462 EEPOET OF THE BUEEATT OF ANIMAL mBTTSTEY. 



Give mixture of 40 to 50 grains of carbonate of ammonia in 1 pint 

 of whisky, every three or four hours until relieved, and at the same 

 time rub externally with water of ammonia, to relieve irritation. 



Ten drops of tincture of aconite, administered every half hour, and 

 half -pint doses of linseed oil every hour, is another highly recom- 

 mended remedy. Besides these continual doses of whisky, bleeding, 

 and immersion in cold water, are each recommended. In two cases 

 which came under my observation, both animals being similarly and 

 equally exposed to attack, whisky was given and the animal kept in 

 cool water; one died and the other recovered, although both had 

 been treated exactly the same. The fatal case was that of a male 

 mule, and the other a female. 



PEEVENTIVE MEASUEES. 



Since it has been demonstrated that no relief can be expected from 

 the destruction of the insect, in any of its stages, the use of repellants 

 is the only means left by which any degree of protection can be se- 

 cured against attack. 



So far smokes or smudges have proven the only harmless means of 

 securing this end. About the fields these may be made by firing 

 stumps, dead trees, fallen timbers, leaves, and rubbish. For use 

 about teams, cotton-seed may be employed, rolled in strips of sacking, 

 forming a roll the diameter of one's arm, which roll on oeing ignited 

 burns slowly and produces much smoke, and may be hung about the 

 harness. Or fires made in the bottoms of tin buckets, and the latter 

 filled with cotton-seed and attached to the harness, also afford pro- 

 tection. With these work can be carried on in the fields with rea- 

 sonable safety, if proper care is taken to keep them in working order, 

 and the wind is not so strong as to blow the smoke away too rapidly. 

 Smoke, in fact, is the only means of protecting cattle and other neat 

 stock, but they will hover about it, frequently crowding one another 

 into the fire, and, besides, they will starve rather than go beyond the 

 smoke to secure food. With many planters it is very difficult to pro- 

 vide subsistence for stock thus confined for weeks after passing 

 through the winter, and very often at the end of the gnat season they 

 have only a herd of animated skeletons left, not worth the cost of 

 keeping. 



Various decoctions and substances are also applied externally to 

 the bodies of animals, with a view of keeping the gnats away, but none 

 of these have proven of much practical value. To be effective, appli- 

 cations must be made frequently, which, aside from the time required, 

 are apt to remove the hair and obstruct the pores of the skin, either 

 of which is very detrimental to the health of the animals. 



Decoctions of the leaves of alder, pennyroyal, and tobacco have 

 proven entirely ineffective, and powdered pyrethrum, suspended in 

 water, of only temporary virtue. Kerosene emulsion and diluted 

 carbon-bisulphide were no better. Fish oil is quite effective, but ex- 

 pensive. Cotton-seed oil, lard oil, or lard itself, is used, mixed with 

 smaller amounts of oil of pennyroyal, oil of sassafras, or oil of pepper- 

 mint; tar may also be substituted. Kerosene mixed with oils or with 

 axle-grease, or Frazier's axle-grease alone, is also used. The grease 

 of the alligator is said to be the best of all. A combination ^ of oils, 

 sold under the name of gnat oil, is used in immense quantities. * 



* Messrs. Hardaway & Casseli, wholesale druggists of % 7 icksburg, Miss., sold about 

 3,000 gallons in 1882, and about 350 in 1886. Price, 30 to 50 cents per gallon. 



