TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 43 



to be C. ecaudatus. * * * I see no 

 hairs on the third pair of legs 

 (they are present on this parasite, 

 but were unclear or not visible on 

 the microphoto. R. M.) and only 

 two clearly on the abdominal bor- 

 der. I cannot make out the dor- 

 sal plate, etc., since the photo- 

 graph from which I must take my 

 ppints only gives the ventral sur- 

 face. * * * Aside from these, the 

 description suits well, and if these 

 differences are real I believe that 

 at least the genus is correctly 

 fixed, and the soecies perhaps a 

 new one." 



Dr. Boecking called to my at- 

 tention that, if the above diagnosis 

 of the parasitebe applied to a 

 mature specimen, it seems, indeed, 

 to point to a cheiroptes, were it 

 not for the fact stated in regard 

 to the position of the extremities, 

 which are thoracic in our mite and 

 not marginal. 



I have compai'ed our parasite 

 with- a number of mites of old 

 fruit and cheese, and it differs in 

 being smaller and "bolder" ap- 

 pearing acarus, and the endpads 

 of the legs, on high-power exami- 

 nation, showing a stirrup-shaped 

 discus or sucking-cup. This dis- 

 tinguishes the sarcoptes from sim- 

 ilar aeari. In microphotography, 

 of course, only such objects and 

 outlines can be copied as come un- 

 der sharp focus of the lenses of the 

 microscope, especially in making a 

 nlierophotocopy of such a minute 

 object as our mite under a very 

 high magnifying power. For this 

 reason the outlines of the terminal 

 parts (sucking-cup) of the legs are 

 not so sharply outlined as the rest 

 of the 'parasite's body. 



This case of parasite disease 

 seems to be unique in many par- 

 ticulars regarding etiology and 

 symptomatology. With the excep- 

 tion that it was noticed over near- 

 ly the entire body, the symptoms, 

 as stated by Dr. Fleming, would 

 distantly tally with those of the 

 common itch sarcoptes of man;. 



but, as noticed, had patient the 

 usual itch plague, there certainly 

 would have been found remnants 

 of the itch parasite and its larva, 

 ova, etc., and then, the itch disease 

 is easily amenable to rigid anti- 

 parasitic treatment. The speci- 

 mens or remnants from scraping 

 of the skin sent to me were, of 

 course, in a dried-up state; they 

 formed a yellowish-brown, granu- 

 lar powder, showing on proper ex- 

 amination, numbers of cuticular or 

 more deeply-seated remnants, ca- 

 pilli (sparingly), calcareous rem- 

 nants, some granular (apparently 

 hemorrhagic) detritus, shed skins 

 of microscopic mites, and the par- 

 asites, either entire, but contract- 

 ed, or in remnants (partly incrust- 

 ed). The latter were dead aca- 

 rinae, and the one specimen, now 

 under question and illustrated, 

 had its legs contracted when first 

 found, but, under coverglass pres- 

 sure, the legs were gradually 

 spread out. 



In conclusion, I beg to call at- 

 tention to the fact that an article 

 on this subject has been published 

 some time before, but the same 

 was full of typographical errors 

 and the photo-illustrations of the 

 parasite were not as good as de- 

 sired. It is for these reasons that 

 the matter is hereby again brought 

 before the profession. I may also 

 state that I had sent the article 

 (in pamphlet form) to a large 

 number of experts and medical in- 

 stitutions here a,nd in Europe, and 

 received from none any data con- 

 cerning a similar parasite. The 

 authorities of the Zoological Insti- 

 tute of Genoa, Italy, have sent me 

 in return, some literature on mi- 

 croscopic mites, with illustrations, 

 but no such mite is mentioned. 

 Whether, in our case, the parasite 

 had been implanted accidentally 

 on the patient from some animal 

 infested with a sarcoptic dlseasi'', 

 or from some other unknown 

 source, of course can only be con- 

 jectured, but the fact remains that , 



