284 ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 



No. 21. 1 Dr. carbolic acid crystals, 



1 Quart fresh lard. 



Rub it upon every part of the body thoroughly ; wash with warm soap 

 auds next day ; repeat if necessary — at last washing and drying. 



Attention to his general health will also be demanded ; and to this end 

 he should be upon good pasture, or a liberal supply of nourishing but 

 not heating food should be given. 



If it is a case of hen-lice, the first thing to be done is to remove the 

 horse from the place mfested with these, and then to anoint and wash 

 as before directed. 



XIV. Larva in the Skin. 



Causes — The larva, which infests chiefly the back — ^that part of the 

 horse upon which saddle or harness must press — is not only a source of 

 trouble to the animal, but of great inconvenience to the master, as the 

 acute painfulness of a tumor raised by one of these grubs often pre- 

 vents use. 



The larva is the offspring of a fly which deposits its eggs upon the 

 back and sides of the horse while he is out at pasture or roaming at large 

 upon the common. This fly does not frequent the barn-yard and stable, 

 so that horses which are confined to these when not in use are never 

 annoyed with the larva. 



The eggs are hatched by the warmth of the animal ; and the creature 

 burrows into the skin, where it remains and grows till Spring, raising 

 meanwhile, by its irritating presence, a small lump, which is eventually 

 developed into a painful tumor, upon the pus of which the insect pro- 

 longs a life that it began upon the natural juices of the skin and cellu- 

 lar tissue. 



How to know it — The most unmistakable sign of the trouble, when it 

 is not plainly discesrnible with the eye, is the restlessness manifested by 

 the horse when subjected to the saddle. When he does this, and no 

 well-defined occasion for his displeasure and his pranks is readily per- 

 ceptible, examination will reveal a tumor or abscess if the larva is present ; 

 for the horse will hardly grow restive at first, when there is a mere lump 

 m the skin. Upon the top of this abscess a black spot will be found, 

 which is the point of entrance, and the opening through which the 

 insect obtains the little air that it needs. 



What to do. — The best thing to do, because both quickest and safest, 

 is to open the top of the tumor slightly with a lancet, and then to 

 'vjueeze out the larva. The wound should then be dressed a time or two 



