FOUL-BROOD. 455 



707. This reminds our Senior of an incident that hap- 

 pened in his younger days, wliile he lived with his father, 

 who was a plijsieian. A laborer had come to the old doc- 

 tor for an ointment to cure the "itch". lie had caught 

 this — now uncommon and ever disgraceful — contagious 

 skin disease, while working as a harvest hand, in the coun- 

 try. Directions were given him for using the ointment, 

 and he was told that his wife should anoint with it also, as 

 a preventive. But the woman, who did not have the dis- 

 ease, refused to use it, and two weeks afterwards the man 

 came back for more ointment. He was cured, but his wife 

 had the itch in her turn. The doctor gave him some, and 

 told him that he should use it too, or he might catch the 

 disease again ; but he did not mind the warning, and two 

 weeks later, he had to call for more. " Well," said the 

 old doctor, " I hope that these two experiments will con- 

 vince you of the necessity of a thorough treatment for both, 

 with a disease that is transmitted so readily, by contact." 



The case is exactly the same with the bacillus. While 

 we are treating one colony, a few spores may be transmit- 

 ted to a neighboring hive, by the contact of a single bee, 

 and the disease is spread, unknown to us, while we are con- 

 gratulating ourselves, in the firm belief that we have eradi- 

 cated it. 



798. The cure may be delayed, and may even fail alto- 

 gether, if the queen is infected. Then the only resource is 

 to kill her and give the colony another from a healthy hive. 



799. When an Apiarist finds out that foul-brood exists 

 in his vicinity, his best plan is probably to feed his bees 

 regularly on salicycated food. A lump of camphor, placed 

 inside of the hive on the bottom-board, is advised by some. 

 Salt (273), which improves the blood of all animals, by 

 decreasing the num))er of white globules, shows its effects 

 on the general health of all beings, and renders them more 



