"If the excrement of an elephant should be smeared on skin on which 
lice appear and left until it dries upon the skin, the lice will not 
remain on it. It will depart immediately..." 

Saint Albertus Magnus, 
German scientist and theologian. 
Year 1250 A.C. 

Today, due to the scarcity of elephant on the open market and the 
quasi absence of elephant excrement in neighborhood pharmacies and 
grocery stores, lindane shampoo has taken over as a remedy for lice. 
It is convenient and highly effective. 

However, it may cause nerve and brain damage and should not be used 
in pregnant women. 

Three varieties of lice have been classified. The head lice (capitis) 
stick to the scalp, destroy hair patches and feed themselves with 
blood. The sexual lice (pubis) which colonize pubic hair and skin in 
active happy feasting colonies. The body lice (corporis) encrust 
themselves in the epidermis. 

To avoid recurrence, combs, brushes, towels, bed linens and clothing 
should be heat disinfected: washed in hot water and dried up at a 
high temperature. 

Lice is the plural for louse, and lindane is also called gamma 
benzene hexachloride, just in case you care... 

(OdlerRobert Jeanlouie, Tuesday, December 12, 2000)