NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
54
ANNUAL ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE V CIRCLE,
CIVIL VETERINARY DEPARTMENT, COIMBATORE,
FOR THE YEAR 1927-28.
I.—ADMINISTRATION.
1. During the year under report there was no change in
the territorial jurisdiction of this circle, comprising the dis-
tricts of Salem, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Malabar and South
Kanara.
2. I held charge of the circle throughout the year, spent
179 clays on tour, inspected all the Veterinary institutions and
Touring Veterinary Assistant Surgeons, attended the cattle and
pony show at Tiruppur, inspected the Government animals
at Nilambur and Cinchona factory at Naduvattam, conducted
Black quarter vaccination at the Pattagar's farm, protected
Government cattle against Rinderpest by the serum simultane-
ous method at the Hosur Cattle Farm, Agricultural College,
Coimbatore, and the animals purchased for the Ceylon Govern-
ment, organised serum simultaneous inoculation campaign for
combating outbreaks of Rinderpest in the Nilgiris and elsewhere
and selected sites for permanent hospital buildings at
Gobichettipalaiyam and Tellicherry. I continued to visit fre-
quently the hospital at headquarters.
II.—EXECUTIVE STAFF.
3. At the end of the year there were 36 Veterinary Assist-
ant Surgeons in this circle—18 in charge of Veterinary
institutions, 15 on itinerating duty and 3 on leave. Veterinary
Assistant Surgeon S. Syed Meyan resigned during the year.
Two Veterinary Assistant Surgeons were deputed to work in
the Forest Department to take the place of those who were
either reverted or proceeding on leave. Veterinary Assistant
Surgeon R. Swaminathan from this circle took the Post-gradu-
ate course at the Madras Veterinary College. One new post of
compounder for the Veterinary dispensary at Gobichettipalai-
yam was sanctioned and filled during the year. The
compounder's post at the Veterinary hospital, Mangalore, was
vacant at the close of the year as the acting incumbent
resigned.
55
II.—(a) HOSPITALS AND DISPENSARIES.
4. The number of institutions under the control of this
circle at the end of the year including the dispensaries newly
opened at Tellicherry and Nathakadayur was 18. The
hospitals attached to the Agricultural College Farm, Coimbatore
and the Hosur Cattle Farm which are under the control of the
Agricultural Department have also to be taken into account
as these two institutions also are being inspected by me.
5. There has been increase in the number of cases treated
and castrations performed in the hospitals and dispensaries—
30,001 as against 26,484 in the previous year. All the hospitals
and dispensaries except Erode and Hosur Cattle Farm have
contributed towards this increase of 3,517. There was slight
decrease in the number of cases treated at the hospitals at
Erode and Hosur Cattle Farm, as compared with the previous
year. In the case of Erode, the difference is so slight as to
be negligible and as regards Hosur Cattle Farm it is a matter
for congratulation, the percentage of sick animals at the breed-
ing farm being less.
6. As usual, Coimbatore district has continued to lead in
the matter of S.P.C.A. cases remanded to the infirmaries for
treatment; of a total of 1,744 cases for the year, 1,592 were
in Coimbatore, 130 in the Nilgiris and 22 in Salem.
7. The dispensary building at Pollachi was acquired by
Government during the year and some of the urgent repairs
wore carried out.
8. An operation room for small animals and a pucca waiting
shod wore provided at the Coimbatore hospital.
0. At Tiruppur the District Agricultural Association has
built a pucca shed for the two breeding bulls maintained there.
Government have sanctioned the construction of quarters for
the Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in charge of the hospital and
a well.
10. At the Ootacamund Veterinary hospital the improve-
ments and additions effected wore an operation room for small
animals, a store room, an irrigation platform, a horse travis
and a road to the Veterinary Assistant Surgeon's quarters.
11. The question of providing quarters for the Veterinary
Assistant Surgeon in charge of the hospital at Salem has been
taken up and it is hoped that Government will sanction its
construction at an early date.
12. At the Calicut Veterinary hospital three more dog-
kennels and an operation room for small animals have been
provided.
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13. Proposals for the acquisition of the dispensary building
at Palghat are under correspondence.
14. The second Veterinary Assistant Surgeon at the
Veterinary hospital, Coimbatore, was relieved of his touring
work as the average daily attendance was over 50. This
institution will soon require a third hand to adequately cope
with its growing work.
