150 Diseases of the Horse, 



vegetable bitter will also dislodge the worms. Tobacco tea 

 is efl&cient, but dangerous. 



Whatever injection is used it should be aided by a purga- 

 tive dose, the best of which is : — 



No. 152. Sulphate of iron, 1 oz. 



Aloes. 4 dr. 



Mix for a ball. 



And also by cleanliness and smearing the anus with mer- 

 curial ointment, to kill the eggs of the worms. 



THE BOTS. 



Definition. — A diseased condition of the horse or ox pro- 

 duced by the irritation of the bot-fly or gad-fly, Oestrus^ 

 through its attacks on the skin and the presence of its larvae 

 in the intestines. 



Causes. — The common gad-fly of the horse attacks him 

 late in the summer, not for the purpose of living on his 

 blood, but in order to deposit its eggs on his hair, and especi- 

 ally the hair of those parts of the body which the horse can 

 reach with his mouth. When he licks his coat, the moisture 

 and warmth of the saliva aid in hatching the eggs, and the 

 small maggots within them are transferred to the mouth and 

 next to the stomach and bowels of the horse, where they 

 firmly fasten themselves by strong hooks with which their 

 heads are provided. After attaining a certain period of 

 growth they loosen their hold, are swept away with the feces 

 and deposited on tlie ground, which they enter and then 

 undergo the necessary transformations to become the perfect 

 fly. In the form of bot-worm they usually pass the fall and 

 winter in the horse's body, about eight months in all. 



Symptoms. — Very many symptoms are attributed to the 

 bots, and that occasionally, especially in underfed horses, 

 they cause great general and local irritation, there is no 



