82 LICE AND THEIR MENACE TO MAN 



if the garments are assumed by others, unless 

 they have been treated first. After a person has 

 been freed from the lice and the eggs have all 

 been killed, he is liable to reinfest himself if he 

 wears again the clothing untreated which he 

 wore during the attack, since hairs with eggs on 

 them may have been dislodged and remain in the 

 fabric of the garments. 



The most effective method of disinfestation is 

 to shave off all the hair from the parts affected, 

 at the same time applying some louse-destroying 

 ointment as an additional precaution. At the 

 same time all underclothing worn during the 

 attack should be treated by either heat or hot 

 2 per cent lysol solution as described for body- 

 lice. Blue mercurial ointment was a very 

 favoured remedy for these lice, but it is not 

 necessary to use so dangerous a substance since 

 the naphthalene paste (p. 62) will be found as 

 effective. It should not be applied to eyelashes ; 

 lice and nits in this position should be pulled off 

 with forceps. 



Crab-lice have not been shown to convey 

 disease, but this does not necessarily mean that 

 they cannot do so. So far as the author is aware, 

 no experimental work has yet been done with 

 these insects on this line, probably owing to the 

 difficulty of breeding them for experimental 

 purposes. It is possible that they may be able 

 to convey any or all of the diseases carried by 

 body-lice. However, if the excellent case which 



