398 INTEENAL PAKA81TES. 



bots and those of g. jjecorum frequently cause a great deal of irri- 

 tation and straining from their presence near the anus. It is 

 indisputable that the wounds caused by bots, in the stomach and 

 elsewhere, may have serious and even fatal consequences; although 

 the perforations of the stomach which are nob infrequently noticed 

 in post-mortem examinations of horses that have been infested 

 with bots, have, in the large majority of cases, been made by these 

 larvae after death. 



PliEVENTION. — The best means of prevention are keeping the 

 horse away from pasture land during the season when the gadfly 

 lays her eggs, and picking or clipping them off when they are 

 seen on the skin. When found in large numbers on the coat, 

 we may with advantage rub them over with a mixture of one 

 part of paraffin oil and two parts of sweet oil, the effect of which 

 will be destructive to the eggs, and deterrent to the female gadflies. 



TREATMENT. — Generally speaking, bots in the stomach require 

 no treatment; for they have as a rule but little hurtful effect on 

 the horse; medicines do not appear to have much power in dis- 

 lodging them ; and they pass -out at their appointed time. Although 

 I have not tried the experiment, I am inclined to think that a course 

 of tartar emetic, say, two drachms a day in the food for a fortnight, 

 would have a marked influence in expelling these parasites. If bots 

 are seen to be lodged in the rectum, they can be removed by the 

 hand ; the horse may be given an enema of 6 oz. of oil of turpentine 

 and 3 pints of linseed oil; and the inside of the anus may be 

 smeared round with a little mercurial ointment on the finger. If 

 bots are lodged at the back of the mouth, they may be detached 

 by brushing them over with euoalyjDtus oil, or a mixture of one 

 part of oil of turpentine and three parts of sweet oil, applied by 

 means of a mop made with a sponge or cotton cloth ; or even by 

 rubbing them off. 



Perroncito has obtained excellent results in the removal of bots, 

 in the case of yearlings and two-year-olds, by giving two gelatin 

 capsules, each containing | drachm of bisulphide of carbon, eig-ht 

 times a day, with intervals of two hours (total amount equal to 720 

 grains); and next morning, 150 grains of tartar emetic in the 

 drinking water. The bisulphide of earbon, which has an effect 

 somewhat similar to chloroform, though not so lasting, caused the 

 animals to sway about a good deal during movement, and increased 

 their secretion of saliva. On the third day, a large number of 

 bots were passed in the dung, and the animals quickly recovered 

 from the debility and loss of condition from which they had suf- 

 fered. The bisulphide is a strong antisejDtic, and an effective de- 



