FIRST OBSERVATION OF WARBLE. Ill 



besides translations of tlie Warble Fly leaflet into North and South 

 Welsh dialects. 



AU this has been done by ourselves ; no " Board " has helped us ; we 

 have had no grant for expenses, and now it appears desirable to bring 

 forward in a condensed form, — amongst other reasons that those 

 interested may be able to recognize and point to the results of their 

 own labours, — a history of the results of our ten years' labours. 



To begin with a description of the attack. Warble attack is commo7ily 

 known as consisting of swollen lumps — few or many — to be found from 

 February to September, chiefly during the months of April and May, 

 though sometimes badly later in the summer, on the back or loins of 

 the attacked animals, each swelling or warble containing a maggot or 

 " bot," which lies with its black-tipped tail (often taken for its head) 

 at a small opening in the swelling, and the other end (which contains 

 the orifice which serves for a mouth) in a sore on which it is feeding 

 in the under tissues of the hide. 



The great injury, however, which is caused year after year by this 

 attack is not only from the perforations of the maggots lessening the 

 value of the hides, but the loss in flesh and milk and health in summer, 

 when the animals are started by their terror of the fly to gallop as 

 fast as they can go, and later on the suffering and drag on the system 

 of supporting may be six, ten, twenty, or a hundred, sometimes even 

 more than four hundred, of these strong maggots growing up to an 

 inch in length and feeding on the sore, which they keep up from before 

 the warble -swelling is observable in January or February until they 

 are full-grown. 



First observation of young Warble beneath the fiesh side of the Hide. 



On November 12th, 1884, a cutting from a yearling skin brought 

 in that day was forwarded to me by Messrs. C. and H. Hatton, Barton 

 Tannery, Hereford, with the note that they considered it showed first 

 symptoms of warble -maggot. This piece of hide was about 12 in. by 

 4 in., and on ih.Q. flesh side there were upwards of seven slight swellings 

 about a quarter of an inch across, of a livid or bluish colour, each 

 forming a raised centre to greatly-inflamed patches. Within the blue 

 centre I found a small warble-maggot, just large enough to be dis- 

 tinguished by the naked eye when removed, but not plainly so whilst 

 in the swelling, as the inside of this was of blood-red tissue, and the 

 small mayijot icas blood-red also. Under the microscope it was easily 

 distinguishable by its patches of minute prickles. From the red mass or 

 maggot -cell I found that a fine channel, no wider than a hair, passed 

 up through the hide to the surface. The course of this channel was 

 easily traced by the blood which in handling the specimen was pressed 

 from below along this gallery till it came out in a little drop on the 



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