204 
THE EAT. 
removed to another place ; and whether there be but one 
rat or a thousand, it is all the same ; they make prisoners of 
all, without hurting any. But, independently of their 
humanity, they also do away with the possibility of that 
most detestable of all nuisances — rats dying and rotting 
beneath the flooring and behind the wainscoating of our pre- 
mises. They are equally effectual, whether in barns, gra- 
naries, storehouses, warehouses, dwelling-houses, or on board 
ship, or in cellars, sinks, drains, workshops, or garrets. 
Night or day they are ever ready, and act without the pos- 
sibility of a failure. They need only to be seen, to prove 
their infallibility, and the most inexperienced person may at 
once capture rats with as much skill as the first ratcatcher 
of the age. They are equally as valuable to the merchant 
and the mariner as they are to the farmer and the trades- 
man ; and they are not only an invaluable panacea for all in 
England who may be afflicted with rats, but a boon to the 
human family, since they are applicable to every species of 
building in every clime beneath the canopy of heaven. 
Their simplicity and infallibility are their principal recom- 
mendations and virtues, and one trial only will prove to a 
demonstration the truth of what I have stated. All they 
require is a clear field for action. 
Nevertheless, for the satisfaction of those who may 
still have their doubts as to the quality of these traps, and 
feel a prejudice in favour of other plans, I will, for their 
benefit, give the best means for baiting traps, as also the 
most approved poisons, with the best method of mixing and 
using them ; and then they can take their choice. But, for 
our present purpose, we will suppose you have gone to the 
expense of procuring a set of Uncle James's infallible rat- 
traps. Having secured the rick, direct your energies to the 
barn ; and, if it be much infested, first stop all the outside 
holes with stones, brickbats, or coarse gravel ; and if 
there be any crevices in the sides through which the rats 
may escape, stop them up closely with hay thrust hard in with 
the point of a hedge-stake ; that done, empty out the corn, 
and sweep the floor, in order to find out all their holes ; 
and as you find them, fasten a trap over each, and see that 
it works clear and easy ; that done, place the box-traps in 
the corners. When all the holes are secure, and everything 
