7
branes,and petechiæ on the conjuntivæ, with rapid loss of condition and occurrence
of relapses ; and this is no doubt very frequently confounded with Surra.
Evans has often been asked to destroy cases of this description, but from the
experience gained in an outbreak in 1890, he was led to discard all other symp-
toms as a proof of the existence of Surra, and base his diagnosis solely on the
presence of the hæmatozoon in the blood."
" In post mortem examinations of Surra-subjects, ulcers in various stages
are present in the majority of cases, shallow, deep, or small as the case may
be. They present the appearance, which may perhaps be conveyed best by the
effect produced by a cockroach eating the surface of a patent leather boot."
" Spiroptera nests are by no means invariably found in the stomach ; in fact
they appear to be much rarer in Burmah than in the Bombay Presidency."
The Panthés, who are great mule-breeders across our Frontiers, state that
Surra kills a great number of their mules every season, in the valleys between
the Frontier and Yunnan. The same people also state that Surra prevails in
certain parts of the North and South Shan States.
In Burmah the stations where the greatest mortality has occurred are as
follows :—Mogaung, Bhamo, Mogok, Katha and the Upper Chindwin.
In Lower Burmah a few cases only have been observed, viz., in Rangoon,
Prome and Thayetmyo.
The accompanying map received from Veterinary Lieutenant G. H. Evans
shows that Surra is pretty general throughout Upper Burmah.
Mr. Rimington, Managing Director of the Bombay Tramway Company,
kindly supplied me in August 1892, with the attached statement, giving parti-
culars of 14 horses belonging to the stud of the Bombay Tramway Company,
which were attacked with Surra fever in the months of November and Decem-
ber 1888.
Locality and description of the stables.—It will be observed that of the 14
cases of Surra, 10 cases have come from the Company's Parel Stables. These
stables were constructed in 1886, with accommodation for 174 horses, and
this was the actual number kept there during the two months, when the outbreak
prevailed. The stables are situated on the Parel Road in the northern and
most inland quarter of Bombay. They are bounded on the north by an en-
closure about 5,000 square yards in area, which is used as a vegetable market,
and skirted on 3 sides by lines of brick-built chawls ; on the south by an
open space reserved for the purposes of a proposed new station by the G. I. P.
Railway Company ; on the east by the Parel Road, on the other side of which
are the Victoria Gardens; and on the west by the G. I. P. Railway track,
beyond which again for some distance there is open land. About 2,000 feet
from the stables the flats commence: open, low-lying vacant land which extends
for several miles, and the greater portion of which is under water during the
monsoon. For the two and a half years the stables have been in use, there has, up
to last November, hardly been a single case of fever in them. The stables are
splendidly ventilated, and the drainage is on the surface system, and could not be
better. The stalls and all the stable fittings are kept most scrupulously clean,
and bad smells are unknown. The temperature at Parel generally ranges 2° lower
than at Colába, especially at night. The Colába Stables are situated in the Colába
Causeway. To the north is a large piece of maidán, belonging to Government,
sometimes submerged during the monsoon for a few days at a time ; to the
south are goods stations and yards belonging to the two Railway Companies ;
to the east the Colába Causeway road, with the sea about 600 feet beyond ; to
the west open maidán with the sea distant about 1,000 feet. The average
number of horses stabled at Colába during November and December was 574.
The drainage of the stable is inferior to that at Parel, being on an under-ground
system. Great care, however, is taken in flushing the drains, and keeping the
premises scrupulously clean. The ventilation of the stables is good. Fever has
often been prevalent in these stables in October and November, but the number
of fatal cases has been few, and the disease has usually disappeared as soon as
the cold weather set in.