SCIENTIFIC RATCATCHING.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 379, 17 October 1868, Page 7

SCIENTIFIC RATCATCHING.

According to the French Iloniteur, there are in France upwards of two thousand millions of rats and other rodents. Supposing each of these little qadrupeds to commit the damage of only one centime per aunum, this loss would amount in the aggregate to twenty millions of francs annually. Hence it is most desirable to find some means of destroying this vermin in large numbers as expeditiously as possible. Nux-vomica, arsenic, phos» phorus, and traps have been successfuly tried, but with no very decided success. and certaiuly not equal to the rate of increase of these prolific creatures. Reeent experiments, however, show that squills (Scylla maritima), the enormous bulbous root of which is much used in medicine, is not only a powerful poison tor rodents but also one that they are very fond of. The way of preparing it for the desired purpose is as follows :—One of the bulbs is cut into slices, hashed and bruised, then done in the pan with fat, which is afterwards strained through a cloth, and poured into broken plates or saucers, to be placed in the cellers and other places infested by rats, mice, &c. To prevent dogs and poultry from eating this poisonous compound, in stables, pigeon-houses, or farmyards, it may be put into a wooden box about lift, long, and having a hole at each end. The rat gets in at one end and goes out at the other, after partaking of the noxious food, which soon kills it. Squills may also be reduced to powder for the same purpose, by bruising them in a morter to a pulp, which is afterwards incorporated with as much flour as it will hold. This paste is afterwards rolled out, as they do for a pudding, then cut into shreds, which are left to dry on hurdles or on sheets of cardboard, and are afterwards pounded into a morter. The powder thus obtained will keep for years, and may be put into boxes or barrels. If manufactured on a large scale it may become a profitable article of exportation. In Algeria squills cost nothing, the country being absolutely over run with them. They have a different notion in dealing with the question in America, where a correspondent of the Scientific American recommends the following method of catching rats iu a cheap and effectual manner:— Cover a common barrel with stiff

stout paper, tying the edge round the barrel; place a board so that the rata may have easy access to the top; sprinkle cheese parings or other food for the rats, on the paper for some days, until they begin to believe that they have a right to their daily rations I from this source. Then place in the bottom of the barrel a peice of rock about six or seven inches high, filling with water until only enough of it projects above the water for one rat to ludge upon. Now replace the paper, first cutting a cross in the middle, and the first rat comes on the barrel, goes through into the water and climbs on the rock. The paper comes back to its place, and the second rat follows the first. Then begins a fight for the dry on the stone, the noise of which attracts the rest, who share the same fate.