LICE AFFECTING- DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
205 
Moufet on the authority of Albertus (IV., C. 205), which 
would carry its recognition back to the thirteenth century 
Linnaeus described it under the name of Pedicnlus suis , which 
name has been most commonly followed, but Nitzsch revived 
the name of urius, and this name has been followed by Giebel 
and Piaget. Along with other parasites it received frequent 
mention by both early and modern writers. Denny speaks 
of it as rare in England, but common in Ireland. He says- 
(Monog. Anop. Brit., p. 35): 
“ This species is found in great numbers on swine, but it 
does not appear so generally spread as might be expected 
from the dirty habits of the animals. It most frequently oc¬ 
curs on those fresh imported from the sister isle. It was 
many months before 1 could obtain a single example. I had 
applied to both farmers and pig butchers, neither of whom 
seemed to approve of the idea which I had conceived, that of 
their pigs being lousy , but referred me to those of the Emer¬ 
ald Isle as being sure to gratify my wishes (forgetting, I sus¬ 
pect, that the Irish pigs come to this market to meet English 
buyers). I accordingly visited a colony just arrived, where 
I most certainly met with a ready supply ; but here they 
were confined almost entirely to lean animals, and wherever 
I found a pig fat and healthy no game were to be seen.” 
Most stockbreeders have probably seen instances of its 
abundance, and from the frequent mention of it in the agri¬ 
cultural papers, it would seem to be quite common through¬ 
out the country, and while, perhaps, less generally distributed 
than the ox-louse, to multiply sometimes so as to cause much 
more apparent damage to its host. The fact that they are 
more commonly found on poor or runty animals should not 
be taken as evidence that they have a preference for such 
animals, but rather that the animals upon which they have 
multiplied rapidly have, in consequence, become emaciated 
and unhealthy. That they do not increase more rapidly and 
become a much greater nuisance, may be in part because the 
majority of hogs are sold and slaughtered at a comparatively 
early age, and with each one slaughtered must perish the par¬ 
asites which have been supported by it, unless, perchance, an 
