102 WARBLE FLY. 
value of the hides, but the loss in flesh and milk and health in summer, 
when the animals are started by their terror of the Fly to gallop as 
fast as they can go, and later on the suffering and drag on the system 
of supporting may be six, ten, or twenty, sometimes even more than 
a hundred, of these strong maggots growing up to an inch in length 
and feeding in the sore, which they keep up from January or February 
until they are full-grown. 
We do not know with certainty whether the losses taken together 
amount, as estimated by Mr. Stratton, of The Duffryn, Newport, to a 
yearly sum exceeding one million pounds sterling , or the higher estimate 
of Mr. W. H. Liddell, of upwards of two million pounds sterling a year 
to Great Britain and Ireland ; but it is demonstrable that the loss is 
very heavy, the suffering to the animals often very great, and it is 
equally certain that the attack might be very greatly lessened, safely, 
cheaply, and without injury to the hide. 
The following notes will be found to be chiefly of methods of treat¬ 
ment found to answer, and of habits of the pest observed for practical 
service by known agriculturists and cattle owners, with additions 
regarding the condition of the maggot in the hide, and details of 
injuries to the leather, for which, together with specimens liberally 
supplied, I beg to offer my best thanks to all the contributors. 
The subject is perhaps best begun at the stage at which it is most 
observed, by observations of methods by which the maggot may be surely 
and easily killed in the warble, followed by notes of absence of attack 
where this course has been followed for years ; likewise some observations 
as to the damage to the health of the cattle from inflammation and 
ulceration of the subcutaneous tissues; of the prevalence of the attack on 
special ages and breeds of cattle, and notes showing that the warble 
with the maggot in it, though most prevalent in April and May, is to 
be found occasionally much later in the year. 
Various applications and methods of treatment whereby the maggot may 
be killed in the warble .—(It should be observed 
relatively to destroying the maggot that it 
breathes or rather draws in the air neces¬ 
sary for it through the two somewhat kidney¬ 
shaped black spots, which are easily seen in 
the tip of the tail-end of the maggot in an 
advanced warble. If these “spiracles” or 
breathing-pores are choked the insect dies ; 
consequently, if anything like tar or mer¬ 
curial ointment, or other choking substance, 
is applied, the maggot is sure to be destroyed). 
Piercing the warble is not so perfectly certain to kill it, as the 
operation is not always thoroughly performed. Of the various 
Maggots of Ox Warble Fly, 
full-grown, and about to 
change to chrysalis. 
