136 WOKMS. 



CHAP. XXVIII. 



OF WORMS. 



The worms, which are common to horses, are, 

 the bots, teretes, or round worms, and the ascai^ides. 



Bots infest the stomach, and are distinguished 

 from the two other species by their length, being 

 scarcely an inch, and of an oval form, and of a 

 reddish colour, having two hooks at their smaller 

 extremity, by which they adhere strongly to the 

 coats of the stomach, and also very short feet along 

 the sides of their bellies; they are composed of 

 ten or twelve circular rings, or joints: their mouth 

 is supposed by La Fosse to be situated between 

 the two small hooks. There are two varieties of 

 bots — the one we have mentioned, and another 

 which differs merely in being of a paler colour, and 

 smaller. Bots, in general, appear in the months 

 of May, June, or July, and occasionally produce 

 much constitutional irritation, and sometimes, by 

 ulcerating the coats of the stomach, destroy the 

 animal. The symptoms indicating bots in horses 

 are few; they are first discovered in the dung, and 



