file which includes the original illustrations4 ,see #dbcje-;h4htm or #dbcje-;h4zip3 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/cache_/epu b_/#dbcje_/pg#dbcje-;images4html7 or 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/files_/#db cje_/dbcje-;h4zip7 ,images of the original pages are available through ,internet ,archive4 ,see https3_/_/archive4org_/details_/allabout ferretsr#ja;isaa ,transcriber's note3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face 7bold74 ,,all ,,about ,,ferrets ,,and ,,rats ,a ,complete ,history of ,ferrets1 ,rats1 and ,rat ,extermination from ,personal ,experiences and ,study4 ,also ,a ,practical ,hand-,book on the ,ferret4 by ,,sure ,,pop4 7,,adolph ,,isaacsen47 ,second ,edition4 ,,price1 ,,twenty-,,five ,,cents4 ,new ,york3 ,adolph ,isaacsen1 ,publisher1 ,no4 #ib ,fulton ,street4 ,entered1 according to act of ,congress1 in the year #ahij1 ,by ,adolph ,isaacsen1 ,in the ,office of the ,librarian of ,congress1 at ,washington4 ,,contents4 ,,page4 ,,introductory #e ,,the ,,ferret4 ,i4 ,what a ,ferret ,is #g ,,ii4 ,character and ,appearance #i ,,iii4 ,rat ,hunting #aa ,,iv4 ,food #ad ,v4 ,ferret ,houses #ae ,,vi4 ,diseases #af ,,vii4 ,hardiness #ag ,,viii4 ,breeding and ,training #ai ,,ix4 ,strength and ,bite #bj ,x4 ,handling #ba ,,xi4 ,with ,cats and ,dogs #ba ,,xii4 ,advantages as a ,rat ,exterminator #bb ,,xiii4 ,miscellaneous #bc ,,the ,,rat4 ,i4 ,the ,rat ,family and its ,varieties #bg ,,ii4 ,rat ,history #bg ,,iii4 ,the ,king's ,own ,rat-,catcher #bi ,,iv4 ,rat ,society1 ,cannibalism1 and ,friendship #cj ,v4 ,multiplying ,powers #cc ,,vi4 ,unabridged ,bill of ,fare #cd ,,vii4 ,ferocity #ce ,,viii4 ,rats in ,breweries1 ,slaughter ,houses1 ,markets1 ,stables1 and ,barn-yards #cf ,,ix4 ,rats as ,wine ,drinkers #ch ,x4 ,destructiveness #ci ,,xi4 ,rats as ,food #dj ,,xii4 ,rat ,nests #dc ,,xiii4 ,the ,rat's ,musical ,talents and ,eyesight #de ,,xvi4 ,rats as ,moralists #df ,,xv4 ,rats in the ,good ,old ,days1 and the ,modern ,rat ,superstitions #dg ,,xvi4 ,review of the ,rat1 and ,conclusion #di ,,rat ,,extermination4 ,i4 ,traps #ea ,,ii4 ,poisons #ed ,,iii4 ,dogs1 ,cats1 and ,ferrets #ef ,,iv4 ,human ,rat ,catchers #ef ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,the ,,ferret1 with hints to ,darwin4 #eg ,,introductory4 ,in the following pages we have given a complete review of the ever-important rat exterminating subject1 from a practical man's point of view4 ,the essay on the ,ferret has been exhaustively treated1 is a special feature of the work1 and will be found of great value to the rat-ridden part of the community1 as well as to the fancier and naturalist4 ,the ,rat has been handled from a universal point of view1 and the book has been prepared from the writer's practical notes during his thirty years' study of ,rats and ,rat ,extermination4 ,,the ,,ferret4 ,illustration ,i4--,,what ,a ,,ferret ,,is4 ,our dictionaries say that ferret as a verb active means to search out carefully4 ,this is certainly an important function of the animal1 but1 as it belongs to the ,musteline or flesh-eating weasel family1 it has also inherited these animals' boldness and savageness1 though tempered and exercised in a very useful direction1 i4 e41 of killing off the most bothersome and numerous of our vermin for us4 ,it is rather a well-known family1 the one to which the ferret belongs1 including such animals as the sable1 which furnishes the highly-prized fur1 the skunk1 with its not as greatly valued perfume1 the ermine1 the color of which is likened to the driven snow and whose dress forms the badge of royalty1 the weasel1 from which artists obtain their finest brushes1 the marten1 the badger1 and the otter4 ,the shape of these animals1 the characteristics being strongly marked in the ferret1 is long1 slender1 and serpentine 7snake-like and winding71 their teeth are very sharp1 the muzzle and legs short4 ,their average food is rats1 rabbits1 and birds4 ,members of this class are found in all climates and parts of the earth4 ,it is necessary to state1 primarily1 that there is no such thing as a wild ferret2 it is domesticated in the same degree as a cat or a dog4 ,the wild animal from which the ferret is bred is the weasel1 just as the dog is originally of wolf extraction1 and the cat of the same class as the tiger or lion4 ,the ferret is also interbred with the different species of the musteline tribe1 such as the mink1 marten1 polecat1 and fitch4 ,these are nevertheless all weasels in the same way that terriers1 black and tans1 ,newfoundlands1 and poodles all belong to the family of dogs4 ,the ferret's origin has been traced by some to ,spain1 by others again to the northwestern part of ,africa1 and by still different writers as far away from us as ,egypt1 but it was first used authentically for ratting and rabbiting in ,great ,britain1 where it is most highly prized1 its merits understood1 and where almost every one is as familiar with it as he is with the nature of his house cat4 ,the public here in ,america is yet but indifferently acquainted with the ferret4 ,at an exhibition of ferrets made by the writer at ,madison ,square ,garden there was about one out of every fifteen persons that knew the name of the animal at all1 and the ferrets were alternately designated as skunks1 weasels1 guinea-pigs1 raccoons1 monkeys1 woodchucks1 kittens1 puppies1 squirrels1 rabbits1 chipmunks1 rats 7an animal for which they are commonly mistaken71 hares1 martens1 otters1 small kangaroos1 muskrats1 beavers1 seals1 and1 ridiculous as it may seem1 small bears4 ,the ,american race of ferrets has been bred to a high degree of intelligence1 as the proper medium of wildness in the hunt and docility to its keeper has been obtained principally through the efforts of the present writer4 ,this1 however1 has only been brought about after a great deal of close study and experiment in cross breeding1 until now the ,american animal is greatly preferable to its more sluggish and vicious ,english brother4 ,,ii4--,,character ,,and ,,appearance4 ,every individual ferret has a character and distinct look of its own1 although there are some ugly1 scarred1 and bony specimens with game legs and glass eyes1 still the ferret1 when in good condition1 is a pretty little animal1 with soft fur and kittenish ways1 and can be handled and fondled after you have become mutually acquainted1 the same as a cat4 ,it can never be made as trustworthy as a dog1 because it does not possess as much intelligence4 ,the general colors are white1 yellow1 and a mixture of black1 brown1 gray1 and tan1 varied with gray and white patches over and under the neck and body4 ,the tint runs according to the predominance of either mink1 marten1 fitch1 or polecat blood4 ,the ferret is essentially a useful animal1 and is not valued for its good looks1 but the purely colored1 pink-eyed1 white ferret1 with its plump form and beautiful1 glossy coat of a creamy shade1 does certainly not present an ungainly appearance4 ,the dark ones are a sprightly company1 too1 with their friendly1 sparkling black eyes and social nature4 ,there is no standard size--there are large and small breeds1 the age having nothing to do with its inches4 ,some ferrets never get to be bigger than a size beyond a dock rat1 while ,i have had others as large as a full grown cat4 ,there are ferrets more valuable as hunters than others on account of their wiry forms1 their age1 experience1 and intelligence4 ,i have small1 homely ferrets1 which persons not understanding ferret peculiarities would pick out as the most miserable and stupid of a lot1 but which in reality are choice hunting stock4 ,there is no preference for small or large ferrets1 as they are both good for different purposes4 ,ferrets are cleanly animals both in appearance and in their habits4 ,their jumping and climbing powers are limited4 ,there is a curious thing about the ferret that reminds us of its kinsmanship with the gentle-tempered skunk1 for when it is teased or aggravated 7showing this also by bristling up the hair of its tail7 it emits a pungent odor from a gland it has underneath the tail4 ,this only happens in extreme cases1 otherwise it is peaceful enough except toward its natural prey4 ,different lots of ferrets1 strangers to each other1 will not agree1 and should not be put together1 as there is a risk of a deadly battle4 ,it is a pleasant enough thing to watch a number of healthy ferrets at their antics4 ,on the writer's breeding grounds1 where the pens are always kept neatly painted and the sawdust carefully leveled on the floor1 making it look like a lawn in yellow1 they generally huddle up in a snug heap1 presenting a confused jumble of heads1 tails1 blinking eyes1 and indistinguishable masses of fur4 ,this is during the daytime1 after they have been fed4 ,toward dusk1 or when they are hungry again1 they disentangle themselves from the bunch1 one by one1 and after they have properly yawned and stretched themselves they are very lively4 ,they frisk and gambol about like lambs in a pasture1 without the odd1 long-legged appearance of the lamb1 but they make up for this by humping up their backs like small dromedaries4 ,they get to tumbling over one another in a comic1 clown-like way1 they run1 galop1 trot1 and hop1 and sit erect on their haunches4 ,this latter action they perform in expectation of a mouse1 a special delicacy with them1 though but a mouthful1 from the keepers leaning over the pens above4 ,upon the whole they seem to be enjoying life immensely1 presenting quite a study of animal contentment and happiness4 ,,iii4--,,rat ,,hunting4 ,when the word rat is mentioned in connection with the ferret1 our pacific scene is changed to one of war and bloodshed4 ,the savage instincts of the animal are then aroused1 and the rat itself knows1 when it has caught the ferret's scent1 that its time has come4 ,there are no two animals more deadly enemies than these1 the ferret being constructed in such a way that it is best adapted to hunt the rat in the rat's own haunts4 ,wherever a rat can go a ferret can go1 because the latter's body is as flexible as rubber1 and it can squeeze itself up1 draw itself out1 and flatten its limbs into a likeness of a ,new ,england buckwheat cake1 as if there wasn't a bone in its body4 ,the weasels1 and nearly all wild animals of this division1 after killing the prey suck the blood1 eat the brain1 leave the rest of the body untouched1 and then proceed to annihilate the next victim1 repeating the operation4 ,here is where the difference between the ferret and the other animals of its tribe comes in1 for it does not content itself with brain food and such ethereal substances1 but devours the whole carcass with a fine relish1 not even leaving the tail or the skin4 ,it bolts the bones and everything else thereto appertaining4 ,it is rather an appalling experience for the first time to hear the hungry ferret's teeth go crunch1 crunch1 as they meet in the neck of some fat rodent4 ,this sound bears a resemblance to a cowboy chewing radishes4 ,a very hungry ferret would commence to devour the rat before it had thoroughly made its exit into the sweet subsequently4 ,in using ferrets to clear a house of rats1 they should be allowed to nose through the building during the night with the same freedom accorded a domestic animal4 ,during the day they are kept in the pen4 ,the reason a ferret should be hunted with in the night is that it sees better then1 and that it is instinctively better fitted for hunting4 ,the rats also become more venturesome at this time4 ,when the ferrets are to be hunted with1 feed them slightly1 as feeding blunts their hunting capabilities and makes them worthless4 ,after a good feed a ferret will sleep harder than any other domestic animal4 ,sometimes you will find a ferret so hard asleep that you can take him up1 shake him1 and then put him down again without waking him4 ,if you are inexperienced in the ways of the ferret1 you will imagine you have a corpse on your hands4 ,but the corpse will in a short time open its eyes1 shake itself1 wag its tail1 and then trot around with the others4 ,when a ferret sleeps he will let his companions tramp all over his head and body without