NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
43
IV.—MISCELLANEOUS WORK.
40. Criminal poisoning.—Five post mortem examinations
were conducted by the staff and only in one case material was
sent to the Chemical Examiner. Five cases were dropped
owing to want of evidence and the other was not proceeded
with because of the negative report from the Chemical
Examiner.
41. Malicious injury.—Sixteen wound certificates and
eleven post mortem examinations were conducted by the staff.
Seven persons were convicted for inflicting malicious injuries
on animals and the rest of the cases were either thrown out
for want of evidence or compromised.
42. S.P.C.A. and the Gorakshana Sabha.—The Veteri-
nary Assistant Surgeon in charge of the Veterinary hospital,
Bellary, gave 32 wound certificates for cases prose-
cuted by the local S.P.C.A. as compared with 27 of
the previous year. All the cases ended in conviction, but no
case was remanded to the hospital for treatment. The Gorak-
shana Sabha which is an institution like the Pinjrapole in
Madras, utilized the free services of the Veterinary Assistant
Surgeon in charge for attending on sick animals. The Circle
Officer also paid some visits to the place at the request of the
Secretary, and gave advice on Veterinary matters whenever it
was sought for. The Veterinary Adviser also visited it in
October last.
43. Inspection of slaughter-houses.—During the year the
municipality of Kurnool sanctioned the inspection of meat
and slaughter-houses by the local Veterinary Assistant Surgeon
in charge of the Veterinary dispensary from 16th September
1027 and the inspection of meat, etc., was discontinued at
Chittoor from 6th August 1927.
44. Cattle fairs.—The annual cattle fairs at Kuruvatti,
Mylar and Punganur were attended by the concerned Touring
Veterinary Assistant Surgeons. The other smaller fairs in
Gorantla, and weekly cattle fairs in Hindupur and Palmaner
were also attended. The Cattle Disease Act was enforced in
fairs at Kruruvatti, Punganur and Gorantla during the period.
The fair of Kothacheruvu in Anantapur district was stopped
owing to the prevalence of Rinderpest in the district.
45. Inspection of Government live-stock.—The Govern-
ment animals at Hagari, Nandyal and Siddapuram were
inspected by the staff concerned and the Circle Officer also
inspected the animals of the former two places. The Veteri-
nary Assistant Surgeons concerned have also treated sick
44
animals there, whenever called upon to do so. The Veteri-
nary Assistant Surgeon in charge of the Veterinary institution
and the Touring Veterinary Assistant Surgeon inspected the
sheep and cattle belonging to the Recruit School, Anantapur.
46. Research.—While on tour I studied the kinds of
cercariæ in fresh water molluscs in Adoni, Anantapur, Ham-
pasagar, Markapur and Kurnool. In a snail from the water
works tank of Adoni I was able to find a new species of
cercaria, a paper on which will be published soon. In all
the places I found mostly amphistome cercariæ and a few
furco cercaria? and a xiphidio cercaria. All these were found
to have been described by Sewell in his book on Cercariæ
Indicæ.
47. In many villages where I camped I was able to obtain
Tabanus diteneatus and T. striatus. The latter was found in
very large numbers in Anantapur town. Dissections of three
species of ticks were done with a view to study the develop-
mental stages of T. mutans and the results were inconclusive.
It was noticed that in all these districts 0. savigni is prevalent
to a large extent. In three bullocks microfilariæ were obser-
ved in their blood smears. Ticks from their bodies, and wild
mosquitoes from their standing places were dissected and no
developmental forms were seen. Now that a Personal Assist-
ant is appointed it is hoped that more time will be devoted
during the ensuing year for this kind of study.
48. Nine specimens of urethral calculi and also four
samples of water obtained from Koilkuntla and Proddatur
were sent to the Officer in charge, Deficiency Diseases En-
quiry, Coonoor.
49. The Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in charge of the
Madanapalle hospital treated 28 cases of chronic luxation of
the patella in cattle by injecting Tr. iodine. Some of these
were very badly affected and required three injections and
were completely cured. This I mention here because in
Telugu there is a proverb which means that no drug can cure
such condition in cattle.
V.—GENERAL REMARKS.
50. During the year the touring staff had to report in
nineteen instances about the slackness on the part of village
munsifs in reporting outbreaks of contagious diseases.
51. The following Veterinary Assistant Surgeons helped
me during the serum simultaneous inoculations in this
circle:—Messrs. K. S. Ramachandran, A. D. Samuel,
45
P. K. Rangesa Rao, T. M. Gangadhara Konar, P. A. Partha-
saradhi, B. Hanumantha Rao and C. R. Chamaraj. Mr. Rama-
chandran arranged the largest number of camps for these
inoculations. The Tahsildar of Harpanahalli was good enough
to arrange for the serum simultaneous inoculation camp
there and at the same time helped this department in check-
ing the movements of a herd of cattle infected with Rinder-
pest belonging to Koracha cattle dealers. This has greatly
helped in keeping the Mylar fair free from Rinderpest.
