OR, HORSE DOCTOR. H 



Sharp fits of the Gravel are sometimes taken for the Colic ; 

 but should this happen, the drink recommended for the Colic 

 will also be proper for the Gravel. 



Worms and Bots. 



Horses are subject to five sorts of worms, and perhaps to 

 many more, but I shall only describe three, which are the 

 most common. The worst sort to destroy are long, round 

 worms, resembling earth-worms, but smaller at the tail ; 

 they have a seam all the length of their bodies, and are very 

 hard : these are called Round Worms. The next are small 

 worms, about the size of a sewing needle ; they have red- 

 dish flat heads, having nine feet on each side, and are called 

 Ascarides : these are also very troublesome to horses. The 

 third sort are short, thick worms, called Bots : their seat is 

 mostly at the stomach, but when horses get any food that 

 they are fond of, they fill themselves so full, that they lose 

 their hold, and come along with the dung to the fundament, 

 and there catch hold and stick to the end gut, partly out of 

 the horse ; this happens mostly in Spring, when they get the 

 juice of fresh grass. 



It is well known that horses which have many worms can 

 never thrive, or carry much flesh. If the breeding of these 

 vermin were prevented, it would add much to the strength 

 of the horse ; and it might be done by giving him a decoc- 

 tion of bitter herbs, such as wormwood, in Spring. It may 

 be boiled, or steeped in hot water, and given two or three 

 times a week. Or a decoction of wormwood, buck-bean, 

 gentian root, and camomile flowers, of each a large handful, 

 boiled in a sufficient quantity of water, and given as above, 

 will answer the end. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms which indicate worms are vari- 

 ous, as the animals are different, and seated in different parts 

 of the body. When the Bots are seated in the straight gut, 

 they are never dangerous, but are often thrust out with the 

 dung. They generally come in the months of May and June, 

 and scarcely ever continue in a horse above a fortnight. But 

 when they breed in the stomach, they often cause convul- 

 sions, and even death. The Bots that breed in the stomach 

 are about the size of a large maggot, composed of circular 

 rings, and have little, sharp, prickly feet along the sides of 

 their bellies, by means of which they fasten themselves to 

 the part from whence they derive their nourishment, to pre- 

 vent their being loosed from such adhesion before they come 

 to maturity ; and as they drain the coats of the stomach like 



