SOME CANINE DISEASES AND THEIR REMEDIES. 



BY DR. J. FRANK PERRY ("ASHMONT"). 



MANGE AND ECZEMA. 



OIERE are two, and but two, kinds of mange; and 

 although it is popularly considered common among 

 dogs, such is not the case. It is comparatively rare, 

 and what is generally mistaken for it is eczema. To the 

 latter, man is also a frequent victim. Many people know it 

 only by its old-fashioned name salt-rheum. 



It is important that dog-owners be sufficiently familiar 

 with the appearances presented in the three skin diseases, 

 so often confounded, to distinguish between them; for each 

 there is a distinct line of treatment, which is successful only 

 in the special disease. Both forms of mange are purely 

 local parasitic diseases, whereas eczema, in many instances, 

 has a constitutional origin, and from this fact it readily 

 appears how absolutely useless it would often be to apply 

 the treatment of one to the other. 



The most common form of mange is the u sarcoptic," the 

 actual existing cause of which is a minute and almost 

 microscopic insect. This parasite draws nourishment from 

 the skin and causes intense itching, which, in turn, incites 

 scratching and develops the disease known as eczema. The 

 male insect remains on or near the surface of the skin, 

 while the female digs into the deeper and softer layers, and 

 burrows until she dies, which is generally in three or four 

 months. Along the tunnel which she makes she deposits 

 one egg after another, blocking up the passage with them. 

 The young are hatched in about two weeks. The number 

 of eggs one female lays is nearly fifty. As soon as the 

 young are sufficiently developed and are released from the 



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