FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



441 



Fig. 6. 



and so toothed as to enable the insects to hold 

 persistently to the wool or liair of the animals they 

 infest. The insects of this family may almost be 

 said to be viviparous. The oviduct of the female 

 I e expands into a sort of uterus, where the one or two 

 larva3 are developed. These are nourished by a 

 kind of milk secreted by the inclosing organ. 

 TIBIA AND TAKsus, WITH CLAWS. Thcy pupate at once after birth, in the larval skin, 

 which then assumes a brown color. 



The sheep-tick, (Fig. G) is a gray-colored, spider-like insect, about five-six- 

 teenths of an inch long:. The gravid female is lighter-colored, a little the 



larger and mottled (Fig. G). The head is broader 

 than the thorax, while the abdomen is rounded, 

 leathery, and with no appearance of rings. In 

 the axle of the legs on the femur (Fig. 5 a), near 

 '^its union with the tibia (Fig. 5 h), are elongated, 

 transparent areas, where may be seen a distinct 

 ' pulse. 



Just back of each leg on the thorax, may be 

 seen the stomata or breathing moutlis. These 

 spiracles extend along the side of the abdomen, 

 sHEEP.TicK, MAGNIFIED FIVE TIMES not Diorely to thc postcrlor lateral angles (Fig. G, 

 c, c), but e ven form a crescent on the posterior extremity about the vent. 



The pupa (Fig. 7) is brown, spheroidal, and exhibits the 

 two rows of spiracles very distinctly. 



This insect is a serious annoyance to sheep and especially to 



lambs. It is note-worthy, that it attacks coarse-wool sheep 



Fig. v. much more seriously than it does the fine-wool breeds, and 



the long-wool varieties worst of all. This is doubtless owing to the less amount 



of oil in the wool of the long-wool breeds. 



EEMEDIES. 



Prof. James Law recommends the following for ticks and also for scab : 

 "Tobacco, 16 pounds; oil of tar, 3 parts; soda ash, 20 lbs. ; soft soap, 4 lbs. ; 

 water, 50 gallons. Boil the tobacco and dissolve the other agents in a few gal- 

 lons of boiling water, then add water to make up the fifty gallons. This will 

 suffice for fifty sheep. Each sheep is kept in the wash for three minutes." 

 One pound of tobacco steeped in five or six gallons of water is an effective 

 cure. The lambs and newly-shorn sheep are to be immersed in the decoction. 

 I have no doubt but that the kerosene and carbolic acid washes recommended 

 for fleas would avail equally well for ticks. I do not think they would be too 

 strong, as I have kept a poodle dog in such a fluid for some minutes without 

 hurt, and I should expect a lamb or sheep would have no more tender skin 

 than such a dog. Tobacco smoke is sometimes recommended ; but it is diffi- 

 cult to make the application sufficiently thorough. To apply this nothing is 

 better than the patent bee-smokers. Tiie smoke should be thoroughly applied 

 at least three times, at intervals of a week, that tlie pupa? may all develop, and 

 the successive broods be killed. 



LICE. 



Among hemiptera we have, as external parasites, the nasty, disgusting and 

 too common bed-bugs (Cimexlectularius, Linn) and the even more repulsive lice. 

 As I am not treating at present of the human parasites, I will only say that the 

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