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61
[1928
had eaten through this deal, had eaten round a hard knot that was in it,
and thus made a tunnel to get through. Upon this portion being re-concreted,
but without wire, the rats dug through the soft concrete in a day.
6. In a house where investigation was made, rats were found to be
coming down from the roof space and here were found holes leading to an
adjacent house in one direction. There was a valley gutter running across
the house from front to back, and access could only be gained to the other
half of the roof space by cutting through the ceiling or opening the roof frorr.
the outside. Such inaccessible places under the roof form "ideal" dens for
rats to take up their abode.
7. At another house, where the drainage seemed to have been properly
relaid and jointed in cement, and the site cemented without getting rid of the
rat invasion, rats were found invading the house, coming right up to the roof
space. Ultimately, the ground in front of the house was opened up and a
chamber was found connected with the forepart of the drain, but no interceptor.
Rats had been getting out under the covering stone and had dug
through the surrounding ground and also the concrete laid on the site. The
trouble was abated by a proper interceptor being provided to the drain.
8. In another house rats were found to have made their home deep down
under the hearth in the sitting-room. The deep holes were filled in with
dry grey lime and lime was dug into the site. This put an end to the trouble.
The drainage in this house was modern.
9. In investigating another house extensive rat-runs were found. These
contained a set of false teeth, taken six weeks before from the dressing table
in the ground floor room. Nests were found in the solid clay. In this case
grey lime was used and a cure effected.
10. A butcher's shop with divided roof space gave considerable trouble.
A bait was laid on the end of a reel of thread and the rats traced to the roof.
Clearance by bait was tried, but the valley roof is to be replaced by a flat roof
—rat-proof.
In rat work a considerable number of cases have been dealt with where the
caps to the clearing arm of the interceptors have been displaced or left off, and
the rats have then come through the drain and, seeing light, through a yard
gulley or W.C. trap, they have come out. going back by the same route when
suddenly surprised. The replacement of the cap to the interceptor and the proper
fixing of it have ended the trouble in these cases.
There were also the usual cases of houses found infested with rats from defective
drains.
Mice.—The attention of the Medical Officer of Health was drawn during
the year to the infestation of several rooms of a building by mice.
These mice were sometimes found dead, from disease apparently, the body in
parts showing a peculiar erosion. The tenants were spoken to with a view to
persuading them to catch the mice alive if possible, and they were provided with
traps for that purpose. The landlord, however, who sub-let the premises, adopted
a peculiar attitude, and through dread of him we could not get any active
assistance from the tenants of the infested rooms. Professor Topley, of the
London School of Hygiene, very kindly allowed one of his Assistants to examine
such material as could be obtained, but owing to not being able to get a mouse
alive with the disease, the investigation was necessarily incomplete. Disease