15. It is pleasing to be able to note that the hospitals and
dispensaries in the circle have done very well indeed during
the year.
II.—(b) ITINERATING STAFF.
16. The change in the system of touring work introduced
last year continued to be in force till October, when all the
old touring billets were revived, each Touring Veterinary
Assistant Surgeon having to do at least 20 days' tour in a month
whether attending outbreaks of contagious diseases or in camp
dispensaries.
17. Below is a comparative statement of the cases treated
and castrations performed by the touring staff:—
Year.
1926-27 ...
1927-28 ...
Cases treated.
Contagious
diseases.
1,606
2,738
Non-
contagious
diseases.
3,376
3,142
Castrations.
659
564
18. The decrease in the non-contagious cases treated and
castrations performed is chiefly due to the staff being, engaged
in combating serious outbreaks of contagious diseases. The
demand for staff for dealing with contagious diseases was such
that adequate provision could not be made in all cases. For
the same reason castration by Burdizzo's instrument could
not be done more extensively. The Touring Veterinary
Assistant Surgeon, Kollegal, did 134 castrations by this
method.
III.—CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.
19. Rinderpest.—Of the contagious diseases as reported
during the year, the most widely prevalent and that which put
to test the strength of the staff was Rinderpest and almost all
the districts were affected in varying degree by its prevalence.
The Nilgiris and Malabar suffered the most and South Kanara
the least.
57
20. Of the 317 reports of this disease received as against
205 in the previous year, 285 were attended to by the staff.
Of the remainder, some were pending attendance at the end
of the year, and others not attended to, the outbreaks having
subsided.
21. The Cattle Disease Act was in force throughout the
year in the Nilgiris and in the Hosur taluk of Salem district.
In Malabar the Act was in force as shown below:—
Wynaad taluk
Ernad and
taluks ...
... ... 1st April 1927 to 28th March
1928.
Walluvanad
... ... 29th November 1927 to 28th
March 1928.
22. In the Nilgiris and Malabar-Wynaad the task of com-
hating a contagious disease like Rinderpest is rendered
extraordinarily difficult by the apathy and ignorance of the
cattle owners, the poor quality and semi-wild nature of the
cattle which live in the open from year end to year end. In
most cases the owner is ignorant of the strength of his herd
which costs him nothing to keep and naturally is unwilling to
bestow any attention when the disease comes round. It was
a common experience in those parts to find the owners unwill-
ing to help the Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in securing the
animals for inoculation.
23. Twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and fifty inocu-
lations by the serum alone method were performed in 184
outbreaks as against 17,017 inoculations in the previous year.
Inoculation could not be undertaken in all the outbreaks
attended owing to want of serum in some cases, the disease
having subsided in others and unwillingness on the part of the
owners in the rest.
24. Compulsory inoculation against the disease was
resorted to in the Gudalur taluk of the Nilgiris and in Wynaad,
Ernad and Walluvanad taluks of Malabar, where cattle-pounds
under the Act were established. 2,455 out of the total number
of inoculations by the serum alone method were in the areas
served by these cattle-pounds.
The Veterinary Assistant
Surgeon in charge of the cattle-pound at Erumad village in
Gudalur taluk reported to the Deputy Tahsildar, Gudalur, the
names of certain ryots who refused to submit their cattle for
inoculation but no prosecutions were instituted.
25. A special feature in connection with the control of
this disease in the circle during the year, was the successful
8
58
demonstration of the advantages of conferring lasting immuni-
ty by the serum simultaneous method of inoculation in actual
outbreaks. An outbreak of the disease within the municipal
limits of Ootacamund afforded the opportunity of proving to
the satisfaction of the owners of valuable herds that serum si-
multaneous method of inoculation was by far the best solution
of the problem of protection of cattle exposed to infection.
And many of the cattle owners in and around Ootacamund sub-
mitted their cattle for active immunisation. The success of
this campaign was in no small measure due to the wholehearted
co-operation and help rendered by Mr. Davis, the Municipal
Chairman, and officers of the Health Department.
20. In order to enable this being done on an extensive
scale, a circular embodying precise instructions for carrying out
serum simultaneous inoculations in actual outbreaks was issued
to the staff.
