Treatment. The feeding on buckwheat should at once be discontinued, and the patients should be kept in the fold until the toxic principles have been eliminated, that is, for a month or more.
Bicarbonate of soda may be added to the drinking water. The local lesions about the head must be kept clean and dressed with antiseptic astringent lotions.
CHAPTER II.
PHTHIRIASIS.
The term phthiriasis is applied to infestation of the skin with lice.
Causation. These diseases are due to the presence of various parasites which live by destroying the epidermic scales, or by piercing the superficial layers of the skin. They are of a greyish-yellow colour, and belong to the genera Hæmatopinus and Trichodectes.
The Hæmatopinus forms have pointed heads, and are equipped for penetrating the skin by suction. The Trichodectes have a large flat head constructed for masticating.
Fig. 245.—Hæmatopinus eurysternus of the ox, magnified 20 diameters. (After Neumann.)
Fig. 246.—Hæmatopinus of the calf, magnified 20 diameters. (After Neumann.)