Miscellaneous. 205 



it some oatmeal, and put a few bits of bacon-rind or toasted 

 cheese as well ; next place a board in a slanting position from 

 the ground to the top of the tub, renew the food nightly for 

 several nights in succession. This treat will soon be made 

 known to all the rats in the neighbourhood and be appreciated. 

 After they get confidence enough to come regularly, slit the 

 paper in the centre carefully in different directions in such 

 a manner that a rat will easily be precipitated into the water 

 when it ventures upon it. The rat, suddenly immersed, will 

 soon recover from the shock, and find his way to the projecting 

 portion of the brick, and will then screech with all his might 

 for help, and in a short time will be joined by one or more of 

 his friends ; in fact all the rats within hearing distance will in a 

 short time rush to the rescue, and getting immersed in the 

 water, and finding their comrade in apparent safety, they, 

 too, will make for the island of refuge; but as there is only 

 room for one rat, the others are repelled, by tooth and nail, 

 by the occupant of the brick, who will not yield his coign of 

 vantage. Then a fight will follow, and the squeals of the 

 combatants will attract more rats, who eagerly rush to the 

 spot; and as rat after rat rushes into the water, the scene 

 becomes more terrible, and the brick is often upset, and by 

 daybreak the following morning the corpses of all the en- 

 trapped rats will be found floating round the tub. The next 

 best method that I know of is to catch a rat in an iron 

 spring-trap, tar it all over, and let it have its freedom ; some 

 people who are not too scrupulous about the laws of humanity, 

 cut off the tail of the vermin as well. I am told that this 

 method has cleared almost instantly a flour-mill infested with 

 rats for years. Some hundreds were met very early the 

 following morning migrating in a body. 



TWIN CANARIES. On the 8th of June, 1889, Mr. J. M. 

 Wilson, of 15, Lillybank Road, Dundee, had a canary hen 

 that hatched two birds from one egg. I have only known 

 of one other case of this kind, and it was well authenti- 

 cated. 



