388 REARING AND FEBRINa OF ANIMALS. 



But the most pernicious enemy that attacks sheep is the common sheep mag- 

 got, the larva 01 a species of flesh-fly. The fly having deposited her eggs on 

 the skin of the sheep, the larva? are hatched in great numbers, and grow with 

 ama/ing quickness. They commonly appear about the root of the tail, or 

 wherever filth has allowed the fly to attach her eggs, and thence they spread 

 over the entire body, consuming the skin and eating into the flesh. The sheep, 

 when attacked, manifest a strong sense of suffering. They frequently run 

 with violence, until at length, overpowered and exhausted, they lie down and 

 perish. 



It is in moist and warm seasons of the year that the sheep-maggot is chiefly 

 produced. Constant vigilance is then demanded on the part of the shepherd, 

 so that all foulness of the wool shall be dipt away; and the sheep must be daily 

 inspected, lest this dangerous enemy establish itself. The maggot is effectually 

 destroyed by a solution of corrosive sublimate, and in its early stages by less 

 potent applications, as by urine and lime. 



We must remember that the sheep, in his domesticated state, is yielded up 

 to the care of man: his natural instincts are blunted, and he is unfitted to use 

 those means of preservation which in his wild stale he might possess. He is 

 the prey of a multitude of enemies, against which he has no defence; and the 

 more artificial his condition is, the more is he dependent on our care. 



The bot, the oestrus of the sheep, although smaller than the 

 bot of the horse, is nevertheless a most formidable insect; body 

 of a dark brown colour, spotted with white, the white sometimes 

 prevailing so much as to give a greyish hue to the fly. It abounds 

 most in June and July, and may be found on rails in the vicinity 

 of clumps of trees or underwood, and may then be easily crush- 

 ed or destroyed, if the farmer will but make himself acquaint- 

 ed with it. If only one of them appears, the whole flock is 

 struck with terror; and if there is any place in the field devoid 

 of pasture the sheep crowd to it, turning their heads towards 

 the centre of the group, with their muzzles to the sand, and 

 their feet in continual motion in order to secure themselves 

 from the attack of their foe. 



The./Ty endeavours to get at the inner margin of the nostril, 

 and darting upon it with the quickness of lightning, deposits 

 her egg. The warmth and moisture of the part speedily hatch 

 it, and the little worm escapes. It crawls up the nostril, it 

 threads all the sinuosities of the passage, and finds its way to 

 some of the sinuses connected with the nose. The irritation it 

 produces in its travels is exceedingly great; the poor animal 

 gallops furiously about, snorting violently, and almost mad- 

 dened by the annoyance. The worm at length reaches some 

 of the convolutions of the turbinated bones of the nose, or the 

 antrum or cavity of the upper jaws, or the frontal sinuses, it 

 fastens itself on the membrane by the two hooks with which, 

 like other bots, it is provided, and there it remains until April 

 or May in the succeeding year. There are seldom more than 

 three or four of these bots in each sheep; and when they have 

 reached their appointed home, they are harmless. Some strange 

 but groundless stories have been told of gleet from the nose, 



