AILMENTS AKi) THEIR REMEDIES. 



117 



Rat's Tail is the rather significant name for a cutaneous affec- 

 tion of the dock, which causes the hair of the tail to fall out. 

 Whether caused by parasites or not, the same remedy is effectively 

 used for this as for mange. 



Lice are often communicated to horses from hen-roosts, which 

 are allowed near the stable. The hens and their roosts should be 

 removed, and the entire premises given a coat of hot whitewash of 

 lime and carbolic acid. The Thymo-cresol may then be applied. 



BOTS are the larvae of a gad-fly, which deposits its eggs upon 

 the hair of the legs, sides and shoulders, from which they are licked 

 by the horse's tongue, and carried into the stomach in the act of 

 swallowing. The larvae, which hatch from the eggs, attach them- 



Fig. 71.— EGGS. Fig. 72.— FEMALE FLY. Fig. 73.— BOTS IN HOBSE'S STOMACH. 



selves to the lining membrane of the stomach, and remain there 

 until the following spring. They then become detached, pass 

 through the alimentary canal and fall with the droppings. They 

 become pupae and enter the ground, where they remain until the 

 final transformation, when they emerge as flies. Figure 71 shows 

 the eggs of natural size and magnified ; figure 72 the fly of natural 

 size ; figure 73 a portion of the lining membranes of the stomach 

 with the bots adhering. 



No means of expelling bots has ever been found. They have 

 been known to live for days in solutions of arsenic and other active 

 poisons. There is no known substance which will expel them with- 

 out killing the horse. It is generally agreed by all who have studied 

 the subjects that these parasites are not injurious to the health of 



