1870. 



XEW ENGLAND FAE^IER. 



881 



ease and doctor. A post mortem or af;er 

 death examination reveals the presence of bots 

 in the stomach, in the intestines, in the cavity 

 of the abdomen outside of the intestines, and 

 in various other localities ; whereupon the 

 doctor looks exceedingly wise, and with the 

 pomposity that ignorance usually imparts, ex- 

 claims : "There! Mr. Smith; didn't I tell 

 you it was the bots that ailed your horse ?'' 



But we are requested to account for the 

 presence of bots in the urinary b'adder. Our 

 first thought, on reading Mr. Spauldtng's let- 

 ter, was that our Brownsville friends were mis- 

 taken, — that they had been deceived by ap- 

 pearances, — that what they supposed to be 

 bots were some other substance. Stone and 

 perhaps other materials have been found in 

 that organ, but nothing with animal life, so 

 far as we had ever heard. But wishing to 

 consult those better informed than ourselves, 

 and as Dr. Dadd, alluded to by our correspon- 

 dent is dead, we wrot^ to a gentleman whose 

 opinion is entitled to as much respect as that 

 of any veterinary practitioner in the State, 

 stating in biief the facts detailed in the com- 

 munication from Mr. Spaulding. We have 

 been favored with the following reply : — 



Messrs. R. P. Eaton & Co. — Gents: — Yours of 

 Jans 2cl came duly to hand and contents noticed. 

 After thirty years' expei'ienoe in the cure of horses, 

 I can say that I never knew of death being caused 

 by bots. Atttr a certain timo nature expels them 

 from the system. The case vou speak of — bots in 

 the bladder — is absurd. No such thing could 

 happen. Yours Respectfully, 



J. Henry Jennings, Veterinary Surgeon. 



Cambridgfport, Mass., June 8, 1870. 



But Mr. Small has the bladder and the bots 

 preserved for exhibition. Mr. Spaulding says 

 they are similar in all respects to those found 

 in the stomachs of horses. Now supjwsing 

 there is no mistake in these statements, or in 

 the facts and appearances on which they are 

 based, bots were found in the urinary bladder 

 of the horse in this case, if never before. If 

 they were there, two ways occur to our mind 

 by which it Is possible they obtained access to 

 the interior of that organ. 



First. It is possible there had been active 

 and extensive inflammation of the bladder, 

 which was indicated by the appearance of that 

 organ after death. Ulceration and gangrene 

 followed the inllammatlon ; this, also, is evi- 

 dent from the appearance of the organ. Such 

 extensive inflammation, ulceration, and gan- 

 {^rcne would, almost ncce^-^arlly, involve adja- 



cent parts — especially that portion of the in- 

 testines which lies near to the bladder, and 

 adhesion and perforation of the several parts 

 involved would very naturally occur. In 

 this way an opening might be made between 

 the intestinal canal and the bladder, which 

 could not easily be detected, except by the 

 careful dissection of the parts, made by a per- 

 son who expected to find such a thing. 



Second. By some unaccountable perversion 

 of instinct, the female fly might have depos- 

 ited her eggs at the extremity of or within the 

 vrdhra or pipe which conducts the urine from 

 the bladder ; and when hatched, the maggots 

 might have found their way along the urethra, 

 through the sphincter, or that band of muscu- 

 lar fibres which surrounds and closes the neck 

 of the bladder, and finally into the bladder it- 

 self. We have known beans, peas, pebbles, 

 and other small articles to be passed into the 

 human bladder ; and why might not a little 

 maggot find its way into the bladder of a 

 horse ^ The chief difficulty in the case seems 

 to be in the number of bots found. We can 

 more eadly believe that a small number of 

 these creatures might travel this road, than 

 that a hundred or more of them shou'd do so. 

 This is a pretty severe tax on our credulity. 



But supposirg the bets to have obtained a 

 lodgment in this unnatural ten'iment, the ques- 

 tions then arise, how did they live there .'' how 

 did they resist the usually deleterious effects 

 on animal life of the contents of this organ ? 

 This is something for which we are unable to 

 suggest even a possible cause. 



NOW AKD THEW. 



" There are none so hlind as those ivho tcouH sec." 



A farmer who used to team a good deal on the 

 road to Boston forty years ago, said to us the other 

 day that he formerly took many barrels of cider 

 into that market. His load was made up of bar- 

 rels, each including cider and barrel, weighing 300 

 pounds ; in all 2400 pounds. Distance, twenty- 

 five miles. 



To haul this load he had foiir oxen and one 

 horse, and it was load enough for them. 



"Now," said he, "we take 3000 pounds of hay, 

 or other product, over the same road with one 

 horse!" 



"Why this difference ?" we inquired. 



"Because," said he, "the team was a meadow 

 hay team, small, poor and weak, compared with 

 the team I drive now. The wagon went hard, be- 

 cause it was not made right ; it was too heavy in 

 some parts and too weak in others, and did not 



