356 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MAY 18, 183 r. 



NATURAl. HISTORY OP THE HORSE-BEE. 



As this is a season in which many horses die 

 wilh the Bots, we liuve been reqiiestetl to puhlish 

 something on the suhjpct. — At the suiiie time a 

 i)amphlft has heen put into ouihands. The arti- 

 cle is too long for insertion entire. 



The Horse Bee is the most contemptible of all 

 insects — "They for a season inhabit the stomach, 

 prey npon it, destroy its textnrC, and introduce 

 convulsions and rleatli." They appear from the 

 20th of June until September, or until the cold 

 evenings ccmmcnce. They are two kinds — the 

 larger kind generally cast their eggs on the ante- 

 rior legs, but never under the throat — the sm.dler 

 always under the throat. It has been supposed 

 that these eggs hatch in the horse's stomach. — 

 Not so ; the process of hatching is nearly com- 

 pleted before the horse, feeling uneasy, bites the 

 limbs on which they are hatching, and so they 

 jiass into his siomach. They are provided wilh 

 two sharp liooks by which they secure a hold, 

 and there remain until they arrive at fidl growth, 

 three- fourths of an inch in length. Their work 

 is effected, most generally, in February, March, 

 or Aj.ril. 



General Sympfons of Bots in Horses. 

 Sometimes horses which are hard worked dis- 

 cover no apparent symptoms until death. In 

 young horses the symptoms are generally better 

 ascertained. In general the horse loses flesh, 

 coughs, e.tts but sparingly, bites his sides, and 

 sometimes with violence. These symptoms con- 

 tinue and increase for a longer or shorter time, 

 according to the violence of the case, and then a 

 discharge from the nose commonly takes place ; 

 and at length stiffness of the legs and neck, 

 staggering, laborious breathing, convulsions and 

 death. 



•Appear J'"'"^ o" Dissection. 

 BoLs in abundance co.''6Cted near the passages 

 anto and out of the stomach ^"^ "f various sizes, 

 •according to the time of their residence there. — 

 The texture of the stomach penetrated and great- 

 ly injured. The intPiiial coat of th.; stomach ap- 

 })eajs thickened and. preternaturally haid on those 

 parts where the g-,eat.cst injury is done. — In four 

 out of five disse ..tions the lungs were found great- 

 ly inflamed; s „n,e parts in a state of suppuration, 

 others in a putrescent state. The one whose 

 luJigs we'.e not marked with inflammation, was 

 avouup horse of two years old, whose lungs had 

 never been injured by hardships. 



Qie.ry. Why t'lis inflammation, &c. on' the 



lungs ? 



'Ihe irritation arising liy the action of bots in 

 the stomach, may proiluco a general inflammatory 

 disposition in the system: but as the lungs of 

 horses, by hard usage, are more predisposed to 

 inflammation and its couseq'iences than any other 

 given part of the body, the inflammation fixes 

 there, and in many (if not most) instances seems 

 to be the immediate caaseof death. 



Experiments to remove Bots from the Stomach. 



Aloes, rum, mercury, jalap, brine, linsed oil 



pepper, tincture of tobacco, decoction uf pink root,, 



&c. are all iueflectual. This will not appear 



strange when we consider how tenacious they are 



Nf life. Nothing is more injurious than ruin, and 



-r heating things, to the irritable state of the 



•h, wliose texture is nearly perforated in nu- 



daccs. 



Almost every farmer in Massachusetts has some 

 specific, an<l frequently one of the above named, 

 or those of less consequence. A farmer's horse 

 sickens with a coid or a pain in the stomach from 

 hard travelling perhaps : lie asks his neighbor. 

 What is the matter ? He answers. The bots. 

 What shall I do? Give him rum. The rum is 

 given and the horse recovers immediately. — Well, 

 what is next.' Why rum has cured the bots. In 

 like manner other things obtain credit for killing 

 bots. 



Experiments for makine; Bots let go their Hold 

 without the BoJy. 



The stomach laid open, the following things 

 were applied to no effect, hut in some instances 

 they appeared to hang the stronger — riira, brine, 

 lime, fish oil, British oil, burnt alum, corrosive 

 sublimate, spirits of turpentine, tincture of aloes, 

 decoction of tobacco, pepper, volatile spirit, elixir 

 canijihor, weak elixir vitriol, &.e. &c. Actual 

 fire would cause them to let go, although not in 

 all cases, soinetimes certain individuals would 

 cling the faster, and die, like a good soldier, at his 

 post, before they w.iuld relinquish their hold. 

 They will live hours after they are considerably 

 scorched by a candle. Strong vitriolic acid 

 would immediately cause them to let go their bold. 

 This acid, joined with oil and water, (equal parts) 

 would answer the purpose, though not so eflFectu- 

 ally as the acid by itself. This acid was found to 

 be more effectual than aqua fortis. 



