THE LATEST RAT STORY.

Evening Star, Issue 2963, 17 August 1872, Page 4

THE LATEST RAT STORY.

A very curious story by the Sydney Morning Hera'd “ The craving for food by the helph b > young has in many cases been knov q to piompt kittens and whelps to take milk from very different genera of the mammalia; but one of the most extaordinary incidents of this nature is related to have occurred lately in Sydney. The circumstance hjg no .such features as would render publicity objectionable, and the authenticity of the subjoined statement is vouched hy the husband of the woman referred to. Mrs Byrne is a married women, residing in Devonshire street, Sydney—her husband, a native of the Colony, being well known in the metropolis. Some months ago she bore twins, one of which died, and the surviving infant (now about seven months old) became ailing. This the mother attributed to an insufficiency of milk. For several days she observed peculiar scratches about her bosom, unlike those that would be produced by the child. However, she ascribed them to the efforts of the child when hungry at night to get at the breast, and took the precaution to pare the child’s nails. Still fresh scratches were noticed. No rats had been seen about the room until the cat started one, which had found a hiding-place behind a small cask. Immediately the rat found itself chased it ran to Mrs Byrne, as if for shelter. The scratches on her breast were at once identi* fied as those produced by a rat’s claws, and the impression that this creature had robbed her during the night of the milk for which her child was pining was supported by the fact that when the rat was killed she had a plentiful supply. Is it possible that our respected contemporary can have been hoaxed ?