Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-07-27
The Utilization OF Rats.

The Utilization Of Rats.
Most people have an distinctive aversion
TO rats, chasing them with snakes, bedbugs,
mosquitoes, and other evils of this world,
allowed to exist by an inscrutable Provi-
dence past human discovery. Beyond
having II vague know ledge that the heather
Chinee devours the murine tribe, aud
deems the unsavory- looking rodent deli
cacy, the average thinker on the subject
can perceive no utilization for the vagrant
denizen Of cellars and wbarves, save Cndi-
rectly) in his furnishing an object TO be
caught by the multiplicity of ingenious
traps which inventors have constructed,
and serving as source ofperpetusl ner-
vousness TO the wiry Scotch terrier who
spends his day in searching for him under
parlor sofas, behind furniture, and in every
other shady corner where the illogical ca
nine mind conceives a rat might possibly
shelter himself The fact of the case is that
the raj is in reality useful animal and as
we showed recently in discussion on bed
bugs, II is a violent assumption for any one
TO suppose that any living thing does not
serve, or may not he made 10 serve, use
ful purpose. Moreover, IL is equally erro-
neous to assert that rat is a noxious beast.
To be sure, he breeds with astonishing ra-
pidity, and he has the falling Of cannibal-
ism toward his progeny. But SO has his
arch enemy, the well fed tom cat. He is
pugnacious, but rarely attacks man save in
defence of his life. On the other hand he
is scrupulously neat, even more so than
the average male feline. As a scsvenger,
his labors are of great value in the filthy
cities Of the Orient and his tail is marvel
OF constructive design and a source of per-
petual admiration 10 The anatomist. Tn
fortunately he is a pronounced kleptomani-
ac; and this, with his supposed proclivity
to take refuge in tie vicinity of female an
kles, makes him Il pariah and an outcast
among iour-iooted things. Yet mark the
Inconsistency Ca the fair hand of the
damsel, who sbrilly shricks at the sight of
that wonderfully constructed tail whiskng
into friendly hole, may be glove-or at
least the thumb of il-made from that de-
spsed creatures skin, and called by cour-
tesy kid" On the head of paterlamilias,
who rulhlessly puTsues the fugitive inter-
loper with the kitchen poker, may he felt
hat made from the rats fur, which exceeds
in delcacy that Of the beaver, aud 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 rat skins 10 make himself a COM
plete dress, bat, neckerchief, coat, waist
coat, trousers, and even shoes; six hun
dred aud seventy rats were inundated for
this purpose, and the six hundred and sew
enty beautifully organized tails were strung
together to form tippet.
1t is in Pars.-that home of The utiliZa-
tion of everythiug-that the rat is turned 10
the greatest number of uses. He furnishes
employment for an army of hunters, who
pursue him in his sewer Businesses for the
sake of his skin. In the great abattoirs of
the city rats exist by the million. One pro-
prietor, on becoming nearly driven from
his premises by the rodents, threw dead
horse in a walled inclosure, and then stop
ped up all means Of escape, SO that the rats,
attracted 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, l6,O5O of the animals were
thus destroyed note this case mainly
in connection with curious utilization of
rats, wherein dead animals of all kinds are
placed where they can get them as an easy
way of dsposing of the refuse flesh and Sc
curing 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 regular
mornings work of those in charge to re- |
move the beautifully polished skeletons.
ofcourse, when thus pampered, the rats |
multiply amazingly, and therefore once in
a while grand bdttue is necessary TO re-
duce their numbers. 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 aud
thickness of rats body. Upon the morn
ing of the bdttue, men armed with tin pans,
kettles, drums and other objects for pro-
ducing horrible noises, rush in at daybreak.
The astonished rats precpitately rush for
the nearest openings, which are those in
the walls But these, while large enough
to contain their bodies, will not accommo-
date their tails, and the walls are soon Or
namented with vista of those anatomical
ly superb members, whisking about like
animated icicles. Then arrives the rat col
lector-a scientist in his way-who, with
admirable dexterity, seizes the pendent
tails, Jerks forth the owner attached there
to, and deposits him in bag worn over the
left shoulder. The privilege OF catching
the rats is farmed out by the authorities,
and profitable business 1t is: The rats are
sleek and fat, and fetch high prices for their
fur, skins, and fiesh-the latter doubtless
appearing in the restaurants where one