110 ANIMAL PAEASITES. 



to pieces ; and the woodcutter advised not to place himself towards 

 the wind. 



Direct treatment. When the dust has been deposited on an 

 individual, it is recommended by Ratzeburg to employ cold douche 

 baths. Nicolai recommends milk poultices in the case of inflam- 

 mations of the eye and the erysipelatous inflammation of the eye- 

 lid ; rubbing in of oil on the more sensitive reddened parts, or 

 applying fomentations or lotions with milk ; when the throat 

 or tonsils have become inflamed oily emulsions, salad oil, and 

 milk are recommended ; but if the bronchi .and lungs are inflamed, 

 a more powerful antiphlogistic treatment is required. Remedies 

 which allay and restrict the irritation, especially emetics, when 

 there is a tendency to sickness, and on the whole a quick and 

 energetic treatment. 



Popular superstition augurs a year of dearth from the appear- 

 ance of this caterpillar and its migrations from west to south or 

 from southern to northern countries. 



Trousseau and Pidoux 1 have, as it is well known, endeavoured 

 to make a therapeutical use of the hairs of this caterpillar, in 

 order to bring quickly back on the skin exanthemata which had 

 disappeared by employing them externally. I have already men- 

 tioned that the caterpillar of Bombyx Pini causes similar disorders. 

 The latter differs, however, from the former, that the symptoms 

 are generally a little milder. The hairs are not hooked but thread- 

 like and in the shape of a lancet, at the same time smooth and 

 even, though Miiller (Ratzeburg's ' Forst-Insekten/ ii, p. 57) 

 has observed that they sometimes cause death. 



Wounds are said to become very malignant when the juice of 

 the crushed caterpillar is pressed on them. I do not know 

 whether the experiments which have hitherto been made be con- 

 sidered sufficient. In order to prove this fact it would be first 

 necessary to separate the little hairs from the juice and then 

 employ the filtrate for the experiment. 



1 'Traite de Therap. et de Mat. Med.,' Paris, 1841, vol. i, p. 456. 



