94 NAVIN OX THE HORSE. 



Another case occurred about the end of July. A fine mare, 

 belonging to a farmer, died before I reached the case. Every- 

 one present said she died of bots. I differed with all. She was 

 opened, and the stomach found in the most healthy condition. 

 But a perfect knot or twist was found on one of the small guts, 

 entirely preventing any thing from passing through it. ]\Iorti- 

 fication had taken place, and death of course followed. Kot 

 one bot was found in her. She had been drenched and dosed 

 for bots for two days. I might mention other cases, but these 

 will be sufficient to show what an examination after death will 

 prove. 



But the strong and clinching argument of those who think 

 bots such a fearful cause of disease is, that, after death, it is 

 often found that the bots have bored entirely through the stom- 

 ach. This they take as conclusive evidence that the bots had 

 gone to work boring through the stomach when the horse was 

 yet healthy, and that the symptoms of pain the horse began to 

 show were caused by the boring of the bots. 



I must ask the patience of the reader while I explain these 

 points. It is to his interest to understand this matter perfectly. 

 But let us first inquire wdiy the bots should remain so long in the 

 horse's stomach, which is their natural place of existence, and 

 then, all at once, set to work to bore out through the w^alls of 

 the stomach, thus destroying not only the horse they lived in, 

 but themselves also ? This is a question for the bot advocate 

 to answer : Why the bots should commence boring through a 

 healthy stomach? It is the dwelling-place nature furnished 

 them ; why should they be so foolish as to want to destroy it 

 while it is yet tenable. Man himself is seldom so foolish as to 

 destroy his own house, with himself in it. He does, sometimes, 

 tear his house down, when it is on fire, especially if, by accident, 

 he is locked in it when it takes fire. We will find that the bots 

 act on the same principle of self-preservation when they do 

 commence boring out of the horse^s stomach. 



It has been shown that the stomach of the horse is the natural 



