Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 July 1884 — The Economical Mice of Iceland. [ARTICLE]

The Economical Mice of Iceland.

Dr. Henderson, in his Travels, gives his testimony to the correctness of th« nular belief amongst the natives oi and, of the remarkable instinct of a species of monse, the accounts of which have been doubted by Borne naturalists. He says: ‘‘This animal, which is supposed by Olafsen and Povelson (writers on zoology) to be a variation of the wood, or economical mouse, displays a surprising degree of sagacity, both in conveying home its provisions, and the manner in whioh it stocks them in the magazine appropriated for that purpose. In a country, says Mr. Pennant, where berrios are but thinly dispersed, these little animals are obliged to cross rivers to make their distant forages, their return with the booty to the majm azmes, they are obliged to ropass tfll stream; of which Mr. Olafsen (Olufsen and Povelson) gives the following account : ‘The party, which consists of from six to ten, select a flat piece of some light substance on which they place the berries on a heap in the middle; thon, by their united force, bring it to the water’s edge, and, after launching it, embark, and place temselves round the heap, with the heads joined over it, and their baoks to the water, their tails pendant in the stream, serving the purpose of rudders.’ Mr. Hooker, in his ‘Tour in Iceland,’ ridicules the idea of any such process, and says, that every sensible Icelander laughs at tlio accouut ns fabulous.” Dr. Henderson then goes on to corroborate the statements of Olafsen and Pennant: ‘‘Haviug boon apprised of the doubts that wore eutortained on this subject, before setting out on my second excursion I made a point oi inquiring of different individuals as to the reality of the account, and lam happy in being able to say, that it is now established an an important faot in natural history, by the testimony of Wo eyq witnesses of unquestionable voracity, the clergyman of Briamshek, and Madame Benediction, of Btickesliolm, both of whom assured m« that they had seen the expedition performed repeatedly. Madame li. in particular recollected h.iv ng spent a whole afternoon, in her younger days, at the margin of a lake on which these skillful navi-

galops had embarked, and amused herself and her companions by .driving them away from the sides of the lake as they approached them. I was also ' informed that they make use of dried mushrooms i s sacks, in which they convey their provisions to the river, and thence to their homes. Nor is the structure of their nests less remarkable. From the surface of the ground a long passage runs into the earth, similar to that of the Icelandic houses, and terminates in a large and deep hole, intends ed to receive any water that may firm its way through the passage, and searing at the same time os a place for th«r novel craft. About two-thirds of the Sassage, in two diagonal roads, lead to leir sleeping apartment and the magazine, which they always contrive to keep from wet.”— The Eye.