Diseases of the Skin. 247 
scissors, after which the embedded portion may be re- 
moved by forceps, or a drop of turpentine will answer the 
purpose. 
Vegetable Parasites.—Of this class two are common 
to canine animals. They are true fungi in nature, attach 
themselves to the epithelium or scarf skin, as well as the 
hairs proceeding from it, and are readily detected under 
an ordinary microscope. They prevail in damp, dark, 
and ill-drained places, and young animals are especially 
susceptible of attack ; but in all cases want of condition 
and general cleanliness predisposes the animal to their 
effects. They are also communicable from other species 
of animals to the dog, and he may convey them to others 
besides his own, or even to mankind by contagion alone. 
This may be mediate or immediate, and from the nature 
of the spores, it is believed that the air may act as a 
suitable medium. After being deposited on the skin, 
the process of incubation commences, and occupies from 
eight or ten to fourteen days, when they produce a 
colony of spores, and from the circumstance of their 
common arrangement in the form of a circle, the disease 
they produce is familiarly known as Ringworm. 
Tinea Tonsurans, or Ringworm, is occasionally seen 
_ in the dog. It occurs in circular patches, destitute of 
hair, except a few which by the action of the fungus, are 
broken and lifeless, standing among the enlarged cells, 
and projecting irregularly. Growth is on the external 
margin ; thus, the skin first affected is left smooth, and 
covered with glistening scales, or an aggregation forming 
a grey crust, each of which contain the spores of the 
fungus Achorion lebertit, or -Trichophyton tonsurans. 
Constant cleansing with “ Sanitas ” Soap and warm water, 
and subsequent dressings with the tincture of cantharides, 
or iodine ; dilute mineral and acetic acids, mercurial, or 
nitrate of silver ointment, tincture of iron, &c. &c., usually 
effect a cure. The disease is liable to be mistaken for 
Herpes circinatus, or vesicular ringworm, a form of local 
eczema common in young dogs as a result of indigestion, 
teething, &c., on the cessation of which it disappears. 
Tinea Favosa, or Honeycomb Ringworm, variously 
