264 KATHARINE FOOT. 



most unwholesome and even dangerous food supply and that my 

 work was being seriously hampered by conditions I could not 

 control, he was dismissed and exchanged for a mild old refugee 

 from Chateau Thierry, who neither smoked nor drank. From 

 that day I encountered no such difficulties in raising the lice. I 

 could feed ten or more in a single ring and they fed together and 

 lived together most amicably the adults no longer attacked the 

 nymphs nor did they attack one another. 



After describing this phenomenon in my first report I con- 

 cluded " These observations indicating that anything taken inter- 

 nally that may affect the character of the blood may also act 

 directly on the louse suggest a line of experiments that might be 

 worth trying and that I should like very much to undertake if I 

 may be allowed the necessary guidance of a physician. The lice 

 are so exceedingly fastidious in their diet, I would like very much 

 to try the effect of certain drugs given to the host. If some 

 simple drug can be found that when taken by a soldier will kill 

 his lice or prevent their propagating it may be a helpful factor in 

 combating the pest." 1 



A striking evidence of the sensitiveness of the lice to their food 

 is the fact that although they will suck the blood of many animals 

 they are not adequately nourished. Many investigators have at- 

 tempted to feed them on animals and the results from these ex- 

 periments are contradictory, authors differing as to whether the 

 lice will or will not bite a definite animal. In the cases in which 

 they have been induced to bite no evidence is given as to how 

 long they survive. 



In his classic work on Pediculus Nuttall ('17) has summed 

 the evidence from experiments on the monkey, dog, rabbit, guinea 

 pig, rat, mouse, fowl, pigeon and swallow page 113. 



My own experience has been that the lice will suck the blood 

 of every animal I have tried but were not properly nourished, 

 for they lived only a few days longer than under complete starva- 

 tion ; further the blood of the guinea pig as stated by other inves- 

 tigators is not only malnutritions but toxic for, as a rule, the lice 

 die within 24 hours after feeding. 



i I have recently learned that a French doctor conceived the idea of attack- 

 ing the lice by this method but was unable to spare time for the experiments. 



