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is non-specific and simply due to the congestion or inflamma- 

 tion of the skin when exciting causes act on the organ rendered 

 predisposed to disorder by the physiological process of shedding 

 the coat. Although the disease is at first purely local in extent, 

 it may involve so extensive a cutaneous area as to cause consider- 

 able interference with the camel's health, and the amount of 

 irritation present may be almost as considerable as in True 

 Mange. The mange insect, Sarcoptes dromedarii (Vallon), Sar- 

 coptes cameli (Lomb.), Sarcoptes scabiei cameli (Megnin), Acarus 

 cameli (Haslam) of the camel was discovered (to science) on a 

 dromedary by Professor Paulo Gervais in 1841 (Annales, Sc. Nat. 

 II., Series XV., p. 6 — 10). Probably it was known by painful 

 experience to camelmen in the time of the Patriachs or earlier. 

 A^allon made some observations on it in 1856 ; Megnin has noticed 

 in his work on the Sarcoptidse ; Haslam described it in a com- 

 munication to the Veterinary Journal ; and Lombardini has 

 recently given us a special detailed account of its zoological 

 characters. As regards habits this acarus is a true sarcoptes in 

 its method of burrowing in the true skin ; hence it is rather inac- 

 cessible by remedial agents and difiicult to eradicate, as we shall 

 shortly see. There can be no doubt that this parasite can be 

 transmitted to mankind ; all the evidence tends to this view, and 

 further to the belief that though the acarus burrows in the human 

 skin it neither lives long nor propagates on man, but causes 

 only temporary inconvenience. " Constantly on service camel- 

 men are admitted with skin-disease probably taken from their 

 camels " (Clayton) ; but it must be remembered that these camel- 

 men are generally subject to such predisposing causes as affect 

 their camels and herd together in a state of filth and want of 

 sanitation, such as would be specially favorable to spread among 

 them of human itch. Experiment, however, has decided the 

 question of transmission of Sarcoptes cameli to man, and that it 

 takes place somewhat readily on account of the similarity in form 

 and characters of the species of the man and that of the camel. 

 The question of intercommunicability of scabies in camels and 

 other animals is manifestly one of the greatest importance, and 

 on which we much need careful experiment. The French 



