ENEMIES AND DISEASES 3OI 



stifif dough and place the prepared baits in places' 

 where the rats frequent. Plaster of paris is also used 

 frequently with good effect. Take a large box, make 

 some holes in the sides and ends high enough from the 

 ground so chickens cannot get in; put in corn meal 

 for a bait for a few nights. After the rats get to 

 eating good, mix some plaster of paris with the meal. 

 The moisture in the rats' stomachs will cause the 

 plaster to set hard, and the rats will die. A small 

 dish of water in the box might be a good idea, and 

 cause the rats to die sooner. 



Roup is the name commonly given to most dis- 

 orders of the passages of head and throat, the symp- 

 toms varying considerably, as in humans affected with 

 colds, mild or severe, influenza, acute catarrh, sore 

 throat, diphtheria, etc. These troubles, although not 

 strictly one disease, are enough alike to admit being 

 considered together. Tirst signs are dumpishness, 

 usually, but not always, a poor appetite, breathing is 

 loud, and sometimes there is a choking noise or cough. 

 Then follows a discharge from the nose, and if the 

 case is severe, a secretion extending to the eyes, often 

 covering them with a whitish matter. Sometimes the 

 whole face is badly swelled. In diphtheritic roup, the 

 roof of the mouth and throat show patches of white 

 matter, which later becomes yellowish, sometimes with 

 a bad odor. Mild cases of roup get well, others linger 

 a long time and still others grow thin and die. Some- 

 times roup hangs around a flock for years, owing to 

 bad conditions. Fowls of strong stock, which are not 

 overfed, which are induced to exercise for a living, 

 and not much exposed to drafts, damp floors, or infec- 

 tion from sick fowls, will not be likely to get roup.^ 

 Those which have the oialady must be kept in a dry, 

 warm place, and separate, as the disease spreads- 

 through the drinking water and in other ways from 



