BOTS. 



201 



will immediately be stained ; or mix a little of the suspected fluid with lime 

 water, and the corrosive sublimate, if there be any, will be thrown to the 

 bottom, of an orange colour ; or if hartshorn be used, the precipitate will 

 be white. 



BOTS. 



In the spring and early part of the summer, horses are much troubled by 

 a grub or caterpillar, which crawls out of the anus, fastens itself under the 

 tail, and seems to cause a great deal of itching or uneasiness. Grooms 

 are sometimes alarmed at the appearance of these insects. Their history- 

 is curious, and will dispel every fear with regard to them. We are indebted 

 to Mr. Bracy Clark for almost all we know of the bot. 



CUT OF THE BOT. 



a and b The eggs of the gad-fly, adhering to the hair of the horse. 



c The appearance of the bots on the stomach, firmly adhering by their hooked 



mouths. The marks or depressions are seen which are left on the coat of the 



stomach when the bots are detached from their hold. 

 d The bot detached. 



e The female of the gad-fly, of the horse, prepared to deposit her eggs. 

 / The gad-fly by which the red bots are produced. 

 (/ The smaller or red bot. 



A species of gad-fly, e, the oestrus equi, is in the latter part of the 

 summer exceedingly busy about the horse. They are observed to be dart- 

 ing with great rapidity towards the knees and sides of the animal. The 

 females are depositing their eggs on the hair, and which adhere to it by 

 means of a glutinous fluid with which they are surrounded, (a and b.) In 

 a few days the eggs are ready to be hatched, and the slightest application 

 of warmth and moisture will liberate the little animals which they contain. 

 The horse in licking himself touches the egg, it bursts, and a small worm 

 escapes, which adheres to the tongue, and is conveyed with the food into 

 the stomach ; there it clings, by means of a hook on either side of its 

 mouth, to the cuticular portion of the stomach, c ; and its hold is so firm 

 and so obstinate, that it will be broken before it will be detached. It re- 

 mains feeding there on the mucus of the stomach during the whole of the 

 winter, and to the end of the ensuing spring ; when, having attained a con- 



