22 
warble Ely. 
numerous, putrefactive change was much more advanced than in those 
in which there were no warbles.”—J. P. 
The following communication from Mr. C. E. Pearson (wholesale 
butcher), Sheffield, is valuable both from the practical information 
conveyed, and pointing out extent to which warble-presence un¬ 
avoidably tells against the health and thriving of the infested 
animal 
“In answer to yours of March 9th, I may say that the effects of 
warbles on the carcase is more serious than can possibly he imagined 
by an outside appearance of the beast. The beef, as I stated in my 
letter to the ‘Meat Trade’s Journal,’ is most unsightly, hut the taste 
of the beef is very bitter where the warble has been, and very 
objectionable to the consumer. The carcase of beef assumes a nasty 
yellow colour, and also a soft flabby appearance on the outside rind of 
the beast (where the warble has been in operation) ; so much so, that 
the carcase has to be pared in some cases down to the flesh to make 
the appearance of the animal at all presentable for the market, thereby 
causing a grievous amount of loss to the butcher, and an unsightly 
article to the consumer. I am, of course, speaking from experience, 
killing on an average twenty beasts or more a week, and the loss 
to me alone in hides last year amounted to something like £3 per 
week during the season that warbles had developed on the hide, and 
no one a gainer.” 
Amongst various more general observations in Mr. Pearson’s letter, 
sent to me at his request by the Editor of the 1 Meat Trade’s Journal,’ 
he added the following very just remarks as to loss caused to owners 
by the wearing pain and discomfort in which the animals are kept by 
presence of warbles :— 
“ They are a pest not only to the butcher as a matter of loss, but, 
from a humane point of view, to the poor beasts that suffer from them, 
.... causing a great amount of pain that might be avoided if only 
the farmer would be at the trouble to try at least to rid them of the 
pest. Of course, while the animals are suffering physical pain the 
owners themselves are suffering inpockat, and more than they imagine; 
the loss results from the lowering of the condition of the cattle, and 
the dairy-farmer loses from the yield of milk, not only reduced in 
quality, but also in quantity, and it is an impossible thing for the 
general health of the cattle to be so good when suffering the pain 
caused by the warbles.” 
I have myself also had the opportunity of seeing the altered state 
and colour of parts of the surface of a carcase from which the hide, 
when removed, had been found to be so infested with warbles that I 
was asked to come and look at it. This was at Spring Grove, near 
Xsleworth, and the butcher cut thin slices off the discoloured yellow 
