SHEEP. Ot) 



which his flock are at present much infested, but 

 which he never observed till lately. He at first took 

 them for the young of the common sheep-tick ;* but, 

 on subjecting them to the microscope, it was at once 

 evident that they were true lice. It is worthy of 

 note, that, according to his statement, these insects 

 are only found upon the long-woolled sheep, which 

 are so plagued and irritated by their constant tick- 

 ling, that they are incessantly rubbing themselves 

 against posts, hurdles, and anything near, to allay 

 the uneasiness they suffer. It is to be remarked also, 

 that last winter was a very mild one ; and this seems 

 to accord with White's observation, that sheep are 

 more teased in this way in such seasons. f In some 

 instances these lice abound in such quantities, and 

 cause such an intolerable itching, as to render the 

 sheep almost frantic ; and it is noticed at such times, 

 that, when rubbed on the back, they immediately turn 

 round and lick the hand, which gives them this mo- 

 mentary relief. This last circumstance may be no- 

 ticed also, the shepherd tells me, in sheep infected 

 with the scab. 



These lice generally keep close down at the roots 

 of the wool. They are small, being scarcely three 

 quarters of a line in length : the head and thorax 



* Melophagus ovinus, Latr. Curtis' s British Entomology, vol. 

 iii. pi. 142. 



t " The sheep on the downs this winter (1769) are very ragged, 

 and their coats much torn ; the shepherds say, they tear their 

 fleeces with their own mouths and horns, and that they are always 

 in that way in mild, wet winters, being teased and tickled with 

 a kind of lice." Naturalist's Calendar, by Aikin, p. 92. 



