SCABIES AND LICE
In thickly settled districts among the poor and uneducated, where filth and untidiness reign, the "itch" is a very prominent disease. It is caused by the itch mite, a parasite which burrows underneath the skin leaving behind its eggs in little irregularly shaped, bluish tinted ridges. Such a profound itching is set up by this burrowing and depositing of eggs that the child cannot resist scratching, and all taken together produces the typical itch-rash. The common site for this rash is on the sides and between the fingers and toes; on arm pits and buttocks of the child, as well as at the waistline. The treatment is usually beyond home remedies. A physician should have charge of the case who will conduct a line of treatment which, if diligently followed, will rid the body of this scourge within a week or ten days.
Along with the itch are often found parasites of the head, or lice (pediculi). It is not at all infrequent to find them in the heads of uncared for children; but if a much-cared-for child is brought in contact with an infected head he will probably "catch" the infection. A most intense and disagreeable itching is set up at once. The treatment consists in getting the head clean by the use of a very fine comb, thus endeavoring to remove the adult parasites as well as the eggs or "nits." However, great care should be taken to avoid injuring the scalp. Perhaps the simplest and most effective treatment known is the kerosene bath which should be applied at night, the hair being done up in a bandage until morning, when the kerosene is washed off with soap and water and then the hair given a vigorous vinegar shampoo in order to destroy the "nits." Tincture of larkspur, or an ointment made from the seeds, may also be used. It is applied several days in succession and then washed out.
CHAPTER XXXIII
DEFORMITIES AND CHRONIC DISORDERS
Reference has already been made to certain accidents of embryology during the very early days or weeks of the formative period of the embryo. Common illustrations of such deforming developmental accidents are harelip, cleft palate, and club foot.