266 BOTS. 



old, it will hatch in the hand. The investigations of Mr. Bracy 



Clark, Y. S., have thrown much additional light upon the 



natural history of these parasites. 



The dread entertained of this species of worms by farmers 



and horsemen arises from the fact that so many useless books 



have been published, purporting to be guides to the 



farmer and horseman, many of which attribute the 



death of a majority of horses to ravages of the bot, k| 



and give as symptoms of their presence those which 



characterize inflammation of the bowels, kidneys, blad- ||| 



der, and the like. To this circumstance is to be| 



attributed the vast distruction of life by drenching and 



physicking the animal for bots. [N'ow, a rational view 



of the subject leads us but to one conclusion, viz., that 



EGGS ON \]^Q stomach of the horse is the natural habita- j.^^^^ 



A HAIR. 



tion of the bot, and that it cannot be, or is not, ^^''^^^^^^ 

 developed anywhere else. This being the case, it is reasonable 

 to suppose that inasmuch as the animal apparently suffers 

 no inconvenience from their presence in his stomach, they 

 were intended to serve some good purpose, rather than to do 

 mischief. Indeed, without going to the extreme of asserting, 

 as does Mr. Clarke, that bots are ''always harmless," it may 

 be safely asserted as the unanimous opinion of veterinary sur- 

 geons (farriers arc not included), the world over, that they are 

 comparatively harmless, and that when they do become injurious, 

 it is almost always preceded by some morbid condition of the 

 digestive organs. This may either arise from disease, or from 

 enormous accumulations of bots, which are sometimes so great 

 as to completely block up tlie pyloric orifice, or opening from 

 the stomach into the intestines. 



