SCABIES — MANGE. 317 



ciency of bran, and if necessary, to make it palatable, a small quan- 

 tity of condiment like Thorley's food may be added. When the 

 legs are washed soft water should be used. Out of door exercise 

 is desirable when led by hand, but ordinary work should not be 

 attempted. Great cleanliness must be observed in the stable, and 

 if it can be obtained, moss peat should be used instead of straw 

 for bedding. 



SCABIES— MANGE 



Is a contagious form of skin disease which is due to the presence 

 of one of the minute microscopical animal parasites; of these there 

 are three kinds which attack the horse; the sarcoptes, which bur- 

 row under the epidermis into the substance of the skin; the 

 SYMBioTES which congregate in goodly numbers but only pene- 

 trate the superficial layers of the epidermis; and the dermato- 

 DECTES that cHng about the hairs and bite the skin; the result of 

 the irritation set up by the.se parasites is the production of a serous, 

 fluid and it is supposed to be this serosity which the creatures live 

 upon. The sarcoptes, from their habit of burrowing under the 

 epidermis, render the methods of treatment more diSicult, as the 

 females lay their eggs in long channels or galleries, and unless 

 the agent that is u.sed for the destruction of the parasite pene- 

 trates to the depth of these galleries and dissolves the eggs, they 

 will in all probability hatch out in three or four days and a fresh 

 batch of parasites be raised; for this reason it is occasionally 

 necessary to dress a horse a second or even a third time. With 

 the two classes called symbiotes and dermatodectes the treatment 

 is much more simple, and, as a rule, one dressing sufl&ces. The 

 dermatodectic scabies is considered by some writers to be more 

 frequent than either of the other two classes; our experience does 

 not agree with this; certainly eighty per cent, of the cases we 

 hare treated have been the sarcoptic scabies. 



Symptoms. — The neck and shoulders, mane and tail are the 

 favorite haunts of these para.sites; their presence is indicated by 

 small lumps forming in the skin which soon burst and discharge 

 an acrid fluid; this serous fluid dries and forms a scab; in a short 

 time the skin feels thicker to the hand and assumes a wrinkled 

 appearance; wherever the exuded fluid touches the surface of the 

 skin, the hair falls off in considerable quantities; at all times the: 



