200 



NA TURE 



[June 27, 1895 



can be treated. But even this is hardly necessarj' if the 

 application to the skin is in the liquid form : for with a 

 powerful spraying machine, as many as one hundred cattle 

 have been completely covered in the space of an hour. 



Of pastes and powders and fluids recommended there 

 is no end ; and it will serve no useful purpose to give 

 detailed lists discussing the merits of each. The points 

 to be kept in view are that the liquid should be of an oily 

 and non-poisonous nature, capable of clogging up the 

 air-pores of the ticks. It should be cheap, and easily 

 applicable without handling the cattle ; it should, finally, 

 not easily evaporate, or be washed off by the rains. .A 

 full discussion of remedies has recently been published 

 by me, the following being taken from the summary at the 

 end: " .-X number of ' types of washes for spraying are 

 selected for description. .-Ml poisonous ones should be 

 rejected, as there are non-poisonous preparations equally 

 effective. Carbolic acid dips and other liquids, which 

 evaporate quickly, need frequent applications, and should 

 be discarded in favour of oily liquids or emulsions where 

 the latter are equally effective. The best of all these is the 

 kerosene emulsion regularly used for plants. There are 

 many formula- for the preparation of this ; a useful one 

 (for ticks) is given." The formula referred to is as follows : 

 " In two quarts of boiling water dissolve half a pound of 

 soap ; remove from fire ; immediately add one pint of kero- 

 sene, and agitate. In from three to five minutes the liquid 

 becomes creamy. It may be stored in this form in bottles 

 or barrels. For use, add three of water to one of emulsion ; 

 mix thoroughly, and apply with a spraying pump." ' 



The third and most important class of remedies is closely 

 connected with the nutrition of the animal. If we can 

 render the skin or blood of our cattle so distasteful to 

 the tick that the latter will not attach itself, we have a 

 solution of the whole matter. We should confer immunity 

 upon our animals, and, at one stroke, do away with the 

 necessity of all the laborious and expensive methods 

 now in vogue for the destruction of these parasites. 



The first step in this direction has been taken ; and, 

 in various parts of the world, most excellent results are 

 recorded from the addition of small doses of sulphur to 

 the animal's food. 



It has already been noted that the food of animals has 

 an influence upon their infestation by ticks. Cases are 

 not uncommon among cattle-breeders where a mere 

 change of pasture will cause all the ticks to drop off. 

 This change is obviously felt through the animal's skin. 



It has also been mentioned that the ticks seem to 

 congregate upon cattle in poor condition, while those 

 with sleek skins are more or less untouched. Dr. Cooper 

 Curtice (late of the United .States Bureau of Animal 

 Industry) suggests, as an explanation of this, that there 

 is in well-fed cattle an oily condition of the skin obnoxious 

 to the ticks ; and this suggestion is the more worthy of 

 consideration when we remember the aversion of these 

 creatures to grease of any kind. 



It is certain \\\?A sulphur taktii iiifernnl/y \\\\\ render 

 the skin evil-smelling, by the exhalation of sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, a substance highly obnoxious to all parasites. 

 The following seem to be the physiological changes which 

 take place during the passage of the sulphur through the 

 animal's body to the skin. .Sulphur taken in with the 

 food passes the stomach unaltered. In the intestines a 

 small portion is changed into sulphides of hydrogen and 

 the alkalies. Part of these sulphides pass into the blood, 

 and into the tissues from the blood, and act chiefly upon 

 the central nervous system. The sulphides in the tissues 

 arc variously excreted. By the kidneys they are excreted 

 as sulphates ; if in excess, part is also excreted in the 

 fonn of sulphides. By the skin they escape as sulphides, 

 giving the characteristic foul odour to the perspiration, 

 and somewhat increasing its amount. 



' Fof further detail*, we p;iper» in l.ccw-.ird Ulandt AgrkuUiirat Juiiniat, 

 No». l-J. 



The doses of sulphur should be small, but they should 

 be constant. The form in which the medicine is offered 

 to the animals will best be decided by the manager of 

 the estate. With stall-fed cattle there can be no difficulty 

 at all ; but with the cattle of large estates, which are 

 seldom handled and sometimes not seen for long periods, 

 it will be necessary to prepare the sulphur with salt as 

 a " lick," to which cattle will readily help themselves if 

 it is scattered about. 



The success of this sulphur treatment has so far been 

 encouraging, both at the Cape of tiood Hope and in the 

 United .States. Doubtless with continued study other 

 similar preventive remedies will from time to time be- 

 discovered, and thus rid the stockowners of the tropics 

 of one of their most dreaded enemies. 



C. .A. H.^RBliK. 



NOTES. 



Proi--. lli-xi.Ev's health is at present a source of great 

 anxiety to his friends. Symptoms of renal insufficiency a] p-'.ired 

 last week, and Ibis, with the other complications which have- 

 attended his protracted illness, has made his condition a very 

 critical one, but we are glad to learn that it is improving. 



We deeply regret to notice the announcement of the death of 

 Dr. W. C. Williamson, Emeritus Professor of Botany in Owens 

 College, Manchester. Dr. Williamson was elected into the 

 Royal Society in 1854. 



Prof. Verneuil, the eminent French surgeon, and Mcmlur 

 of the Paris .\cademy of Sciences, died on June 12. 



Prof. Simon Newcomb has been elected Associe t-lranger 

 of the Paris Academy _of Sciences, in succession to the late- 

 von Helmholtz. 



Prof. W. Peterson, Principal of the University College,. 

 Dundee, h.as accepted the position of Principal of Met oil 

 University, .Montreal, in succession to Sir William Dawson. 



Sir K. M.\rMiF.TlioMi'SiiN, principal lilirarian of the British 

 Museum, has been elected a Corresponding Member of the Philo- 

 sophico-liislorical Section of the Berlin .\cademy of Sciences. 



The University of I'ennsylvania has received gifts, within a 

 few days, aggregating nearly a million dollars. This includes 

 half a million dollars fri>m Provost Harrison, already noted in 

 these columns. Scarcely a week passes without our being able to 

 record similar gifts from private benefactors to the universities and 

 colleges of the United States. Sa'aia- reimrts that Dr. D. K.. 

 Pearson has offered ;£'lo,ooo to Mount I lolyoke College if a* 

 additional ;^30,o<io can be raised. Il is said that Dr. Pearsim 

 has already given ^400,000 to various colleges. 



The death is announced .if Dr. .\. Kliseief, known fur his 

 explorations and anthropological work. 



The St. Petersburg correspondent <>f the l.aiuft reports that 

 the Emperor of Russia ha.s appointed a committee to organise 

 the collection of subscriptions for the monumeni whirh the 

 Institute of France pro|X)SC to erect to Lavoisier. 



The trustees of Columbia College decided, a few ilays ago, 

 to grant the Barnard Medal to Lord Rayleigh and Prof. 

 Ramsay jointly for their discovery of argon. Only Lord Kay- 

 leigh's name was mentioned in the previous anmninnnu-nl of 

 the award. 



Dk. Backi.unij has been elected a Correspomlant of the Paris 

 Academy, in the Section of .Vslronomy, in the place of the late 



NO. 1339, VOL. 52] 