allowing himself to be disturbed in the least4 ,when they have been fed too well they will sleep and be of no further use4 ,if these over-fed ferrets are in a pen and you put rats in for them to kill1 they will not wake up even if the rats crawl all over them1 although the rodents are scared into fits and are trying to get away with all their might and main4 ,a hungry ferret around a house will go scenting around as hunting dogs do1 to discover any trace or hiding-place of his natural prey4 ,this in itself is enough to drive all the rats to ,jericho and make them stay there as long as the ferrets are kept around1 for the rodents have an acute bodily fear of these prowling detectives4 ,a ferret's being bitten by a rat happens only in extreme cases1 but sometimes in cellars and other places that are swarming with rats1 ferrets that have first been put in have to contend with great odds1 and come out with some bruises4 ,therefore if even a good1 old hunting ferret should be bitten by a rat1 he should not be used until the wound is perfectly healed again1 even if it should take two or three weeks4 ,the ferret is very peculiar in this respect1 and if this rule is not observed he may be spoiled as a hunter forever afterwards4 ,the ferrets hunt downward1 and if put on the upper or top floors in the evening they will turn up in the morning down in the cellar driving the rats before them4 ,they should be kept in a dry place1 and they rapidly get to know their pens1 returning to them and waiting to be put in when through hunting4 ,with a moderate amount of attention they will thrive and prosper in their work of extermination4 ,,iv4--,,food4 ,ferrets should always be anxious for their meals4 ,rats are good ferret food2 but never feed dead rats1 as you run the risk of the rats having been previously poisoned1 this also transmitting itself to the ferrets4 ,if there are plenty of rats in the place the ferrets will be able to do their own choice marketing2 otherwise1 when not hunting1 feed them either crackers and milk or bread and milk1 with a pan of water always at hand in warm weather4 ,raw meat can be given them two or three times a week1 but never feed liver or salt meat4 ,when milk is not handy use water instead4 ,for a pair of ferrets use a shallow pan for their food1 the pan to be as large as an ordinary saucer4 ,once a day is enough to feed them4 ,when you wish to hunt your ferrets at night feed them in the morning1 and they will be in the proper hunting condition when night comes4 ,particular relishes are chicken heads1 duck heads1 rabbit heads1 and sparrows4 ,dilute the milk occasionally1 and change off with the bread or crackers soaked in water instead of milk4 ,besides this you can feed your ferrets the same as you do your cat1 with the exception above mentioned4 ,ferrets enjoy their meals heartily--they grunt and smack their lips with much satisfaction when fed2 particularly so when feasting off a rat1 as there is nothing they enjoy more than a good1 big1 healthy one--turning the rodent inside out and ploughing out the interior with great exactness4 ,v4--,,ferret ,,houses4 ,ferrets must have plenty of good air1 as they cannot stand being boxed up closely for a great length of time without getting diseased4 ,i have1 since the first edition of this book was printed1 invented a model ferret-cage1 in which ,i keep my stock in perfect health and in prime condition4 ,i now make a specialty of manufacturing this contrivance1 and have dubbed it ,the ,sure ,pop ,ferret ,cage4 ,it is of a solid build1 but of a convenient size for expressage to any point4 ,it is divided into two sections3 7,a7 for sleeping and 7,b7 for exercise and feeding2 connected by an aperture just big enough for a ferret to get through4 ,a 7sleeping-room7 is one-fourth the size of ,b and is kept dark1 except that it has two small wire windows at each side which furnish perfect ventilation4 ,b 7for exercise and feeding7 is constructed of wire on the top and the sides around a solid frame2 the same flooring serving the two apartments4 ,there is a wide door on the end of the larger section and also one on the roof of the smaller1 so that the ferrets can be conveniently taken out or handled and the cage cleaned at any time4 ,in winter it is best to keep the smaller division full of hay2 it keeps the ferrets warm and clean4 ,in the larger part you can use sawdust or earth2 and another big advantage ,i wish to call attention to is the peculiar manner in which the connecting aperture is placed1 so that the ferrets cannot carry out the hay1 but can conveniently get from one apartment to the other4 ,the price at which ,i am now disposing of these cages 7#e4jj7 is merely nominal1 but ,i prefer to have my stock housed in a comfortable and correct manner1 as the ferrets will then do better work and get attached to their new master a great deal quicker than if their quarters were neglected4 ,the above cage is1 as ,i have said1 of a very convenient size1 and can be stored in the cellar of a house--if the cellar is dry--or can be placed in a barn or stable1 or1 if needs be1 can be put into service as an independent out-of-door house4 ,for the latter use the larger apartment should be boarded up1 so that the ferrets are not completely exposed to the rough weather2 it should also be kept three or four inches above the ground4 ,if sawdust is used1 it should be cleaned out at least every other day and replaced with a fresh supply4 ,the hay need not be changed for one week4 ,,vi4--,,diseases4 ,on the topic of ferret diseases1 all the advice ,i can give is of a preventive1 rather than of a curative1 nature4 ,my experience has been that1 when a ferret is sick1 it is the wisest policy to kill it immediately1 as in all my practice ,i have never cured a sick ferret yet4 ,of course there are numerous remedies advocated by persons who claim to know it all2 but experiment with these is simply a waste of time and material4 ,the common diseases of ferrets are foot-rot1 distemper1 diphtheria1 and influenza4 ,foot-rot is caused by dirt and neglect1 and is the most common1 dangerous1 and devastating4 ,it makes the feet swell out to twice their natural size1 and become spongy2 the nose and snout get dirty2 the eyes commence to run1 become perceptibly weaker1 and then close4 ,the tail also changes to a sandy and gravelly texture4 ,distemper is only a case of foot-rot aggravated4 ,in influenza the nose runs violently1 and there is the same affection of the eyes1 accompanied by incessant sneezing4 ,diphtheria is a throat trouble1 indicated by swelling of the neck1 much heavy coughing1 and nearly the same other accompaniments as the above diseases4 ,to prevent disease1 cleanliness and moderation are the simple antidotes3 this is not such a hard thing to accomplish1 as the ferret is a strong animal for its size1 and very cleanly itself4 ,ferrets are sometimes run down by overwork in hunting1 and get to be dull and sluggish2 but they will soon regain their vigor1 by letting them rest for awhile1 and giving them plenty of food4 ,pure air1 fresh1 raw1 bloody meat1 and good milk1 will soon bring the ferrets back to their natural state inside of a week4 ,ferrets are sometimes troubled with fleas of a large size1 that use the animals up greatly if they are not checked immediately4 ,a little ,sure ,pop ,insect ,powder rubbed in dry with the hand will settle the insects effectively in a very short time4 ,,vii4--,,hardiness4 ,there are numerous remarkable examples of ferret toughness on record4 ,not long since1 the following came under my notice3 ,a couple of ferrets were used in a warehouse1 and one of them1 a handsome1 dark-coated1 mink-bred animal1 accidently fell through a hatchway from the fourth story4 ,he was brought to me in a horrible condition1 the hinder part of the body being entirely smashed out of shape1 and completely paralyzed4 ,the poor brute was forced to drag along its useless trunk with the help of its forefeet only4 ,i thought myself the animal was assuredly done for2 but in a fortnight it had quite recovered the use of its limbs1 which also assumed their natural form and function4 ,it was again enabled to hop about as well as the rest2 in fact1 no trace of its former complete demolition remained4 ,another noteworthy example was this3 ,a friend of mine1 ,m---- was out rabbit-hunting with a companion carrying his ferret1 which had been muzzled1 in his pocket1 a common way of transporting it4 ,after he had bagged half a dozen rabbits in one place1 he secured his ferret again1 and went on walking some distance through a snowed-over part of the woods1 chatting with his friend4 ,he suddenly felt in his pocket1 and found his ferret had got away4 ,they retraced their steps1 carefully searching for two or three hours high and low1 but without success4 ,m---- went home1 satisfied his ferret was lost4 ,eight days afterwards1 coming over the same ground1 he saw a shadowy1 thin spot of dirty fur under a ridge1 which1 after he had more closely examined1 turned out to be the long-lost animal4 ,it was completely exhausted and reduced to a skeleton1 but still showed some signs of life4 ,it had probably crawled in under some small opening in a ridge at the time of its being dropped1 and so had escaped ,m----'s attention4 ,as he found his ferret with the muzzle still on1 it could not have procured either food or drink4 ,the poor brute must have suffered agonies1 showing what horrible cruelty the practice of muzzling is4 ,m---- took his ferret home1 fed it well1 and inside of a month it was entirely restored1 and just as good a ferret1 in every respect1 as ever4 ,if ferrets are together1 and are kept strictly without food for a length of time1 they will devour one another quite readily1 in lieu of better fodder4 ,,viii4--,,breeding ,,and ,,training4 ,ferrets are rather difficult animals to raise in numbers--it requires a large amount of patience1 great care1 and scrupulous neatness1 although when full grown they are very hardy4 ,the writer's ferret breeding grounds consist of special farms1 on which are erected numbers of small barn-like structures1 each furnished inside with a dozen pens1 and an aisle running through the middle4 ,every pen is as large as a horse's stall1 the boarding and other accessories are kept clean by vigorous scrubbing1 the sawdust on the floor is changed once a day1 and the pens and the ferrets are otherwise attended by experienced ferret men4 ,here the ferrets are taught to do their work of killing and hunting by practical experiment on live rats4 ,although it is in the nature of ferrets to hunt and kill rats1 the same as it is for a bird to fly1 yet we find a little extra course of training is necessary in both cases4 ,it will not do to hunt with ferrets until they are at least seven months old4 ,ferrets breed but once a year1 and have from four to nine at a litter on the average--it is very rarely they have two litters a year4 ,they are trained to the whistle by feeding them every time this instrument is used1 so that after awhile they promptly respond4 ,the ferret is ruled through his stomach4 ,the time of the ferret's getting in heat is in ,march1 nine weeks after which they breed4 ,the male invariably takes hold of the female as if he were going to strangle her4 ,the young are born without hair1 and must1 therefore1 be kept warm4 ,they have their eyes open in thirty days1 and should be fed on as much milk as they want4,a ,the male should be removed from the female before the littering1 the symptoms of which are exactly like a cat or a dog1 or else he will destroy the entire brood4 ,care should be taken to have the female well supplied with food during the period of copulation1 or else she may casually munch up the young herself1 and the writer has lost many a pretty litter by this little habit of the unnatural mother4 ,as in crops1 there are years for raising ferrets which are more fortunate than others1 some seasons having a fatal effect on the young ones4 ,a ,they ought not to be handled before they are one month old4 ,,ix4--,,strength ,,and ,,bite4 ,the great strength of the ferret is in the teeth1 neck1 and forefeet4 ,one ferret can hold up eight times its own weight with its teeth4 ,twenty