40 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



per cent of the value of the cattle. 

 The quality of the animals is low- 

 est and the loss is greatest in the. 

 regions where the natural condi- 

 tions without the tick should pro- 

 duce the finest cattle with the 

 least loss. But the damage may 

 be better expressed by the state- 

 ment that the tick makes profit- 

 able production practically im- 

 possible in the South. Any suc- 

 cessful system of agriculture must 



rest upon a diversification of 

 crops, and this, in turn, depends 

 upon animal husbandry to main- 

 tain the fertility of the soil. There- 

 fore, until the tick is eradicated 

 or placed under control a rational 

 system of agriculture in the infect- 

 ed area is out of question, and 

 that achievement would mean al- 

 most as much to the North as to 

 the South, 



The Hog Louse 



Among the hundreds of various 

 types of animal lice the above 

 louse of a hog takes the cake. 

 Note the fearfully large and curved 

 claws of each leg with which it 

 molests the animals and often 

 causes ulcerations and general sick- 

 ness. The specimen was gathered 

 at a Texas farm, the louse ac- 

 cidentally crawling along a fence- 

 rail. It is considerably magnified 

 and represents a nice specimen 

 of photo reproduction of that par- 

 asitic creature. 



The Hog Loose 



The New Human Parasite of the Sarcoptic Tribe 



In April, 1896, when acting as 

 city physician of San Antonio, a 

 peculiar chronic disease in an 



aged person, (Doctor R ) came 



to my notice through a friend, I)r. 

 Wm. Fleming of Georgetown, Tex- 

 as, who was attending the case. 

 Concerning the symptomatology. 

 Dr. Fleming kindly favored me 

 with the following data: ''About 

 eight months ago my patient be- 

 came afflicted with the disease 

 and has been a great sufferer ever 

 since. The disease appears with 

 small papules here and there, from 

 a pale to firey red, and at times 

 under treatment will seem appar- 

 ently well, but on application of 

 ointments or lotions reappears in 

 greater or less numbers and larger 

 or smaller lesions. The disease 

 is not attended with itching, but 

 when very red has a slight burn- 



ing sensation. The animaculae, 

 it seems, on maturing, emerge 

 from the skin, in some places seem 

 to discharge germs covering a 

 space more or less dense from a 

 half to two inches in diameter. The 

 various remedies I have used have 

 caused many of all sizes to come 

 to the surface, some bore under 

 the skin again, and although T 

 have picked off thousands, I have 

 never seen one move. One of the 

 annoyances to the patient is their 

 crawling on the skin. Their bite 

 is much like that of a flea or a 

 chinch, and often so rapidly is it 

 done that the mite will bore in 

 before you can pick it off with the 

 point of a knife. The bites and 

 pimples never suppurate nor ex- 

 ude serum. 



'"I have given six months of 

 study and investigation to the dis- 



