APPLICATIONS. 



xlix 



Where cattle are suffcrhhj badhj from warbles, so that the health is 

 clearly affected, and the animal wasting, the use of the well-known old 

 " black oils" has been found to do much good. 



Mr. Henry Thompson, M.E.C.V.S,, of Aspatria, Cumberland, gives 

 the following recipe used for a bad case : — 



" Last year about this time I was called in to a little three-year- 

 old heifer whose back was almost covered with warbles, and the effect 

 on the constitution was very marked ; the poor thing was very thin, 

 and would not eat. I was satisfied that the irritation set up by the 

 warbles was the cause, and applied the following : — Turpentine, li oz. ; 

 sulphuric acid, 1 drachm (here a chemical action takes place, and it 

 must be done with caution). To this I added 10 oz. raw linseed-oil, 

 and rubbed the cow's back once a day with the mixture. 



"In a fortnight the back was cleaned, and all the maggots de- 

 stroyed." — Henry Thompson, M.E.C.V.S., Aspatria, Cumberland, 

 April 11th, 1887. 



Where neither proper advice nor more elaborate applications are at 

 hand, lard or rancid butter, mixed with a little sulphur, or cart-grease 

 (if not of too strong a kind), also mixed with a little sulphur, have 

 been found to succeed well ; and, as shown in the following observa- 

 tion, the butter or lard will answer well in very bad cases, by being 

 soothing in effect, as well as destructive to the maggot, and this, as 

 will be seen, safely and satisfactorily in about the most ignorant and 

 untrustworthy hands that could be found. 



In 1885 a communication was sent me by Mr. P. M'Hale Greer, 

 Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland, to the effect that when the cattle were 

 severely affected by warbles, it was a common practice to take them to 

 the charmers, who in some way or other killed the maggots : — 



"In the barren and bleak districts of West Conuaught, exposed to 

 the searching rays of the sun, and without stream or pond, tree or 

 bush, to afford coolness or shade, the hardy mountain cattle suffer to 

 an alarming extent from the ravages of the Warble Fly when laying 

 its eggs. The tract of country through which some of these poor 

 animals career is often surprising. It extends to miles, and eventually 

 causes their owners no little trouble and expense to bring them back 

 again. The injury done to the animals themselves from exhaustion 

 during the summer, and from irritation in the winter, is so great that 

 many a strong and healthy animal becomes languid, unable to eat, and 

 unable consequently to thrive. These cattle have not been properly 

 housed, and oftener than not half-fed, and the warble-maggot develops 

 with extraordinary rapidity and to a large size. The larger the 

 maggot grows the more pus it requires for its support, so that, what 

 with insufficient food and the great annoyance caused, the cow becomes 

 a fit subject for the ' charmer ' and her spells. She is generally an 