or thirty ferrets when hungry will fasten their teeth in a piece of meat and can be picked up in this way and swung around without ever causing them to think of letting go4 ,they will hang to an object which they have been provoked against with a persistence which would make a ,bill ,sykes bull-dog blush with shame4 ,the only way to loosen their hold is to grasp them firmly around the neck with the pressure on the skull1 and to shove them towards the object1 not from it1 for if you try the latter way you can pull for a day and a night without any perceptible result on the ferret4 ,the bite of a ferret is not dangerous2 they will only bite a human being out of mistake1 because they don't see well in the daytime4 ,they imagine you are kindly holding down some bit of meat for them to chew at1 and they don't bite because they are at all viciously inclined towards you4 ,of course you don't want to tease1 annoy1 or step on them1 or you may find them loaded4 ,if a ferret bites you1 he will let go immediately1 and you and the ferret both will quickly realize the mistake4 ,x4--,,handling4 ,ferrets should at first be handled by the back of the neck4 ,the tail is the natural handle for lifting up a ferret1 in the same degree that the ears are of a rabbit4 ,the ferret should only be lifted by the tail and should be handled by the back of the neck4 ,after a wild ferret has been handled this way for some time he will get to be very tame and you can handle him in any way4 ,he will get so that he will hop up in his pen at your approach and want you to play with and caress him1 although it is never advisable to give him your perfect confidence1 such as putting him to your face1 etc4 ,,xi4--,,with ,,cats ,,and ,,dogs4 ,ferrets are easily kept with cats and dogs1 and after a little training and discipline they will hunt together1 the ferret being generally used to drive out the rats from the holes in a barn1 etc41 and the dog doing the killing4 ,when they are first introduced to each other there will be a little sparring1 and the dog's master must strictly forbid his dog to touch the ferret or else the dog may kill it at the first wrestle1 but after the novelty of each other's appearance has worn off they will lie down together in one corner and be the best of friends1 as ,i have witnessed scores of times4 ,the writer has cats and ferrets on his farm that regularly feed and play together4 ,ferrets should not be kept in a place with sick dogs or cats1 as the disease will surely be transmitted to them4 ,,xii4--,,the ,,ferret',s ,,advantages ,,as ,a ,,rat ,,exterminator4 ,ferrets have been brought forward1 chiefly by the labors of the present writer1 to be regarded within the last few years as domestic animals4 ,there is certainly1 yet1 a great degree of prejudice against the ferret--a natural result of ignorance of its ways2 but we firmly believe that the more it comes in contact with man1 and is bred in captivity1 the more readily it will be put by him in the division of common domestic animals1 and he will1 furthermore1 find it his best remedy in rat extermination1 making the latter worthies as scarce as the ordinary rat has made its black-complexioned cousin4 ,for this latter purpose the ferret's most apparent advantages are as follows3 ,first4 ,there is nothing a rat is more afraid of1 by nature1 than a ferret1 so that the rats are driven off by acute bodily fear4 ,second4 ,the body of the ferret1 and its small head also1 is remarkably flexible1 thus enabling it to get into and drive out the vermin from their holes and breeding-places4 ,third4 ,when through hunting they do not stray off1 but return to their pens1 and wait there till they are put in4 ,fourth4 ,they devour the entire carcass of the rat1 after killing it1 and do not leave the slightest trace of it around4 ,fifth4 ,the ferrets can be trained to obey the whistle somewhat like a dog1 and1 by attaching a bell to their necks1 they can always be traced to whatever part of the building they may stray4 ,sixth4 ,after they get acquainted1 and have been handled for some time1 they become affectionate pets1 and can be fondled and caressed freely4 ,seventh4 ,they are very cleanly1 peaceful1 and nondestructive in other ways4 ,,xiii4--,,miscellaneous4 ,ferrets are extensively used to drive out rabbits from their holes1 although the laws are very stringent against this sport4 ,for this purpose they are generally muzzled1 which is a cruel and unnecessary practice4 ,all that is required of the ferret is to drive and scare out--the rabbit being then caught or shot4 ,a bell around the ferret's neck will scare off the rabbit immediately1 because the ferret is slow1 and the rabbit will hear him coming from a distance4 ,a properly trained and handled ferret needs no harness of any kind4 ,never muzzle a ferret for rats1 as he may be savagely attacked where the rats are thick1 and then be unable to defend himself4 ,ferrets are muzzled by tying their jaws1 so that they can not bite1 with waxed cords1 etc4 ,there are also muzzles like those made for dogs1 only fitted to the ferret's size4 ,a writer in a certain ,new ,york paper has put the ferrets to a peculiar use1 on account of their flexible bodies4 ,the following is quoted from a supposititious interview with the present writer3 ,a gentleman purchased a ferret1 and became greatly attached to it4 ,to show me how well he had trained him since the purchase1 he called ,pet 7as he had dubbed him7 to his side1 and1 dropping his pencil behind a large immovable desk1 where it would be almost impossible to get it again1 he merely said1 ,get it6 ,in an instant the ferret was off1 and soon back again with the pencil in his mouth4 ,the gentleman said that he had been of great service to him in that way1 and he recommended them to all old ladies who are in the habit of losing thimbles and spectacles in out-of-the-way nooks and holes4 ,we can not help remarking1 that this certainly imputes a trifle too much intelligence to the animal4 ,there seems to be a curious superstition regarding the ferret amongst the lower classes of people from ,england1 ,ireland1 and ,scotland1 to the effect that the ferret possesses healing properties4 ,i have numbers of people come to me with pans of milk1 part of which they want the ferrets to lap up1 reserving the other half for medicine4 ,they firmly believe this an infallible cure for whooping-cough in children4 ,on some days so many people come for this purpose1 with milk in all sorts of vessels1 that the ferrets would certainly have burst their buttons1 if they had any1 in trying to do justice to all of it4 ,the people wait their turn patiently1 and come any day ,i appoint to have the ferrets drink some of the milk4 ,i have heard many miraculous accounts from them of ,mrs4 ,so-and-so's baby who was down that sick with the whooping-cough1 and the doctors givin' her up1 and she comin' to directly by a drop o' the milk the blessed little craythurs had been lappin' at2 and it's the only rale rimedy yer can put intire faith in4 ,the following is an extract from a ,kansas newspaper3 ,an old ,englishman is now traveling through the country with two pair of ferrets1 with which he is making money by killing prairie-dogs4 ,he has his pets in a wire cage1 and1 going to a ranch where there are indications of prairie-dogs1 he offers to clean out the dog-town for #a cent per dog4 ,the price appears so very small1 that the ranchman does not hesitate to accept the offer4 ,one ferret will clean out from twenty to fifty dogs before he tires out1 or1 rather1 before he gets so full of blood of his victims that he can't work well4 ,when one is tired out1 a fresh one is put into service2 and so on until the town is rid of dogs4 ,illustration ,,the ,,rat4 ,i4--,,the ,,rat ,,family ,,and ,,its ,,varieties4 ,the cynical1 and1 as he is generally acknowledged1 villainous old rat1 is a near kinsman of as innocent and peaceful a community as the squirrels1 rabbits1 and hares are1 at least the natural histories unite in telling us that they all belong to the ,rodentia or gnawing animal family4 ,the three great subdivisions of rat are the ,black1 ,brown and ,water varieties4 ,with the latter we have nothing to do1 as it is an innocent field animal that never goes near man or his works1 and is not properly one of the whiskered vermin race or rat breed4 ,the dock rats belong to the ,brown brigade4 ,,ii4--,,rat ,,history4 ,regarding the rat's history and antecedents we are informed in some books on this subject1 very positively1 that the common or ,brown rat was brought from ,norway1 while other naturalists insist with a pertinacity peculiar to the tribe that the animal originally comes from ,persia and ,india4 ,we feel justified in believing with the majority that this kind of vermin has its origin in ,asia1 that venerable continent of cholera1 ,heathen-,chinee1 and ,old ,testament4 ,but again1 whatsoever the different opinions may be1 it is certainly found that this species of rodent is distributed over every country on the face of the earth in a very near equal way1 because every ship that leaves port takes in its cargo of rats just as regularly as it does its cargo of provisions and merchandise1 and thus it can be readily seen how this delicate tender blossom is carefully though unwittingly transplanted4 ,in this way the ,brown rat1 which is now the strongly predominant rat party1 was brought to ,new ,york and ,america in #agge from ,england1 which would doubtless give great pleasure to that part of the population with an ,anglo-maniac tendency and would probably reconcile them much more to this sect of vermin4 ,in ,europe the latter made their appearance in #agcj1 and then spread out to every inhabitable country4 ,for men may come and men may go1 but ,i go on forever would at the first glance seem to be the case with the rat tribe as well as with the musical brooklet of ,tennyson1 yet the history of the rat nations is like unto the history of man--one clan waging a long and bitter war of conquest and extermination against the other until hardly any trace of the conquered but once mighty and ambitious race remains4 ,the ,black or ,indigenous rat had things all its own way in ,north ,america as well as through the rest of the civilized earth1 before the ,brown species' sweeping invasion1 the former having been entirely subdued and are now very scarce4 ,it was easy enough for the brown rats to do this1 because they were bigger1 bolder1 and more ferocious4 ,their multiplying powers1 too1 were sixteen times greater than the vanquished nation whose origin is shrouded in the darkest and most complete mystery4 ,the writer has on several occasions observed a dark colored rat on vessels coming from ,brazil and other ,states of ,south and ,central ,america that was unlike any specimen of this animal he had remembered ever seeing before4 ,it was of a deep bluish tint1 had an abnormally long tail1 very large ears1 and sharp1 fiery1 bead-like eyes1 that looked in the dark like small electric lamps4 ,its agility and desperate nervousness was something marvelous1 and its bump of destructiveness was largely developed also4 ,this is probably a stray representative from some struggling colony of the dethroned black rat nation4 ,small numbers of them are occasionally brought to our own shores by these vessels4 ,the rats generally escape from the ships1 whereupon1 as soon as the vessel is about to sail away again1 their places are promptly filled by their brown brethren4 ,then the desolate black rats stray to the sewers of the city1 where they are speedily overwhelmed and dispatched by members of the other faction1 their inveterate foes and conquerors4 ,,iii4--,,the ,,king',s ,,own ,,rat ,,catcher4 ,although this black rat is inferior to the brown tribe in strength1 size1 and breeding powers1 yet it must have been formidable also1 for it was formerly thought necessary in ,england to institute the queer court position of rat catcher to the ,king4 ,this was probably the case in other countries1 too1 but no records of it have been kept4 ,according to an old historian this ,english rat catcher was a very dignified and mysterious individual1 generally with gypsy blood in his veins1 as it was thought