[Letters to Editor]

Abstract

I AM not opposed to Dr. Darwin's teachings, nor do I care much whether science proves that man is descended from Adam or from some extra clever race of monkeys, so long as the truth is established. In regard to the explanation given at p. 365 of the rats eating the pipe to get at the water because they “heard the water trickling”, I am inclined to look at the matter in a simple matter-of-fact way, and so feel inclined to think they cut the pipe because it was somehow in their way. Lead and blocktin gas-pipes are found cut in a similar way. Now, are they cut to get at the gas? Lead waste-pipes are also often found so cut, both from the outside and inside. I happen to be a practical plumber myself, and have had to deal with rats in many ways, but I scarcely think that “the reasoning power of the rat” in this case has been properly reasoned out.