218 SOME SOUTH INDIAN INSECTS. ETC. [CHAP. XXIII. 



01 i upied. In careful hands Carbon Bisulphide is an excellent 

 fumigant but care must be taken to observe the precautions noted 

 in Chapter Will ; a small quantity is poured into the entrance of 



the burrow, allowed to evaporate for a second or two and then 

 exploded with a lighted rag on the end of a long pole and a spade- 

 ful of earth immediately placed over the bole; the explosion, 

 which drive- the gas into the burrow, is very violent and care must 

 be taken to stand well clear of the burrow and to place the 

 bottle of Carbon Bisulphide well out of range before applying a 

 light. If a machine, such as one of the "Ant Exterminators" 

 (see pages 121 1 23), is available the burrows may be fumigated 

 with Sulphur or Sulphur and Arsenic and this is especially useful 

 because the heavy fumes call attention to exit-holes which would 

 otherwise be overlooked; if a regular machine is not at hand a 

 temporary makeshift can be manufactured at small cost from a 

 blacksmith's bellows, an earthenware chatty and a few lengths of 

 bamboo, the bellows being arranged to blow fumes of a tire 

 kindled in the chatty through a bamboo or metal pipe into the 

 burrow. Powdered Sulphur freshly made into a paste with Kerosine 

 and wrapped in a piece of paper may also be used, being lighted 

 and pushed with a stick into the burrow which is then closed with 

 earth and left. The indiscriminate use of poisons in cultivated 

 areas may lead to unexpected results and poisoned baits should 

 therefore be placed only in situations where other animals are not 

 likely to reach them ; a piece of earthenware drain-pipe or similar 

 covering may be suggested for use in fields. A bait of crushed 

 maize poisoned with Zinc Phosphate has been found successful 

 against Field-Rats in some places. Strychnine also gives good 

 results sometimes, but must of course be used with caution ; it is 

 generally given in plantains or sugarcane, the bait being split 

 open, a little strychnine powdered on. and the fruit closed and laid 

 clown as required. Several pathogenic organisms, fatal to rats but 

 innocuous to other animals, form the basis of various special culti- 

 vations (Danysz Rat Virus, Ratin, Trope Ratin, etc.) which are 

 extensively used in Europe ; but these cultures are not readily 

 obtainable in India and seem to deteriorate in the Tropics, so that 

 at present they are hardly within the sphere of practical politics. 

 Most rats, especially semi-domesticated species, it may be noted, 

 are extremely suspicious of baits and traps if these retain any trace 

 of the smell of the human fingers used to prepare them ; before 

 setting or placing baits or traps, thru-lore, care should be taken to 

 rub a little Aniseed ( )il over the hands. 



Porcupines are far commoner in most districts than is usually 

 imagined as they are rarely seen owing to their nocturnal habits. 



