The question has been much debated, "whether man can derive the itch from an animal?" Imaginary proofs favoring the possibility are every now and then confidently promulgated; but all doubts seem to have been put to rest by the investigations conducted by M. Bourguignon. That gentleman demonstrated the unfitness of one creature to support the parasite generated by another. Horses may be violently irritated by insects bred by fowls; but, remove the birds, the supply ceases, and the irritation dies away. So an individual handling mangy horses may get some of the acari upon him and cause vexatious itching; but let the man keep away from the contaminated stable and the sensation is quickly lost. The repeated and repeated renewal of the pest gives a seeming warranty to the popular belief. Certain disorders assuredly are communicable throughout every species of life, as though to prove to the stubbornness of mankind that all nature is akin. Such are hydrophobia in the dog, and glanders in the horse; were all affections, however, equally interchangeable, the inhabitants of this world would speedily become one breathing mass of disease. PRURIGO. This affection may lead many a gentleman to imagine his horse has caught the mange; the leading symptom in each disorder is the same. Excessive irritability of the skin is, in =prurigo=, generally exhibited during the spring of the year; the animal will rub itself with a fury which often removes portions of the coat, but which never exposes the dry and corrugated patches that characterize genuine mange. [Illustration: THE PROOF OF PRURIGO.] It is very annoying to behold the horse, when in the stable, scrubbing its neck upon the division to the stall; it is provoking to witness the animal leave its corn for the same employment. It excites the fancy of the master and conjures up the dread of every cleanly horse proprietor; the symptom is, however, easily eradicated. It only denotes heat of body; let a portion of the hay be abstracted and a couple of bundles of cut grass be allowed each day; let a mash be given night and morning, until the bowels freely respond, and, without further measures, the annoyance usually ceases. The irritation may not, however, subside so quickly as shall be desired; to hasten its departure, either of the annexed may be applied externally: _Washes for Prurigo._ Animal glycerin One part. Simple water or rose-water Two parts. Mix. Sulphuric acid One part. Water Ten parts. Mix. Creosote One part. Oil Eight parts. Mix. Either of these probably will answer, but the writer strongly recommends the first; at the same time it is well to try and reach the source of the disease, or to improve the blood. For this purpose the following drink should be given every night after the last meal:-- _Drink for Prurigo._