necessary for him to know something of the ,dark ,science to properly perform his duties4 ,he was attired in a rich manner1 wearing a scarlet coat embroidered with yellow worsted on which were designed figures of rats and mice destroying wheatsheaves4 ,he was looked at with much awe by the populace1 as he turned out with a stately tread and great pomp1 carrying a heavy staff with the insignia of his exalted office1 whenever he took part in the royal pageants4 ,this he did regularly1 and it is also stated that he had an attendant1 who never took part in the processions but who did the main part of the work1 always with as much mystery as possible1 upon the munificent stipend of tuppence a month1 while the gentleman in the red coat superintended the job and received the glory--differing radically in this respect from the rat catchers of the present day4 ,,iv4--,,rat ,,society1 ,,cannibalism1 ,,and ,,friendship4 ,animals of nearly all kinds are fond of each other's society1 and in their natural wild state are always found in herds4 ,the city rats live in tribes or colonies of from twenty-five to sixty individuals1 in the winter more and in the summer less4 ,in the cold weather1 when they are idle or at rest1 they lie in one heap for the purpose of mutually heating each other4 ,they change from the bottom to the top and alternate their positions very frequently1 so as to give each one an opportunity to enjoy the warmer place at the bottom4 ,the warmer the locality the less individuals there are in a heap4 ,these rats live peacefully enough amongst themselves when they have enough to eat1 but the minute they are apprised of a slightly vacant feeling in the region of the stomach they become the most savage of animals4 ,the mother rat is very careful and fussy about her young until they get to a certain age4 ,when they have passed this period1 however1 and the mother should1 on some bright day1 feel a trifle hungry1 she would as readily devour her offspring as the children would make a meal of her1 thus returning the compliment neatly4 ,individual cases of this kind occur also amongst the canine family1 where dog-bitches have dined royally on a majority of their newly born pups4 ,this tends to show that man is not the only intelligent animal who occasionally uses his fellow's carcass for fodder4 ,cannibalism1 in the rat's case1 takes place generally when they are unable to get any other diet1 but then they will devour one another with gusto1 skin1 tail1 bones1 feathers1 and all2 the stronger killing the weaker and sucking the blood first4 ,hot blood is one of their greatest delicacies4 ,the rats are born blind and naked1 and their bodies are at this time of their life in a wobbly and unformed state4 ,in this condition they would probably not be looked on by outsiders as things of beauty or delicate morsels1 yet they are eagerly sought after by the old male rat to furnish him with his ,sunday dinner dessert4 ,the male pigs1 cats1 ferrets1 and rabbits also indulge in the same pastime4 ,this is made still more of a highly prized food for the old man rat by its rarity1 as the mother will fight to protect her young with the boldness and savageness of a lioness defending her cubs4 ,she will even go to the pathetic extent of chewing up her young ones herself rather than let them fall into the hands of her oppressor4 ,the rats have an arrangement amongst them similar to the old ,greek health law of killing off all sickly infants1 that is1 they eat their dead and infirm4 ,this accounts for the fact that rats are never found at large sick1 diseased1 or disabled4 ,although1 as a rule1 it isn't considered the correct thing with us to dine or breakfast from our departed fathers-in-law or uncles1 yet in the present case1 peculiar as it may seem1 it is the only admirable trait about the rat4 ,it forms a safeguard to man against their increase1 yet we must add1 in a hurry1 that the check put upon their growth by their cannibalism is lamentably small when compared to their enormous multiplying powers1 which surpass those of any other animal4 ,the writer had a curious experience in regard to the rat's sociability and companionship4 ,he had once confined in a cage a company of twelve big slaughter-house rats and happened to neglect feeding them one evening4 ,the next morning he was rather astonished to find a well polished backbone1 a stubby remnant of tail1 and only eleven other rats1 all huddled up together compactly1 in the congregation4 ,he then gave them some food to stop them from further feeding on each other1 but they rudely refused this1 and he was again surprised to see ten of the number make a combined attack1 that looked as if agreed upon1 upon one unfortunate but especially large sized rat4 ,the latter tried desperately enough to hold his own against such fearful odds1 with much horrible squealing and screaming among them and a great deal of severe scratching1 dashing1 and tumbling against the tin-lined sides and the wire roofing of the cage4 ,in a few seconds they were ranged all around in a circle feeding ravenously on the remains of the brave but ill-fated warrior4 ,the writer has noticed1 in numerous instances where numbers of rats were kept together in a cage1 that they would on some occasions1 just as the humor seemed to strike them1 prefer their relatives and brethren as food to anything else4 ,it did not matter1 either1 what other form of diet or delicacy had been set before them4 ,v4--,,multiplying ,,powers4 ,great quantities of rats are trapped and poisoned and hunted down by all animals larger than themselves2 they are driven out of their homes1 and systematically destroyed by paid vermin-destroyers2 still all this seems to make but very slight impression on their numbers as they constantly pop up serenely from below just as if ,sure ,pop and rat-traps had only a mythic existence in fairy tales4 ,they multiply prodigiously1 the female breeding on the average about eight times a year1 and having as many as fourteen at a litter1 though in some instances this record has been badly beaten4 ,a writer on this subject calculates that from a single pair of ,new ,york rats1 living in moderately good circumstances1 there will spring in three years' time a snug1 happy little family of #fej1jjj rodents1 including mother1 father1 children1 grandchildren1 great-grandchildren1 etc41 and making due allowance for emergencies1 accidents1 and for a few hundred of them having been overpowered and used for food by the rest of this most worshipful company4 ,he allows an average of eight young at a litter1 half male and half female1 the young ones having a litter at six months old4 ,one cause of their being so prolific is that they flourish and breed as well on an abundance of swill1 refuse1 and garbage1 as if they were carefully and tenderly fed three times a day4 ,,vi4--,,the ,,rat',s ,,unabridged ,,bill ,,of ,,fare4 ,next to the ostrich1 the rat possesses the most capacious and accommodating kind of stomach4 ,he will swallow anything1 digestible or otherwise1 although he can appreciate good things with much intelligence1 when he comes across them4 ,his bill of fare ranges all the way up from tallow-candles and shingles to roast-partridge and old boots4 ,rats are broadly omnivorous1 and their food varies widely with their situation4 ,they will eat soap1 from the harsh and strong smelling washerwoman's kind to the richly perfumed and tinted toilet variety4 ,with a vast and admirable toleration1 they will feed upon bacon1 sponges1 ham1 roots1 flour1 pork1 roast-fowl1 from boarding-house chicken to the microscopic quail2 they will consume confectionery1 potatoes1 tomatoes1 turnips1 other vegetables1 fruit of every description1 from huckleberries to watermelons1 raw1 boiled1 broiled1 or fried fish1 suet1 eggs1 bread1 mutton1 cheese1 and butter4 ,also raw1 cooked1 boiled1 broiled1 fried1 smoked1 or roast-beef1 and they swallow with keen relish wines of all brands and vintages1 beer1 whisky1 gin1 and brandy1 and evince a loving fondness for all grades of oil1 from the dirtiest1 coarsest whale's blubber to the finest olive4 ,the rat is verily a most cosmopolitan glutton1 and enjoys the favorite dishes of the various nations with much the same hearty appreciation throughout1 hugely delighting himself with frog's hind-legs in ,france1 pickled herrings in ,holland1 potatoes roasted on the hearth in ,ireland1 pumpernickel and sourkrout in ,germany1 anise-seed1 garlic1 and olla podrida in ,spain1 birds'-nest1 sharks' fins1 and meat furnished by the rat's own brethren in ,china1 caviare and candles with the ,russians1 roast-beef and ale in ,england1 and pork-and-beans and peanuts with the people of a certain division of ,north ,america4 ,drawing the line at a particular point in the rats' endeavors to obtain belly timber1 as ,sancho puts it1 is an obsolete custom with them1 for they devour putrid carrion1 and human flesh1 too1 comes within this category1 a further account of which will be found in the course of the next chapter4 ,,vii4--,,ferocity4 ,the rat is dangerously ferocious when aroused1 and is capable of being wrought up to a pitch of white heat fury4 ,if he should be caught1 his tail cut1 his hair burnt1 or if he should be wounded in any other way1 but not sufficiently to weaken his system or momentary capacity1 and he is then let loose1 he will1 through sheer madness and pure cussedness1 hunt up1 fight1 and overpower his brethren individually1 or else put them to flight in a body1 without much ado4 ,in fact1 when he is worked up to this state1 he wouldn't hesitate for a moment to attack an entire army of rats1 or of other far bigger and more terrible objects4 ,in many cases like this1 rats have often obligingly rid premises of their own kind4 ,if the tortured or maimed rat is in a weak condition afterwards1 he will be promptly overpowered by the other members of the rat community upon general principles4 ,we are often regaled in the newspapers with brutally frank accounts of people leaving their babies alone at home1 and1 upon returning1 finding them frightfully lacerated by rats1 slowly and reluctantly escaping from the scene4 ,in like manner1 they have become bold enough to attack solitary invalids in houses1 who had work enough to defend themselves from1 and to drive off1 these ferocious little beasts1 driven on by hunger like the true wolves of the wilderness4 ,living or dead1 man is bound to furnish food for the rat2 and in church-yards1 where1 ghoul-like1 they choose the night as their time of appearing1 they demolish the skeletons1 littering the ground with remnants of the white1 shining bones4 ,,viii4--,,rats ,,in ,,breweries1 ,,slaughter-,,houses1 ,,markets1 ,,stables1 ,,and ,,barn-,,yards4 ,the writer1 in the course of his many rat-hunting expeditions1 has had occasion to observe the rats in the lower cellars of many large ,new ,york breweries1 where beer was about all they could get to live on4 ,the sage old rodents1 ,i observed1 that had become accustomed to this diet--and had noted scientifically its queer effects in large doses on the rat system--indulged in a moderate way1 and became aged1 good-natured1 and fat1 like some jovial1 bald-headed old merchant of the human type4 ,the young rats1 however1 that had been recruited from the neighboring houses1 would proceed immediately to paint a limited part of the town quite crimson with much hilariousness and quantities of beer1 after which they could be killed or caught without much bother1 lying around through the passage-ways in a beastly intoxicated state4 ,here they lay1 squealing faintly1 and without concern1 on their backs4 ,we may find in this1 if we care to look for it1 a really valuable temperance lesson2 for1 when the rodents imbibed with moderation1 they were of a strong and healthy race1 and greatly looked up to in the gnawing community2 but1 when they quaffed too heavily1 they became poets1 and cared not for the affairs of this small earth1 whereupon they were ignobly killed with a club by some base son of man4 ,in slaughter-houses1 they become so unconscious after having gorged themselves with a hearty dinner of hot blood and other warm offal1 that hundreds of them could be picked up and