306 THE GRAY RAT. 



the filth of their choice these obnoxious creatures 

 are of little or no service to man. 



In ancient villages and old dwelling-houses 

 generally the rats' subterranean tunnels tap the 

 drains and the sewers, and passing thence into the 

 walls of the buildings, allow foul gases to enter the 

 living-rooms in fact, to permeate the whole of 

 the dwellings a state of affairs which is doubtless 

 the cause of sickness and disease. I remember a 

 case of this sort occurring in the north of England. 

 The atmosphere of the front-room of a small house 

 was on several occasions noticed to be tainted, 

 and in the end it became so bad that investigations 

 were made. It was then discovered that the rats, 

 by removing the mortar from the foundations 

 directly under the room in question, had thrown 

 the chamber into atmospheric communication with 

 an old sewer, not previously known to exist, which 

 ran alongside the house. The room had been in 

 daily use by the family occupying the house 

 they were accustomed to congregate there in 

 the evenings. It goes without saying that this 

 state of things exists in scores of old houses and 

 cottages in our cities and in the country. No 

 wonder the pressure of public opinion has at last 

 induced one or two of our lethargical health autho- 

 rities to take steps for the systematic destruction 

 of this enemy in our midst, and the movement 

 is one in which each individual should consider him- 

 self or herself bound to be personally active. On no 

 occasion should a gray rat be allowed to live if it 

 is within our power to bring about its destruction. 



METHODS OF EXTERMINATION. 



It is of no use ridding a building of its rats 

 unless, when this is done, steps are taken to prevent, 



