14 VERMIS. 



Kerosene and crude petroleum are used advantageously in many kennels, 

 the method employed being, to dip a comb into the oils and pass it per- 

 sistently through the hair, being careful that little or none reaches the 

 skin, which is likely to become irritated thereby. 



Insect powder is an excellent remedy, and can be economically used, by 

 laying the dog on a paper while being rubbed. 



Lice and wood-ticks demand much the same treatment that fleas do, the 

 preference being given to petroleum oil. A strong infusion of the seeds of 

 the stavesacre is a sure remedy, but they are not easy to procure. Many 

 authors advise the use of mercury in some form, the white precipitate the 

 more common. It should not be employed until all the simpler remedies 

 have failed, and then be used with great caution, the dog being securely 

 muzzled. 



Where vermin have become troublesome, the kennels should be thor- 

 oughly cleaned, bedding destroyed, and sulphur burned, after which, all 

 parts should be faithfully whitewashed. 



The continued scratching of animals causes eczema which must be 

 treated, after the vermin is removed, with external applications of cod- 

 liver oil, sulphur and lard, or phenol sodique, and possibly the employment 

 of the usual mange remedies will be demanded. 



Straw bedding invites the lodgment of fleas and their removal from it 

 is exceedingly difficult. The comfort of dogs, occupying cold kennels in 

 winter, demands its use, and during that season the spirit of turpentine 

 sprinkled freely about the apartment and over the bedding will do much to 

 lessen the evil. In summer fine shavings afford a comfortable bed, and if fre- 

 quently renewed, fleas will be much less annoying. Painting the walls 

 with kerosene oil is a practice followed by some, from which good results 

 invariably follow. 