massacred with but very faint resistance on the otherwise cautious rat's part4 ,in old markets1 rats yet do valuable service as sanitary inspectors1 by demolishing the amount of refuse and garbage2 but in other channels they are the very demons of destruction4 ,they are especially fond of cheese2 and in the cheese-dealers' stalls they go at their work of procuring this in a highly artistic way4 ,they drill holes through the flooring beneath the largest cheeses1 and then work their way up and eat into them1 consuming pounds upon pounds in a single night4 ,the men sometimes find a large cheese with the interior scooped entirely out1 leaving the rind1 in hollow mockery1 simply an empty1 worthless shell4 ,in the butchers' shops1 the rats are connoisseurs in the quality of meat1 always seeking out the primest portions of the beef in preference to any others4 ,around barn-yards they destroy the grain1 oats1 and every species of fowl1 from the smallest to the largest specimen4 ,in going at their work of destruction1 they spring upon the neck of the victims1 and pierce and bite it through with their teeth4 ,they then suck the blood first1 or else eat into the flesh as they would into a cheese1 often contenting themselves with the blood and leaving the carcass4 ,in stables the harness and the axle grease1 even1 suffice to make a square meal for them in default of better fodder2 they also make the horses frantic by fiendishly gnawing at their hoofs4 ,,ix4--,,rats ,,as ,,wine ,,drinkers4 ,in a neat and cleverly written little book on ,spain1 it is observed that in the wine cellars the bungs in the heads of the butts containing sweet wines had little square pieces of tin nailed over them4 ,this was to protect them from the rats who otherwise get upon the edge of the butt1 and lick the sweet wine which oozes through1 then begin to nibble the bung1 and go on1 if they are let alone1 till out rushes the wine in a stream4 ,the effects of the rats' ingenuity seems to bear rather a kind intention toward his two-legged brother1 described in the following3 ,this happened not long ago to a large tonel of the finest ,pedro ,jimenez1 which1 was stored with others in the ground-floor of a house1 the owner of which was away in ,seville1 with the key1 which he would trust to no one1 in his pocket4 ,one morning out came the bung1 long nibbled by rats1 and1 about three hundred gallons of the wine ran out into the gutter4 ,it was a queer sight1 people rushing to dip it up with any vessel that came to hand1 some of them presently using mops1 and the small boys1 who had found it was sweet1 and lapped up as much as they could get at1 lying around the street in various stages of intoxication1 after the manner of our frisky friends1 the joyous rats of the brewery cellars4 ,x4--,,destructiveness4 ,the rat's bite1 and especially that of old rats1 is very poisonous1 and its teeth are finely adapted for severe1 quick1 sharp1 and deep cutting4 ,it forms an urgent natural necessity for them1 owing to the peculiar structure and growth of their teeth1 to keep them incessantly working4 ,the idea never comes to the rats of a possible breaking off of their tusks in attacking such flexible objects as bricks or lead1 and the writer has seen cases in which the rats cheerfully went to work gnawing off corners of bricks and granite1 in a persistent manner1 so that they could make an opening large enough for their admission into a house4 ,nothing is exempt from their merciless teeth4 ,they mutilate the woodwork on the valuable drawing-room chair just as readily as they would the dingiest1 most plebeian sort of washtub1 and they make sad havoc of upholstery of all kinds4 ,they seem to have an especially lasting grudge against the transmission of knowledge1 for books are gnawed and mutilated by them in immense quantities4 ,they gnaw paper1 from legal documents of the highest value 7and many an important writing has been hopelessly destroyed by their agency71 to the most worthless treatise on ,four-,fingered ,mike2 or1 ,the ,terror of ,hoboken4 ,our clothing1 shoes1 hat-gear1 etc41 is turned out by the rats in a pitifully dilapidated condition4 ,they also eat into lead pipes for the purpose of obtaining water1 which it is hard for them to do without1 although we have found that they can be without food for a much greater length of time4 ,when the rats are pressed for drink on board ship1 they lay low in the day-time1 but in the evening they stealthily come out on the deck from the hold1 in a long row1 single file1 in order to sip the moisture from the rigging4 ,by examining the ,fire ,marshal's ,report of ,new ,york ,city from #ahfh to #ahhb1 we learn that rats have been the cause of #gi fires during #ab years1 making an average of five fires a year4 ,this is on account of the rats' strong propensity for nibbling matches4 ,in the same report is a warning against the loose and careless manner in which matches are left in pantries and closets infested by rats and mice with a fondness for this kind of diet4 ,the great attraction for the rodents in the matches is the phosphorus1 which these useful articles contain in abundance1 and which the rats are able to scent out from a great distance4 ,,xi4--,,rats ,,as ,,food4 ,if you were lunching on something similar in taste to roast partridge1 and some one told you1 after you had finished1 that it was only domestic house rat1 your interior machinery would probably be disarranged--to such an extent is the bare mention of the word rat repugnant to our senses and stomachs4 ,in the course of an experiment1 the writer has cooked and boiled rats1 and has found that their meat is of a very tender quality1 and of a white1 inviting appearance1 withal1 although he never went the length of partaking of it4 ,our objection to the rat's serving as food is too deeply rooted and profound to be removed1 although there are a great many animals whose flesh forms our staple food that have habits much dirtier1 and who do not nearly live upon as cleanly a diet 7and this is a broad statement7 as our despised house rat4 ,from this eulogium we gently but firmly exclude the rat gentry of the sewers4 ,we must give the ,chinese credit for having overcome the effete ,european prejudice against the rat as food4 ,seemingly1 it is the most highly prized dish that the sons of leprosy have in their bill of fare4 ,the crews of the ,american and ,english vessels lying in ,canton harbor used to amuse themselves greatly in catching a rat1 and then holding the kicking animal by the tail so that the ,celestials in the junks alongside could get a good view of it4 ,the ,mongolians would then get very much excited1 utter exclamations of a gobbling1 clucking sound1 and as soon as the spluttering1 frightened rat was flung from the ship an uproarious scramble followed1 that made them look like so many monkeys quarreling over a cocoanut4 ,a writer tell us1 in a well-written magazine article1 that he has lived fifteen years in ,china1 and has had experience at public banquets1 social dinners1 and ordinary meals1 in company with all classes of people1 but was exceedingly surprised at never having seen cat1 dog1 or rat served up in any form whatsoever4 ,we are sorry the gentleman neglects to state whether he'd know the difference4 ,the odds are twenty to one that he wouldn't2 because1 as he knows himself1 the ,chinese are excellent cooks1 and can prepare a good meal from what in other countries would be thought offal4 ,he makes the admission1 however1 that there are some peculiar people in ,china1 as well as elsewhere--credulous and superstitious--some of whom believe that the flesh of dogs1 cats1 and rats1 possesses medicinal properties4 ,for instance1 some silly women believe that the flesh of rats restores the hair2 some believe that dog meat and cat meat renews the blood1 and quacks often prescribe it4 ,what the ,chinese really do eat does not vary much from that found on ,american tables2 but there are certain dishes not on our programmes that are considered delicacies by everybody--such as edible bird's-nests and sharks' fins4 ,to this we can add conscientiously1 and upon weighty private authority--fried split rat1 stewed dog1 and curried cat with rice4 ,in this place it would be appropriate of us to say something of the peculiarities of ,chinese food--of the way the dogs and cats are carefully bred for the palates of the ,chinese epicures2 how these former animals are invitingly exposed for sale in the marketplaces2 and we would willingly describe the methods of the dog and cat breeders1 and the manner of curing and cooking the rats--but want of space forbids4 ,we will merely state that there are many cases in which rats were eaten much nearer home than ,china2 but1 as the persons undertaking the experiment were slowly starving to death1 and would have quickly eaten each other rather than accept the jolly alternative of dying by hunger1 these instances are not of a remarkable nature1 and are consequently unworthy of note in the present annals4 ,,xii4--,,rat ,,nests4 ,rats are impartial in their building sites--they have contentedly built their nests in the wretched and filthy peasant's hovel and in the most palatial and luxurious residences of kings1 and a human habitation must indeed be in the extreme of squalor1 dirt and decay where they are not found sprawling4 ,shakespeare pithily expresses this in the ,tempest3 ,in few they hurried us aboard a bark1 ,bore us some leagues to sea1 where they prepar'd ,a rotten carcass of a boat1 not rigg'd1 ,nor tackle1 sail nor mast--the very rats ,instinctively had quit it4 ,the rat living in a house prefers warm1 soft quarters1 and invariably gets within comfortable distances of stoves1 ranges1 heaters1 steam-pipes1 etc4 ,this is a very dangerous habit1 because his nest is always constructed of inflammable materials4 ,at times he also lugs matches into it1 and then if the steam-pipes should become overheated1 the matches blaze up and spread the flames4 ,we have read in the newspapers of a great many fires afterwards found to have been caused in this way4 ,the rat's nest is made of black and colored silk1 of linen1 woolen and cotton materials1 bits of canvas1 dirty rags1 fur1 silk stockings1 and antique lace of much value jumbled together with string and crumpled paper4 ,in one instance we knew of a rat to make use of a building material more out of the ordinary run than these1 as it consisted simply of fifteen hundred dollars in greenbacks that had been put under the carpet of a room for safe keeping1 and which was afterwards found in mutilated fragments1 thatched together1 forming this queer old mercenary rat's abode4 ,the rat uses his nest too as a storehouse1 and here he lays by quantities of edibles for a rainy day4 ,the writer came across a nest1 once upon a time1 the sole building materials of which were those undergarments1 both masculine and feminine1 fashioned so slenderly1 but which we dare not mention4 ,this nest contained a peck or so of beans1 though in the house where it was built beans had not been stored nor used1 the writer found out1 for at least three months4 ,out of doors or in fields the rats' nests are built of hay1 leaves1 shavings1 and wool4 ,the rat is1 besides his other praiseworthy qualities1 an inveterate old thief1 and in decorating his dwelling picturesquely he becomes quite lavish1 as gold rings1 diamonds1 jewels of every value1 and gold and silver watches1 that had been missed1 were found in rat nests4 ,here they were generally discovered set off with much taste by a piece of salt bag4 ,in one rat's nest ,i found a set of false teeth in perfect condition4 ,the rat could not have wanted to use them himself1 because they were several sizes too big for him4 ,he probably wanted them for a tool-box or jewel-case or some other equally useful object4 ,the writer remembers reading in some odd book of a good-natured person who had discovered a family of young rats in a piano that stood in a room for some time unfrequented4 ,they had made themselves so much at home in the interior of the instrument that the owner was unwilling to disturb them by playing upon it4 ,the female rat probably wanted to get her young to some safe place away