K.T. ACHAYA AND B. N. BANERJEE 261
uring the summer months, given a few slides and
supply of Newman's stain diagnosis can be made
y anyone proficient in the use of a microscope.
yen if trained microscopists are not available, the
ifficulties will not be overwhelming. One of the
ifficulties in dealing with mastitis in the past has
cen the lack of laboratory facilities. Milk samples
caching a laboratory from any great distance
aturally arrive in a putrid state due to overgrowth
contaminating organisms, unless steps are taken
prevent this. The deep blood agar plating
chniqne has been a failure under such conditions.
ow, with the incubated milk technique available,
e solution is obvious. Samples can be collected
sterile tubes and incubated near their source;
the summer months in the greater part of India
cubation will be unnecessary, as samples can be
ft standing at room temperature for the requisite
me. After 18 to 24 hours smears can be made
nd forwarded to a laboratory when and as con-
enient; or if necessary a few drops of formalin or
ther preservative can be added to the milk samples
nd the whole tube sent for examination; any
reptococei present would by then have grown out
nd would remain unaffected by the preservative
hile the preservative itself will prevent any further
rowth of outside contaminants. This technique
not only simple but quick; as an example, it
ay be noted that in this laboratory on one occasion
wo workers prepared, starned and examined 561
nears in one day (under eight hours); incidentally
II the smears were examined by one man. If
nears are already prepared and sent for diagnosis
ne small laboratory can therefore quite easily deal
ith several thousand specimens a week.
We feel that this is an important observation
hich needs emphasis, particularly in areas from
hi ch laboratory facilities are distant. If any
astitis control has been considered in the past,
he policy adopted or suggested must have been
fluenced by the then great practical difficulty of
iagnosis. This difficulty has now been removed
nd the policy can be modified accordingly.
SUMMARY
Examination of 3,322 milk buffaloes on five
ifferent farms by the technique of incubated milk
samples revealed an average of 16.0 per cent strepto
coccus infection.
2. Infected buffaloes apparently excrete strepto
cocci intermittently. As many as 50 per cent known
infected animals may be negative at a given test
3. Additional evidence is brought in favour of
the general belief that the incidence of mastitis
increases with the age of the animal, and that the
early period of lactation is the period of greates
susceptibility.
4. Some evidence is adduced in favour of the
belief that non-infected animals give a higher milk
yield than do infected ones.
5. In our hands vaccination as a means of pre-
venting or of curing the disease has been quite
without effect.
6. Eradication by the removal of infected animals
is indicated as a practical proposition. To be
successful strict adherence to commonsense principles
must be enforced; any relaxation of these principles
is likely to lead to disaster.
7. It has been noted that the spread of the disease
is materially affected by the number of infected
animals present, at least when these are above a
certain minimum.
8. The simplicity of the technique described by
van Rensburgh and its possible role in a nationa
policy of mastitis eradication are emphasized.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to express our thanks to Mr A. R. Green
for help in collecting milk samples, to W. Bettazzi
for help with the vaccination and to Dr F. C.
Minett for examining the paper.
REFERENCES
Field, H. I. and Smith, H. W. (1944). The examination of
milk samples for mastitis: the comparative value of deep
blood plating and incubated smears in diagnosis. Vet.
Rec. 56, 425
Minett, F. C. and Martin, W. J. (1936). Influence of mastitis
and of Brucella abortus infection upon the milk yield of
cows. J. Dairy Res. 7, 122
Rowlands, W. T. and Field, H. I. (1943). The examination
of milk samples for mastitis. Vet. Rec. 55, 495
Van Rensburgh, S. W. J. (1941). The diagnosis of chronic
streptococcus mastitis.—Reaction, chlorine, methylene
blue and Hotis tests, and microscopic examination.
Onderstepoort J. vet. Sci. 16, 69
FLUORESCENCE IN GHEE AND DETECTION OF ITS ADULTERATION
K. T. ACHAYA AND B. N. BANERJEE, Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
(Received for publication on 18 June 1945)
THE last 25 years have seen a remarkable increase
the literature of fluorescence analysis in ultra-
violet light. Dairy products have been examined
in some detail—butter in the West [Haitinger
Grengros and Schultz, 1927], and its counterpart
ghee in India. Jha [1939] and Muthanna and