After picking up one of the pills, a fox would make for the nearest running water as fast as he could go; and that was the place for the trapper to look for him, for, after drinking, the fox soon expired.

It has been argued that poison is more humane than the steel trap, since it brings a quick death; but both are cruel.

There are also other considerations that weigh against the use of poison; but at that time there was no law against it.
The furrier who wrote to Willis offered to send him a box of those pills for seventy-five cents.

We talked it over and agreed to try it, and Addison and I contributed the money.
A few days later Willis received the pills and proceeded to lay them out after a plan of his own.

He cut several tallow candles into pieces about an inch long, and embedded a pill in each.