400 KENNEL DISEASES. 
Finally, it costs but a mere trifle and will not injure or stain the finest fabrics ; 
which fact specially recommends it for use on house dogs when they become 
infested with fleas, lice, etc. 
The sulphuret of lime is destructive to all kinds of vermin; and a weak 
solution of it can be made by boiling two pounds of the flowers of sulphur and 
one pound of unslaked lime in two gallons of water. The lime should be first 
put into the water and slaked, then the sulphur should be slowly added and 
carefully stirred in; and finally the mixture be boiled down to one gallon. 
After which it should be allowed to stand until it has settled. 
The clear fluid having been poured off into a washing tub, the infested dog 
should be stood in it and drenched, and afterward allowed to dry without 
rubbing. 
A very inexpensive dip can be made of the crude carbolic acid. It costs 
about 35 cents per pint, and half this quantity added to water will make a 
washing tub full of safe and efficient flea-destroyer, which will keep indefinitely 
without losing its strength. But this must not be confounded with the carbolic 
acid in common use, of which there are several kinds. First, comes the pure 
in the form of white crystals — so susceptible to moisture that they soon fuse 
into a hard mass. Then the carbolic acid usually found in drug shops, which 
is at least one remove from the first in the matter of purity, although the two 
outwardly so closely resemble one another the difference is scarcely apprecia- 
ble. The next remove is a nearly colorless liquid which is generally employed 
when large quantities are needed to disinfect cesspools, sewers, etc. After this 
comes the crude acid, the kind herein recommended, a syrupy fluid of deep 
brownish color — nearly black —and really only about one-half carbolic acid, 
the most of the remaining ingredients being worthless substances. 
When diluting crude carbolic acid it is advisable to use an alkali, and the 
common soap of the kitchen will answer every purpose. One pound of soap 
having first been dissolved in about one gallon of hot water, half a pint of the 
crude carbolic acid should be added, and thoroughly mixed by vigorous stir- 
ring. Then the whole should be poured into a tub or barrel holding about 
fifteen gallons of water. 
The destroyer is now ready for use, and can be applied with a sponge, or 
dogs can be dipped in it— in which case, care must be taken to prevent the 
solution from getting into the mouth, nostrils or eyes. 
The duration of the bath should not be over half a minute; and after being 
permitted to run about for five minutes, the dogs should be dipped in a tubful 
of clean water, or rinsed off by means of a garden sprinkler, and then allowed 
to dry themselves in their own way. 
Strong hardy dogs would scarcely need rinsing, but still it is a wise pro- 
cedure, for some forms of the crude preparations contain more carbolic acid 
than others, and poisonous absorption might possibly take place ; moreover, if 
