1G6 • STATE BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



iufiammatiou will result from tiie irritation, and we have all the symptoms aris- 

 ing from a severe throat affection. The throat already referred to was from 

 one of five hoi^ees which died in Clinton county the past season. There seemed 

 to be -serious throat trouble, although the bots were not confined to the throat, 

 but as I learned from Mr. Fletcher, of DeWitt, they were found in the oesopha- 

 gus, tlirough which he said they had eaten several holes. Wlien very numerous 

 in the stomach, especially if attached to the right side, or in the intestines, 

 they may by their irritating presence seriously impair digestion and probably 

 cause death. It is not true, as frequently affirmed, that the bots eat through 

 the membranes of the alimentary canal. Tlie finding of cavities in post-mor- 

 tem examinations has doubtless led to such conclusions. Such cavities may 

 result from digestion, as the gastric juice frequently acts on the stomach after 

 death. I have -seen such cavities and from this cause in the human stomach on 

 post mortem occasions, llupture, too, may occur in the oesophagus or stomach 

 because of the disintegration caused by the irritating presence of the bots. I 

 think this is not very infrequent. I think all hots live mostly upon the pus 

 which their own irritation causes, though in the horse they may gain nutrition 

 from the same source as that from which the horse receives it. The injury 

 which the horse receives is due largely if not Avholly to indigestion caused by 

 the unhealthy condition of the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal, 

 which is induced by the bots. While we have reason to think that the bots 

 may cause serious trouble and even death, we cannot but think that, as with 

 worms in children, they are often accused of that for which they are in nowise 

 responsible. As the maggots pass from the intestines they often hook on to the 

 «kin about the anal orifice, and tlius cause extreme discomfort. The poor horse 

 switches its tail and moves with much reluctance. Fortunately, the removal of 

 the bots when in this position is not difficult. 



Symjytoms. 



Prof. Law, in his valuable work, "The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser," states 

 diat it is hard to distinguish irritation from bots from other forms of indiges- 

 tion and colic. If occurring when the horse has an empty stomach, and the mag- 

 gots are presumably hungry, or if in spring and early summer, if the bots are 

 found passing with the feces, if the horse turns up his lips as if nauseated, and 

 if the margins of the tongue are red and fiery, and w^e may add, if the throat is 

 :sore and the horse keeps extending its head, then we may surely suspect bots. 



Treatment. 



Of course, if the eggs are removed before hatching, by cutting off the hairs 

 which sustain them, or if they be daily washed off by use of soap suds, we shall 

 prevent all farther trouble. 



Prof. Law says, " We know of nothing that will destroy the bots in the stom- 

 ach." He says that vermifuges, like oil of turpentine, ether, and benzine, 

 though not reliable, will prove most effective in autumn and early winter, as 

 the bots are then young, and most susceptible. Colics are to be treated by anti- 

 spasmodics (tobacco, stramonium, laudanum, etc.) and mild laxatives, and 

 the atiimal mvst ie fed well, to support him under the drain, and to keep the 

 bots gorged; lazy, and non-irritating. A good dose of physic will hasten the exit 

 ■of the larvse, as they commence their leave-taking in summer. 



Other Species. 

 The Gastrophihis nasalis is a smaller species with a red thorax, some Avhite 



