Abstract
IT has been estimated that the damage caused by rats to the food supply and buildings in Great 'Britain alone represents a loss of something approaching 50 million pounds a year. In addition to this, the rat is a serious menace to society as a carrier of disease; the occurrence of infectious jaundice in epidemic form on the western front during the War and more recently in Scotland, where a mortality of 40 per cent, of cases occurred, has directed attention to a new danger near home, for which the rat is responsible. It is common knowledge that rats are prolific, but few people realise the rapidity with which their numbers increase. The litter in an adult rat varies from 8 to 16. Rats breed throughout the year, the period of gestation is only 21 days, and impregnation may again take place within a few hours of the birth of a litter.
Rats and How to Destroy Them; dealing with Rats in a House, Shop, Warehouse, Outbuilding, Yard, Stable, Cow-house, Fowl-house, Pig-sty, Garden, Greenhouse, or Vinery; by a River, Stream, or Ornamental Water; on a Ship, Shooting Estate, or Farm; and in Sewers.
By Mark Hovell. Pp. xlii + 465. (London: J. Bale, Sons and Danielsson, Ltd., 1924.) 10s. 6d. net.
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Rats and How to Destroy Them; dealing with Rats in a House, Shop, Warehouse, Outbuilding, Yard, Stable, Cow-house, Fowl-house, Pig-sty, Garden, Greenhouse, or Vinery; by a River, Stream, or Ornamental Water; on a Ship, Shooting Estate, or Farm; and in Sewers . Nature 115, 331 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/115331a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/115331a0