AND HIS DISEASES. 75 



in gruel. Advantage will sometimes be found from giving 

 copious drenches of fluids, to liquefy the contents of the 

 stomach, and assist in removing it. 



EUPTUEE OE THE STOMACH. 



When rapture of the stomach occurs, he generally stands, 

 braces himself up, with his legs like four props, to prevent 

 his falling ; the membrane lining the nose and eyes is pale 

 and blanched ; the mouth, legs, and ears are deathly cold ; 

 the pulse almost imperceptible ; the countenance is haggard ; 

 the breathing is quick and spasmodic ; he works his head 

 toward his. chest, and attempts to vomit. He sits on his 

 haunches like a dog ; strains, and presently reels and falls 

 suddenly, and expires with a few struggles. Attendants 

 cannot be too careful in working about them in these cases, 

 as they are apt to fall upon them. 



BOTS. 



As in the days when disease of the navicular joint was a 

 mystery, every " occult " lameness was pronounced to be in 

 the shoulder ; so in Canada, if a horse is taken sick, ten men 

 out of every dozen pronounce it " the bots." It is, in fact, 

 the convenient cloak to hide the ignorance of the empiric. 



As a general rule, bots are harmless parasites, seldom 

 producing much mischief, and to be found in almost every 

 horse that dies, sometimes in great numbers, adhering to 

 the coats of the stomach. 



History. — To the researches of the late Mr Bracy Clark 

 are we indebted for the real history and nature of this fly, 

 of which there are several varieties. Those described by 

 him as peculiar to the horse are the oestrus equi, gadfly or 

 breeze, which is by far the most common enemy of the horse, 

 and produces the more common bot ; it is described as 



