44 



KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



Cochin China Fowl. — -I have a Cochin China 

 cock, 8 months old, who has just fallen ill. 

 Can you tell me how to cure him ? He is much 

 reduced in flesh, and cannot stand for a minute 

 together; but advances a step and then drops on 

 his thighs. Still he cats, voraciously. — C. P., 

 Boston. 



[Your bird is suffering from atrophy. He 

 has also taken the cramp. His limbs are para- 

 lised, — no doubt by cold. Feed him generously. 

 Try some boiled rice, — boiled hard and dry. 

 Give him, also, now and then, a little raw beef; 

 and by all means let him have the run of your 

 garden. At this season he can do no harm. A 

 little toasted bread, soaked in ale, is also a good 

 remedy,— anything, indeed, to work a change. 

 All animals — ourselves included — need this 

 " change " repeatedly, to keep them in robust 

 health.] 



TO ALL WHO HAVE AVIARIES. 



[Third Article.] 



We now subjoin, as promised, the precise 

 mode in which Rats may he destroyed by 

 Phosphorus ; but we think it right to 

 state, that this compound unless very care- 

 fully prepared is dangerous. Phosphorus 

 should never be handled under any circum- 

 stances. It is a fearful agent for evil, in the 

 hands of a novice : 



The following was an amateur contribu- 

 tion to the Gardeners' Chronicle, March 16, 

 1850 ; and the paper bearing that date 

 having long since been out of print, its re- 

 appearance in our columns will be well- 

 timed — we say well-timed, because we are 

 daily hearing of the continued ravages by 

 Rats in all parts of the country. 



" Rats : their Destruction by Phosphorus 

 easy and certain. 



" Having already detailed at some consi- 

 derable length in your Paper of Feb. 9, the 

 success — I may say the complete success — 

 of my experiments in the destruction of a 

 colony of rats by the use of carbonate of 

 barytes, I will now, according to promise, 

 tell jou how to use with unfailing effect, 

 under certain circumstances, another fatal 

 weapon — phosphorus. I publish this at 

 once, and through the medium of your 

 columns, for a most particular reason. 



" Very considerable attention has been 

 directed to the subject, by the quotation in 

 nearly every paper in the kingdom of my 

 two -several contributions to the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle of Jan, 12 and Feb. 9. This has 

 brought me such a multitude of letters — 

 every successive post adding to their 

 number, and has involved me by conse- 

 quence in so extensive and serious a corres- 

 pondence ; that I positively begin to despair 

 of ever again being in cqnilibrio. I can only 

 hope for repose by seeking the aid of the 

 press, whose power of extending information 



I can, alas ! but too feelingly vouch for ; 

 and which power I trust to their generosity 

 again to accord me, seeing the peculiar 

 ' fix ' in which I am placed. Their timely 

 assistance will prevent my having the ne- 

 cessity for employing an amanuensis. Mais 

 revenons a nos Rats. 



" The phosphoric compound is as follows : 



— I have purposely divided the materials 

 into small quantities ; according to the 

 number of the enemy to be vanquished they 

 must be lessened or increased. Procure of 

 lard or dripping a quarter of a pound, of 

 phosphorus 1 drachm, of spirit of wine 1 

 gill ; place the whole of these in a pint wine 

 Dottle, thoroughly cleansed previous to use. 

 This should be covered, up to its neck, or 

 rather middle, with hot water, which may be 

 managed by putting the bottle into a sauce- 

 pan deep enough to hold it ; and by gra- 

 dually heating the water. 



" When the lard or dripping is dissolved, 

 remove the bottle from the water, cork it 

 firmly, and shake it until the contents are 

 thoroughly incorporated. When cool, pour 

 off the spirit of wine. By this time, the 

 'charm' will have nearly been 'worked.' 

 Little more remains to be done. Procure 

 some Wheaten flour, and having rubbed 

 sugar into it, warm the contents of the 

 ' charmed ' bottle, and pour sufficient from 

 it to make the whole into a paste of ordi- 

 nary consistence. 



" Flavoring the above is the ' seventh 

 bullet,' the master-piece. To this, much 

 attention must be paid. Get some oil of 

 rhodium and some oil of aniseed, both pow- 

 erful oils ; and dividing your dough into two 

 portions, ' charm' the one half with rho- 

 dium, the other with aniseed. The quan- 

 tity of oil requisite is very trifling. Having 

 made up the paste into a number of small 

 globular pieces (like marbles), place them 

 carelessly wherever the rats abound, and the 

 existence of the latter will soon become a 

 mere ' matter of history.' 



" I need only add, that when rats are 

 running about, and revelling in an abund- 

 ance of animal food, the barytes only must 

 be used ; in conjunction with garbage, fish, 

 the entrails of rabbits, poultry, &c. These, 

 if untouched by the human hand, are subtle 

 emissaries, and deal destruction right and 

 left. Where, on the contraiy, the rats have 

 little to prey upon in the form of flesh — 

 phosphorus, cooked as per receipt, will be 

 esteemed a dainty luxury, worthy of our 

 own Soyer — and they will sit down to it 

 with the appetite of a London alderman. 

 Would, for their sakes, that their digestion 

 were equally good ! I should be glad to 

 have it in my power to rat-ify the fact. 



— William Kidd, Sanders' Cottage, New 

 Road, Hammersmith, March, 13, 1850." 



