A DICTIONARY. 



227 



pares the second egg ; and, poising herself 

 before the part, deposits it in the same way ; 

 the liquor dries, and the egg becomes firmly 

 glued to the hair. This is repeated by va- 

 rious flies, till four or five hundred eggs are 

 sometimes deposited on one horse. They 

 are usually deposited on the legs, side, and 

 back of the shoulder, — those parts most ex- 

 posed to be licked by the animal : in lick- 

 ing, the eggs adhere to the tongue, and are 

 carried into the horse's stomach in the act 

 of sv^allowing. The bots attach them- 

 selves to the horse's stomach, and are some- 

 times, though less frequently, found in the 

 first intestine. The number varies consid- 

 erably ; sometimes they are not half a dozen, 

 at others they exceed a hundred. They 

 are fixed by the small end to the inner coat 

 of the stomach, to which they attach them- 

 selves by means of two hooks. The slow- 

 ness of their growth, and the purity of their 

 food, which is supposed to be the chyle, 

 must occasion what they receive in a given 

 time to be proportionably small ; from 

 which, perhaps, arises the extreme difficulty 

 of destroying them by any medicine or poi- 

 son thrown into the stomach." A large 

 amount of opium, tobacco, and corrosive 

 sublimate, sufficient to destroy the horse, 

 have from time to time been given ; and, on 

 opening the stomach, these animals have 

 been found uninjured. " The presence of 

 bots in the horse's stomach is not easily 

 ascertained, as it is certain that great num- 

 bers have been found after death in the 

 stomach, without appearing to have pro- 

 duced any kind of inconvenience to the ani- 

 mal while alive. It does not appear that 

 any effectual remedy has yet been discov- 

 ered for bots." Mr. Blaine says, " that he 

 has kept them alive for some days in olive 

 oil, and in oil of turpentine, and that even 

 the nitrous and sulphuric acids do not im- 

 mediately destroy them. At a certain sea- 

 son of the year, they detach themselves from 

 the stomach, and pass off with the excre- 

 ment." A run at grass is the most effec- 

 tual remedy. 



Compound for Bots. — Persons desirous 



of treating a horse for bots, can use the fol- 

 io win sf : 



Mix. Divide into sixteen powders, and give one, night 

 and morning, in the food. 



Regimen. — The animal should be kept 

 on a generous diet ; green food or succulent 

 and agreeable vegetables will effect a change 

 and assist to detach the bots. If, however, 

 such articles cannot be procured, let the 

 horse have a mess of scalded shorts every 

 night. 



Bow-legged. — Defective conformation 

 of the legs. 



Box, Loose. — A loose box, as it is gen- 

 erally called, is a place wherein a horse is 

 turned without being fastened to the man- 

 ger or rack : such a place is useful to turn a 

 horse into when he is sick, or when the mare 

 is about foaling. 



Brain. — The connection that exists be- 

 tween the brain and stomach, by means of 

 the eighth pair of nerves, or par vagum, is 

 the cause of this important organ being 

 often disturbed in its function. Thus it is 

 that, when the stomach is loaded with food, 

 its function becomes deranged, and the brain 

 is affected sympathetically. A diseased 

 action is then set up, and all the functions 

 become more or less deranged. A horse in 

 this case will become dull and languid, and 

 sometimes labor under symptoms of apo- 

 plexy. In consequence of this nervous 

 communication between the stomach and 

 brain, the latter organ is sometimes affected 

 by the irritation of bots in the stomach. 

 The best way to prevent apoplexy, staggers, 

 etc., is, by attention to diet, exercise, etc. 



Dropsy of the brain does not often occur 

 to horses or cows ; but sheep appear to be 

 more liable to the disease than other quad- 

 rupeds. The symptoms of the disorder in 

 horses are variable. " In one case there 

 was a considerable degree of dulness and 

 heaviness about the head; the pulse was 



