POISON. 39 



piles on a board.' Dr. Jolin Strentzel, of Martinez, Cal., recommeuds 

 mixiug the strychnine with grain which has been well sweetened 

 with oil of anise or rhodium and placing it where it will be readily 

 found by the animals. Mr. A. Plumley, of Byron, Cal., uses dry pul- 

 verized strychnine with wheat or barley that has been soaked in 

 water and slightly warmed. Sugar and flour are added in suitable 

 quantities and the poison carefully mixed with the grain and spread 

 out to dry. The addition of sugar and flour makes the strychnine 

 adhere to the grain, and the mixture is reported highly successful. 

 Maj. G. F. Merriam, of Twin Oaks, Cal., recommends soaking the wheat 

 in water containing strychnine. The wheat is barely covered with 

 water and allowed to soak until the grain is soft, and then dried as 

 thoroughly and quickly as possible. A handful of tbis dry wheat 

 is placed among the vines or scattered in the trails made by the 

 rabbits. 



Phosphorus is advocated by many persons, but it must be thoroughly 

 soaked into the grain ; if simply deposited on the outside and not cov- 

 ered with some protective material it will oxidize rapidly. Wheat 

 soaked in water containing phosjjhorus is highly recommended. It 

 should be used in the following proportion: One hundred pounds of 

 grain, 1 pound of phosphorus, 1 pound of sugar, 1 ounce of oil of rho- 

 dium to 9 gallons of water. The mixture should be heated to the 

 boiling point and allowed to stand over night, then enough flour added 

 to make it a paste. ^ 



In Australia preparations of phosphorus have been more generally 

 used. A writer in the ' Kyneton Gruardian ' gives the following directions 

 for preparing the poison : Four and one-half ounces of phosphorus are 

 put into a gallon of boiling water and kept boiling for thirty minutes, 

 while the x>bosphorus is thoroughly stirred. The liquid should be 

 passed through a fine strainer. Fourteen or 15 pounds of malt are 

 then stirred in and allowed to boil slowly for fifteen minutes, and 

 finally 3 pounds of flour and 4 pounds of sugar are added. The 

 mixture is sown like turnip seed, in furrows plowed here and there in 

 rabbit-infested places. 



Another method of preparing phosphorus, known as the ^ Lascelles 

 process,' "consists in (1) dissolving the phosphorus in bisulphide of 

 carbon, (2) mixiug the solution so obtained in a churn with flour paste 

 so as to form an emulsion, and ^3) coating the wheat in a revolving- 

 cylinder with this emulsion. The solution of phosj)horus is made and 

 kept under water, so as to prevent spontaneous combustion. This 

 method has the advantages of facility and quickness, of the even dis- 

 tribution of the poison over the grain, and also of the x>revention of 

 volatilization by the coating with flour paste." ^ 



' Wickson, California Fruits, 1889, p. 554 ; 2d eel., 1891, p. 578. 



^Final Report, Royal Comm. Inquiry into Schemes Esterm, Rabbits Australasia, 

 1890, p. 6. 



