good. Rats are very fond of either. 9. Take two ounces of carbonate of
barytes, and mix with one pound of suet or tallow, place a portion of
this within their holes and about their haunts. It is greedily eaten,
produces great thirst, and death ensues after drinking. This is a very
effectual poison, because it is both tasteless and odorless. 10. Take
one ounce of finely powdered arsenic, one ounce of lard; mix these
into a paste with meal, put it about the haunts of rats. They will eat
of it greedily. 11. Make a paste of one ounce of flour, one-half gill
of water, one drachm of phosphorus, and one ounce of flour. Or, one
ounce of flour, two ounces of powdered cheese crumbs, and one-half
drachm of phosphorus; add to each of these mixtures a few drops of the
oil of rhodium, and spread this on thin pieces of bread like butter;
the rats will eat of this greedily, and it is a sure poison. 12. Mix
some ground plaster of paris with some sugar and indian meal. Set it
about on plates, and leave beside each plate a saucer of water. When
the rats have eaten the mixture they will drink the water and die. To
attract them toward it, you may sprinkle on the edges of the plates
a little of the oil of rhodium. Another method of getting rid of rats
is, to strew pounded potash on their holes. The potash gets into their
coats and irritates the skin, and the rats desert the place. 13. The
dutch method: this is said to be used successfully in holland; we
have, however, never tried it. A number of rats are left together to
themselves in a very large trap or cage, with no food whatever; their
craving hunger will, at last, cause them to fight and the weakest will
be eaten by the others; after a short time the fight is renewed, and
the next weakest is the victim, and so it goes on till one strong
rat is left. When this one has eaten the last remains of any of the
others, it is set loose; the animal has now acquired such a taste for
rat-flesh that he is the terror of ratdom, going round seeking what
rat he may devour. In an incredibly short time the premises are