MANGE. 73 



and continue till the skin rots over the pouch ; then keep the 

 animal from scratching, lest he tears the jugular vein. 



MANGE. 



Mange is a very highly infectious or catching disease, which 

 attacks the horse's skin, in the form of a pimpled eruption, or 

 breaking-out — the skin on the parts aifected soon becoming- 

 stripped of hair, and of a rough, puckered, scurfy appearance, 

 and which has no tendency to get well of itself, in any case, but 

 goes on from bad to worse, and which reduces the animal to the 

 most loathsome object, when, finally, he dies. 



Symjytoms. — The first appearance of mange is generally on 

 the upper part of the neck, at the roots of the mane. Small 

 pimples may be observed, which soon break ; the parts become 

 very itchy; the hair loosens and falls ofi^; the skin becomes thick, 

 and covered with patches of thick scurf, like those in a bad case 

 of surfeit ; in some cases a watery fluid oozes out, and a scab 

 forms, which, after awhile, puts ofP, leaving a large, rough, 

 scaly spot. In the mean time, these blotches or scabs are 

 spreading along the back and down the breast ; the skin loses 

 its softness and elasticity, and becomes puckered or gathered 

 into folds, resembling very much the hide of the elephant. 

 One prominent symptom from the beginning is itching. It is 

 often the first symptom to be observed, and becomes so dis- 

 tressing, that the horse rubs and bites himself in the wildest fury. 



The general health of the horse gradually gives way ; he loses 

 his flesh, and becomes drooping ; the hair over the parts not 

 affected becomes staring, and the animal finally dies from ex- 

 haustion and continued suffering. He may die in a few months, 

 or may linger for many months. 



Causes. — That mange is a highly contagious or catching dis- 

 ease does not admit of a doubt. It is as much so as itch is in 

 the human family. Some veterinary surgeons regard mange 

 in the horse, and itch in the human, as the same disease. It is 

 attributed to little insects or mites, called acari, which get into 



