H O R
It is indeed a very ftrange place this little creature chufcs for
the depofiting its eggs - y but as noble a creature as the Horfe fecms, and as much as we may fuppofe him created for our ufe, we are to confider, that the fame great hand made both him and this little fly, and that he feems indeed more created for the fly than for us j he is ufeful to us, but to the fly he is abfolutely necefiary, iince without him me could not propa- gate her fpecies.
The worms of the human bowels have not been longer known to the world than thofe of the Horfe % and the farriers in all ages, who have undertaken the care of thefe valuable animals, have had their remedies for the long worms bred in their interlines, and alfo for the ihort ones. The fhort ones are the creatures here to bedefcribcdr But though the world has fo long been acquainted with their exiftence, it never knew their origin till Mr- Vallifnieri difcovered- of late that they were produced from one of the humble-bee flies. Reau- mur's Hift. Inf. vol. 4. p. 542.
Thefe flies always live in the open fields,, and are never found about towns and houfes, and this is the reafon that thofe Horfes which are kept up in the ftable in the fummer and autumn, are never found to be fubjedt to thefe worms. In the latter end of fummer,- and toward autumn, thefe flies are found continually buzing about the backs- of Horfes in the open fields, and their whole buiinefs there is. to depofit their eggs, where nature has inftmcled them to do it. Horfes at this feafon are fenfible of the buiinefs of this little annoyer, and have been feen from the moft quiet Hate to jump, run about, and kick, only at the found of the wings of one of thefe flies,, which has been at that time fearching for an opportunity to depofit its eggs in them. A fly has been feen,. when it has not fuccceded in its attempt in this manner, to fly with lefs nolle toward a fingle Horfe in another part of the field, flily to creep under his tail, to ufe fome gentle titillation in order to make the creature open his fundament, and, when a little open, has ventured to crawl in, and without doubt then only found herfelf in a proper place for the depofiting her eggs for a few moments. After this the Horfe has jump'd y kick'd, and caper'd as if mad, and conti- nued fo for a quarter of an hour.
The worms hatched from thefe eggs,, or perhaps living worms there depofited, if the fly be of the viviparous kind,, foon find their way farther up the intefttnes, and often penetrate even into the ftomach.
After a fufKcient time for thefe worms to acquire their deftin'd growth, they naturally quit their old place of abode j in order to this they all get toward the lower part of the intefHnes, and are either voided, by the creature with its dung, or of themfelves crawl out.
There is nothing fmgular in the figure of thefe worms, they are larger than thofe of the common flefh fly, and fmaller than thofe of the ox-fly j they are fomewhat of a conic figure, their head being pointed, and their pofterior part much larger ; they are of different colours, fume greenifh,. and others yel- lowifh, and fome brown ; they are provided with each two cruftaceous hooks, by which they lay hold of things, and pull themfelves along by that means^
The great danger of thefe worms would be, that they might be forced out of their habitation by the feces of the Horfes, and with them carried out of its body, but thefe hooks pre- vent that, for by means of thefe the creature is able to lay fo fait hold of the flefh of one's hand, as not to be eaiily remo- ved. But befides thefe, nature has given to thefe worms, a multitude of fmall triangular points, like (o many prickle3, placed all over its body, and by means of thefe it is able to hold itfelf faft againft the fides of the guts. T he body of this fpecies of worm is compofed of eleven rings v the mouth is placed below the two hooks, and juft above them the worm, when it pleafes, thrufts out two fhort fiefhy horns. The hinder part of the worm, however, is much more obfervable ; this is drawn up and wrinkled like a purfe, but is continually opening from time to time, and when open, one difcovers in it a deep cavity,, at the bottom of which are placed fix double furrows ; thefe are the pofterior iiigmata of the worm, and the flefliy purfe, drawn- over them, 's evidently intended to defend them from being flopped up by liquid fubftances running over them.
It is fuppofed that clyfters of oil are a remedy for this diforder in Horfes ; hut it probably is of no effect,, fince the oiling over the whole body of the worm, nay, the introducing drops of oil into the cavity where the great ftigmata are, has not been found to kill the animal.
When thefe worms are only in fmall numbers in a Horfe* they arc of no harm to the animal ; but there are feafons in which they incrcafe to fuch vaft numbers, that they are a very fetal malady ; and, in fome years, when Horfes have died of a fort of epidemic malady, after they have been opened, pro- digious numbers of thefe worms have been found living in their liomaebs, each having eat itfelf a fort of cell in the membrane of the ftomach, and all being lodged there as clofe together as the feeds in a pomegranate.
We are not to wonder at all how fuch immenfe numbers of worms come into otw Horfe, fince one female is able to de-
HOT
pofit more than feven hundred, as Mr. Vallifnieri has eV- ferved.
