[This is a mite found by Busk and named after him by Murray. It was taken from beneath the cuticle of the sole of the foot of a negro in the Seamen’s Hospital Ship on the Thames in 1841, in large sores of a peculiar character confined to the soles of the feet. It appeared that the disease was caused by its burrowing beneath the thick cuticle. The disease was attributed to the wearing of a pair of shoes which had been lent to another negro whose feet had been similarly affected for nearly a year. The negro to whom the shoes were lent came from Sierra Leone. Mr. Busk stated that some water brought by Dr. Stranger from the River Sinoe, on the coast of Africa, contained one nearly perfect specimen, and fragments of others very similar to if not identical with this Acarus. Mr. Busk adds that he had been informed by Staff-Assistant Surgeon P. D. Murray that at Sierra Leone there is a native pustular disease called craw-craw—a species of itch breaking into open sores.
[From Busk’s original figure I see no reason to doubt that this is a Glyciphagus.—F. V. T.]
Genus. Rhizoglyphus, Claparède, 1869.
Rhizoglyphus parasiticus, Dalgetty, 1901.
The Rhizoglyphii are to be recognized by their short legs, which are beset with spines, and by the tarsi, which terminate in a claw. They live on plants, roots and bulbs, especially the bulbs of lilies.
Fig. 365.—Rhizoglyphus parasiticus. a., male; b., female. Enlarged. (After Dalgetty.)
This species has been observed on the feet of Indian coolies working in the tea plantations; they produce a skin disease which always commences with blebs between the toes, and which almost always extends to the malleoli, but not beyond. The Acari have an elliptical body, which is grey, but varies from greenish-yellow to greenish-brown when the stomach is full. Eyes are absent. The legs are composed of five segments and terminate with a claw. The males measure 0·18 mm. in length by 0·08 mm. in breadth, and possess genital and anal pores; the females measure 0·2 mm. in length by 0·09 mm. in breadth.[351] [This is also known as coolie itch and is common in Indian tea plantations.—F. V. T.]
Genus. Histiogaster, Berlese, 1883.