the; skin. 235 



suspicion and a close examination will detect the lice. They may be 

 destroyed by rubbing the victim with sulphur ointment, or with sul- 

 phuret of potassium four ounces, water one gallon, or with tar water, 

 or the skin may be sponged with benzine. The application should be 

 repeated a week later to destroy all lice hatched from the nits in the 

 interval. Buildings, clothes, etc. , should de treated as for fleas. 



Chicken I/ice. This parasite, Sarcoptes mutans, belongs to 

 chickens, but can live on the skin of the fox and horse as well. A 

 troublesome mange may therefore at times be traceable to the proximity 

 of a chicken roost. The general symptoms and treatment are essen- 

 tially the same as for sarcoptis equi. 



Itcll or Mange. The Dermatodectis equi produces the most frequent 

 mange in horses, and as the parasite only bites the surface and lives 

 among the crusts under the shelter of a hair, it is very easily discovered. 

 It reproduces itself with equal rapidity, and causes similar symptoms to 

 those produced by the sarcoptes. The same treatment will suffice and is 

 more promptly effectual. The purifying of the stable must be more 

 thorough, as the psoroptis will survive twenty to thirty days in the moist 

 atmosphere of a stable, and may even revive after six or eight weeks 

 when subjected to moist warm air. Infested pastures will therefore prove 

 dangerous to horses for that length of time, and with rubbing posts, etc. , 

 should be secluded. 



Foot Mange. This acarus attacks the heels and lower parts of the 

 legs, especially the hind ones, and may be present for years without ex- 

 tending upon the body. lyike the psoroptis, it lives on the surface, on 

 the hairs and among the scabs. It gives rise to great itching, stamping, 

 rubbing of the one leg with the other, and the formation of papules, 

 wounds, ulcerous sores, and scabs. The intense itching will always 

 suggest this parasite, and the discovery of the acarus will identify the 

 disease. Treatment is the same as for the sarcoptes, but may be con- 

 fined to the legs and the parts with which they come in contact. 



Poultry AscariasiS- This is a large-sized acarus, though usually 

 miscalled "hen louse," and the disease "poultry -lousiness. " The mite 

 Hves in the hen manure and adjacent woodwork, but temporarily passes 

 on to the skin of man, and of the horse and other quadrupeds, when oc- 

 casion serves. It causes much irritation, with the eruption of papules 

 or vesicles and the formation of sores and scabs. The examination of 

 the skin is usually fruitless, as the attacks are mostly made at night and 

 the effects only may be seen during the day. The proximity of hen ma- 



