100 DISBABBS OF DOGS. 



true or sucking louse (Scematopinus piliferus, Fig. 16), and is thua 

 described in Professor Neumann's "Parasites," translated by Professor 

 Fleming: ''The head is short and al- 

 most as wide as long ; it is saKent in 

 the thorax to which it is exactly applied ; 

 the third and fourth articles of the an- 

 tennae are alike. The abdomen is very 

 developed in the female, and is a long f:g. le. Dog louse. 



ovaJ in shape; it has nine rounded seg- 

 ments, which are often salient at the sides ; stigmates distinct and 

 marginal ; the first seven segments have two rows of short bristles. 

 The general tint is yello^vish-white, the head and thorax being 

 a little darker. The female is 2mm. long, and the male I'lSmm." 

 This louse is oftener found about the throat and back of the ears, 

 but extends to all parts of the body. 



The other louse of the dog is Trichodeetes latus, of which this 

 is Neumann's description : " The head is sub-quadrangular and much 

 wider than it is long, being truncated in front; the antennse are 

 hairy and different in the two sexes, the first article in the male being 

 much thicker, and occupying a moiety of the length of the organ. 

 The abdomen is broad, and more rounded in the female, with lateral, 

 but no median spots. The colour is bright yellow, spots darker ; the 

 bands on the head are blackish-bro^vn. Length of the female is 

 l-5mm., of the male l'4mm." This is a biting louse, and is allied to 

 the Bird-Lice. 



Lice, under favourable conditions, multiply at a marvellous rate. 

 In fact, so prodigious is theu- fecundity, that it has been calculated 

 the third generation of a louse may number 125,000, independent of 

 the gi'eat destnietion from many causes which restrain this mtdti- 

 plication, They excite great irritation, causing the dog to scratch 

 and worry himself continually. Lice live on all parts of the body, 

 but are generally most abundant about the head and face, round the 

 eyes, roots of the ears, and along the top of the back. If the dog's 

 skin be closely examined, red streaks and dots of blood will be ob 

 served where the enemy has been feeding, but the actual presence oi 

 the foe, which will be seen creeping about, will be a sufficient incen- 

 tive to his destruction, without witnessing the havoc he has made. 

 There are numberless nostrums made and advertised for the destruc- 

 tion of these pests, some of which are quite as likely to Idll the 

 dog as the parasite. WMte precipitate in dry powder well rubbed 

 into the coat and skin, and left there for four or five hours, and then 

 thoroughly brushed out, is a certain cure ; but it has the disad- 

 vantage of being a mercurial poison, and when it is used it becomes 

 necessary that the dog should be muzzled during the whole time the 



