XXll WARBLE FLY. 



numerous, putrefactive change was mucli more advanced than in those 

 in which there were no warbles." — J. P. 



The following communication from Mr. C. E. Pearson (wholesale 

 butcher), Sheffield, is valuable both from the practical information 

 conveyed, and pointing out extent to which warble-presence un- 

 avoidably tells against the health and thriving of the infested 

 animal : — 



"In answer to yours of March 9th, I may say that the effects of 

 warbles on the carcase is more serious than can possibly be imagined 

 by an outside appearance of the beast. The beef, as I stated in my 

 letter to the ' Meat Trade's Journal,' is most unsightly, but the taste 

 of the beef is very bitter where the warble has been, and very 

 objectionable to the consumer. The carcase of beef a-suraes a nasty 

 yellow colour, and also a soft flabby appearance on the outside rind of 

 the beast (where the warble has been in operation) ; so much so, that 

 the carcase has to be pared in some cases down to the flesh to make 

 the appearance of the animal at all presentable for the market, thereby 

 causing a grievous amount of loss to the butcher, and an unsightly 

 article to the consumer. I am, of course, speaking from experience, 

 killing on an avenxge twenty beasts or more a week, and the loss 

 to me alone in hides last year amounted to something like £3 per 

 week during the season that warbles had developed on the hide, and 

 no one a gainer." 



Amongst various more general observations in Mr. Pearson's letter, 

 sent to me at his request by the Editor of the ' Meat Trade's Journal,' 

 he added the following very just remarks as to loss caused to owners 

 by the wearing pain and discomfort in which the animals are kept by 

 presence of warbles : — 



" They are a pest not only to the butcher as a matter of loss, but, 

 from a humane point of view, to the poor beasts that suffer from them, 

 ... . causing a great amount of pain that might be avoided if only 

 the farmer would be at the trouble to try at least to rid them of the 

 pest. Of course, while the animals are suffering physical pain the 

 owners themselves are suffering in pockat, and more than they imagine ; 

 the loss results from the lowering of the condition of the cattle, and 

 the dairy-farmer loses from the yield of milk, not only reduced in 

 quality, but also in quantity, and it is an impossible thing for the 

 general health of the cattle to be so good when suffering the pain 

 caused by the warbles." 



I have myself also had the opportunity of seeiug the altered state 

 and colour of parts of the surface of a carcase from which the hide, 

 ■when removed, had been found to be so infested with warbles that I 

 was asked to come and look at it. This was at Spring Grove, near 

 Isleworth, and the butcher cut thin slices off the discoloured yellow 



