VERMIN (Fr. vermine, formed as if from

See also:

• LAT

Lat. verminus, vcrmis, a

See also:

• WORM

worm)  , the collective name applied to various classes of objectionable, harmful or destructive animals . To game-keepers and those interested in the preservation of game, all animals such as the pole-cat, weasel, stoat, hawks, owls, &c., which destroy the eggs or young of preserved birds, are classed as '` vermin," and the same term Includes rats, mice, &c . It is also the collective name given to all those disgusting and objectionable insects that infest 'human beings, houses, &c., when allowed to be in a filthy and unsanitary condition, such as bugs, fleas, lice, &c .