MOUSE

(Lat. mus; probably from the Greek (jlviiv, to hide.) The pretty but annoying little Rodent quadruped which infests human dwellings and granaries is usually understood by this word; the other small species of the genus Mus being distinguished by some prefix, as harvest mouse, field mouse; and the larger species of the same genus being termed " rats." (For the generic characters of the mouse, see Mus.) The common mouse, like the rest of the genus, and indeed the whole of its order, is remarkable for its fecundity; it produces ordinarily five or six young ones at a birth, and this several times in the course of the year. In a fortnight the young are able to leave the mother and a ume an independent existence, and these are soon again able to reproduce. The harvest mouse (Mus me or i us) is the smallest of known mammals; the length of the head and body is two inches and a half. Its nest is beautifully and elaborately constructed of the panicles and leaves of three steins of the common reed interwoven together, and forming a roundish ball suspended on the living plants at a height of about five inches from the ground. The field mouse is about the size of the house mouse, but is distinguished by its larger eyes and ears. Many small mouse-like quadrupeds are commonly termed "mice" which really belong to a different genus, or even order; as the dormouse, the field vole, the shrew, &-c. Mouse. In Naval Affairs, a hump or knot worked on a rope, to prevent a noose from slipping. [s. 789]