26 
whether of situation or atmosphere, dissolves, and consequently 
weakens, the phosphorus.” 
A method of preparing the phosphorus pills superior to that 
which has been practised on the continent, and described above, 
has been made known by Dr. Ure, who says : — 
“In the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society there was 
published, several months ago, a prescription for preparing a 
poison for the above purpose, by an English gentleman resi- 
dent in Germany. That preparation consisted essentially of 
phosphorus mixed with flour and sugar. It has been tried by 
a friend of mine, in Derbyshire, who has a most extensive farm, 
and found to answer the purpose well ; but there is a great diffi- 
culty in preparing it, from the insolubility, and even immisci- 
bility, of phosphorus in water, attended with no little danger of 
fire. The process I have found to succeed perfectly is as fol- 
lows : — Melt hogs’-lard in a bottle plunged in water heated to 
about loO deg. Fall.; introduce into it half-an-ounce of phos- 
phorus for every pound of lard ; then add a pint of proof-spirit, 
or whisky : cork the bottle firmly, after its contents have been 
heated to 150 deg., taking it at the same time out of the water- 
bath, and agitate smartly till the phosphorus becomes uniformly 
diffused, forming a milky-looking liquid. This mixture being 
cooled, with occasional agitation at first, will afford a white 
compound of phosphorus and lard, from which the spirit spon- 
taneously separates, and may be poured 'off to be used again, 
for none of it enters into the combination; but it merely serves 
to comminute the phosphorus, and to diffuse it in very fine par- 
ticles through the lard. This fatty compound, on being warmed 
very gently, may be poured out into a mixture of wheat flour 
and sugar incorporated therewith, and then flavoured with oil 
of rhodium, or not, at pleasure. The flavour may be varied 
with oil of aniseed, &c. This dough being made into pellets, is 
to be laid in rat-holes By its luminousness in the dark, it 
attracts their notice, and being agreeable fo their palates and 
noses, it is readily eaten, and proves certainly fatal. They 
soon are seen issuing from their lurking places to seek for 
water to quench their burning thirst; and they commonly 
die near the water. They continue to eat it as long as it is 
offered to them, without being deterred by the fate of their 
fellows, as is known to be the case with arsenical doses. My 
