228 MR. E. G. BOULENGER : RErOKT ON 



information with a view to tlie introduction of legislation on the 

 subject, and the Local Government Board had a large expeiience, 

 especially on the relation of Rats to public health. Both Depart- 

 ments gave us immediate encouragement and assistance. Each 

 made a grant of .£100 towards the expenses of the investigation. 

 They placed all the information in tlieir possession at our dis- 

 posal, gave us invaluable advice as to the method of arranging 

 the exhibition and conducting the enquiry, and made our work 

 easier and more productive. Througliout the progress of the 

 enquiry, Mr. F. A. Fulford of the Board of Agriculture, and 

 Mr. E. C. Read, the practical expert appointed to assist him, 

 were in constant co-operation with us. The Council of the 

 Zoological Society delegated Mr. E. G. Boulenger, Curator of 

 Reptiles at the Gardens, to arrange the exhibition and conduct 

 the research, with Mr. W. C. Harris as clerical and general 

 assistant, and the necessary attendants. Various members of 

 the Council with special scientific or practical knowledge, 

 Mr. R. I. Pocock, F.R.S., and other members of the staff, and a 

 number of private Fellows of the Society gave great assistance. 

 Special thanks are due to Dr. 0. J. Martin, F.R.8., and 

 Mr. A. W. Bacot of the Lister Institute, to Dr. H. B. Newhani 

 of the London School of Tropical Medicine, Dr. W. J. Howarth, 

 Medical Officer of Health for the City of London, Mr. W. Dalton, 

 Mr. Max Baker, and Miss Frances Pitt for the loan of specimens, 

 diagrams, etc. for the Exhibition ; to a very large number of 

 private' persons and firms who lent apparatus, models, or samples of 

 poisons, traps, etc. ; to Dr. J. S. Warrack, Deputy Medical Officer 

 of Health for the Port of London Sanitary Authority, for facili- 

 ties to study the methods emplo3i'ed on ships : to Mr. J. Home, 

 Resident Manager of the Wood Lane Depot of the Ro}-al Boi-ough 

 of Kensington, for facilities to carry out experiments at that 

 depot ; to Messrs. Lawson and Co. Ltd. of Bristol, Messrs. Boots 

 Ltd., and the Proprietors of the Ratinol Company, for supplying 

 large quantities of mateiial for the experimental tests. 



A separate file was kept for the records of each appliance, 

 preparation, or method. The rats in the Gardens gave the 

 opportunity for a large number of tests. Visits were made to 

 shops, warehouses, farms, houses, rubbish-dumps, and so forth, 

 so as to get information relating to different conditions. In 

 Mr. Boulenger's Report, the practical conclusions arrived at are 

 given first, and are followed by details regarding the methods 

 found to be most successful, and those which yielded more 

 uncertain or unsatisfactory results. 



It is fortunate that the experiments point to the efficacy of 

 means that are simple to use, not costly, nor, in the form recom- 

 mended, dangerous to human beings or stock. The best bait is 

 bread, the best gas is sulphur-dioxide, the best poison, Squills, 

 and the best trap a device not dangerous to other animals. With 

 res'ard to Squills, experimental research of a kind outside the 

 scope of our enquiiy is required. The substance is obtained from 

 the common Mediterranean bulb, Scilla inaritima, and is supplied 