27. The question of suitable virus for these inoculations was
easily solved by the promptness with which it was made available
by post from the Mysore Serum Institute. And the number of
outbreaks in which the Touring Veterinary Assistant Surgeons
were able to undertake these inoculations since then has more
than fulfilled expectations.
28. It is highly desirable that the production and distribution
of virus should be under our own control. I have had some
little experience of a virus depot on a small scale in the
Municipal Segregation Camp near the Kennels at Ootacamund
in connection with the inoculations on the Nilgiris and I think
it would be difficult to find a more suitable place for this
purpose anywhere else in the Presidency. The advantages of
having a virus depot of our own will more than repay the cost
of its up-keep.
29. At the end of the year the number of inoculations done
by the serum simultaneous method was 2,153, of which 1,902
were done in 15 outbreaks in the Nilgiris, Coimbatore and
Malabar. There was only one mortality due to an animal in
the incubative stage being inoculated. Experience has shown
that most of the writers on the subject in the past have been
unduly pessimistic and cautious to a fault.
30. It is hoped that this method of inoculation will, in
course of time, replace entirely the serum alone method in
combating Rinderpest.
59
31. At the time of serum simultaneous inoculation at the
Hosur Cattle Farm, anti-rinderpest serum manufactured at
the Mysore Serum Institute was used as a test on 13 country-
bred cattle, viz., Schindi calves 8, Kangayam calves 4 and
Delhi buffalo 1, and comparing the reactions shown it was
found to be as effective as the class II special serum supplied
from Muktesar.
32. Anthrax.—Sixty-two reports of this disease were
received as against 40 in the previous year and 49 were attend-
ed to. The others were not attended to either for want of
time or because the disease subsided. Owing to the sporadic
nature of the disease, it was possible to perform 118 inocula-
tions only in 4 of the outbreaks, the disease having subsided
in the others at the time of visit.
33. Hæmorrhagic septicæmia.—Seventeen out of the 20
reports received were attended to and 163 inoculations were
performed in three outbreaks. There was no disease at the
lime of visit in the other outbreaks and so no inoculations
were done.
34. Black quarter.—Of the 05 outbreaks reported 43 were
attended. Most of these were as usual reported from the
Dharmapuri division of Salem district. 1,020 inoculations
were done by the serum alone method and 862 by sero-
aggressin method. More than half the number of reports
could not be attended to on account of the prevalence of
Rinderpest which took up most of the time of the Touring
Veterinary Assistant Surgeon and no additional hand was
available. In fact this billet was without a substitute for some
time when the Touring Veterinary Assistant Surgeon was on
sick leave.
35. Foot-and-mouth.—Of the 40 reports received 27 were
attended to and the rest could not be attended to owing to
the prevalence of more serious diseases elsewhere.
36. Rabies.—Of the 60 cases suspected, the disease was
confirmed in 19 cases and in the rest confirmation was not
sought. One pony at the Tiruchengodu dispensary and 4 dogs
at the Mangalore Veterinary hospital were given anti-rabic
treatment. All the animals were reported to be alive and well.
37. Glanders.—No cases were reported during the year.
Eight horses were tested with Mallein at the Hosur Cattle
Farm. In seven of these the reactions were negative and
in one animal doubtful, which is to be tested again.
60
38. Piroplasmosis.—Four out of the six cases in canines
suspected for the disease were confirmed microscopically.
39. Distemper.—Several cases of this disease are reported
to have been treated successfully with prophylactic and cura-
tive vaccines at the Veterinary hospital, Coonoor, during the
year.
40. Chicken-pox.—There was an outbreak of this disease
at the Hosur Cattle Farm and most of the young chicks
succumbed.
41. Johne's disease.—Of the three bovines at the Hosur
Cattle Farm suspected for this disease two were confirmed
by microscopic examination at the Madras Veterinary College
laboratory. No organisms could be found in the rectal
washings of the other case. Another bullock from the Salem
Jail suspected for the disease died after protracted illness.
42. Kumri.—Four cases were recorded during the year.
IV.—MISCELLANEOUS.
43. Bacteriological.—One hundred and twenty-six speci-
mens were submitted by the staff to the Madras Veterinary
College laboratory for examination.
44. A case of abscess in a bullock at the Coimbatore
Veterinary hospital which did not respond to the usual treat-
ment was successfully treated with auto-vaccine prepared at
the Madras Veterinary College laboratory.
