about to commence operations of a similiar character on the 
left. 
“ Another source of error is the fact that each Bot pierces a small 
hole about the size of a pinhead through the white lining of the 
stomach. If the Bots are pulled off, the part of the lining where they 
were clustered looks like a sieve. Although I have even seen Bots 
burrow through between the inner white lining and the muscular layer 
of the walls of the stomach, when the post-mortem examination was 
delayed for some time, I have never seen any inflammation about these 
holes, neither have I ever seen the stomach pierced right through as 
many have asserted. Were any of these large holes made before the 
animal died, there would be a raw vascular appearance about the 
edges of these holes which as stated I have never observed, clearly 
indicating that any piercing, beyond the small pinhead holes which 
always exist while the Bots are there, took place after the death, when 
the Bots began to move about. 
“ Another error, which I have seen more than one farmer make, is 
to mistake the hole made by cutting off the oesophagus for a hole 
pierced by the Bots. This misconception arises from the fact that the 
Bots are very often clustered immediately around the entrance of the 
gullet into the stomach. When the stomach is thus cut out as usual, 
by cutting off the gullet close to the stomach, and the stomach is 
afterwards opened carelessly, that opening made by cutting off the 
oesophagus is frequently mistaken for an opening eaten through by 
Bots, since a few Bots will generally be found on the outside of the 
hole, and others in the act of passing through it. I have opened very 
many Horses in this Colony which have been certified to have died 
from Bots, but I never saw a case in which there was the least 
evidence that the Bots had anything to do with the animal’s death.” * 
Further on in the above paper the writer remarks with regard to sug¬ 
gestions, “ whether the presence of the Bot maggots may not seriously 
interfere with the Horse’s digestion by destroying the healthy functions 
of the membrane to which they are attached the portion of 
the stomach to which the Bots are attached is lined by a strong white 
mucous membrane, which contains no gastric glands, but is covered 
by a thick layer of epithelium which protects it from injury. Bots do 
not therefore interfere directly with the gastric digestion of the Horse. 
It is the other end of the stomach which contains the gastric glands 
and which performs the whole of the digestive process carried on 
within a Horse’s stomach.”! 
* “ Diseases of the Horse,” by the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, ‘ Agricultural 
Journal,’ published by the Dept, of Agriculture, of the Cape Colony, No 34, Dec. 
12, 1889. 
f Paper on “ Diseases of the Horse,” previously quoted. 
