the Domestic Animals in Iceland. 183 



amined with 317 Danish dogs, all more than one year old, I 

 found : — 



In the Icelandic dogs. In the Danish dogs. 



T(enia marginata 75 per cent. 20 per cent. 



coenujiis 18 ,, . 1 



echinococcus 28 „ 0*6 



i> 



a 



The number of dogs in Iceland is very great, and certainly 

 unnecessarily so, although these animals are indispensable to 

 the inhabitants, especially for bringing the sheep together. 

 From the inquiries that I made on this subject, there is every 

 reason to believe that this number may be taken as 1 for every 

 3-5 inhabitants ; whilst in France, where they are subject to a 

 tax, it is 1 to 22 ; and in Great Britain, where the tax on dogs 

 is higher, it is only 1 to 50 inhabitants. 



The proportion of cattle in Iceland is likewise very consider- 

 able, as for every 100 inhabitants there were : — 



In Iceland (1861) 

 In Denmark (1861) 

 In Prussia (1858) 



The Ruminants continually furnish the dogs with T, echino- 

 coccus, the ova of which are the origin of Echinococcus-hydatids 

 both in man and cattle ; and the frequent contact of the inha- 

 bitants with their dogs in damp and dirty dwellings must favour 

 the propagation of the parasites in a high degree. 



It is consequently by diminishing as much as possible the 

 number of dogs, and by preventing them from eating the vesi- 

 cular worms of the cattle, that we may succeed in combating 

 the development of hydatids in man, as also of staggers in 

 sheep. In the report which I addressed to the ministry in 

 1863, I proposed : — 1. That the right to have dogs in Iceland 

 should be regulated, in order that their number might be re- 

 duced to what was strictly necessary ; 2. That a small memoir 

 should be distributed among the Icelanders, in order to explain 

 to them the part played by the dogs in the hydatid disease of 

 man and the staggers of the sheep, and to indicate to them the 

 precautions to be taken to hinder the development of those 

 maladies. These propositions were adopted by the ministry. 

 A popular treatise which I wrote upon this subject was trans- 

 lated into Icelandic and dispersed over the whole country ; and, 

 with regard to the first point, the authorities in Iceland pro- 

 nounced in favour of the establishment of a tax on doers. 