from her liege lord1 and had succeeded in gnawing up through the leg of the piano4 ,she had brought with her1 in which to build a nest1 a dirty striped stocking big enough to have belonged to some distinguished ,dime ,museum fat lady4 ,,xiii4--,,the ,,rat',s ,,musical ,,talents ,,and ,,eyesight4 ,rats love sweet1 soft1 melodious tones1 and a great many experiments have been made in taming rats thereby1 but only with indifferent success upon the sharp-witted rodents1 in spite of all the pretty stories to the contrary in the reading-books4 ,so high is the rat's musical understanding rated1 that there is a proverb among the people that rats immediately disappear from the house as soon as a young lady begins taking lessons on the piano4 ,a mouth-harmonica seems to be the rat's favorite musical instrument1 and its gentle strains exert the most power over him1 far more than the tones of any other instrument4 ,if the music be soft1 mild1 and pathetic1 the rat will listen and come very near1 for he is a very susceptible sort of beast1 and1 if closely observed1 tears of sorrow1 or of sad and tender reminiscence1 will be seen coursing slowly down his cheeks4 ,but if1 on the contrary1 the music be harsh1 shrill1 and discordant1 such as would most likely be ground out by beginners1 or if it proceed from a brass instrument1 or drum1 or if it be occasioned by a shotgun report1 or explosion1 it may drive the impressionable animals from places where they had been used to frequent4 ,if1 however1 one is unsuccessful in trying to scare off the rats by noise at the first inning1 a repetition will be of no avail4 ,the rat will take up his nest in all and any out-of-the way places1 as he shuns the light and lives wholly in the dark and gloom4 ,this is the cause of his poor sight2 he can hardly see at all in the daytime1 and in the night a little better4 ,if you should meet with a rat by day1 looking square in your face1 depend upon it he isn't able to see you at all1 in spite of the pretty gleam in his black eyes4 ,his minutely acute ears1 however1 do him good service instead of eyes1 so that he has very little occasion to miss the latter at all4 ,the rat is generally very timid1 and extremely nervous1 the slightest disturbance repelling him and making him shrink into obscurity and shadow4 ,yet it is his great peculiarity that he can adapt himself to any extremity of climate or description of place2 he is found making himself at home in hotels1 factories1 public gardens1 and other haunts of loud and constant noise1 bustle1 and confusion4 ,,xiv4--,,rats ,,as ,,moralists4 ,the ,lord in making the rats is imputed to have done so to have them serve as scavengers for his wandering1 wasteful tribes of children4 ,but in our own day1 as the majority of us do not wander1 nor have wandered continually for the last two or three thousand years or so1 and have slapped up many supposedly permanent villages like ,london1 ,new ,york1 or ,paris1 the restless1 ambitious rat took into his head not to limit himself to such dirty kind of work exclusively4 ,he then formed the resolution1 and further carried out the purposes of his creator by taking upon himself the philosophic office of keeping man's pride in check4 ,this he did by literally chipping a large proportion of the gilt off man's earthy grandeur1 and by destroying his works and belongings at every possible opportunity1 with right hearty good-will and much perseverance4 ,therefore1 says a writer1 whatever man does1 rat always takes a share in the proceedings4 ,whether it be building a ship1 erecting a church1 digging a grave1 plowing a field1 storing a pantry1 taking a journey1 or planting a distant colony1 rat is sure to have something to do in the matter2 man and his gear can no more get transplanted from place to place without him1 than without the ghost in the wagon that 'flitted too'4 ,,xv4--,,rats ,,in ,,the ,,good ,,old ,,days1 ,,and ,,the ,,modern ,,rat ,,superstitions4 ,in the merry days of old1 rats were regarded as undisputed signs of witchcraft1 and even scholars acknowledged this--at least they were compelled to1 by the help of a blazing pile of faggots1 or similar mild means known only to the good old times4 ,what caused this belief among the people was1 that an animal appearing to them so small should be the cause of such intense and continual annoyance to them4 ,there was no barrier through which the rat could not effect its way to get at a certain object1 thanks to its wonderful powers of gnawing4 ,it was so omnivorous1 ferocious1 and destructive1 that the people endowed the rat with superhuman qualities1 and regarded it as a true child of the ,devil1 put upon this earth to be always pestering them4 ,in regard to the rat's superhuman qualities1 it appears to have certainly displayed more reason and acuteness1 fighting in the daily battle of life1 than any one of these thick-skulled humans could lay claim to4 ,it was looked on with a great and most unreasonable aversion and loathing1 born of superstition and fear1 and which we find vehemently expressed in all the ancient books on the subject4 ,this feeling1 we cannot help believing1 is not dead yet1 according to the astounding anecdotes brought forth and widely copied in a great many of our ,american newspapers4 ,the facts and data given in these learned articles about the rat's size1 weight1 and habits1 in general1 would make his hair stand on end with horror if he were to read them4 ,as a matter of fact1 the ordinary brown rat1 which we find everywhere near man1 is a pretty black-eyed1 softly robed1 and delicately constructed little animal2 and although his fur may be plainly colored1 like the plumage of the sparrow amongst birds1 yet it is of the finest texture1 and1 when possible1 is always kept scrupulously clean4 ,in solitary captivity he is continually sitting on his haunches1 cleaning his fur like a cat2 and the writer has found1 by actual experiment1 the weight of twelve full-grown1 well-fed ,new ,york city rats to amount to exactly twelve and a half pounds4 ,formerly1 in ,european countries1 there was a general belief in the existence of strange and mysterious relations between this great slimy monster and the high-priests of witchcraft and sorcery4 ,it was thought that this was the animal best adapted to carry out the diabolical plots of his ,satanic majesty4 ,in one part of ,norway1 the peasants used devoutly to hold a fast day once a year1 trusting thereby to get rid of the pests of rats and mice4 ,they had a ,latin exorcism which they used on these occasions1 beginning with the words1 ,exerciso nos pestiferos1 vermes mures1 etc4 ,anything a rat left its trace upon was an omen of ill to the owner2 and when by any chance a rat was ever seen on a cow's back the poor animal was doomed to pine slowly to death in consequence4 ,in ,ireland it was believed that premises could be rid of rats by reciting a rhyme over their holes1 which was commonly called rhyming rats to death4 ,,xvi4--,,review ,,of ,,the ,,rat1 ,,and ,,conclusion4 ,but since these times the people have succeeded in getting rid of a great quantity of superstition attached to the subject4 ,it has also been learned gradually that the actions of the rat are prompted much more by natural than by diabolical instinct4 ,however timorous and innocent looking we have found the rat to be upon impartial observation1 yet his is a case of wolf in sheep's clothing1 for he is the one of the whole brute creation that does the most undermining damage in every way to the homes1 workshops1 counting-rooms1 store-houses and cultivated fields and acres of man4 ,the rat is also at times his very ferocious personal enemy4 ,the rat's code of morals will be found rather deficient1 as we have tried to explain in the preceding rambling remarks4 ,in fact1 there are condensed in this small animal all the vices of the animal world4 ,we have shown him in the pleasant light of a cannibal briefly making an end of all family ties by transferring his relatives down his stomach4 ,we have traced a faint outline of his great food greediness and his intemperance in strong drink1 which is pretty near up to the human standard4 ,we have pictured his strong liking for the hot blood of man and his utterly lacking an organ of veneration1 digging up man's bones from their final resting-place to have them serve as food4 ,the strongest weapon the rats have against man1 ranking even above their wonderfully constructed teeth1 are their prodigious multiplying powers1 and1 says ,richardson1 if the rats were suffered to increase in numbers1 unchecked1 the time would not be far distant when the entire globe would but suffice to furnish food for their rapacious appetites to the exclusion of the human race4 ,the only way man can hold his own against their mighty ravages and prevent his whole social organization from being undermined by them1 is to wage a steady and unrelenting war1 by the help of his own arts and the animals specially assigned by nature to do service for him as police1 against the most bloodthirsty1 cruel1 and acute of enemies4 ,,rat ,,extermination4 ,there are four distinct methods of rat extermination1 viz43 #a4 ,traps4 #b4 ,poisons4 #c4 ,cats1 ,dogs1 and ,ferrets4 #d4 ,human ,rat-catchers4 ,we will first give some practical hints on ,i4--,,traps4 ,the rat is by no means one of the least intelligent of quadrupeds1 and there is one thing we feel solid about--when he knows you really want to trap him he'll do his level best to avoid your kind intentions4 ,there are shoals of ingenious rat-traps with plenty of mechanism in them which are certainly good as long as you don't plainly advertise them to the rats1 which is about equal to saying ,look out1 rats1 this is a trap for you1 with a bait6 ,after you have put out this charitable notice nary a rodent will you catch4 ,we will now show how most simple people1 after catching a lone specimen1 give themselves dead away1 to speak classically1 to all the rats there are in the neighborhood4 ,get a trap1 no matter of what shape1 material or brand--but by all means get one that doesn't let the rat out again after he has been once caught4 ,bait it with anything nice and tempting1 and put it near the rat-hole1 just where they come out1 any time before you go to bed4 ,in the morning you probably find you have caught a rat--maybe a big1 grizzled old fellow with a scabby tail1 or else a young one1 half frightened to death--anyway it is a rat1 and a real live one at that1 and you can forthwith proceed to kill him4 ,now clean your trap and smoke it out4 ,bait it again with the same care and1 hundred to one1 you find--no rat4 ,the mystery of it is this3 ,the first rat that came out of the hole on the first night saw you had put down something for him1 so he sniffed the dainty bait and remarked under his breath that he was a devilish lucky dog and that he had struck a superior sort of a free lunch all to himself4 ,with that he entered--the trap snapped harshly and cruelly1 and the nervous little animal became frightened and sought to escape from his seeming abode of luxury4 ,he couldn't get out1 squealed long and plaintively1 and worked hard against the sides of his prison4 ,bye and bye all the other rats came out to see the cause of all the racket4 ,after investigating they find their young friend has been dolefully sold1 and together make and keep a vow to steer clear of your traps ever afterwards4 ,this is why you catch but one rat and no more2 for a much more stupid and less nervous animal than a rat is would keep away from a similar arrangement in the future4 ,we shall now try the experiment over again1 but in a different fashion4 ,suppose we select a big round trap with falling doors at the sides and a hole on top4 ,first be sure that the doors lift up and fall down very easily4 ,if the bottom of the trap is of wire place it on sawdust1 so that the rats are comfortable in it4 ,put the trap away from the hole1 near the wall of the cellar1 if in winter near the warmest place1 always in a dark spot4 ,as our friend likes comfort so much1 put a bag over the trap1 so that he can find the falling doors easily4 ,get some rags scented with about fifteen drops of either oil of rhodium1 oil of carraway1 