HORSE BOT-FLY, a bot-fly (Gastro phi lus equi) parasitic in horses. The adult is about .75 inch long; the wings transparent with dark spots forming an irregular band toward the centre; the body brown and very hairy, the head whitish in front, and the abdomen dark spotted. The females (males are rarely seen) have an elongated tapering abdomen. The ob long light, yellow eggs are glued, one by one, to the hairs of the forepart of the body, whor they are likely to be licked off by the anituaL The moisture of the tongue causes the de veloped larva to break through the shell almost instantly, and to be carried into the mouth and thence to the stomach. Many curious facts have been observed in connection with these eggs and their development and may be found fully dis cussed by Osborn in his (Insects Affecting Do mestic Animals,) issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (1896). Reaching the stomach, the larva fasten themselves to its walls by hooks in the posterior end of the body, and great masses sometimes accumulate seri ously obstructing the pyloric outlet. They re main there, absorbing nourishment and inter fering with digestion through the winter, and on the return of warm weather let go their hold, pass out through the intestines, enter the ground, pupate there for a few days, and then emerge as flies. This pest chiefly affects horses out at pasture, and can be prevented only by removing the eggs, which can easily be seen. The attempt to remove the buts from the stomach by turpentine or other drugs is a dan gerous proceeding which should only be at tempted under direction of a veterinarian.
or BUCKEYE, a tree of the small family Arsculacece and genus Aesculus, represented in Europe by the horse chestnut (A. hippocastanum), now cultivated in many parts of the world, but native to Greece, Turkey and southwestern Asia; and by several indigenous American species known as buck eyes, from the appearance of the fruit. These trees are shapely, have five or more leaflets diverging from the stalk like fingers, and bear white or tinted flowers in large erect panicles, turning the whole tree into the semblance of a big bouquet. The fruit of the horse-chestnut much resembles a huge chestnut, and is prickly when young. In this respect the common or Ohio buckeye (A. glabra) agrees with it, but has only five leaflets in each leaf and its flowers are small and not showy. The unpleasant odor exhaled by the bark and leaves in all this genus is especially strong in this species. A more southern developed into fine trees in the southern Alleghanies, is the sweet or yellow buckeye (A. octandra) which with the red buck
eye (A. pavia) bears smooth fruit. Though so handsome, rapid in growth, and serviceable as ornamental or shade trees, they are otherwise of little value. The wood is light colored, soft and useful mainly for paper pulp and small articles; it contains a large quantity of sapo naceous material, so that country people use the mucilaginous sap as soap. The leaves and roots of the Ohio buckeye are poisonous. The seeds are bitter but are eaten by cattle and sheep, with the preparation of boiling in alka line water which is necessary in Europe; and from them a floe floe r is made especially adapted to bookbinders and -.hocmakers paste, as besides having great tenacity. it will not be attacked by insects. In France starch is produced from horse-chestnut seeds on a large scale. The seeds are also used in the southern United States to impart a flavor of age to raw whisky. The red buckeye has been naturalized in Europe as a park tree. California has a species of its own, Japan another and a third grows on the Himalaya Mountains.
or DEER FLY, any species of the family Tabanida, usu ally large, robust flies, with a broad head pointed in front and concave behind, with pro portionally immense eyes, and fitting closely to the thorax. The legs are long and stout,- some times hairy, but without stiff bristles. The are provided with a long, sharp proboscis with which they pierce the skin of ani mals, and are especially annoying to such short haired kinds as horses and deer. No poison is injected into the wound, but injurious bacilli may be introduced, causing bad sores. One of the most widely distributed in the United States is the large black Tabanus atnericanus. These flies attach their eggs to grass and sticks in wet places. The larvi• find their way into water or wet earth, and are carnivorous, feeding on other insects, snails, etc. They pass the winter before pupating and emerge as flies in the early summer. To the same family belong many smaller green or yellow species of the woods, more usually called deer-flies.
The horse-mack erel tuna or tunny (Thunnus thynnus), is the largest member of the mackerel family (Scombridcs), attaining a length of 10 feet or more and a weight of 1,000 to 1,500 pounds. It is found in all warm seas, both of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and wanders as far north as Newfoundland, appearing on our shores with the menhaden and mackerel. See TUNNY.