
AMERICAN MUSEUM GUIDE LEAFLETS 

on the children of cleanly families than is generally admitted and it 
is almost the rule among the less cleanly, The former get it from 
the latter by contact, by using the same comb or brush, by hanging 
the hat on the same rack in school and in other ways. The body- 
louse or gray-back, Pediculus vestimenti (or corporis) is common 
where men gather in numbers without having, or using, adequate 
facilities for cleanliness. Cleanliness, in this case, refers very largely 
to the clothing, as this species lays its eggs on the clothes next to the 
skin and the lice themselves spend much of the time there. The 
crab-louse, Phthirius inguinalis, is an easily recognized species, the 
common name being appropriate. It infests the pubic regions and 
the armpits of man. Transmission sometimes occurs by way of 
public toilets. 
The use of a fine-toothed comb dipped in kerosene is an effec- 
tive remedy for the head-louse. The treatment should be repeated 
twice at intervals of a week. For body-lice, the clothing should be 
boiled, steamed, fumigated, or soaked in gasolene or benzine. The 
irritation caused by the lice may be relieved by a lotion of one half 
ounce of borax to a pint of water. In dealing with these lice when 
there is danger of typhus fever, the greatest care must be exercised 
to prevent their spread. The face and the head should be shaved 
and the hair burned. A liberal use of kerosene on floors and about 
beds is recommended, The crab-louse may be treated in the same 
way as the head-louse but mercurial or “‘blue’’ ointment is often used. 
The salve should not be strongly rubbed in or used directly after a 
warm bath. Vinegar makes the eggs of the lice more susceptible to 
treatment. 
The Bed-bug, Cimex Jectularius, an insect belonging to the 
Hemiptera, has received many more or less descriptive names in 
addition to that of ‘““bed-bug.”’ Some of them are “‘wall-louse,”’ 
‘“‘red-coat,”’ “mahogany flat,’ “‘chinch,’’ and just “bug.” Most 
people are familiar with this insect, whether they admit it or not; 
others usually recognize it, by instinct or by its reputation, the first 
time they meet it. There is a mistaken idea that the flat, dark- 
colored insects to be found under the bark of decaying logs, and the 
ones that occur in the nests of swallows, belong to the species under 
discussion. Another mistaken notion is that these creatures may 
become “‘grandfathers in a night.”’ The eggs, which are white and 
oval in outline with a rim around the free end and sculpturing over 
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