When thefe worms are fallen from the inteftines of the Horfe, they crawl about till they find fome place of fafety, where they make a fhell of their fkin, and pafs all their changes, and from whence they finally come out in form of the parent fly.
The males of thefe flies have fhorter bodies, and have, for that reafon, more of the appearance of the humble-bees than the females. They are all very hairy ; they are two-winged flies, and of the fecond clafs of thofe, having a mouth without ei- ther teeth or trunk. Their antennae are Ihort and Alining, and each has a fingle long hair growing from it. There is no fpecies of fly which varies lb much in the co- lours and marks of the individuals as this; the colours are black, yellow, white, and brown ; but in the different flies they are differently placed, and mixed with one ano- ther.
The wings of thefe are alfo lefs tnmfparent than thofe of moft other flies, and ufually appear irregularly fmoaked as it were in different places. The mule is alfo eafily known from the female, by his having two ftrong brown hooks on his hinder parts, turned one towards the other, and laid clofelv againft his belly. Thefe ferve him in the time of his congreffes with the female, to lay faft hold of her. See Reaumur, Hift. Inf. vol, 4. p. 540. feq. See alfo Vallifnieri.
HORTA'J OR, in the Roman navigation, an officer whofc . bufmefs it was to give the word cf command to the rowers, and to direct them when to ftop, and when to ply their oars. The Greeks gave the name of cekujles to this oflicer.
HORTUEANUS, in zoology, the name of a genus of birds, of the fmaller kind, the general character of which is, that they have a tubercle, or hard eminence, on the upper chap of the beak. Of this genus are the bunting, the yellow- hammer, the cirlus, the reed fparrow, the berluccio, and the cirlus flultus. See Tab. of Botany, N° 32.
HORTUS, a name ufed by fome authors for the female genital parts of animals.
HOSPITAL {Cyd.)— Foundling Hospital. See the article Foundling.
HOST1EERS, in our old writers, is ufed for inn-keepers ; and in fome old books the word Hojtas is taken in the fame fenfe, 3.1 Ed. 3. c. 2. Blount. The word is French, Hofleliers-, of the fame import.
HOT {Cyd,) — .Hoi-Scij, in gardening, are of general ufe in the northern parts of Europe, without which we could not enjoy fo many of the products of the warmer climes as we now do, nor have our tables furnifhed with the various products of the fummer fo early in the fpring.
■ The common Hot-tea's, ufed in kitchen gardens, are made with horfe -dung in the following manner : A large quantity of new dung from the ftable, with the Utter among it, fhould be mixed with fome fea coal-afhes, and when it has flood a week, it will have acquired a eonfiderable heat. This dung is then to be placed in a fhallow trench, made in a fhelter'd pare of the garden, and if it be intended for the planting out of melons or cucumbers, there rauft be made, at proper diftances, where the middle of the light of the glafs they are to be covered with will come, holes of ten inches over, and fix deep, which muft be filled with frefti earth, thrufting a flick in the middle, to fhew the place where the hole is. The whole bed is then to be covered about four inches thick, with the earth taken out of the trench. When this is done, the beds are to be covered with frames of wood, fitted with lights of glafs, and after about two days the earth will be of a proper degree of warmth to receive the plants to be fet in it. Adilier's Gardener's
Dia.
In the making thefe beds, great care muft be taken to lay the dung clofe and even ; and if it be full of long litter, it fhould be trod down, otherwife it will heat too violently, and the warmth be foon diffipated. For the fuft ten days the glafles muft be but flightly covered in the night, and in the day-time carefully raifed to let out the fleam, which is fubjecl: to rife very copioufly while the dung is frefh. Afterwards the cover- ing muft be encreafed, and if the bed cools too faff, new dung muft be laid about its fides, which will give it a great warmth throughout, and by that time this is ditfipated, the fun's rays will have power enough to fupply the place of arti- ficial heat. Only, at this time, if the nights happen to be cold, as is indeed often the cafe, it will be necefiary to lay fome mowings of grafs about the fides of the bed. This is the fort of Hot-bed moft in ufe in kitchen gardens ; but thofe made with tanners bark are much propcrer for this tender exotic plants and fruits, which require a fteady and equal degree of warmth to be kept up tor feveral months. In order to the making of thefe, a trench muft be dug in the earth, about three feet deep, if the foil be dry ; bur if it be wet, it muft be only dug one foot, and the bed raifed two foot above ground. The length muft be proportioned to the number of frames it is intended to be covered with, but it fhould never be lefs than eleven or twelve feet, nor its breadth lefs than fix, this being abfolutely necefiary to their being a
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