CHAP. i. RINGWORM. 565 



LICE. These degraded forms of wingless insects (figs. 145 and 

 146) are found on all our farm stock at one time or another. They 

 prefer the poor and emaciated for their host, although the better fed 

 and conditioned are not exempt from them. Where they are present 

 they induce a good deal of irritation and annoyance, and should be 

 got rid of as quickly as possible. 



A decoction of tobacco with a little salt in it applied on the skin, 



Fig. 145. Small Biting Ox-Louse, Fig. 146. Large Sucking Ox-Louse, 



Trichodectes scalaris. Hsematopinus eurysternns. 



(Magnified. ) (Magnified. ) 



and repeated in a few days, may be sufficient, or should this fail a 

 dressing of whale oil, sulphur, and a little oil of tar may be tried. 



To guard against a return of these pests the stable or shed should 

 be thoroughly cleansed and the old litter removed. 



RINGWORM is a parasitic disease of the skin to which all farm- stock 

 are more or less liable. It is most frequently seen in calves, especially 

 when they are in a low, dirty, debilitated condition, or when closely 

 packed in small, badly-ventilated sheds, where manure is allowed to 

 accumulate and ferment. It is due to a minute fungus which settles 

 upon the skin, burrows into the cuticle, and passes down into the 

 follicles of the hair, causing the latter to fall off and the skin to throw 

 out a scaly eruption. The seat of the disease varies in different cases, 

 but in calves it is mostly seen about the face and neck. This appears 

 due to the fact of the animals infecting each other, owing to their 

 heads being so frequently in contact one with the other. 



Symptoms. The eruption of ringworm occurs in round scurfy 

 patches, which spread in circles, causing the hair to break away and 

 fall off, leaving behind bald places, varying in size from that of a three- 

 penny piece to that of a florin. Sometimes they run together and 

 form large irregular patches ; in this way the entire body may become 

 covered with a thick scabby eruption. The irritation caused by the 

 parasite is not severe, but there is, generally, more or less itchiness 