52. The Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in charge of the
Veterinary hospital, Madanapalle, held two exhibitions in con-
nexion with rural reconstruction work and the National
Health Week. The touring veterinary assistant surgeons
spoke to the people, whenever an opportunity presented
itself, on the work done by this department and its advan-
tages. It is hoped that better organized work in this direc-
tion will be clone in the ensuing year.
53. Out of the total number of castrations done by the
staff 508 were done by the Burdizzo castrator as against 288
of last year. There were four of these instruments in this
circle during the year. I demonstrated the method of castra-
tion by this instrument in some villages I visited.
54. Office.—The three clerks of this office that were on
probation were confirmed in their respective places. The
Head clerk and the second clerk passed the Account Test
Examination. They have discharged their duties satisfac-
torily though the clerical work has increased considerably.
M. ANANTNARAYANA RAO,
Acting Officer in charge, III Circle,
Civil Veterinary Department, Bellary.
46
ANNUAL ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE IV CIRCLE,
CIVIL VETERINARY DEPARTMENT, MADRAS, FOE
THE YEAR 1927-28.
I.—AUMINISTRATION.
1 was in charge of the IV Circle consisting of the districts of
Chingleput, South Arcot, Tanjore and North Arcot throughout
the year with the exception of seventeen days from 1st April
1927 to 17th April 1927 during which period Mr. T. J. Hurley,
M.R.C.V.S., I.V.S., was in charge. Mr. Hurley did not tour
during the above period and I was on tour for 207 days
during the remaining part of the year. All the institutions
and touring billets of the circle were inspected in detail once
during the year and the second inspection in the case of six
institutions also was undertaken. A surprise inspection was
also paid to the Veterinary dispensary, Negapatam, during
the year. In addition, 21 visits were paid to the headquarter
hospital at Saidapet.
2. During October 1927 I sat as a member of the Board
of Examiners for B.Sc. (Agriculture) Degree Examination,
1928.
3. Serum simultaneous inoculation against Rinderpest was
conducted by me in three camps at Chunampet, Vellore
Central Jail and Tirur (Chingleput district) on 14, 7 and 38
animals respectively during January, February and March
1928, Muktesar virus being used.
4. Twenty-one calves of the Zamindar of Kangundi were
inoculated by me with Blackquarter aggressin and two of
the calves immunised against Rinderpest by serum simultane-
ous method of inoculation were also tested during the year,
but the virus which was obtained from Muktesar was found
dead and consequently another cow from the Zamindar's herd
which was protected against Rinderpest by serum simultane-
ous method of inoculation was retested with Rinderpest virus
drawn from a control at Vellore. To the satisfaction of the
Zamindar the cow did not react and one of the controls used
for the test died. The rest of the animals of the Zamindar
will be protected by serum simultaneous method against
Rinderpest during the current official year.
47
5. The Head office stationery, stores and furniture were
inspected by me periodically. The circle office was inspected
by the Veterinary Adviser as usual.
II.—EXECUTIVE STAFF.
6. On the 31st March 1928, the subordinate staff includ-
ing the one leave reserve was 29 Veterinary Assistant
Surgeons as against 27 of the previous year. There was no
casualty among the staff during the year.
III.—HOSPITAL AND DISPENSARIES.
7. Two Veterinary dispensaries were opened one at Tindi-
vanam and another at Tiruvallur on 24th November 1927
and 14th November 1927 respectively, on the whole bringing
up the number of Veterinary hospitals and dispensaries to 5
and 10 respectively.
8. All the Veterinary institutions in the circle worked
satisfactorily and the total showed a marked increase in the
number of in and out-patients treated and castrations per-
formed, viz., 21,461 as against 19,590 in the previous year.
The three institutions at Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurchi and
Conjeeveram showed a slight fall in the figures when compared
to those of the previous year. The two new dispensaries at
Tindivanam and Tiruvallur have had a satisfactory start.
9. The number of cases supplied with medicine during the
year was 297 as against 391.
10. Arrangements are being made to select sites at Tiru-
valur, Mayavaram, Chingleput and Conjeeveram for the con-
struction of permanent buildings for the institutions located
at the above places. The construction of permanent build-
ings at Kumbakonam for a Veterinary hospital has almost
been finished and the institution will be shifted to the new
buildings in the near future.
11. During the year, various sites were inspected by me
at Negapatam for constructing permanent buildings and
during March 1928 they were inspected by the Veterinary
Adviser to the Government of Madras, but unfortunately, the
several sites selected at different times were through some
cause or other objected to by the Municipal Council.
12. The outbreak report attendance duty in the case of
Veterinary Assistant Surgeons in charge of the Veterinary
dispensaries, Conjeeveram, Ranipet and Mayavaram, has since
been removed as all the above three institutions were doing
more than fifteen cases a day on an average.
48
IV.—ITINERATING STAFF.
13. On the 31st March 1928 there were 13 touring officers
of which two were attached to the Veterinary hospital, Saida-
pet, and Veterinary dispensary, Kumbakonam, as second
Veterinary Assistant Surgeons.
