242 THE FARMERS VETERINARIAN 



animals digging at the skin with teeth and horns 

 and the constant rubbing against posts or barbed 

 wire or anything that may give relief at the time. 

 The disease gradually spreads along the back, sides 

 and outside of legs. In the early stages the coat 

 looks rough, the skin has a scurvy appearance. In 

 time, the hair comes ofif or is rubbed off, presenting 

 bald patches of thick, glazed and wrinkled skin. After 

 the hair comes off the parasites leave these regions, 

 seeking other quarters and then the hair grows in 

 again. There is a dejected and debilitated condi- 

 tion in animals thus afflicted and they fail rapidly in 

 flesh. Their appetites are poor and most of their 

 time is expended in scratching themselves. 



Scab spreads rapidly through a bunch of cattle, 

 especially if they are not thrifty, and disseminates it- 

 self through a herd in four to six weeks. The thrifty, 

 vigorous animals resist the infection for some time, 

 but they gradually succumb. The disease is spread 

 by direct contact and by contact with infected quar- 

 ters. While the mites will live a week or ten days 

 in protected places, they are almost immediately 

 destroyed by direct sunlight. As soon as the disease 

 is discovered in a bunch of cattle, the infected 

 animal should be isolated and the infected quarters 

 and rubbing posts disinfected with a 5 per cent 

 solution of carbolic acid. Infected animals should 

 be well fed and cared for, and be salted with a mix- 

 ture of I pound of flowers of sulphur mixed with 

 10 pounds of common salt. External treatment is 

 necessary to affect a cure. If a large number of 

 cattle are affected, a dipping wash through which 

 the animals must swim in the dip is the best means 

 for destroying the mites. 



The most efficient remedies, considering cost, are 

 the coal tar products advertised as dip solutions. 



