303 
ACARUS SCABIEI. 
CAN MAN CONTRACT THE ITCH FROM BRUTES, OR THE LATTER 
FROM THE FORMER] 
By C. Holthouse, Esq., M.R.C.S. 
The above evidently embodies two distinct queries. First, is 
the itch communicable from animals to man ] Secondly, Admitting 
or denying this to be the case, does it follow that the latter can or 
cannot communicate scabies to the former] We will direct our at- 
tention at present to the first of these questions, viz., Can a mangy 
animal communicate scabies to the human subject] Before enter- 
ing in medias res, I would premise that this is not contrary to ana- 
logy, but is rendered probable by what is known and admitted to 
be the case with regard to vaccinia, rabies, and glanders. This 
probability is strengthened by what has been observed of the 
habits and properties of those acari which infest man and animals: — - 
they attach themselves readily and almost immediately to any ob- 
ject which is placed in their way, and they are remarkably tena- 
cious of life, especially those of the sheep and horse. It is highly 
probable, therefore, that, when transplanted from one animal to 
another of a different genus, they may continue to live for a consi- 
derable period under circumstances so nearly allied to their natural 
condition, and yet be incapable of producing another generation. 
We will now see whether any evidence can be adduced in confir- 
mation of this opinion. Instances of the horse acarus being com- 
municated to the human subject have been recorded by many wri- 
ters; among others, by E. Viborg*, Sicht, and Greve J. The 
following case, which I have taken from Dr. Willis’s translation of 
Rayer’s work on Cutaneous Diseases, was first published by 
R. Fauvet, in the Annali Universali di Medicina, 1823, and has 
been thence copied into several French and German periodicals: — - 
“In the month of January 1820, a farmer bought a horse af- 
fected with the itch at the market of Bergamo, which he mounted 
to return to his home. The day after his arrival, he experienced 
great itchiness over almost the whole of his body ; the same symp- 
tom was further complained of by his son and a friend who had ac- 
companied him to market. The stable-boy, too, to whom the horse 
was given in charge, began to scratch himself incessantly within 
* Sammlung von Abhandlungen. 
fErfahrung und Beobachtungen liber die krankheiten der Hausthiere. 
Oldenburg, 1818. 
{ Unterricht fur die Landwirthe zur Abwendung und Heilung der in Krie- 
geizeiten vor kommenden Vichkrankheiten. Berlin, 1807. 
