PsoropHc Acariasis (^Scabies) in Sheep. 179 



obligatory on all owners to eradicate the disease from their flocks, 

 for though incomparably less contagious than the ordinary scab, 

 yet there can be no excuse for perpetuating a public menace which 

 is so easily recognized and done away with. The purifying of 

 conveyances and all public places where such infested sheep have 

 been should come under the same rule as for the more familiar 

 scab. 



PSOROPTIC ACARIASIS (SCABIES) IN SHEEP. COM- 

 MON SCAB. 



Prevalence : Losses : Psoroptes Scabie v. Ovis, like Ihat of horse. Only 

 lives permanently on sheep. Vitality : lives 10 to 20 days in wool, on pelts, 

 or woodwork, in genial weather; dies at zero, Fah. Accessory Causes: 

 Poverty, crowding, mingling, infected places and things, commons, mar- 

 kets, railroads, boats, pens, etc. Symptoms : Fleece flattened or ragged ; 

 white semi-detached tufts, shaking tail, rubbing, scratching with hind feet, 

 trembling and nibbling with lips, itching increased by heating, crowding, 

 driving ; skin with papules, scurf, exuvia, swelling, exudate concretes rais- 

 ing wool from follicles, bare patches with sores and eruptions ; wooly parts 

 mainly affected, back, shoulder, neck, tail ; also the fine wooled. Lambs of 

 clipped, scabby ewes suffer. Lymph glands swell. Diagnosis: Inveterate 

 itching along dorsal aspect, excessive debris in the roots of the wool, and 

 presence of the acarus. Treatment : Nourishing food, open air, in summer 

 shear, apply acaricides by smearing, pouring or bathing. Smearing, salv- 

 ing mixtures should contain turpentine and castor oil to increase growth of 

 wool. Pouring mixtures : tobacco, soft-soap, sulphur and oil of tar. Dips : 

 Arsenical, their dangers ; mercurial, their dangers ; lime and sulphur, with 

 sulphur greatly in excess to save the wool ; potassium sulphide ; carbolic 

 acid ; tobacco, tobacco and sulphur ; coal tar products. Prevention : Com- 

 pulsory report of disease ; segregation ; disinfection of premises ; prohibi- 

 tion of exposure or sale ; damages for neglect ; trace and quarantine all 

 sheep or goats that have been exposed in transit, market or otherwise ; com- 

 pulsory official treatment ; fines for violation ; dipping sound sheep just be- 

 fore shipping ; cooperation of national and state authorities. 



This is one of the mo.st destructive plagues of sheep in .some 

 countries and districts. In France it attacks 1,000,000 sheep 

 yearly at a loss in wool and mutton of about $1 a head. (Dela- 

 fond). In Germany the lo.sses are no less. In England from 5 

 to 25 per cent, per annum have suffered in certain districts. 

 (Gamgee). It is the terror of importers of Mexican sheep, and 

 in the seventies it became so prevalent on the prairies of Iowa 



