Book 3 — Self-Setting Rat Trap
Reading edition
The Paper Stretched over the Barrel Top was Cut after Feeding the Rats on It for Some Time
A suburbanite successfully trapped a bunch of rats by stretching a piece of stout elastic paper on the top of an open barrel. Spreading food on this paper he allowed it to remain until the suspicions of the rats were allayed, then he cut two right-angled slashes in the paper with a razor. Next morning he found seven of the pests in the barrel.