516 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



of the thighs, in fact any place where the skin is moderately thin, 

 and it is not easy to dislodge them. 



The hog louse is one of the largest species of the family. 

 When full grown it measures a fourth of an inch or more in 

 length. Its general color is gray with the margins of the head and 

 thorax and most of the abdomen dark. The head is quite long, 

 the sides nearly parallel, with strong eminences just back of the 

 antennae which are set on the side of the head midway from ros- 

 trum to occiput; the legs are lighter with dark bands at the joints; 

 the spiracles are enclosed by a black, chitinous eminence, and there 

 is a broad, black band broken near the middle on the last segment. 

 The male has the abdomen marked beneath with a large black 

 area extending forward from the terminal segment. On the feet 

 is an organ that helps the louse to cling to the hair. The eggs are 

 Bix-hundredths of an inch in length, by three-hundredths of an inch 

 in width, are slightly yellow or dusky whitish in color, and taper 

 somewhat toward the point of attachment. They are usually at- 

 tached near the base of the hairs. 



Treatment. It is more difficult to kill the lice scattered 

 around the hog houses and yards than it is the ones on the hogs. 

 For this reason it is difficult to get rid of the lice in a drove of 

 hogs, as they again become infected in the sleeping quarters or 

 about the pen. The hair affords but little protection and makes 

 the application of remedies for their destruction quite easy. A 

 number of different remedies and methods of applying them can 

 be used. Kerosene, any of the coal tar products and crude petro- 

 leum are common remedies. The hog can be sprayed or dipped 

 with these preparations. An ingenious method of applying the oil 

 is by means of the rubbing post. A good solid oak post a foot or a 

 foot and a half in height is placed in position in the hog lot. One 

 hole is bored in the top to a depth of about eight inches, and two at 

 right angles from the sides, at the bottom of the vertical hole. Soft 

 pine pins are driven in the side holes. The upright hole is filled with 

 kerosene and stoppered. Next a burlap strip eight or ten inches 

 wide is wrapped around the post over the side holes. This after 

 a time becomes soaked with kerosene and the pig will rub against 

 it at the place where it will do the most good. It is not, however, 

 a very thorough way of using the remedy. A better way is to use 

 a spray pump having an attachment for mixing the oil and water. 

 Five parts of water and one part oil should be used. Three or four 

 sprayings are required to kill all of the lice, and should be done 

 at intervals of a week and in the evening. If done in the evening, 

 by the next morning the oil is evaporated and there is no danger 

 of the sun blistering the skin, as would be the case if applied dur- 

 ing the early part of the day. 



The coal tar preparations are to be preferred as remedies for 

 lice. These are zenoleum, chloronaptholeum, milk oil, daytho- 

 leum and a number of others. The hog can be sprayed or dipped 

 with any of these preparations. Dipping is to be preferred, and is 

 a very effective method of getting rid of lice. Pigs a few weeks 