45. Criminal.—Twenty wound certificates and 11 post-
mortem certificates were given by the staff for malicious
injury. Of these two ended in conviction with a fine of
Rs. 100 and Rs. 75, respectively, in 12 results not known,
in one compromise was effected, in another no action was
taken, one pending and in three others prosecution was not
launched for want of evidence.
46. Municipal.—The Salem District Board has exempted
unladen sick animals attending Veterinary hospital for treat-
ment from levy of tolls with effect from 1st April 1928.
47. Ootacamund and Coimbatore Municipalities continue
to have whole-time Veterinary Assistant Surgeons. In all
other Municipalities except Tellicherry, Salem, Mangalore,
Pollachi, Dharapuram and Udumalpet, meat inspection is
done by a Veterinary Assistant Surgeon of this department.
There can be no valid excuse, except in the case of Udumal-
pet where there is no Veterinary institution yet, for not
employing the Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in charge of
61
the institution for purposes of meat inspection. Mention has
been made about this in the successive annual reports of
this department. It seems that the desired object cannot be
achieved unless an obligation is imposed by rule that meat
inspection in municipal towns shall be done by a Veterinary
Assistant Surgeon.
48. Fairs and Shows.—The Cattle and Pony Show at
Tiruppur and the annual cattle fairs at Kalipatti, Mecheri and
Kulgunda were held during the year. The Cattle Diseases
Act was in force in all those places. The Kizhur fair was not
held owing to prevalence of rinderpest.
49. Propaganda work.—Lectures on the care and manage-
ment and the common contagious diseases of domesticated
animals with charts and lantern slides were delivered by the
local Veterinary Assistant Surgeon to the officers and men
of the Territorial Force at the training camp in Cannanore.
V.—GENERAL REMARKS.
50. The executive staff had to complain against 17 village
officers for slackness in reporting outbreaks of contagious
diseases.
61. Although according to a recent by-law to the Madras
Cattle Disease Act, 1860, compulsory inoculation against
Rinderpest is permissible in specified areas, yet it appears
that unless it is made obligatory on the part of the owner or
keeper to produce his animals in the area for inoculation, no
action could be taken against him for evading it. This matter
may be taken up for consideration at an early date.
52. Government sanction has been accorded for the con-
struction of a permanent building for the Circle office. It is
hoped that the construction will be taken up soon and com-
pleted before the close of the current official year.
53. The clerks in the Circle office are a hard-worked lot
and it is a pity that the proposal for revising the pay of
the Head clerk has not met with favourable consideration yet.
K. KAILASAM AYYAR,
Officer in charge, V Circle,
Civil Veterinary Department, Coimbatore.
62
ANNUAL ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE VI CIRCLE,
CIVIL VETERINARY DEPARTMENT, MADURA, FOR
THE YEAR 1927-28.
I.—ADMINISTRATION.
1 held charge of the VI Circle which has for its jurisdic-
tion the districts of Trichinopoly, Madura, Ramnad and
Tmnevelly, throughout the year. I was on tour for 198
days, attended the annual cattle fair at Muthalapuram and
inspected all the Veterinary institutions twice during the
official year except Veterinary dispensaries at Ariyalur, Periya-
kulam and Sivakasi which were done only once being opened
in the latter part of the official year. All the Touring Veteri-
nary Assistant Surgeons were inspected by me twice during
the year except the office of the Touring Veterinary Assistant
Surgeon, Sivaganga, which was vacant throughout the year
since the Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in charge was on other
duty.
2. During the year, I selected one private building at
Sivakasi, one Government building at Ariyalur, and one
Municipal building at Periyakulam for the location of Veteri-
nary dispensaries in those places. A site also had been
selected at Rajapalaiyam for the construction of permanent
buildings.
3. A number of Rinderpest infected villages was visited
by me for the purpose of conducting propaganda work
regarding the harmlessness of serum simultaneous method of
inoculation against Rinderpest and the advantages of this
method over the serum alone one, with the result that three
fixed camps and nine running camps were arranged and 1,190
animals—all private owned—were inoculated (244 in fixed
camps and 046 in running camps) against Rinderpest by
serum simultaneous method. Both local and Muktesar virus
were used in inoculation camps. There was no mortality
among the animals so inoculated. This method is gaining
popularity among the ryots and I hope to do a fairly good
number during 1928-29.
