Veterinary jurisprudence. 151 
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the stomach. I do not admit that bots are an irritating cause. A 
horse having influenza and pleurisy, on the 4th of July, would 
be more liable to inflammation of the bowels from his system being 
in a bad state. I do not agree in the opinion expressed by an 
eminent French authority on veterinary science that “bots in 
a multitude may occasion sharp pains, and prove detrimental 
to digestion by absorbing the juices necessary for that opera¬ 
tion.” I agree in what is said by the same writer, £4 that so long as 
they exist in small numbers they do no harm* and #ause tio pain.” 
neither do they, I think, in large numbers. My treatment, when I 
was called in on the first occasion, had removed the mischief; the 
mare died from acute inflammation of the bowels., 
Mr. O'Malley .—My friend has referred to the French writer on 
this subject; do you agree in this : “That the perfect health horses 
enjoy with bots is proof sufficient of their innocuous nature and 
harmlessness in a general way p ” 
Mr. Hartley T. Batt. —I do. It is a generally received opinion 
in our profession that they are supposed to feed on the mucus thrown 
out by the membrane of the stomach—not on the coats of the 
stomach. 
Assistant-Professor Pritchard, examined by Mr. O’Malley.—I 
examined the stomach and bowels of this mare the day after they had 
been examined by Mr. Batt. I found the whole course of the lining 
membrane of the bowels in an inflamed state, and noticed on the 
cuticular portion of the stomach a number of bots, and a number of 
depressions indicating that bots had been attached there and become 
removed; the stomach was perfectly healthy. There was no con¬ 
nection between the state of the bowels and the presence of bots. 
Their presence had nothing to do with the inflammation of the 
bowels, nor is their existence considered a disease ; on the con¬ 
trary, it is consistent with the most perfect health of the animal. 
I never before heard of their producing inflammation in the bowels 
by preventing the proper digestion of the food, and I think such a 
theory is absurd. In this instance I do not suppose that there 
were more than sixty or seventy. I have known scores of cases where 
there were double the number present. I have never heard of an 
attack of pleurisy lasting many days without the symptoms being 
very palpable. The presence of bots does not impair the energy or 
the health of the horse; I am not aware of any symptoms by which 
they can be detected. 
Cross-examined.—In a healthy horse the period of the develop¬ 
ment of the bot is about ten months. I do not believe that a 
horse when in an unsound or weak state is more likely to attract the 
gad fly than a sound healthy animal; it is a well-known fact in 
veterinary service. I have known numerous cases of bots in the 
stomach, but I have never known, in my own practice, an instance 
where they have in any way interfered with the health of the horse. 
Impaired digestion is not in itself a cause of inflammation of the 
bowels. The digestive process is not completed in the stomach ; 
the food partly digested there becomes wholly digested in the intes- 
