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X. ON THE OCCURRENCE OF A NEW ACARUS (?) FROM A PUSTULE 



IN A SAILOR'S FOOT. 



By George Busk, Esq., Surgeon to the Hospital Ship, 

 Dreadnought, 8fC. 



THE figure of this Acarus, given in Plate IV., Div. 7., was found beneath 

 the cuticle of the sole of the foot of a negro, under the following cir- 

 cumstances : He was admitted into the Seaman's Hospital Ship 

 last autumn, with large sores of a very peculiar character, and confined 

 to the soles of the feet. On examining the secretion of these sores, 

 the insect was found, but dead, and apparently partially crushed, as 

 represented in the plate. It appeared that the disease was caused by its 

 burrowing immediately beneath the thick cuticle, which thus became 

 irregularly detached, being, as it were, undermined by galleries branch- 

 ing in all directions. The disease was attributed to the wearing of a 

 pair of shoes which had been lent to another negro, whose feet had 

 been similarly affected for nearly a year, and who wore the shoes thus 

 lent for a day or two. The negro so under my care was a native of, 

 and canie from, the West Indies, and was not aware that a disease like his 

 was ever known to occur there; but the negro to whom he had lent the 

 shoes came from Sierra Leone ; and this circumstance is very remarkable 

 in conjunction with the fact, that in some water brought by Dr. Stanger 

 from the river Sinoe on the coast of Africa, one nearly perfect specimen, 

 and fragments of others very similar, if not of this identical Acarus were 

 found, rendering it probable that the first man contracted the disease un- 

 der which he had laboured so long, from some external source. It may 

 not be, perhaps, improbably supposed, that the insect may eventually 

 prove to be the parasite of some aquatic bird, or other animal frequent- 

 ing watery places. The remains are too imperfect to allow of an exact 

 description being given; but from all the comparison and inquiry I 

 have been able to make from those best informed in these matters, it 

 would appear that this Acarus will form a distinct genus from those 

 hitherto described, and that it would be placed near the genera Sar cop- 

 ies and Hypopus. A not very dissimilar parasite has been found lately 

 by Mr. J. Quekett, beneath the skin of some bird, I believe an aquatic 

 one, and this will render the supposition I have hinted at the more 

 probable. 



[We are informed by Staff Assistant- Surgeon P. D. Murray, that at 



VOL. II. F 



