IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE.

Southland Times, Issue 21219, 21 October 1930, Page 8

IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE.

WHAT MICE MAY DO. The authors of an interesting report published by the United States Bureau of Bio logical Control on the subject of mouse extermination estimate that there are at least as many mice as people in the world, and that the damage caused by each rodent amounts approximately to 4d a year. They quote the case of a mouse gnawing the insulation from a high potential light transformer, ..and as a result plunging three large cities in darkness and upsetting the street car services for half an hour. Another mouse is reported to have run up the trouser leg of a prominent judge, who let go the wheel of liis automobile and was killed. Great numbers of fires are attributed to mice gnawing electric wires, and many valuable papers have been lost through the depredations of these ever present rodents. Such spectacular damage, however, is the exception, and it is the every-day' gnawing and despoliation of these tiny animals that determine their economic status.