150 
VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
dock some two hours in the dav for exercise. When I sold her to 
the defendant she was quite sound and well. 
Mr. Hartley T. Bait .—I am a member of the Royal College of 
Veterinary Surgeons. On the 4th of July last, at the request of the 
defendant, I saw the mare. She was then suffering from influenza 
and pleurisy; it was a complicated case. Hicks,Mr.Turnham’s groom, 
placed the case in my hands. I saw her again on the following day, 
when the symptoms had very much abated. I called again on the 
7th, and she had so far recovered as not to require any further 
attention. Influenza was prevailing at the time, and was attributable 
to atmospheric causes. On the 31st of July I heard from Mr. 
Paris that the mare was dead, and I arrived shortly after the post¬ 
mortem examination had been made. I examined the stomach 
and intestines; the latter were in an acute state of inflammation, 
which undoubtedly was the cause of death. There was no in¬ 
flammation of that, part of the stomach where the bots were 
attached, which is the cuticular or insensible part, which is 
the place they are usually found. There was nothing to show any 
injury from the bots ; there were slight indentations where they 
had been, which is always found in such cases. There was no 
connexion between the presence of the bots and the inflamma¬ 
tion of the bowels. I do not agree with the theory that the pre¬ 
sence of the bots prevents the food passing into the intestines in a 
perfectly digested state ; I never heard of it before. Inflammation 
of the bowels might arise from various causes, such as being over¬ 
driven, and left to stand in cold places, producing chill, or drinking 
cold water when in a state of heat, which are matters of daily occur¬ 
rence. I never saw a case of inflammation of the bowels arising 
from the presence of bots in the stomach. I have heard of a case 
where bots had perforated the stomach, and the food passed into the 
abdominal cavity, and produced inflammation of the outside lining 
of the bowels and stomach. There are one or two such cases 
recorded. Unwholesome food, or undigested food passing into the 
stomach would produce inflammation. A horse eating bad hay, or 
kiln-dried oats, would be liable to such inflammation, which is 
sometimes very rapid in its progress. I never before knew that 
bots were considered a disease; they are commonly found in horses 
that are turned out to grass during certain months. Their existence 
causes no disparagement in the outward appearance of the horse, 
and there is nothing to show of their existence. 
Cross-examined.—The existence of pleurisy would show itself in 
three or four days by the horse breathing quickly, and having, in 
some cases, a rough coat. After the post-mortem examination, I took 
the morbid parts to Professor Spooner, who has since died, and his 
opinion coincided with mine. The statement by Mr. Dollar that 
there were as many bots as would fill a quart is, I think, an 
exaggeration. I counted about sixty—there was evidence of a 
number having passed away. The presence of even a large number of 
bots would not interfere with digestion. I have seen as many as 600 
in one cluster partly on the sensible as well as the insensible part of 
