The War Against Rats

To DDT (for insects), 2-4-0 (for weeds) and the atomic bomb (for people), science has added another great killer: "1080 (for rats), triumphantly announced in Science last week by the U.S. Wildlife Research Laboratory.

The rat is not easy to poison, because it soon learns to detect a give-away taste or smell. But "1080," a chemical known as sodium fluoroacetate, fools the cagiest rat. It is soluble in water and can be offered in a tasteless solution. And a pinpoint of it kills a half-pound rat. Drawback: "1080" is also deadly to dogs, other "small mammals," and men.

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