Science: Too Efficient Poison

The most lethal rat-killer known is odorless, tasteless “1080” (TIME, Sept. 17), recently developed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The same basic poison was simultaneously isolated as the toxic element in a deadly South African plant called “Gifblaar.” But 1080, like atomic energy, is almost too hot to handle. It is ideal for murderers. A human victim, without smelling or tasting a thing, could probably be done in by 1/50 oz.

For the present, U.S. citizens will not be allowed to exterminate either rats or each other with 1080. Monsanto Chemical Co., the only producer, announced last week that 1080 will be sold to no one but professional pest exterminators.