ABSTERG′ENTS. Syn. Abstergen′tia, L. In medicine and pharmacy, substances which cleanse or clear away foulness from the surface of the body or sores; as soap, lotions, &c. See Detergent, which has a nearly similar meaning, and is in more general use.
AC′ARI (-rī). [L.; prim. Gr.] Syn. Acar′idans; Acar′ides (dēz); Acarid′iæ. (-e-ē). In entomology, a division of arachnidans, including the mite and tick. All the species are either microscopic or extremely minute, and possess such tenacity of life as to resist for some time the action of boiling water, and to live with comparative impunity in alcohol. Leuwenhoek had one that lived eleven weeks glued on its back to the point of a needle, without food. The following are well known—ACARUS AUTUMNA′LIS, the harvest-bug or wheal-worm; A. DOMES′TICUS, the domestic tick; A. DYSENTE′RIÆ, the dysentery-tick; A. FARI′NÆ, the meal mite (fig. a); A. RI′′CINUS (rĭc-), the dog-tick; A. SAC′CHARI, the sugar-mite (fig. b); A. SI′′RO, the cheese-mite (fig. c); A. SCABIE′I, the itch-insect (fig. d).
The irritation of the skin, caused by these vermin, may be relieved by a lotion of equal parts of sal volatile and water; and they may be destroyed by tobacco water, or a lotion or ointment of stavesacre. See Itch, Mange, Parasites, Pediculi, Scab, &c.
Acarus Farinæ, or meal-mite (fig. a). This insect is found only in damaged flour, and is more frequently met with in the flour of the leguminosæ (beans, peas) than in that of the gramineæ (wheat, rye, oat).
Now and then a single acarus may occasionally be found in good flour, but even one should be regarded with suspicion, and the
flour should afterwards be frequently examined to see if they are increasing.
Fig. a. Mag. 250 diams.
Acarus Sacchari, or sugar-mite (fig. b).
