RAT 



REA 



which intoxicates them, so that they ' 

 may be taken l)y the hand. A small 

 chamber, or a large chest or box, is 

 convenient to collect the rats ; and 

 in order to induce them to go in, | 

 pieces of toasted cheese, or red her- 1 

 ring, are trailed along the ground I 

 from the rat holes to the place where , 

 it is wished that they should assem- 

 ble. As soon as they have been ac- 

 customed to find food which they like. : 

 they will all come to it in the night; 

 and they can be poisoned, or caught 

 by some contrivance by which the 

 only entrance to the place or box can 

 be suddenly closed. When traps are 

 set, they should be left open for a ! 

 time, and the rats allowed to go in ', 

 and out without hinderance. till they 

 crowd together in them, and can be 

 taken in great numbers. When rats 

 have been caught in a trap, and have 

 soiled it with their excrements, it 

 should not be washed nor much ban- | 

 died : it should be left in the same 

 spot as long as any rats are caught. 

 Any change of position e.xcites their 

 caution. An ingenious trap is made 

 by stretching a piece of parchment 

 over the open end of a cask, and en- 

 ticing the rats to eat the food laid 

 upon the parchment. When they 

 have evidently been there to feed, j 

 cross cuts, a few inches long, are 

 made in the parchment with a pen- 

 knife ; and in the bottom of the tub, 

 which has four inches of water in it, \ 

 a brick is set on its edge, so as to ' 

 rise just out of the water. The rats 

 coming for food, as usual, some one 

 soon slips through the parchment, [ 

 and, fallmg into the water, seeks ref- , 

 uge on the brick ; as more fall in, | 

 they fight for the possession of the | 

 brick, and their noise attracts all the 

 rats within hearing. Thus it is said 

 that a great number may be caught 

 in one nisiit." 



RATCHET. A small lever which 

 plays into the teeth of a ratchet- 

 wheel, and allows it to turn freely 

 only in one direction. 



RATTLESNAKE. Snakes of the 

 genus Crotalus. Their bite is ex- 

 tremely venomous. The wound 

 should be cut out and scarified, and 



the patient sustained by brandy and 

 ammonia. 



RATTLESNAKE ROOT. Sen- 

 ega root. 



RAT'S TAIL. A disease in hor- 

 ses, in which the hair of the tail is 

 permanently lost. 



REAPING. " The common reap- 

 ing-hook, or sickle, with which grain 

 is cut, is one of the oldest instruments 

 of husbandry. In reaping with it, a 

 portion of the stems is collected with 

 the left hand and held fast, while the 

 sickle in the right hand is inserted 

 below the left, taking the stems in 

 its semicircular blade, and cutting 

 them through by drawing the sickle 

 so as to act as a saw, for which pur- 

 pose the edge is finely serrated in a 

 direction from the point to the han- 

 dle. The heads of the grain, with the 

 upper part of the straw, are then laid 

 on the ground in quantities, which 

 may readily be collected into a sheaf. 

 Practice soon gives dexterity to the 

 reaper, and he finds it more expedi- 

 tious to cut small quantities in suc- 

 cession, until he has filled his hand, 

 than to attempt to cut through a large 

 handful at once. Severe wounds are 

 often inflicted on the fingers of the 

 left hand by beginners, even to the 

 loss of a finger ; but this soon makes 

 them cautious and expert. The di- 

 vision of labour is introduced with 

 advantage among a band of reapers. 

 A certain number cut the grain, while 

 others follow to gather the sheaves ; 

 some only preparing the bands, and 

 others tying them and setting up the 

 sheaves into stooks, or shocks, which 

 usually consist of ten or twelve 

 sheaves. The smaller the sheaves 

 are, the less injury the grain sustains 

 in a wet harvest, as the moisture in 

 athick sheaf does not so readily evap- 

 orate. Hence it is the interest of 

 the farmer to see that the reapers do 

 not make the sheaves too large. In 

 many places there is a regular meas- 

 ure tor the circumference of a sheaf, 

 which should never exceed thirty inch- 

 es The bands are made by taking 

 two small handfuls of the cut grain 

 and crossing them just below the ears 

 into a knot. The sheaf is then press- 



655 



