DISEASES OF FARM ANIMALS I23 



BONE SPAVIN.—See Spavin. 



BOX FLIES OR BREEZE FLIES.— The larvae 

 or grub of all common bot flies are thick, fleshy 

 grubs and pass their life in some portion of the 

 body. When they are fully developed they leave 

 the body by some route and bore into the ground, 

 w^here they go through another stage of their de- 

 velopment known as the pupa stage. When this 

 stage is completed they crawl out of the ground as 

 a fly ready to deposit eggs. 



Horse Bot Fly. — Everyone is familiar with the 

 common nit fly and the yellow nit that is attached 

 to the hair on almost all parts of the horse, but 

 especially on the chest and legs. The young larvae 

 or even the egg may be transferred from these 

 regions of the body into the mouth by the horse 

 biting these parts. The grub passes into the 

 stomach where it attaches itself to the mucous lin- 

 ing and continues its development. The bot is not 

 so dangerous as it is popularly supposed to be. 

 They may, when attached in large numbers to the 

 right side of the stomach, interfere with digestion 

 and be responsible for some of the digestive dis- 

 orders and colics. They are uniformly present in 

 the stomach of all horses that are kept in the open 

 where flies can get at them. A carefully groomed 

 animal may be free from them. The eggs may 

 be destroyed by rubbing the body with a rag wet 

 with kerosene. One of the most common remedies 

 for bots, and at the same time the most useless, is 

 a mixture of molasses and milk. Bots are hard to 

 dislodge from the stomach until they have com- 

 pleted their development there and pass out of their 

 own accord. Half-ounce doses of turpentine three 

 hours apart until three doses are given, followed by 