Erperiments to destroy Bots^ without the Body. 



The following experiments were made at dif- 

 ferent timeSj and ou bots three quarters grown or 

 more : 



1 



fRuiTI 



j Decoction tobacco 



j Strong elixir vitriol | 



J Volatile sjiirits | 



jj j Spirits turpentine | 

 'J^ I Essential oil of mint | 

 S J Decoction pink root ! -c 

 2 j Pish oil (J 



S j Linseed oil j 



>- I Si/lutiion of salts | 



I Elixif proprielatis | 



I Beef brine | 



I Solution of indigo | 



I Elixir camphor j 

 The experiments which had no eflfect were dis- 

 oontinuedi at the expiration of the time specified. 

 Bots cannijt endure the cold so intense as to 

 freeze. 



Preventive Means. 

 Scrape off" the eggs, when laid on the horse, 

 every eight or ten days. A much longer interval 

 will answer the purpose, even once in twenty 

 days; but there is a greater certainty of destroy- 

 ing the whole in short internals, as .some may be 

 overlooked at one time and not at another. This 

 practice must be continued through the season of 

 them, and may be i)erformed with ease with a 

 sharp knife. The eggs should not be be scraped 

 off" where the horse can feed, as in that case the 

 young hots might be taken in. It is difficult to 

 remove those eggs laid utxler the throat with a 

 knife, but they may be destroyed with a hot iron, 

 made for that purpose. 



Palliative Means. 



From what has been said, it appears exceeding- 



ly difficult to remove hots from the stomach : tl ey 

 are covered as with a coat of mail, and seem to be 

 proof against any thing that can be thrown i ito 

 the stomach with safety. 



As no certain method has been found efflrctual 

 in removing them from the stomach, the whole 

 indication seems to be to remove the irritation Mnd 

 inflammation ; and this is to be done by hi lod- 

 letting and a free use of mild oils. Blood-lit i'lg 

 has a tendency to remove the inflammatory «,]s- 

 position, and oils lubricate the fibres of the stom \th, 

 and tend to obviate the efl^ects of the stinni.us 

 which produces inflanunation and death. — Howev- 

 er, all this ought to be done in the early sta^e,-!, 

 and even then the eve.nt is very uncertain. 



In most instances it appears that the inmiediate 

 cause of death was the local afl^jction in the hinijs ; 

 and in those instances where the local affection of 

 the lungs did not exist, it appears that the iirita- 

 tion occasioned by the bots introduced convulsic ns 

 ending in death. 



When the lungs are much affected death is al- 

 most certain ; but in those instances where I he 

 lungs are not aff^ected, there is considerable prd - 

 ability, that by blood-letting and a free use of oiN, 

 the effects of these insects may be warded off' (or 

 some time, and perhaps long enough for them to 

 come to maturity, at which time they cease to 

 act. — Eastern paper. 



(From Ihe Oenesee Farmer.) 

 ART OP REMOVING STAINS FROM CliOTH. 



Formerly the art of removing stains, and re- 

 storing the original color, consisted of an almoit 

 endless number, and an undigested mass of reci- 

 pes. From an ignorance of the action of the 

 substances applied, they were often used with the 

 greatest uncertainty of success. The ai)()licatioii 

 of chemical principles has enabled us to adopt a 

 more certain and systematic mode of attaining 

 this object, which is as simple and effectual. 



This art requires first, a knowledge of the dif- 

 ferent substances producing stains. Secondly, o{ 

 those substances by which stains may be remov- 

 ed. Thirdly, a knowledge of the original coloring 

 matter of the article, of the action of the snbstanco 

 applied upon it, and npon the stufli". and of thoso 

 substances which will re-establish the faded color. 



1. Among the most common stains are thoso 

 of grease, and oils generally, acids, alkalies, iroi> 

 rust, sweat, fruits, &c. Some of these, as greas , 

 spots, and stains of fruit, are easily known ; while 

 some of the others are more difficult to be distin- 

 guished. These diffculties are however often in 

 a great measure overcome, by observing the chan- 

 ges which are effected in the color of the stuff. 

 Acids, for instance, are generally thus known : 

 They redden black, brown and violet dies, and 

 all blue colors except Prussian blue and indigo. 

 Yellow colors are generally rendered paler by 

 them, except the color of annatto, which becomes 

 orange. 



Alkalies generally cause red colors to become 

 violet, and blues to become green. Green wool 

 en cloth is changed by them to yellow, yellow to 

 brown, and annnto to a lively red. 



Sweat consists priiici| ally of water, wilh a small 

 quantity of muriate of soda and acetic acid ; it 

 therefore produces nearly the same effects as the 

 acids generally. 



2. Grease and oil spots, are removed by alka- 

 lies, soap, yolk of eggs, or by essential oils dissol- 

 ved in alcohol. The most effectual mode of re- 



