334 



The Diseases of Animals 



They may also cause some irritation in the stomach, 

 but, so far, veterinarians have been unable to diagnose 

 their presence or to attribute disease directly to them. 

 There is a popular belief that bots may eat holes 

 through a horse's stomach ; but this is not correct; 



Fig. 51. Bots in horse's stomach 



though it is possible that the irritation caused by the 

 attachment of a bot may weaken the walls. When a 

 horse dies, the gastric juice may digest the walls of the 

 stomach, although this is rare. It may digest holes at 

 the irritated places where bots have been attached. 

 An amateur, in examining the stomach after death, 

 might conclude readily, but erroneously, that the bots 

 had eaten the holes. 



