722 DISEASES OF THE SKIN". 



In liorse mange the unguentum stapliysagrioe is a most effective 

 remedy, and I should conclude that a decoction of stavesacre 

 would prove as effectual in sheep scab ; but I have no actual 

 experience in the matter. The formula for the ointment is as 

 follows : — 



IjL Pulv. delpliini staphisagriae, §ii. 



Adipis, vel. ol. palmse, f, viii. 



01. olivfB. . . gi. 



JVIix, and digest at 100° in a sand-bath, and strain. M. Bour- 

 guignon, with his microscope, watched with great care the effects 

 of various remedies on the acari, and arrived at a conclusion that 

 the most energetic remedies that could be employed for their 

 destruction were solutions of the iodide of potassium and of the 

 iodide of sulphur, which killed them in eight minutes. A solu- 

 tion of the extract of staphysagria was the next in virulence, 

 destroying the acari in fifteen minutes. To prove the relative 

 value of these two remedies, the following experiments were 

 made: — The hands of an itch patient were immersed in a solu- 

 tion of the iodides for two hours, so as to strongly impregnate 

 and colour the integuments. On examining the acari immedi- 

 ately afterwards, they were as lively as ever, but on the next day 

 they were all dead and the eggs destroyed. The epidermis was 

 greatly shrivelled, and in three days complete desquamation 

 occurred, carrying with it acari, grooves, and eggs, and leaving 

 the cutis raw and tender. The action on the skin was evidently 

 too strong. A bath of a solution of the alcoholic extract of 

 stavesacre was then made, and immediately after two hours' 

 immersion of the hands all the acari were found dead, and, with 

 one exception, the eggs destroyed. So far from irritating the 

 integument, this application at once caused the itcliing to cease, 

 and produced such a calmative effect that M. Bourguignon pro- 

 poses it as a local remedy for inflammation. The eruptions also 

 appeared to be rapidly cured by it. 



Horses, cattle, pigs, dogs, and cats should be thoroughly 

 washed with soft soap and warm water, before any remedy is 

 applied to the skin for the destruction of parasites and the cure 

 of mange ; and no remedy should be allowed to remain on the 

 skin for more than three days, at the end of whicii tim.e the 

 animal is again to be washed and the remedy reapplied. When 

 the disease is due to the sarcoptes, the ova are contained in 



