NEW RAT EXTERMINATOR.
The latest method of destroying rats comes from New York, and is reported to be the discovery of a Mrs Benedict, of that city. The lady’s modus operandi, which was discovered by accident, is as follows :—A vessel containing a mixture of flour anil plaster of Paris was placed, side by side with another vessel containing water, in the locality frequented by the rodent species. The rats, attracted by the smell of the flour, speedily assembled, and after eating their fill of the dry substance, proceeded to dilute it with copious libations.from the adjoining vessel. Everybody who lias bad to do with plaster of Paris will guess at once what happened. The water drunk first wetted the plaster in the rat’s stomach, and then, in technical phrase, “ set ” it; that is to say, the plaster thus made into a paste instantly grew bard in each rat’s stomach, making a cast of all its convolutions, The event proved that with such a cast in existence it is impossible for a rat to retreat even across a kitchen. The next morning thirteen of them lay dead in a circle around the dish. Mrs Benedict, like a wise woman, kept her counsel and made a profit of it by selling the secret to various agents throughout
the country, and it is stated that the remedy was never known to fail in a single instance.
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Bibliographic details
Patea Mail, 7 December 1880, Page 4
Word Count
234NEW RAT EXTERMINATOR. Patea Mail, 7 December 1880, Page 4
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