BOTS. 



20 1 



will immediately be stained ; or mix a little of the suspected fluid with 

 lime-water, and the corrosive sublimate, if there be any, will be thrown 

 to the bottom, of an orange colour ; or, if hartshorn be used, the precipi- 

 tate will be white. 



BOTS. 



In the spnng and early part of the summer, horses are much troubled by 

 a grub or caterpillar, which crawls out of the anus, fastens itself under the 

 tail, and seems to cause a great deal of itching or uneasiness. Grooms 

 are sometimes alarmed at the appearance of tiiese insects. Their history 

 is curious, and will dispel every fear in regard to them. We are indebted 

 to Mr. Bracey Clark for almost all we know of the bot. 



a The cg-g-s of the gad-fly, adhering- to the hair of the horse. 



6 The same, enlarged. 



c Tlie appearance of the bots on the stomach, firmly adhering- by their hocked 



mouths. The marks or depressions are seen which are left on the coat of iho- 



stomach when the bots are detached from their hold. 

 d The bot detached. 



e The female of the gad-fly, of the horse, prepared to deposit her eg-gs. 

 f The g-ad-fly by which the red bots are produced. 

 g The smaller or red bot. 



A species of gad-fly, e, (the oestrus equi,) is m the latter part of the- 

 summer exceedingly busy about the horse. They are observed to be dart- 

 ing with great rapidity towards the knees and sides of the animal. The 

 females are depositing their eggs on the hair, and which adhere to it by 

 nn>ans of a glutinous fluid by which they are surrounded, a and b. In 

 a k\v days the eggs are ready to be hatched, and the slightest application 

 of warmth and moisture will liberate the little animals wliich they contain. 

 The horse in licking himself touches the egg, it bursts, and a small worm 

 escapes, which adheres to the tongue, and is conveyed with the food into 

 the stomach ; there it clings, by means of a hook on either side of its 

 mouth, to the cuticular portion of the stomach, c; and its hold is so firm 

 and so obstinate, that it will be broken before it will be detached. Ii 

 remains feeding there on the mucus of the stomach during '.he whole of 

 ♦he winter and to the end of the ensuing spring; when, having attained n 

 O 