oil of aniseed1 or a mixture of these oils4 ,first tie a string around them and swab them around the rat-holes1 then drag them on the ground near the wall1 to the place where the rat-trap is and rub the rags well over it1 then put them in4 ,have some nice tempting bait in the trap1 either carrots1 meat1 broiled bacon1 or cheese--anything fresh will do--but be careful to put in enough of it4 ,if the trap is placed as we have above directed the rat will get in and not try to escape4 ,make the trap as much unlike a trap and as much like a natural hiding-place as possible4 ,if this is done1 it is highly probable you will have your cage chock-full of rats the next morning4 ,it is very seldom this fails1 but if it should not succeed the first night proceed as follows3 ,put the trap exactly as ,i have told you1 with the exception to tie up the sliding doors4 ,let it stand there until the rats have eaten it out several times1 replacing the bait4 ,after the rats get used to frequent the place and think they have a soft snap on you1 let down your falling doors again and you have them all6 ,after all is said and done1 the most practical of all rat-traps is my little ,special ,steel ,trap1 which catches one rat at a time1 but its cost is so reasonable that you can have a dozen of them for the price of one of the big wire ones4 ,it is an utter impossibility for the rats to avoid being caught if the traps are properly placed1 and it can1 with ease1 be so nicely adjusted that the gentlest touch of a rat's paw will insure his immediate capture4 ,and when ,mister ,rat has put down that little paw of his he is as securely held as if he were nailed to the floor4 ,i have over ten thousand of these traps in use in my professional rat-exterminating operations and sell barrels of them4 ,the larger the space to be covered the more traps are required1 and1 where it is possible1 remove your rat as soon as caught4 ,place the traps in the natural run of the rats2 around swill-barrels1 along the walls1 etc4 ,its chief practical beauty is its innocent appearance1 as there is nothing about its placid surface which tells the rats of its unerring aim4 ,with every trap we furnish a chain-attachment and fastener2 the latter is for the purpose of securing it to the flooring and prevents the rats from dragging the trap4 ,as this ,special ,steel ,trap is a boon to large institutions1 ships1 shops1 factories1 stores1 hotels1 office-buildings1 flat-houses1 warehouses1 private dwellings1 slaughter-houses1 etc41 etc41 ,i quote the following prices on it1 which are net3 ,per dozen #c4jj ,per hundred #bj4jj ,,ii4--,,poisons4 ,the common rat poisons are ,arsenic1 ,strychnine and ,paris-green4 ,these are put up by enterprising people under a multitude of suggestive names1 without specifying the kind of poisons used1 however1 or even a warning of their being poisonous1 as the law implicitly directs4 ,there is1 indeed1 a great deal of criminal negligence in the way these poisons are put upon the market1 as in some the proportion of poison is so great that it would kill an elephant--whereas it should be exactly graded to the rat's capacity4 ,the proportion of arsenic in one very-much-advertised rat-poison now in use1 as analyzed by ,dr4 ,otto ,grothe1 a ,brooklyn chemist1 consists of #ih4ai per cent4 pure arsenic and #a4ha per cent4 admixtures 7coal1 etc474 ,would-be suicides and murderers have made use of these poisons extensively4 ,poisons in powdery form--such as arsenic and strychnine--are liable1 very easily1 indeed1 to get mixed up with food1 and have in that way been a powerful death-dealing agency4 ,their peculiar effect on the rats is to allow them to get over-doses1 causing violent vomiting1 followed by complete failure to kill or drive out4 ,the ,phosphoric ,paste1 the ,sure ,pop brand of which is very carefully manufactured by the present writer1 is free from all of these objections1 as it is in salve form and very hard to be accidentally mixed up with edibles of any kind4 ,it is impossible for the rats to receive overdoses of it2 and the phosphorus has the effect of burning and irritating them internally and forcing them to run for fresh air4 ,arsenic and strychnine rat-poisons are usually prepared in such heavy quantities that the rats prematurely die in the holes4 ,on the other hand1 the amount of actual poisonous matter in this ,sure ,pop ,phosphoric ,paste has been exactly proportioned to the rat's system1 making the amount of poison very slight4 ,there is no secret at all in the compounding of this preparation1 but it requires much experience and study of the rat's nature1 preferences and habits to make it so that it will work with proper effect4 ,the utmost daintiness is also required in the handling of all its ingredients4 ,we have practically shown on page #dj how the smell of phosphorus is the most powerful of attractions known to the rat1 and how it will operate when everything else fails4 ,,iii4--,,dogs1 ,,cats ,,and ,,ferrets4 ,the claims of cats as one of the rat remedies we shall have to dismiss in very short order1 as the exceptional cases in which they do good work are altogether too few and far between4 ,the only domestic animal which really possesses value in hunting rats is the ferret1 as1 by reason of its india-rubber joints1 it can pursue its prey home4 ,any terrier--no matter what variety--having a fair amount of intelligence can be broken in with ferrets1 so that your ferret can do the hunting out and the dog--at the proper moment--can do the killing4 ,the fox-terrier is by far the best ratting-terrier4 ,he is quick1 understands and remembers what is taught him1 is full of ambition1 and readily learns to regard the ferrets as his partners in the rat-hunt4 ,,iv4--,,human ,,rat-,,catchers4 ,the directions given with each of the remedies advocated by me are so plain that anyone can successfully put them into use4 ,where the rats have got altogether too thick1 or where they hold possession of a place in such a way that there appears no clue to dislodging them1 it is quite advisable to call in an expert4 ,to this effect ,i have perfected a regular system of rat-exterminating in which the remedies ,i mention in this book are systematically applied--under my own superintendence--by a corps of experts4 ,through this improved system ,i am enabled to take contracts to exterminate rats 7and also other vermin7 from any kind of building in any city or town in the ,united ,states1 providing the job is large enough4 ,correspondence on the subject given prompt attention4 ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,the ,,ferret4 ,,with ,,hints ,,to ,,darwin4 ,we have stated1 in the first chapter of this book1 that the verb ferret is derived from the animal of the same name1 but many savants1 and even plain people1 as ,lincoln said1 have cudgeled their brains trying to trace from whence the animal has derived its name4 ,after long and tedious delving into histories and musty tomes having even the slightest bearing on the subject1 we are able herewith to enlighten these gentlemen4 ,for this illumination they have long been waiting1 we have no doubt1 with the utmost anxiety and impatience4 ,this requires us to go at length into the matter1 and entails upon us the writing of the ferret's development from prehistoric times until merged into the animal of to-day1 with its present shape1 instincts1 and habits4 ,in the course of the essay we also prove conclusively that the animal originally comes from ,america4 ,many scientists will no doubt deem it peculiar to find us using many modern and untechnical terms in the following history1 but let them rest assured that if we were to make use of our extensive scientific knowledge of the subject it would compel them to hunt up all the lexicons that had ever been compiled6 ,in the very good and very old days before our present reckoning1 when mankind sported tails and was protected against the wind and weather by a long1 hairy covering1 and when both animals and man had a language of their own--in those times it was that two fair-sized buck ,martens1 one of the ,beech and the other of the ,stone species1 stood on the southern point of what is now called ,cape ,farewell1 in ,greenland1 longitude #cj #cj east1 latitude #fj #b north4 ,they trembled violently from excitement1 because they had just finished a friendly set-to of #fd rounds1 lasting #c hours #aj minutes1 ,new ,york time1 and which both had so far survived4 ,the referee1 an old good-natured fox1 saw with his keen off-eye that there was no more fight in either of them1 and pronounced the battle a draw1 telling them to try it again on some future day1 whereupon he speedily took his departure1 as he was very busy just at that time umpiring base-ball games4 ,the contestants then shook forepaws1 a custom which has survived the centuries1 and after a little cold water and rest had restored them they mended their broken friendship and made solemn pledges not to try harming each other any more4 ,they further made a bargain to set up a business firm1 which meant in those days1 as it does now1 division of spoils4 ,in the language of that time the ,beech ,marten was called ,ver1 and his partner1 the ,stone ,marten1 ,rect1 therefore the firm was called ,the ,ver and ,rect ,bill-of-,fare ,improving ,co4 ,this title explains part of their object in making the trip described in the following pages4 ,the other agreements were to do it in perfect harmony1 and at the end of their pilgrimage to stick forever by that particular diet that had suited them best4 ,they were both very glad of their compact1 because each one had formed a high opinion of the other's powers evidenced in the pummeling of one another's ribs4 ,talking things over leisurely1 they found themselves getting hungry1 and as their stomach was and is yet the ,mainspring of their actions1 they resolved to start immediately on the expedition4 ,after they had traveled #dh hours due south-east 7a direction which they instinctively followed all through their wanderings7 they had the good luck to stumble upon a small but very fat pig1 snoring comfortably on the banks of a river1 known then as the ,atlantic river1 but since developed into the ocean of the same name1 a further account of which is given further on4 ,ver and ,rect found the stream about the size of our present ,hudson as it flows by ,weehawken4 ,the partners accordingly killed the pig without much bother1 ate it1 and took a short nap 7for those times7 of three days1 and after waking they stretched themselves1 hopped around1 and took a drink from the river1 but no sooner had they swallowed a little of the water than they commenced spitting1 spluttering1 and twisting their faces into all shapes1 as the water was very salt and brackish4 ,eating the very fat pig and drinking the salt water had not agreed with ,ver and ,rect1 and they put down the following on the tablets of their minds for future reference3 ,fat pig bad feed--salt water ditto4 ,hence all their descendants1 right up to this day1 never indulge in pork or use salt at all4 ,illustration ,ver1 who wore spectacles1 then took the reckoning1 and found they had just traveled #aiaj prehistoric miles1 quite a distance for those days4 ,the firm resolved lazily to start again1 and after yawning a good deal1 and lying in the sun a little while longer1 they still felt unpleasant fat-pig and salt-water sensations4 ,they paddled across the ,atlantic river1 and by the time they had arrived on the other side they had no objection to lunching again1 and as fortune seemed to favor them1 they spied in the distance a very big woodchuck4 ,after an exciting chase1 ,ver and ,rect captured him1 and at first devoured him with vim4 ,the poor ,martens1 however1 were doomed to disappointment1 for when they had bolted their prize and had taken their usual nap of three days1 they woke up with great pains in their much-abused interior departments4 ,they thought the woodchuck business over carefully and made this inward memorandum3 ,woodchuck may be very good1 but we prefer lead-pipe4 ,four days after the feast of the woodchuck1 wandering on rather discontentedly1 they were suddenly delighted by a wonderful change in the climate1 