24 GRAMMAR OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



66. The egg appears to be held out at the 

 extremity of the ovipositor, so that the insect has 

 no occasion to settle, but simply touches the hair, 

 and the egg at once firmly adheres by means of a 

 glutinous matter with which it is covered ; she 

 then withdraws to a short distance, prepares an- 

 other egg, again poises herself before the chosen 

 part, and deposits it in the same way as before : 

 the operation is sometimes repeated until four or 

 five hundred eggs are laid on one horse. 



67. The female bot does not lay her eggs at 

 random on any part of the body, but constantly 

 on those parts which are most liable to be licked 

 by the tongue ; and never on the head, or parts 

 which cannot be reached by the tongue ; the inside 

 of the knee, and the side and back part of the 

 shoulder, are the parts usually selected. 



68. When the eggs have remained on the hairs 

 four or five days, the slightest application of 

 warmth and moisture is sufficient to hatch them ; 

 at this time, if the tongue of the horse touches 

 the egg, it immediately opens, and a small active 

 worm is produced, which adheres readily to the 

 moist surface of the tongue, and is thence conveyed 

 with the food into the stomach. 



69. The maggots are at first long in proportion 

 to their thickness, but as their age advances, they 

 become proportionally thicker and broader ; they 

 adhere to the white insensible tissue, or coat of 

 the stomach, usually hanging in dense clusters, 



