SarcopUc Scabies of the Rabbit. 197 



toms : Extreme itching and scratching, depilation, detached, ragged fur,, 

 bald spots, gray crusts, intervening cracks and sores ; skin thickened, rigid,, 

 closed eyelids, nose, lips, anaemia, marasmus. Young suffer most. Acarus 

 found on inner side of crusts. Treatment : Clip ; dress with sulphur and 

 sodium carbonate ointment. Disinfect hutches ; burn litter, fodder and 

 manure. 



This seems to be the one form of scabies or acariasis of the 

 skin in rabbits. The acariasis of the external auditory canal is 

 of course excepted. It must be noted further that the rabbit acts 

 as host to other acari — Gamasus pteroptoides, Cheyletus parasiti- 

 vorus, and Listrophorus gibbus — but these represent commensals 

 and not injurious parasites. 



Sarcoptes Minor ; The Dwarf Sarcoptes is common to the 

 rabbit, brown rat, cat and coati. It does not follow that it may 

 be transferred easily from one genus to the other. Experiments 

 by Gerlach and others along this line have failed. Even the 

 size varies materially. Thus it is foupd on rabbit and cat, — fe- 

 male .16 to .25 mm. long, and male .12 to 18 mm., whereas on 

 the rat and coati it may be nearly double this size. With the 

 general appearance of the sarcoptes it is marked out mainly by 

 its small size and according to Megnin by the spacious nest which 

 the female forms under the cuticle instead of a linear channel. 

 The variety infesting the rabbit is named accordingly ; Sarcop- 

 tes Minor var. Cuniculi. 



Symptoms. The disease appears on the nose and lips, the 

 eyelids and forehead, and only exceptionally extends to the ears 

 the lower jaw, the throat and neck. Both fore and hind feet 

 suffer early on account of scratching, the disease extending up to 

 the elbows and hocks. The' itching is extreme, and the scratch- 

 ing and rubbing most energetic, the fur is torn out, hanging in 

 tufts or leaving bare spots, an exudate oozes out and collects in 

 grayi.sh white crusts, and finally thick adherent scabs. These 

 stand out in isolated masses, with intervening cracks, raw and 

 oozing, or red and bleeding. On the detaching of the scab a red 

 raw surface is exposed. The skin is extensively thickened and, 

 by reason of the scabs, rigid, so that lips and eyelids become 

 immovable, vision is impaired and prehension becomes impossible 

 and the rabbit dies of starvation. The malady is especially 

 destructive to the young. 



Diagnosis is based on the seat of the disease, the inveterate 



