CUTANEOUS DISEASES DUE TO AXIMAL PARASITES 4G7 



eczema. The surface finally becomes confluent, forming large eczema- 

 tous areas. It is very improbable that a mistake will be made in diag- 

 nosis, except in the early stages, when there is only a very small spot 

 affected, because the parasitic eczema produces rapid characteristic 

 changes, accompanied by scratching, twitching, rubbing, and licking, 

 which are very much aggravated as soon as the animal is placed near any 

 warm object, for instance in the neighborhood of a stove or if covered up 

 with a blanket, and also the evident pleasure which the animal gets if 

 the affected part is rubbed or scratched, and finally, if the animal is 

 kept with other clogs, the disease is carried to them and developed very 

 quickly. 



In making a differential diagnosis between sarcoptic and follicular 

 mange we may frecjuently find that in follicular mange the eruption 

 may be very similar to sarcoptic, but the itching is very slight in follicular 

 mange; in fact, in some cases of follicular mange scratching or rubbing 

 an affected animal very frequently causes the animal pain, and there is 

 rarely any pus in the pustules of sarcoptic mange, whereas in follicular 

 mange the pustules contain pus and when squeezexl out and examined 

 under the microscope, the matter is filled with acari. Of course it is not 

 impossible to have both sarcoptic and follicular mange present in the 

 same animal. 



The prognosis is not unfavorable, as vigorous treatment usually 

 cures an animal in a short time, provided the disease has not covered 

 the whole body. If it has extended over the body in young animals, it 

 may cause great emaciation, and in some cases great alteration of the 

 skin, and if the animal is greatly run down, it is a question whether they 

 can stand energetic treatment. When the parasites are destroyed, 

 frequently we find an eczema follows that is very obstinate and it takes 

 some time before the skin returns to its normal condition. 



Therapeutic Treatment. — In order to produce good results in mange 

 we must kill or remove the parasites, their larva and eggs, as the itching 

 and scratching ceases as soon as they are destroyed, and naturally the 

 artificial eczema also disappears rapidly. A large number of anti-para- 

 sitic agents are used — creolin, carbolic acid, coal-tar, anthracol perugen, 

 ichthyol, sulphur, petro-sulphol, septoform, formaline. The prepara- 

 tions generally used are creosote, wood-tar, creolin, sulphol-cresol, styrax, 

 and epicarin, lysol, salicylic acid, and Peruvian balsam. They are all 

 useful, and may be applied according to the following directions: 



It is always necessary to make a general application of the agent, 

 even in such cases where the disease seems to be restricted to one region 

 of the body. The dog must have the hair shaved off, if necessary; be 

 covered all over with a layer of soft soap or with Hebra's alcoholic 

 potash soap, which is to be shampooed into the skin with the hands or a 



