large, prominent ears nearly naked; the nails are short, pointed and curved; palms naked, with five small balls, those of the hind feet the largest ; the hair is soft and fine ; the mammae are ten, three pairs on the House Mouse (Mus musculus). lower abdomen and two pairs on the chest, ftore than 50 species are described, including tte house rats; the only one here called a mouse is the common little creature of our houses (M. musculus, Linn.). This varies much in color, from almost black to pure white; the albino or white mice are a mere variety of the common animals, but have the ability of propagating their race inter se. " Singing mice " do not differ in appearance from ordinary mice, but make, especially at night, a whistling noise somewhat like the feeble chirp of a canary bird. The house mouse was originally a native of Europe and central Asia, but is now spread over most in- habited regions of the world ; in some parts of the United States, and particularly in newly settled districts, it is replaced by the white- footed mouse, which commits about as much mischief in houses and out-buildings as the common mouse. Of European field mice may be mentioned the M. syhaticus (Linn.), or wood mouse, found in fields and gardens, where it makes large deposits of provisions in sub- terranean burrows, laying up grain, nuts, acorns, &c., for winter use. It is smaller than Nest and Head of Harvest Mouse. white below ; the hind legs,are so long that it moves by jumps, making the transition to me- riones (111.). The harvest mouse (M. minutus, Pall. ; M. messorius, Shaw) is only 2 in. from end of nose to root of tail, this being about J in. more. These tiny mice make nests of eaves and straws among standing corn and in n winter they retire to burrows and corn ricks ; the color is ruddy above and white be- ow. The lineated mouse (M. pumilio, Gmel.), ! rom the Cape of Good Hope, weighs less than four scruples (80 grains). Some mice of the genus dendromys (Smith) live on trees ; the ipper incisors are grooved, the fore feet three- s thinly haired and ringed ; here belongs the M. mesomelas (Licht.). Among the American or sigmodont mice are the genera reithrodon Waterh.) and hesperomys (Waterh.). Neoto-
 * he house mouse, reddish gray above, and
 * histles, and are often carried into barns with
 * he harvest, where they live and multiply;
 * oed with a thumb-like wart, and the long tail