20 
A. E. STEVEB. 
It was not my intention to talk on tick fever, but, as pre¬ 
viously stated, I believe the practicing veterinarian is not suf¬ 
ficiently interested in this work; also that at this time the entire 
South is waging a war against the common enemy. I have 
thought it advisable to prepare the following paper on “ Tick 
Fever ”: 
Tick Fever. 
Synonyms. —Texas fever, southern cattle fever, red water, 
black water, distemper, acclimation fever, murrain, dry murrain, 
yellow murrain, bloody murrain, Mexican fever, Spanish fever, 
splenic (or splenetic) fever, protozoan cattle fever, hemaglobi- 
nuria, tristeza, paludism of cattle, bovine periodic fever, bovine 
piroplasmosis or bovine malaria, is a specific infectious disease 
of the blood of cattle caused by the development and activity of 
minute animal parasites (protozoa), which are conveyed to the 
affected animals by means of the cattle tick, the Margaropus an¬ 
nul at us. 
Ticks, What Are They? —A tick is an obligatory parasite 
which attacks mammals, birds and reptiles. They do not appear 
to be so strictly confined to certain hosts as they do parasites in 
general, and the various species show a decided predilection for 
certain hosts. 
Varieties of Ticks Common in the United States. — Marga¬ 
ropus annulatus (Texas fever or cattle tick), Ixodes ricinus 
(castor bean tick), Dermacentor reticulatus (net tick), Derma- 
centor electus (American dog tick, also called wood tick), Am- 
blyomma americanum (Lone Star tick), Ornithodoros meginni 
(ear tick), Argas min at us (chicken tick), Ixodes hexagonis 
(European dog tick), Dermacentor venustus (Rocky Mountain 
spotted fever tick). 
A Short Description of the Life History of the Margaropus 
Annulatus. —The large olive-green female tick, when fully ma¬ 
tured and engorged, drops to the ground, and if conditions are 
favorable lays in from two to four days in summer to ninety- 
eight days in winter as many as 5,000 eggs. 
