From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:

Today was awful, Grandfather and I took Brownie for a walk. We left him off the leash for a minute so he could play a little and then we all saw a horrible dead rat on the sidewalk, but Brownie ran right to it and gulped it down before Grandfather could stop him. I was afraid that he would be sick and die but Grandfather said that dogs don’t die so easily, and we should take him home and give him an emetic. An emetic is something that makes you vomit, I just learned this word. I was afraid about Grandfather giving Brownie one and begged him not to because it was bad enough seeing the hideous thing go down, I didn’t want to see it come up again. Grandfather said that it was very selfish of me, because without an emetic Brownie could be very sick. He said that he would give it to him downstairs in the laundry and I wouldn’t have to see it. So he did, and I didn’t and Brownie is all right again.