Louse

“ Natural sizes indicated at sides.
growth being so stimulated that the under side bulges and thickens, while the down on the upper side increases in a circle around the louse, and finally hides and covers it as it recedes more and more within the deepening cavity. Sometimes the lice are so crowded that two occupy the same gall. If, from the premature death of the louse, or other cause, the gall becomes abortive before being completed, then the circle of thickened down or fuzz enlarges with the expansion of the leaf, and remains (Fig. 2, c) to tell the tale of the futile effort. ”

“ Usually, however, the natural enemies of the louse seriously reduce its numbers by the time the vine ceases its growth in the fall, and the few remaining lice, finding no more succulent and suitable leaves, seek the roots. ”

“ There is also a species of louse called the 'wild louse', and this is harder than the ordinary Iouse, and there is exceptional difficulty in getting the skin rid of it. Boys' heads are apt to be lousy, but men's in less degree; and women are more subject to lice than men. But, whenever people are troubled with lousy beads, they are less than ordinarily troubled with headache. And lice are generated in other animals than man. ”

“ A second louse is visited, and it too is solicited in the same caressing fashion. It yields its drop of liquid and lets itself be milked, after which the ant passes without delay to a third louse, which it coaxes in like manner. A fourth, probably already drained, withstands the wheedling, whereupon the ant, perceiving that nothing is to be hoped for there, proceeds to a fifth member of the herd and obtains what it desires. ”

“ They are described by a gentleman who watched their operations with great interest, as 'stealing up to a louse, coolly seizing and tucking it under the arm, then inserting the beak and sucking it dry.' They are supposed to feed also on other vegetable-eating insects as well as the plant louse. ”

“ This prevents the enemies of the louse from increasing and attacking it while the weather may not be too severe to prevent the louse from working. Under favorable climatic conditions the natural enemies of the louse as a rule are able to hold it in check. The principal enemies of the louse are certain small insect feeding birds, lady-beetles, syrphid-flies, lace-wings and tiny wasp parasites. ”

“ Sulla, Herod, Cardinal Dupet, Philip II, and others are said to have died from louse disease. That even at present many human beings are exposed to the danger of being devoured by lice is a fact that we have had the opportunity of observing on several occasions. ”

“ A louse found on the body may be killed, but not one that has taken up its abode in the outer parts of the garments. Animals, on the contrary, which are tame and willingly allow themselves to be taken, may be caught even on the Sabbath ”

“ From the extreme transparency of its skin, the internal parts may be seen to greater advantage than in any other insect; as, the various ramifications of the veins and arteries, in which a kind of regular pulsation may be observed, as well as the peristaltic motion of the intestines, which is continued from the stomach to the tail. When the louse feeds, the blood rushes like a torrent into the stomach, moving with so strong a propulsion and contraction, as appears very curious. ”

“ In some men the appearance of lice is a disease, in cases where the body is surcharged with moisture; and, indeed, men have been known to succumb to this louse-disease, as AIeman the poet and the Syrian Pherecydes arc said to have done. Moreover, in certain diseases lice appear in great abundance. ”

“ They are extremely prolific, the progeny of a single louse numbering several thousands in about eight weeks. The eggs, or nits, are deposited upon the hairs near the roots; several may often be found on a single shaft. ”

“ The irritation thus produced causes a gall to form on the lower side of the leaf. In fifteen days the louse becomes a full-grown wingless female and proceeds to fill the gall with eggs after which it dies. In about a week females hatch from the eggs and migrate to form new colonies. Several generations of females occur in a summer. At the approach of winter the lice go into the ground where they remain dormant until spring when they attack the roots forming galls analogous to those on the leaves and passing through a series of generations similar to those above ground. ”

“ Cures for Distempers incident to the Cock or Chick of the Game.
For Lice, being most common, I begin with; proceeding from corrup Meat, and want of Bathing, &c. Take Pepper beaten to Powder, mix it with warm Water, and wash them with it.
For the Roup; a filthy swelling on the Rump, and very contagious to the whole body; the staring and turning back of the Feathers is its Symptom. Pull away the Feathers, open and thrust out the Core, and wash the Sore with Water and Salt, or Brine. ”

