The following is a brief notice of the species of true mice (that is to say, those generally included in the genus Mus) inhabiting the British Isles.
Rats and mice, especially the guayabita (Mus musculus), an extremely destructive rodent, are very abundant.
Zoologically, there is no distinction between mice and rats; these names being employed respectively for most or all of the smaller and larger "mouselike" and "rat-like" representatives of the Muridae, whether they belong to the genus Mus or not.
With the exception of Madagascar, the genus Mus ranges over practically the whole of the Old World, having indigenous representatives even in Australasia; while the house-mouse, with man's involuntary aid, has succeeded in establishing itself throughout the civilized world.
History (April 1899); "On the Species of the genus Mus inhabiting St Kilda," Proc. Zool.
