Show REFUSED TO EAT MATCHES experiment proved that rats rat and mi mice have been unjustly accused of causing fires rats mice and matches have hava tons long been considered a source ot of fires an investigator however atler after extensive experiment reports in safety engineering gi that there la is no real foundation for the popular idea A large number of rats were caught at different times and confined in cages with the ends open for observation matches were then placed in the cages but no food and the rats were left in ia a quiet spot in a cellar in every case the animals starved to death or ate their companions pan ions not a match head bead or splint was gnawed the matches were well seasoned and of different varieties from the strike on the box to the double tip and the common parlor match A second series of testa was conducted in a cage measuring more than six feet square the results were the same in all cases the rats were without food from two to three days then the matches were introduced and the rats rate died from starvation within one to five days after like experiments were conducted with mice and the same results obtained the mice being hungry from two to three days then the matches were introduced and death followed in one to five days in the larger cages the rats rata were fed for periods varying from twenty to forty four days in order to permit the a animals at to become accustomed to their surroundings and act normally A greater variety of matches was used in this test the rats were imprisoned together in this case and many were gnawed and eaten by their companions |