“ Tripe, liver, and kidneys are esteemed by us, though a knowledge of their functions might cause a tremor of squeamishness to thrill through our bodies. As epicures we eat the diseased livers of geese, insect eating frogs, small birds and game in an advanced stage of decomposition, and call them delicious as we discourse upon their "gamy" flavor, and at the same time we would not entertain for a moment the idea of eating a dish of freshly-roasted locusts which have fed upon the clean, juicy herbage of our fields. ”

“ And indeed, by the Structure of Man’s Teeth, it looks as if they were not proper to devour Flesh; and that Nature had rather intended and prepared them for cutting Herbs, Roots,——than, for tearing of Flesh. Yea, Children don’t affect Animal Food, till their Palates be vitiated by Custom; and, further, when we feed upon Flesh, it must be prepared by roasting 44or boiling, which makes it harder of Digestion, than all other Animal Food; and therefore forbid in Fevers, and other Distempers. ”

“ Sheep eating wool in winter. Pigs eat bristles. Puppies swallow marbles, etc., wantonly. Solipeds swallow hair, plaster, earth, sand, and lick manger or rack. Fowls eat their feathers. Causes: soil exhaustion, lack of lime, soda, potash, phosphorous; relation to osteo malacia; granitic or sandy soils, peat, muck, causative; digestive disorder; faulty food; yearly breeding and heavy milking; constant stabling; dry seasons. Course: chronic. Lesions; emaciation; anæmia; serous exudate; catarrh of the bowels. Treatment: soil; good fodder; salts of soda, potash and lime, phosphates; tonics ”

“ A flea like every other animal must feed and breathe, which leads to a consideration of the internal organs of digestion and respiration. The digestive canal is a slender tube which connects the mouth and the anus, and which is less convoluted and much straighter than in the higher vertebrates. ”

“ The fly has [Pg 28] not escaped, but it has been dissolved by a fluid formed inside of the trap, and the plant has absorbed a portion of the fly. In fact, it has really eaten it. The process by which food is dissolved and changed so that it can be absorbed and may nourish the body, is called digestion (di-ges ́-tion) .
THE DIGESTIVE TUBE.
3. The Venus's fly-trap has a very simple way of digesting its food. Its remarkable little trap serves it as a mouth to catch and hold its food, and as a stomach to digest it. The arrangement by which our food is digested is much less simple than this. ”

“ The stomach in the same animal is usually almost pathognomonic, being filled with foreign bodies of all kinds—straw, hay, hair, wood, coal, pebbles, pieces of metal, cord, leather, cloth, earth, sand, etc.—the result of the depraved appetite. ”

“ So, if you have dropsy, gout, or jaundice, by including some of your warm blood in the shell and white of an egg, which, exposed to a gentle heat, and mixed with a bait of flesh, you shall give to a hungry dog or hog, the disease shall instantly pass from you into the animal, and leave you entirely. ”

“ How lush and lusty the grass looks!
Lush, as Mr. Malone observes, has not yet been rightly interpreted. It is, after all, an old word synonymous with loose. In the Promptuarium parvulorum 1516, 4to, we find "lushe or slacke, laxus." The quotation from Golding, who renders turget by this word, confirms the foregoing definition, and demonstrates that as applied to grass, it means loose or swollen, thereby expressing the state of that vegetable when, the fibres being relaxed, it expands to its fullest growth. ”

“ The washing, which must be effected with a wet sponge passed over the nose, mouth, and eyes, and then over the skin, which must afterwards be rubbed dry, will be both useful and pleasant to the sick animal. ”

“ Feeding of grain from the ground is a cause of swallowing sand, earth and pebbles. Licking the soil in acidity of the stomach is another cause. Fodder that has been packed down and mixed with earth, and that which has been blown full of sand or dust, and roots eaten from the ground in wet weather lead to the ingestion of much sand or earth. ”

“ The appetite, while not so vigorous, is still present, though capricious, and the affected animal shows plainly that the ravages of the disease are rapidly overcoming the restorative elements derived from the food. The fleece is usually of good growth, and presents a surprisingly thrifty appearance when the condition of the animal is taken into consideration. ”

