DISEASES OF HORSES 311 



pair may produce generations aggregating 1,500,000 young. The 

 Sarcoptes nave less vitality than the nonburrowing acari, as they die 

 in an hour when kept apart from the skin in dry air at a heat of 

 145 F. They live twelve to fourteen days apart from the skin in 

 the damp air of a stable. On a piece of damp hide they lived till the 

 twenty-fourth day, when they began to die, and all were dead on the 

 twenty-eighth. 



Symptoms. The symptoms are an incessant, intolerable, and 

 increasing itching of some part of the skin (head, mane, tail, back, 

 etc.), the horse inclining himself toward the hand that scratches 

 him, and moving his lips as if himself scratching. The hairs may be 

 broken and rubbed off, but the part is never entirely bald, as in ring- 

 worm, and there may be papules or any kind of eruption or open 

 sores from the energy of the scratching. Scabs of any thickness may 

 form, but the special features are the intense itching and the discov- 

 ery of the acams. 



Treatment. Treatment consists in removal of the scabs by soap- 

 suds, and, if necessary, a brush and the application of tobacco 1% 

 ounces and water 2 pints, prepared by boiling. This may be applied 

 more than once, and should always be repeated after fifteen days, to 

 destroy the new brood that may have been hatched in the interval. 

 All harness and stable utensils should be similarly treated ; blankets 

 and rubbers may be boiled, and the stalls should be covered with a 

 whitewash of quicklime, containing one-fourth pound of chloride of 

 lime to the gallon. 



PARASITE: Psoroptes Equi. MALADY: Psoroptic Acariasis. 

 This produces the most frequent mange in horses, and as the parasite 

 only bites the surface and lives among the crusts under the shelter of 

 the hair, it is very easily discovered. It reproduces itself with equal 

 rapidity and causes similar symptoms to those produced by the Sar- 

 coptes. The same treatment will suffice and is more promptly ef- 

 fectual. The purifying of the stable must be more thorough, as the 

 Psoroptes will survive twenty to thirty days in the moist atmosphere 

 of a stable, and may even revive after six or eight weeks when sub- 

 jected to moist warmth. Infested pastures will therefore prove dan- 

 gerous to horses for that length of time, and, with rubbing posts, etc., 

 should not be used. 



PARASITE: Chorioptes Bovis. MALADY: Foot Mange. This 

 acarus attacks the heels and lower parts of the legs, especially the 

 hind ones, and may be present for years without extending upon the 

 body. Like the Psoroptes, it lives on the surface, on the hairs, and 

 among the scales. It gives rise to great itching, stamping, rubbing 

 of the one leg with the other, and the formation of papules, wounds, 

 ulcerous sores, and scabs. The intense itching will always suggest 

 this parasite, and the discovery of the acarus wifl identify tne disease. 

 The treatment is the same as for the Sarcoptes, but may be coqfined 

 to the legs and the parts with which they come in contact. 



TICKS. 



The wood ticks are familiar to inhabitants of uncultivated 

 lands, and prove troublesome parasites to man and beast alike. The 



