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A second dressing of oil may be made not sooner than 10 days after
the first one, and a third one a similar interval after the
second, the application of mud being made subsequent to each
oiling. If any patch gives trouble between the dressings, pure
phenyle or a little oil may be applied to it.
The treatment of mange in the spring may be successful with two appli-
cations only, but greater care is necessary to prevent blistering by the more
ardent sun.
Camelmen often give the oil internally as well, but I cannot recommend
the practice.
The following emulsion cleans the skin quickly after the cure has been
obtained :—
Hard soap, ½ lb.
Water, 1 gallon.
Boil.
Add kerosine 2 gallons.
One part of above is added to six parts of water for use.
Care is necessary when the skin in the armpit is thickened either by the
mange or by irritation due to the oil that the camel is kept at rest until the
swelling has subsided. Neglect of this precaution is the chief cause of one
of the three forms of elbow-rubbing, that, known as " kach badhar " or " baghal
lag gya," in which a thick fold of skin in the armpit develops and becomes
sore from the squeezing it receives at every step.
The taramira oil requires no addition of sulphur, and the advantage of
its use is that three applications can cure an ordinary case. I have tried to cure
mange in camels without using oil of any kind, but the medicaments do not
stay long enough on the skin ; crude oil emulsion, pure phenyle, and lime and
sulphur sheep-dip all delay the progress of the disease, but the camel presents
an enormous surface for dressing, and it has to be done almost daily. Crude oil
emulsion, for instance, in a strength which kills lice at once was found to
take 10 Minuts to kill the sarcoptes cameli; and evaporation takes place very
quickly on the camel's body.
Many of the non-oily dressings which have been recommended from
time to time such as sheep-dips, tabloid Hydrarg. Perchlor. etc., owe their
reputations to their being tried in the spring or in a hot dry climate when
mange may be cured very easily.
I do not think their use can cure mange in the Punjab cold weather,
though they may delay its spread. I have no doubt that a "dip" for camels
might be made very useful sometimes in a hot climate and when oil could not
be obtained, by digging a bath 3 feet deep in the sand, placing a large tarpau-
lin in and over the bath, and filling the tarpaulin with lime and sulphur clip,
prescription for which is—
Sulphur 2 lbs., quicklime 1 lb., water 2½ gallons, boil for 2 hours and
then add cold water to make up to 10 gallons; a sloped entrance and exit would
enable the camels to be led into the bath and made to sit in it when they would
be easily and quicky dressed in it, one after another.
Tarry applications when mixed with oil are efficient in curing camel-
mange ; such are used on the frontier and in Baluchistan and many other
camel-countries.
In some parts of the Southern Punjab, taramira oil is not very easily
obtainable and Sarson oil or Jinjili oil are used with sulphur added. But
wherever taramira oil is obtainable in the Punjab and Sind, its degree of
acridity, consistency, cheapness and the small quantity required to cure a
camel, make it particularly suitable for the treatment of camel-mange.
Jhools and ropes from mangey camels are easily disinfected in phenyle
solution. Palans should be treated by burning the stuffing and by disinfecting
the ropes, coverings and wooden parts in phenyle.