60 THE HEAD- SCAB OP SHEEP. 



nnnierotis open sores and scabs make the presence of the 

 itch-mite very certain and plain. 



Remedies. — "Remove scabs by soapsuds and brush, and 

 apply a tea made by boiling IVo ounces of tobacco in two 

 pints of water. This application should be repeated after 

 fifteen days to kill the new brood that may have hatched in 

 the interval. Cleanliness in the stable is another important 

 factor, and if a case of this disease has been found in a stable^ 

 all blankets and rubbers should be boiled, and the walls 

 should be whitewashed with quicklime containing one-fourth 

 pound of chloride of lime to the gallon." 



THE HEAD-SCAB OF SHEEP. 



{Sarcopteii scahtei var. oius). 



This variety of the common itch-mite is very small, almost 

 invisible to the naked eye. It presents some characters not 

 found in the other varieties, but they are of very little im- 

 portance to the flockmaster. 



Dr. Cooper Curtice describes this disease in "The Animal 

 Parasites of Sheep" as follows: "Head scab begins on the 

 upper lip and about the nostrils; more rarely it may show 

 itself for the first time about the eyelids and ear. In these 

 places there is less hair and grease, affording the pests better 

 opportunities of getting at the skin. From these starting 

 points the scabs spread over the forehead, cheeks, eyelids, 

 and occasionally over the space under the jaws. In badly 

 infested sheep the disease may sometimes spread over the 

 fore limbs, under the belly, around the joints, and especially 

 between the folds of the knees, hocks and pasterns. Sheep 

 with coarse dry wool are more likely to suffer than those 

 with fine, oily, and soft wool. Long wool seems to offer a 

 barrier to its progress, for the invasion of parts covered 

 with short wool is much more rapid. The demarkation be- 

 tw^een the invaded parts of the head and the healthy wool- 

 bearing portions is quite abrupt." 



Remedies. — As these parasites thrive chiefly upon the 

 parts of the sheep and goat that are only covered with short 

 wool or hair a cure is easy. When found no time should be 



