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| it in its natural state to be a minute insect, the body of which became highly distended 
as it continued to derive nourishment from the creature upon which it was preying. 
I never made this class of insects my study, and therefore should be too glad to receive 
any information from my brother entomologists on this subject. On examining the 
piece of wood, I find there are several insects very much resembling the large gray 
tick; but as some of these insects possess six legs, I do not know to what species 
they belong, or in what condition they are. The egg is oblong, semitransparent, and 
of a dirty brown colour, laid in masses. 
“Whilst writing this I have been informed of a gentleman who had a pack of 
harriers attacked in a similar way. A person in London was consulted in the matter: 
he came down, and on inspecting the wooden building found it very much infested 
with the tick; the greatest portion of it was, therefore, pulled down and rebuilt; but 
ina very short space of time the new work was found to be infested as badly as the 
old; in fact, the portion that had been permitted to remain contained a sufficient 
brood to contaminate the recent structure. The dogs were nearly worried to death by 
these parasites, and it ended by the whole building being pulled down and burnt. 
I may mention that dogs and other animals infested by these insects can be easily rid 
of them by simply putting on a muzzle and washing them with a solution of arsenic 
(a weak solution) in soft soap, allowing it to remain on for a short time, and 
then thoroughly washing it out of the hair. Two applications will be all that are 
necessary. 
“‘T have no doubt that in buildings slightly affected the insects may be eradicated 
by a similar process, but when once they have been allowed to propagate and enter 
the timber joists, nothing but the total destruction of every part contaminated will 
secure safety. Thus the whole of my range must cume down and the wall be com- 
posted before I can erect a new kennel. From my own costly experience, and the 
instance above alluded to, I may fairly place the Ixodes Ricinus amongst that class of 
insects which are indirectly injurious to man in the destruction of his property. 
I think this a question of more than passing interest, considering how seriously large 
flocks of sheep or kennels of dogs become affected, without our attention being properly 
directed to the cause whence the mischief arises. In some districts the tick is much 
more prevalent than in others; and, from what I have recently experienced, I have no 
doubt that the insects have been allowed to accumulate amongst the decayed wood of 
some of our half-perished homesteads, and as the flocks are constantly herded in them, 
and the sheep naturally rub against the sides, it is easy to conceive, when such a state 
of things exists as I have just witnessed, how soon a whole flock might become 
infested. 
**T omitted to mention that, in places suspected of being infested, the joists should 
be examined during the hot sunshine, as these insects invariably come out to the edge 
of the cracks to bask in the warmth, when they are easily detected.” 
Mr. W. W. Saunders had seen Major Cox’s kennel last summer, before the 
existence of the tick was known, and thought that the decay of the wood was 
attributable to dampness, and not to the Ixodes, which view was corroborated by the 
specimen of the wood which had been forwarded. 
Prof. Westwood agreed that the destruction of the wood was not caused by the 
Ixodes, but probably by damp, with the assistance perhaps of some Oniscide. The 
exhibition was interesting, since it showed indubitably that the small brown creature, 
