WORMS. 143 



the Veterinary Surgeon. As, however, the symptoms 

 are very close to those of general abdominal disease, 

 it would be wrong to abandon every animal in which 

 the possibility of ruptured stomach was suspected. 

 The proper course, therefore, will be to treat the 

 horse in such a manner, as, in the opinion of the prac- 

 titioner, the symptoms require; and on this subject 

 direction may be gathered from those found under the 

 heads of colic, inflammation of the bowels, and of the 

 peritoneum. 



WORMS. 



Bots are the larvse or maggots of a species of gadfly 

 (the (Estrus equi), that deposits its eggs on those parts 

 of the horse which the animal is most apt to lick. The 

 egg is hatched by the warmth and moisture of the 

 tongue; the newly-born worm is conveyed into the 

 mouth ; thence carried down the oesophagus into the 

 stomach. It adheres frequently to the cuticular coat 

 of the stomach, by means of little hooks, with which 

 its mouth is furnished ; and there it remains from the 

 summer of one year to the spring of the next ; nou- 

 rished by the mucus of the stomach, or by the food 

 which it contains. Then, having attained its full 

 size as a maggot, it loosens its hold ; it is carried 

 along the intestines, and evacuated with the fseces. 

 Before it drops, it generally clings for a while to the 

 verge of the anus; w T hile doing this it tickles and 

 teases the horse. When the groom sees the bot 

 under the tail, he is alarmed; and administers inju- 

 rious purgatives, to get rid of the evil. 



Bots, except they exist in considerable numbers? 



