THE CHICKEN-MITE 87 
with hot water; the perches should be solid,so as to offer no 
hiding places. In bird-cagesit is best, however, to use hollow 
perches, which act as traps in which the mites congregate 
during the day, and from which they can readily be removed 
by boiling water. There are a number of other remedies, 
such as the use of insecticidal powders, lime-wash, kerosene- 
emulsion or kerosene alone, sulphuret of carbon, creolin and 
others. Butno matter which of these substances are used they 
have to be applied frequently and most thoroughly as the mites 
can remain hidden without food for many months. In one 
case specimens were kept for ten months in a glass without 
food, and the mites, though very feeble, were still living. 
Hen manure, swarming with such dangerous foes to the 
sleep and rest of all domesticated animals, has to be removed 
from stables, or the inhabitants will be infested; in fact 
poultry-houses should always be isolated. 
The Gamasus shown in fig. 51 was found in large num- 
bers in a neglected hen-house, and greatly tormented the 
inhabitants. It took a long time and many applications of 
kerosene to dislodge it. 
Prof. Leidy described in 1872 a mite found in the ear ofa 
bull. Many specimens were discovered upon the ear-drum, 
and hence received the name of Gamasus auris. Mr. Turnbull 
found them repeatedly in similar situations and believes this 
mite to be a genuine parasite. 
Other mites, as Gamasus pteropteroides, which normally 
are found only in musty fodder, occasionally also reach our 
domesticated animals and cause all sorts of irritations. 
Still others, for instance those found in old flour, cheese, | 
dried plums and figs, have been detected repeatedly in sores 
upon horses and in other places. To show the general ap- 
pearance of such mites one of the cheese-mites ( Tyroglyphus 
longior Gervais) has been illustrated in fig. 52. This mite, 
common enough in houses, enjoyed for some time the 
ephemeral fame of being ahumancreation,as it was claimed to 
have been produced by subjecting a volcanic stone, kept 
moist with a weak solution of silicate of potash, to a con- 
tinuous current of electricity. This mite, if eaten with 
cheese, can also cause sickness. Whenever fodder spoils 