“ As some strong animal appetites, not satisfied with starch and muscle and fat, are fain to eat that which eats and digests the contents of the crop, the stomach and entrails themselves, so the lichenist loves the tripe of the rock, that which eats and digests the rocks. ”

“ Uncle Paul continued, “such as the dog, cat, wolf, horse, have only one digestive pouch—a stomach—where the alimentary substances are dissolved and made fluid, so as to enter the veins and be turned into blood, by which all parts of the body are nourished. But the ox, goat, and sheep—the cud-chewers, in short—have four digestive cavities, which I will tell you about later. ”

“ In the more acute cases resulting from a sudden access of green food, a change of water, or the ingestion of irritant plants, the affection partakes more or less of the nature of congestion or inflammation 128of the viscus, and may run a rapidly fatal course. The animal may be seen apart from the herd in the characteristic recumbent position, with eyes red and glassy, eyelids semi-closed, and much drowsiness and stupor, but when raised he may still feed in a sleepy, listless manner. ”

“ Well-fed animals that have the range of Nature are plump, and have healthy hair, skin, teeth, etc., because their intestinal organs perform their functions frequently and fully. When animals become domesticated and “civilized,” they become con­sti­pated and catch various human illnesses or grow a crop of their own. ”

“ In such situations, except in very hard weather, they find abundance of food, consisting chiefly of insect larvæ, small beetles, flies, seeds, and minute univalve mollusca. I have almost invariably found, in addition, that the stomachs contain little particles of grit or brick, swallowed no doubt to assist in triturating the food. ”

“ It is said that the food passes through the body of a locust as fast as it eats, and that its natural death is due either to want of nourishment, or to a small worm which forms in the body and consumes it. ”

“ Odours have a sensible effect in promoting animal life. The greater healthiness of the country, [383] than cities, is derived in part from the effluvia of odoriferous plants, which float in the atmosphere in the spring and summer months, acting upon the system, through the medium of the sense of smelling. ”

“ If the mouth appears very tender or sore, it may be washed or syringed with a lotion, composed of alum, honey, and water. Keeping a horse on new oats or new hay is often followed by some derangement of the stomach and bowels, indicated by looseness and want of appetite, and sometimes by excessive staling also, with considerable thirst and a staring coat. ”

“ Individual taste plays a large share in the food statistics of Grouse. One may find, for example, one bird eating largely of fern leaf, another of bog myrtle buds, another of nothing but rush heads or tormentilla seed. ”

“ The digested animal substances usually employed as manures are, the urine of the cow and the sheep, the solid excrements of the horse, the cow, the sheep, and the pig, the droppings of pigeons and other birds, and night-soil. ”

“ When, therefore, this bird is pickled whole, and frequently eaten in a raw state, it makes the stones which are already formed be passed with the urine, and prevents them from being formed again; and if it be burnt alive entire with its wings, and if the ashes by itself and along with pepper and a moderate quantity of Indian leaf, be drunk out of mulse, it will do the same thing. ”

“ Besides, the food they ate contributed to disease. They lived chiefly on salt fish and flesh, with a modicum of stale vegetables. The domestic animals, the source of their meat, were herded in enclosures of the worst imaginable filth. ”

“ Afterwards they pass out in the excreta and, favored by heat and moisture, develop in the soil in about three days into minute larvæ. These larvæ have a most extraordinary power of attaching themselves to and penetrating into the human skin and body. They may also enter the human body in a drink of water or on unwashed vegetables. ”

“ Some have thought that the gales do not at present waft to the voyager the natural and original fragrance of the land, such as the early navigators described, and that the loss of many odoriferous native plants, sweet-scented grasses and medicinal herbs, which formerly sweetened the atmosphere, and rendered it salubrious,—by the grazing of cattle and the rooting of swine, is the source of many diseases which now prevail ”

“ Those, such as the wolf, fox, tyger, &c. which have the stomach smaller than other animals, in proportion to the size of their bodies, are obliged to chuse the most succulent aliments; and those which abound most with organic particles, and to eat flesh and blood, corn, and fruits. ”