446 



Journal of Agriculture. 



[8 July, 1908. 



ajpearance, its body being banded with black white and yellow. The female 

 fly is most active during the summer months. It deposits the eggs on the 

 skin in the region of the loans and back, where thev hatch out forming 

 larvae. These larvae pierce the skin and become lodged in the subcutaneous 

 tissue where they remain for about nine months (July to March in Europe). 

 While undergoing their nine months' devtlopment they irritate the tissues in 

 which thev are lodged which become inflamed and infiltrated with pus, and 

 a nodule is formed which is usually the size of a coat button but may be- 

 come as large as a pigeon's egg. The surface of this nodule is marked bv a 

 small black depression about the size of a pin's head which is the perfora- 

 tion through which the larva entered and through which, on its attaining 

 maturity it will leave. The exit is made by the tail end of the maggot(?) 

 being pushed through the opening first. The nodules are ordinarily found 

 on the upi)er parts of the bodv — shoulders, back and loins, and they may 

 number from ten or a dozen up to one hundred. When numerous the 

 affected animal exhibits great uneasiness and distress — bellows, tosses the 

 tail and is continuallv on the move — and severe emaciation follows. 



FEMALE WARBLE FLY. WARBLE MAGGOT (fULL GROWn). 



(Twice natural size.) (Twice natural size). 



Treatment consists in removing and destroying the larvae as they be- 

 come ripened bv squeezing them, out or by lancing the nodules. This is 

 also a preventive measure as the following year's crop is done away with. 

 Some greasy mixture should be applied as soon as the warbles are discerned 

 on the skin, the object being to plug the breathing hole and so kill the 

 maggot. Sulphur or kerosene mixed with the fatty substance renders the 

 dressing still more effective. To deter the female fly the skin on the parts 

 subject to attack should be dressed with tar liniment, carbolic acid solution, 

 phenyle, solution of assafoetida, decoction of walnut leaves or fish oil. 



Fleas (Puleces). 



Of domestic animals fleas are mostly seen on the dog and cat, which 

 have each a distinct flea parasite on them ; that of the dog is the Pulex 

 cants and that of the cat Pulex felis. Fleas bite through the skin and 

 suck blood ; thev thus cause itching and cutaneous eruptions. 



Treatment. — For the destruction and removal of fleas Persian insect 

 powder (powdered pyrethrum) is one of the best agents to use. Washing 

 the animal with a two per cent, solution of carbolic acid or creolin is 

 also useful, as also is shampooing with the Stavesacre decoction recom- 

 mended for lice. 



Lice (Hsen^atopiqus). 



Most domestic animals nourish a particular species of lice which do 

 not live for anv length of time on other animals than their regular hosts. 



