The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-05-11
RATS.
How the Rodents May he Utilized.
[From the scientific American.l

How the Rodents May be Utilized.
From the Scientific Americana
Most people have an instructive aver
sion to rats, chasing them with snakes,
bedbugs, mosquitoes, and other evils OF
the world, allowed to exist by an in
scrutable Providence for reasons past
human discovery. The fact of the case
is that the rat is in reality useful ami
NAL and, as we showed recently in a
discussion on bedbugs, it is violent as
sumption for any one to suppose that
any living thing does not serve, or may
not be made to serve, a useful purpose.
AS scavenger, his labors are of great
value in the filthy cities of the Orient;
and his tail is marvel of constructive
design and source of perpetual admira-
ton to the anatomist. Unfortunately
he is a pronounced kleptomaniac and
this, with his supposed proclivity to take
refuge in the vicinity of female ankles,
makes him pariah and an outcast
among four-footed things. Yet mark
the inconsistency On the fair hand OF
the damsel, who shrilly shrieks at the
sight of that NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
tail whisking into friendly hole, may
be a glove-or at least the thumb of it
made from that despised creatures skin,
and called by courtesy "kid." On the
head of paterfamihas, who ruthlessly
pursues the fugitive interloper with the
kitchen poker, may be q felt-hat made
from the rats fur which exceeds in deli
cacy that of the beaver, and which is
sought after by large corporation ex-
pressly organized for the purpose in
Paris. An eccentric Welshman once, in
order to show how far the rat might be
utilized for clothing, spent three years
in collecting enough ratskins to make
himself complete dress, hat, necker-
chief coat, waistcoat, trousers, and even
shoes go rats were inundated for this
purpose, and the go acknowledgements
lied tails were strung together to form
tippet.
1t is in Paris-that home of the utiliza-
ton of everything the rat is turned
to the greatest number of uses. He fur
nishes employment for an army of hunt
ers, who pursue him in his sewer fast
nesses for the sake of his skin. In the
great abattoirs of the city rats exist by
the million. One proprietor, on becom-
ing nearly driven from his premises by
the rodents, threw dead horse In a
walled inclosure, and then stopped up
al means of escape, so that the rats, at
tracted by the bait, could not get out.
In one night 1850 rats were caught in
the trap and killed by men armed with
clubs in single month 5000 of the
animals were thus destroyed. We note
this case mainly in connection with GU
rious utilization of rats, wherein dead
animals of all kinds are placed where
they can get them as an easy way OF dis
posing of the refuse flesh and securing
the valuable bones. A regular pound,
surrounded by a massive stone wall, is
provided for this purpose by the city
authorities of Paris, and it is the regular
mornings work of those in charge to re-
move the beautifully-polished skeletons.
OF course, when thus pampered, the
rats multiply amazingly, and therefore
once in a while a grand battue is neces-
sary to reduce their number. The way
in which this is conducted is curious.
Horizontal holes are bored all around,
in and at the foot of the inclosing
walls, the depth and diameter being
respectively the length and thickness
of a rats body. Upon the morning
of the battle, men armed with tin pans,
kettles, drums, and other objects for pro-
ducing horrible noises, rush in at day
break. The astonished rats precipitate-
" rush for the nearest openings, which
are those in the walls. But these, while
large enough to contain their bodies, will
not accommodate their tails, and the
walls are soon ornamented with vista of
those anatomically superb members,
whisking about like animated icicles.
Then arrives the rat COLLECTOR scien-
fist in his way-who, with admirable
dexterity, seizes the pendent tail, jerks
forth the owner, and deposits him in a
bag worn over the left shoulder The
privilege of catching the rats is farmed
out by the authorities, and n profitable
business it is. The rats are sleek and fat,
and fetch high prices for their fur, skins,
and fesh-the latter doubtless appear
ing in the restaurant where one may
have "dinner for one franc with wine
bread at discretion. Rat flesh is not
bad eating, at least so say those who
have tried it, our knowledge in the mat
ter being limited 1t is delicate, white,
firm, tastes like chicken, and in China
the soup made from it is considered to
be equal to our well-known oxtail. In
the Celestial Kingdom rats are worth 81
per dozen. In the West Indies the rats
exist in enormous numbers, on the sugar
plantations, and work great damage
by gnawing the growing sugar cane
Each plantation has its official ratcatcher
who is paid by piecework, that is, sc
much dozen for tails brought in.