i 5 4 VETERINARY LECTURES 



numbers, and attached to the inner coat of the stomach, they, how- 

 ever, cause the horse to lose flesh greatly during the winter and 

 spring months, and, as already stated, cause a morbid appetite. 

 When the bots are fully developed, they seem to realize by their 

 natural instinct that it is time for their next transformation — that is, 

 into chrysalides — to take place, and begin to lose their hold and pass 

 out of the body, and to assist them in this process nothing beats a 

 feed of fresh grass in early spring. Three handfuls of tansy put into 

 i quart of water and boiled down to 3 gills, then strained and given 

 as a drench, acts well as a remedy for bots. (For Symptoms and 

 Treatment, see par. 253.) The best preventive to be adopted is to 

 run a horse-singeing lamp over the legs and shoulders of the horse 

 in harvest-time, as soon as the little tenacious yellow spots are seen. 



252. Worms. — Parasites found infesting the various organs and 

 parts of the bodies of domestic animals may be said to be legion. 

 For a full description of the different kinds, their names, habits, 

 size, form, etc., Dr. Fleming's translation of Neumann's' Parasites 

 and Parasitic Diseases of Domesticated Animals ' can be consulted 

 with interest. Some of the most common worms found in the 

 intestines of the horse are the Nematoda, or round worms. The 

 common parasites are : (1) The Ascavis megalocephala (Ascaris lumbri- 

 coides), a large round white worm, varying from 7 to 16 inches long, 

 found in the stomach and small intestine. It is also common to the 

 ass and mule. (2) Oxyuris corvula, a small curved worm, from 1 J to 

 2 inches long, thick and curved at the front, with a fine pointed tail, 

 found in the large intestine, and generally known as the maw-worm. 



(3) The Strongylus armatus, or armed strongyle, a straight worm, 

 in length from 1 to 2 inches, although mostly found coiled up 

 in the walls of the large intestine — ccecum and colon — and in the 

 intestinal canal, it is also found in the bloodvessels, scrotum, etc., 

 and is one of the most numerous of the parasites found in the horse. 



(4) Strongylus tetr acanthus, a spindle-shaped worm, varying in size up 

 to i-| inches in length, and found embedded in the mucous membrane 

 of the intestinal canal (Plate XIX.). 



253. Any one or a combination of the above-named worms may 