that had previously been harsh and cold1 but was now mild and radiant4 ,birds were singing from beautiful trees1 ,nanny and ,billy goats1 and sheep were gamboling about cheerfully4 ,lions and wolves were doing a thriving business1 and1 just like the bulls and bears of to-day1 were all living on the poor lambs4 ,the ,martens wandered about a mile through this happy land1 and in course of time1 bethinking themselves of their sacred mission1 they fell to work on a ,billy goat1 who was slain1 after a hard fight1 as an offering to their great god1 ,the ,stomach4 ,it is evidenced by our records that this goat must have been a huge animal1 for ,ver and ,rect lived three days on his carcass1 although at the end of this time they felt rather sick4 ,the entry in their inward journal was as follows3 ,disgusted with ,billy goat2 hopes of finding our steady feed very gloomy4 ,rect began to feel discouraged1 but ,ver cheered him up1 saying unto him3 ,rec'1 ,i have a feeling within my bones which tells me our promised land of ,good ,feed draws near4 ,brace up thy suspenders1 and let us be of good mien and travail onward1 for there is no philosopher on earth of a cheerful temper with his belly unhinged4 ,verily1 after a two days' journey1 they observed1 to their joy1 right on their road1 a great mountain overgrown with timber and underbrush4 ,upon reaching it1 they found it full of game of all kinds1 some of which they began to attack immediately4 ,among others they caught a little1 delicate gray rabbit1 and after critically tasting its flesh1 were delighted with its flavor4 ,they thought now they had found a solid bill-of-fare material1 and made arrangements for staying in the place by digging themselves comfortable beds under the roots of a big tree4 ,there was such an abundance of these delicious rabbits that ,ver and ,rect concluded they had enough of a wandering life1 and that the mission of the ,bill-of-,fare ,improving ,co4 was fulfilled4 ,they called the land1 on account of the great number of these little animals1 ,engelland1 meaning the land of the ,engels1 or angels1 at present ,england4 ,having kept bachelor's hall for awhile under the big tree1 they formed the acquaintance of some of their rich neighbors1 who were very kind to them1 and whom the ,martens found to be relatives of theirs4 ,to ,ver and ,rect's former pastimes of hunting1 eating1 drinking 7cold water71 and sleeping1 they now added courting4 ,ver acquainted himself with a pretty young ,miss ,weasel1 a blonde1 and paid her attention1 and ,rect took fancy to a handsome and stately ,miss ,mink1 a brunette4 ,in two hours after their first courtship--the thing was done quicker in those days--,ver and ,rect were married men4 ,they begot children1 grandchildren1 and great-grandchildren1 who in their turn intermarried into the families of the ,sables1 the ,fitches1 and the ,ermines1 but all the descendants of ,ver and ,rect went under the name of ,ver-,rects1 afterwards verrects1 until it has been gradually mellowed into our present ferrets4 ,the ferrets now lived in the woods of old ,engelland1 hunting and eating rabbits and enjoying themselves with all their families on this only ingredient of their bill-of-fare1 which ,ver and ,rect thought of making the permanent ferret food by law4 ,of course the ferrets grew into the most expert of rabbit-hunters1 and they have retained this ability to the present day4 ,never after they had been in ,engelland did ,ver or ,rect or their descendants subsist on pigs1 woodchucks1 or billy-goats4 ,one morning a great accident happened1 which brought them a different kind of food1 consisting of a large army of black rats4 ,the way it happened was this3 ,the earth on which we now live1 and which swings around at a pretty good gait on its own axle1 broke it right near the north pole and all the waters spilled out there4 ,they overflowed the ,atlantic river #aejj miles on each side1 and thus formed our present ,atlantic ,ocean4 ,the high mountain of ,england was just saved from the water1 making it an island1 and just then #gej1jjj live rats swam on shore to save themselves from drowning4 ,the ferrets killed a few of these rats to experiment upon1 and were more than delighted with the tender meat1 ,ver and ,rect making the ferret's bill-of-fare for all ages chiefly consist of rabbits and rats4 ,sometimes the ferrets went rabbit and sometimes rat-hunting1 and were as expert in the one as in the other1 and so it is that the ferret of to-day occupies itself1 by the mandates of its forefathers1 ,ver and ,rect1 in the vigorous hunting throughout all lands of the rat and the rabbit4 ,from whence the rats came before they arrived in ,england will be found in the next chapter4 ,,the ,,continuation ,,of ,,the ,,former ,,chapter4 ,our rats are from ,china4 ,the proof of this will be found in more particularly observing the rat's looks1 vices and nature1 the manner in which he carries his 7pig7tail1 and further1 the great love of the ,chinaman for him4 ,we contend also that the ,chinaman and the rat are relatives1 for it can be said of both1 as it has been said of one1 ,that for ways that are dark1 ,and for tricks that are vain1 ,the heathen ,chinee is peculiar4 ,so we say positively that the rat is ,chinese1 and there is no record that can prove the contrary4 ,the rats were kept locked up in that great empire of solid fences before they showed themselves to the other countries of the earth4 ,forty years before the great ,ver and ,rect battle1 #gej1jjj big rats1 with their tails out straight1 like real ,chinese pig-tails1 concluded to make an exodus out of the heavenly territory1 under the leadership of #ge big chiefs4 ,they didn't want to leave particularly1 but they were afraid of being starved out altogether1 or else murdered for food by the ,chinese army4 ,after the rats had put themselves in battle array1 and were duly formed in procession1 the #ge big chiefs1 who were distinguished from the others by their big red noses and muscular forms1 held a council4 ,at the end of a three days' session1 during which a great many speeches had been made and a good deal of fighting had been going on1 a very old political rat-boss arose and made a proposition4 ,his speech was about as follows3 ,honored ,rats1 and fellow-citizens3 ,i have been a rat for a good many years1 and don't want to change my business4 ,i must say ,i like being a rat4 ,but if we are hacked up in soup1 or starved out completely1 ,i have my doubts of our staying powers4 ,countrymen and lovers1 this is what we are threatened with1 and we must move4 ,where to8 is the question that arises1 and ,i have thought it over4 ,the climate is hot to suffocation and very unhealthy here2 let us trust to luck and go west1 as a friend of mine said on a similar occasion4 ',go ,west1 young man1 go ,west1' ,i say unto you now1 and ,i advise you to do so as speedily as possible4 ,this speech was received with tremendous applause for the old rat waxed very eloquent1 and the go west resolution was passed unanimously4 ,an amendment was put in1 changing the course to north-west1 for the meeting was held during such hot weather1 that some of the radicals wanted to start out immediately and settle on the ,north ,pole4 ,they were promptly overruled1 of course1 and the #gej1jjj rats1 including males and females1 wandered on slowly in their chosen direction1 increasing on the road to a wonderful extent4 ,the council concluded to hold a thorough count or census of rats1 and each male rat1 it was provided1 should not be bashful about coming forward and giving the true number of his whole family--no doctoring of the returns allowed4 ,after the count was completed1 all the rats over and above the original amount1 #gej1jjj1 agreed to stay in the country they had arrived at4 ,the originals kept on moving towards the north-west1 but the others filled up every section of the earth they passed through4 ,the rats made friends with neither man nor animal on their journey4 ,first they made a stop in a state where all the owls--although they were countrymen of the rats1 having emigrated from ,china--fell upon them1 and there was a pitched battle1 the rats afterwards hiding themselves in their holes under ground after losing a great many in dead and wounded4 ,one day they agreed to make an excursion out of the line of their route and so take in ,egypt4 ,in a few weeks they here ate up all the corn from the fields1 stealing and hiding away anything edible1 and quite creating a panic1 but always fighting shy of the daylight4 ,we read in the histories of a great locust plague in ,egypt1 about this time1 but on this point we have a revelation to make4 ,the locust was just as innocent of this crime as it is of building the ,brooklyn ,bridge--it was the rats that did it4 ,when the rats arrived in ,greece they scored a signal victory1 because it was there that they extirminated a whole nation--the mice--and the former have strongly held this country ever since4 ,we are authentically informed1 by reference to our own private rat historian's notes of this trip1 that the first place the rats met their great enemy1 the ,dog1 was in ,ancient ,rome1 where the dogs were put on them by man with much success1 and here the rats could get no firm foothold4 ,this caused them a roundabout journey north1 and when they thought they had pretty well established themselves in ancient ,gaul1 now ,france1 they were raided by a strange tigerish kind of animal which proved afterwards a lasting antagonist of theirs--the ,cat4 ,the poor rodents found here the other enemies they had encountered on the road1 the owl and the dog1 who were always urged on fiercely by man4 ,while the rats were struggling along in ,france1 the land was convulsed by an earthquake1 causing the ,atlantic river's banks to be overflowed4 ,this submerged the land on which the rats were1 and as they all could swim they headed their course for ,england1 the nearest dry land4 ,it was here the ferrets joined man1 dogs1 cats and owls1 but the more the rats were hunted1 the more acute and crafty they got to be1 until they found out innumerable hiding-places and ways of preservation1 so we have them still with us to-day4 ,we thus close our story of research1 through which we have shown ,america as the birthplace of the ferret1 ,china of the rat1 and ,england as the first country employing ferrets for rat-hunting4 ,,ferrets3 ,,sure ,,pop ,,breed4 ,,raised ,,and ,,trained ,,by ,,the ,,author ,,of ,,this ,,book4 ,,every ,,ferret ,,sold ,,is ,,warranted ,,as ,,represented4 ,,depot--#ib ,,fulton ,,street1 ,,new ,,york ,,city4 ,,houses ,,cleared --,,of-- ,,rats ,,with ,,ferrets1 --,,by-- ,,contract4 ,,depot--#ib ,,fulton ,,street1 ,,new ,,york ,,city4 ,,sure ,,pop ,,phosphoric ,,paste1 ,,for ,,the ,,destruction ,,of ,rats1 ,mice1 and ,roaches1 ,,manufactured ,,by ,,sure ,,pop ,,isaacsen4 ,,principal ,,depot3 #ib ,,fulton ,,street1 ,,new ,,york ,,city4 ,,sure ,,pop ,,insect ,,powder ,,for ,,the ,,destruction ,,of ,roaches1 ,bed ,bugs1 ,ants1 ,fleas1 ,flies1 ,mosquitoes ,moths1 ,spiders1 ,scorpions1 ,centipedes1 ,plant and ,animal ,lice1 ,croton ,bugs1 etc41 etc41 etc4 ,,own ,,importation ,,and ,,warranted ,,the ,,best ,,in ,,the ,,world4 ,,principal ,,depot3 #ib ,,fulton ,,street1 ,,new ,,york ,,city4 ,,sure ,,pop ,,insect ,,powder ,,killers4 ,this valuable little instrument was patented by me years ago4 ,it is a handly little machine for dusting the ,insect ,powder around4 ,it is made of vulcanized rubber1 having a metallic top4 ,,principal ,,depot3 #ib ,,fulton ,,street1 ,,new ,,york ,,city4 ,,sure ,,pop ,patent ,insect ,powder ,bellows4 ,,patented ,,april #bi1 #ahhd4 ,,number ,,of ,,patent1 #big1fic4 ,,the ,,advantages ,,of ,,this ,,machine ,,over ,,all ,,others ,,are3 #a4 ,it is easily loaded4 #b4 ,there is no waste of powder4 #c4 ,the ,powder can not get back into the ,bellows4 #d4 ,the top can not get worked off4 #e4 ,the ,bellows are made under my own supervision1 and every one is guaranteed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's note3 ,every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible1 including unusual spelling and inconsistent hyphenation4 skarks' fins has been changed to sharks' fins4