Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1895 — Mice Made to Work. [ARTICLE]

Mice Made to Work.

A Scotchman has invented a threadspinning aparatus, and is said to have trained two mice to work it The mechanical principle of the contrivance is a small mill which is operated by f the paws of the mice. They can each wind on and off from 100 to 120 pieces of thread per day, and to do this they must supply a motor power by which a course of miles could be traversed. It is assorted that the mice perform this task daily without apparent fatigue, and that a half penny worth of flour furnishes them with food enough for five weeks. During that time the little animals have spun about 3,850 threads each, a yard and a half in length. The twinkling of the stars forebodes bad weather, because it shows that there are aerial currents of different temperatures, thus probably indicating atmospheric disturbances.