| [Days after death] | Appearance |
|---|---|
| First to third day | Distention of the abdomen, increasing. |
| Second to third day | Loosening of hair by gentle pulling. |
| Third to fourth day | Loosening of the epidermis by gentle pulling. |
| Third to fifth day | Perforation of abdominal wall with collapse and disappearance of distention. This perforation may result from bursting of abdominal wall, or through anus, vulva or thorax. |
| Fourth to sixth day | Moist shrinking of the body. Swarming of maggots. Spontaneous shedding of tufts of hair. |
| Fifth to eighth day | Drying of body. |
| Eighth to twelfth day | Complete dryness and rigidity. |
Photograph (after Publications of the Civil Medical Service in Netherlands, India) shows the progressive postmortem changes in rat cadavers, the numbers indicating the number of days after death.
A Collection of Notes Concerning Rat Runs, Rat Nests, Their Location and Other Data.—Attention is invited to the following collection of notes concerning rat runs, rat nests and their locations and other data collected by the various working parties under the direction of Sanitary Inspectors Brantigan, Renner and Kennard, of Manila.
Special attention has been given to the finding and destroying of rat nests, and in this connection please note that during the month of May, 1913, one party of workmen (20 men) under Inspector Brantigan, killed by hand 511 rats out of a total of 1319. This means that many nests were broken up and that much breeding was interfered with. In June, 1913, two parties (40 men) killed 772 rats by hand out of a total of 3019.
This work occurred in Tondo District in connection with extensive cleaning and moving operations.
At 1279 C. Sandejas[4] 7 rats were found in a nest at the foot of a cluster of bamboo trees, between the trunks. Nest was made of leaves.
[4] C. is abbreviation for Calle, the Spanish term for street.
At 728 C. Velasquez, Tondo, 12 rats were driven from a burrow underneath a thick cement floor by formaldehyde gas delivered in the burrow through a rubber hose. This burrow was in sand and the rats came out about ten minutes after the flow of gas began. All were killed or captured and two or three died from the effects of the gas.
On October 27, 1912, two of the rat terriers belonging to the Bureau of Health caught 192 rats in one storeroom at the Manila Railway Station, in 38 minutes. At various times they have killed from 10 to 25 rats at a single location, in connection with the cleaning and moving work done by the laborers. The dogs caught about 600 rats in all.