4. I have also inspected the Government Livestock at
Koilpatti during the course of my inspection and found them
healthy. While at headquarters, I was able to attend the
63
Veterinary hospital, Madura, only for 12 days for the purpose
of rendering professional aid to the Veterinary Assistant Sur-
geon in charge. I was not able to attend frequently as I
was engaged in serum simultaneous inoculation work.
5. The office of this circle was inspected twice during the
year by the Veterinary Adviser to the Government of Madras.
He also inspected a fixed serum simultaneous inoculation
camp at Kattuputtur and a running camp at Sevandipuram.
II.—EXECUTIVE STAFF.
6. The total number of Veterinary Assistant Surgeons in
this circle at the close of the year under report was 29,
seventeen in charge of Veterinary institutions including the
Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in charge of the Veterinary hos-
pital, Veerakeralampudur and second Veterinary Assistant
Surgeon, Veterinary hospital, Trichinopoly and 12 in charge
of touring billets. There were no casualties among the staff
during the year, nor was there any leave reserve hand in
this circle.
(a) Hospitals and Dispensaries.
7. Three new dispensaries—one at Ariyalur, one at Peria-
kulam and one at Sivakasi—were opened and the total number
of institutions including the three new ones was 16 at the end
of the year.
8. The Veterinary hospital at Veerakeralampudur con-
tinued to be under the management of the Uthumalai Estate.
The Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in charge of the Veterinary
dispensary, Dindigul, was exempted from touring work, while
the Veterinary Assistant Surgeons in charge of the Veterinary
dispensaries, Karur, Ariyalur, Periakulam, Ramnad and Siva-
kasi were doing touring work in addition to their dispensary
work. The portion of the touring work done by the above
Veterinary Assistant Surgeons has been shown under itinerat-
ing staff. The system of touring by Veterinary Assistant
Surgeons in charge of Veterinary institutions to attend out-
break reports is found to be detrimental to the proper work-
ing of the institutions, since they had to be closed for a
longer period than two or three days at a time.
9. All the Veterinary institutions in this circle worked
satisfactorily and showed a marked increase in the number of
cases treated and number of castrations performed except
Virudhunagar and Kodaikanal. The total number of cases
treated and castrations performed in the institutions of this
64
circle during this year was 18,860 and 407 as against 17,154
and 380 of the previous year. Of the 407 castrations done
at the institutions, 52 had been performed by Burdizzo
Castrator. An increase in the number of cases supplied with
medicine but not brought to the institutions has been observ-
ed—362 against 209 of the previous year. The increase is
presumably due to medicine supplied to contagious cases
owing to the prevalence of contagious disease in this circle.
There has been a fall in both admissions and attendance in
the Veterinary dispensaries at Kodaikanal and Virudhunagar.
In the former it is due to change of hands while in the latter,
it is attributed to the illiteracy of the ryots, the failure of
the monsoon and consequent economic depression, and also
to the situation of the dispensary in a non-agricultural centre.
However it is a matter for consideration whether a change
of hands would improve matters. Its progress will be watch-
ed after a change of hand is made.
10. A temporary waiting and an operation shed have been
constructed at the Veterinary dispensary, Karur, during the
year. A temporary in-patient shed for the same dispensary
has been constructed by the S.P.C.A. authorities at Trichino-
poly. At the Veterinary hospital, Madura, an existing
terraced building has been converted into a dog-ward and
necessary improvements have been made. At Virudhunagar
a new bath room had been added to the existing Veterinary
Assistant Surgeon's quarters by the Public Works Depart-
ment.
(b) Itinerating Staff.
11. Out of the 12 touring billets sanctioned for this circle
only nine touring billets were actually working at the close
of the official year. Three touring billets namely, Ariyalur.
Periakulam and Sivaganga had to be temporarily closed since
Rinderpest was virulent in Tinnevelly and Madura districts
and all the available hands were utilised to combat the same.
No new touring billets were opened in this circle during the
year under report. A comparative statement of the work
done by the touring staff for the last two years is given below
for reference :—
Year.
1926-27 ... ...
1027-28 ... ...
Inocula-
tions.
4,505
24.693
Contagions
cases
treated.
306
1,821
Non-conta-
gious cases
treated.
5.444
4.249
Castra-
tions.
997
715
12. From the above details it will be seen that there is an
increase in the number of inoculations carried out and
contagious cases treated. But there is a fall in the number of