21)4 
ON THE TRANSMISSION OF DISEASES 
Whether mange is produced by an insect of the Cheyletidse 
family, and the Sarcoptes genus—the Acarus Scabiei—or whether 
that insect is the product of the disease, is a question on which I 
will not now enter, but will only glance at the possibility or pro¬ 
bability of the contagious property of mange, and its being 
occasionally communicated from the quadruped to the human 
being. 
M. Hurtrel D’Arboval, in his Dictionary, cites many facts 
which establish the possibility of this transmission: they are 
borrowed from various journals, and related by scientific prac¬ 
titioners. I would beg to add two others which are in my mind 
conclusive, or, rather, to which no reply can be given. 
Case I.—May 16, 1837, a horse destined for dissection was 
given to six pupils of the anatomical class. He was covered 
with mange, and the acari could, even with the naked eye, be 
seen running over him. In pursuing the dissection, every one of 
these young men felt an itchiness on the hands and wrists for 
which they could not satisfactorily account. They told me of the 
circumstance—I answered that it was probably nothing but their 
imagination. During the whole of the day they continued to 
scratch themselves, and they could not sleep at night on account 
of the intolerable itching. In the morning numerous pimples were 
evident on the wTist and between the fingers, and which were 
immediately recognized by M. Latour as the pustules of itch. 
They were hard and red at the base, and the summit contained 
a limpid serous fluid. Two or three days after this eruption, a 
new and more tormenting one appeared on the abdomen, on the 
inside of the thighs, at the bending of the knees, and, more or 
less, almost all over the body. 
They were separated from their companions, and subjected to 
the ordinary treatment for that malady ;—cooling medicine, warm 
baths, and frictions with the citrine ointment*. The cure was 
not perfected until the 13th of the following month. 
• 
afterwards, buboes, buttons, or pustules very similar to those of farcy, 
appeared on various parts of bis body, and one, on his forehead, was as large 
as a nut. He weathered the storm ; but I recollect that he long retained 
the pale and bloated countenance (bouffisare) which we observe in persons 
of a lymphatic temperament, and bordering on a scrofulous diathesis.— 
R. B. R., Editor of the Journal da Midi. 
* The French formula for the preparation of this ointment is as follows: 
R Lard . 16 parts. 
Fluid mercury ... 1 do.. 
Nitric acid. H do. 
Dissolve the mercury in the acid by the assistance of heat, and when the 
solution is cold, triturate it well with the lard in a porcelain mortar. The 
quantity of lard is increased or diminished according to the state of the 
case.—Y. 
