DISEASES OF HORSES 313 



sugar of load 2 drams, laudanum 1 ounce, and water 1 pint. The em- 

 bedded stings should be extracted with fine forceps or even with the 

 finger nails. 



FLEA, OR PULEX. 



The flea of man and those of the dog and cat, when numerous, 

 will bite the horse and give rise to rounded swellings on the skin. To 

 dispose of them it is needful to clear the surroundings of the grublike 

 larva? as well as to treat the victim. The soil may be sprinkled with 

 quicklime, carbolic acid, coal tar, or petroleum; the stalls may be 

 deluged with boiling water and afterwards painted with oil of tur- 

 pentine and littered with fresh pine sawdust, and all blankets should 

 be boiled. The skin may be sponged with a solution of 1 part of 

 carbolic acid in 50 parts of water. Dogs, cats, and pigs should be 

 dressed with the same lotion, or, better, removed from the vicinity 

 of the stable. The chigoe of the Gulf coast is still more injurious, be- 

 cause it burrows under the surface and deposits its eggs to be hatched 

 out slowly with much irritation. The tumor formed by it should be 

 laid open and the parasite extracted. If it bursts so that its eggs es- 

 cape into the wound, they may be destroyed by introducing a wire at 

 a red heat. 



LICE, OR PEDICULI. 



Two kinds of lice attack the horse, one of which is furnished 

 with narrow head and a proboscis for perforating the skin and suck- 

 ing the blood, and the other the broad-headed kind with strong 

 mandibles, by which it bites the skin only. Of the bloodsuckers, one 

 is common to horse and ass and another to horse and ox, while of the 

 nonsucking lice one species attacks horse and ox and a second ox and 

 a.-s. The poor condition, itching, and loss of hair should lead to 

 suspicion, and a close examination will detect the lice. They may be 

 destroyed by rubbing the victim with sulphur ointment, or with sul- 

 phuret of potassium 4 ounces, water 1 gallon, or with tar water, or 

 the skin may be sponged with benzine. The application should be 

 repeated a week later to destroy all lice hatched from the nits in the 

 interval. Buildings, clothes, etc., should be treated as for fleas. 



TARANTULA AND SCORPION. 



The bite of the first and the sting of the second are poisonous, 

 and may be treated like other insect venom, by carbolated glycerin, 

 or a strong solution of ammonia, or permanganate of potash. 



SNAKE BITES. 



These are marked by the double incision caused by the two 

 fangs, by the excessive doughy (dark red) swelling around the 

 wounds, and in bad cases by the general symptoms of giddiness, 

 weakness, and prostration. They are best treated, by enormous doses 

 of alcohol, whisky, or brandy, or by aqua ammonia very largely 

 diluted in water, the object being to sustain life until the poison shall 

 have spent its power. As local treatment, if the wound is in a limb, 

 the latter may have a handkerchief or cord tied around it above the 

 injury and drawn tight by a stick twisted into it. In this way absorp- 

 tion may be checked until the poison can be destroyed by the applica- 

 tion of a hot iron or a piece of nitrate of silver or other caustic. A 



