17 



Froggatt (W. W.). Animal Parasites, with special reference to the 

 Sheep Tick {Melophagus ovinus) and the Biting Sheep Louse 



{Trichodectes sphaerocephahcs) — Agric. Gaz. N.S.W., Sydney, xxv, 

 no. 9, September 1914, pp. 765-770, 1 plate, 6 figs. 



The biting sheep louse, Trichodectes sphaerocephalus, which is said 

 to be spreading all over Australia, and the sheep tick, Melophagus 

 ovinus, which was introduced into New South Wales at a very early- 

 stage of the sheep industry, have been declared a disease under the 

 Stock Diseases Act of New South Wales ; the former is the more 

 troublesome of the two. The Hippoboscid, M. ovinus, L., spends its 

 whole life on the skin or among the wool of the sheep. Though doing 

 no very serious damage, except when very numerous, these parasites 

 cause a great deal of irritation to infested lambs and sheep. Olfersia 

 macleayi, Leach, the wallaby louse fly, is very plentiful upon wallabies 

 in most parts of Australia, and frequently infests the kangaroo dogs 

 after they have run down and killed these marsupials. 



The biting louse of the sheep, T. sphaerocephalus, Nitz., has now 

 become cosmopolitan. In order to check it, dipping has been made 

 compulsory in most of the Australian States, where it is a very serious 

 pest. It lives in the wool, close to the skin, where it oviposits. Haema- 

 topinus urius, Nitz., the sucking hog louse, is a very common parasite 

 upon pigs in New South Wales, and has a world-wide distribution. 

 It is a somewhat active creature and creeps about among the bristles. 

 Infested pigs can be easily relieved by spraying or washing with a 

 carbolic, or oil wash, or an arsenical dip-spray, as is used for cattle 

 ticks. Pigs that have plenty of dry dust in which they can roll are 

 said soon to clean themselves. The short-nosed cattle louse, Haemato- 

 pinus eurysternus, Nitz., the long-nosed cattle louse, H. vituli, Linn., 

 and the horse louse, H. asini, Linn., which is the common louse of the 

 horse and the ass, are not uncommon parasites of cattle in Australia, 

 and when very numerous upon the skin cause loss of the hair. Cattle "fj/^ 

 in good health are not much troubled and the parasites are easily ^ 



removed by spraying or washing with benzol, carbolic, or keroseaa .k 

 emulsion spray. 



Seidelin (H.). An apparatus for fumigation with cresyl. — YeU&w Fev. 

 Bur. Bull., Liverpool, iii, no. 3, 30th September 1914, 

 pp. 209-213, 1 fig. 



Bouet and Roubaud have recommended fumigation with cresyl as 

 an efficient mosquito-killing measure, and state that cresol, the 

 somewhat more purified product, is even better, though more costly. 

 A dose of 5 grammes of cresyl per 40 cubic feet was found effective, 

 and costs less than Id. per 1,000 cubic feet, the sealing of minor 

 apertures being unnecessary. The author confirms these statements, 

 and, in his first experiments, found it possible to evaporate cresyl in 

 an ordinary glass retort. Details of a successful experiment are given, 

 the fumes from two retorts, containing 165 cubic centimetres of cresyl 

 each, being used to fumigate a room of about 2,640 cubic feet, adjoining 

 the one in which the retorts were placed, by means of tubes passing 

 through holes drilled in the wall. The door and the windows were 

 kept well closed, but not sealed, and a towel was hung over a ventilating 



C125) Wt.P86/57. 1500. 2.15. B.&F.Ltd. Gp.11/3. A 