14. It will not be out of place to mention here that the
system of attending to outbreak reports only by the touring
staff was found to be neither effective nor in any way effica-
cious in the way of preventing cattle diseases or popularising
the work of the department by bringing veterinary aid to the
very door of the ryots, wherever and whenever it was most
needed. All the second Veterinary Assistant Surgeons attach-
ed to the Veterinary institutions having more than an average
daily attendance of 20, except in the case of the institutions
at Kumbakonam and Saidapet, have been directed to follow
the method of running camp dispensaries in the absence of
outbreak reports. In order to serve better the interests of the
agricultural population the headquarters of the second Veteri-
nary Assistant Surgeons attached to the Veterinary dispensaries,
Tiruvalur and Negapatam, were moved to Tirutturaippundi
and Nannilam respectively.
15. The opening of the two new dispensaries has necessi-
tated the shifting of the headquarters of the Touring Veterinary
Assistant Surgeons, Tindivanam and Tiruvallur to Villupuram
and Ponneri. The duties of the above two Veterinary
Assistant Surgeons have been lightened by the removal of a
taluk from the jurisdiction of each".
16. A comparative statement of cases treated and castra-
tions performed by the Touring staff is furnished below : —
Year.
1926-27 ...
1927-28 ...
Cases treated.
Contagious
895
1,649
Non-
contagious.
3,128
3,292
Castrations.
808
604
17. Three hundred and two castrations by the Burdizzo's
method were performed by the staff during the year as against
113 of the previous year. The fall under castrations can be
ascribed only to the absence of systematic touring from the
beginning of the year till the end of September 1927.
18. Veterinary Assistant Surgeons G. Krishnaswami Muda-
livar and V. Krishnaswami were deputed to work in the serum
simultaneous inoculation camps during the year.
49
V.—CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.
19. Rinderpest.—Out of the 312 outbreak reports of
Rinderpest received during the year 17 only were left un-
attended. The disease was very severe in Chingleput district.
27,053 inoculations by the serum alone method were performed
as against 15,436 of last year. Of the above, 20,721
inoculations were performed in Chingleput district alone.
Besides this, 59 inoculations were done by the serum simul-
taneous method.
20. The Madras Cattle Disease Act II of 1866 was enforced
throughout the year and the various cattle fairs in the Chingle-
put district were closed during the whole year.
21. Additional hands were seasonally posted to Chingleput,
Conjceveram and Tiruvallur whenever the disease became
rife and the one posted to Conjeeveram still continues there as
an additional Veterinary Assistant Surgeon. The disease was
so widely prevalent and the ryots in some places so stubborn
in refusing to submit their animals to preventive inoculation
that compulsory inoculation by the serum alone method was
enforced in the villages of Krishnapuram, Zamin Thondam-
battu, Sennankaranai and Kalancheri. The Touring Veteri-
nary Assistant Surgeon, Tiruvallur, was deputed to carry out
inoculations in the above villages.
22. In North Arcot district Rinderpest was prevalent till
September 1927 and though the outbreak reports were rare
by that time, the Act had to be enforced to enable the District
Magistrate to close the weekly cattle fair at Salavedu in Wandi-
wash taluk so as to prevent ryots from taking cattle from
affected parts on the borders of Chingleput district to the above
fair for sale. The ryots of Nedungal village were so stubborn
in refusing to submit their animals to preventive inoculation
against Rinderpest that the District Magistrate was requested
to issue necessary orders for carrying out compulsory inocula-
tions. As Rinderpest broke out again in Arkonam taluk in
February 1928, the Cattle Disease Act has been enforced in
the taluk for three months from 27th March 1928.
23. In the South Arcot district in the month of August
1927 one outbreak report of Rinderpest was received from the
village of Kilgudalur in Tindivanam taluk, but no further
spread of the disease was noticed. The source of infection
was traced to cattle taken from Seeveram, Conjeeveram taluk
in Chingleput district. During the early months of the current
calendar year, the disease was observed to spread from village
to village in Tirukkoyilur taluk necessitating the enforcement
50
of the Cattle Disease Act and ordering the closure of the
annual cattle fairs at Koovakam and Parikal held in April
1928.
24. Hæmorrhagic septicæmia.—The disease prevailed in
all the four districts. 241 reports were received of which 170
were from Tanjore district. Only 20 reports were left un-
attended as either due to want of time or late receipt of the
reports. It necessitated the posting of an additional Veteri-
nary Assistant Surgeon to the Tanjore district. 3,065 inocula-
tions were performed against the disease with only four
casualties among the inoculated bovines.
25. Black quarter.—One hundred and fifty-eight reports
were received and all but four were attended to. 2,500
inoculations by the serum alone method were carried out
against the disease. 21 inoculations with Black quarter aggres-
sin were conducted in Kangundi in North Arcot district.
26. Anthrax.—Out of the 114 reports received, 104 were
attended to and 344 inoculations were performed against the
disease.
27. Foot-and-mouth disease.—Forty-eight
of the 66
outbreak reports of this disease were attended to. The non-
attendance of 18 was either due to want of time or the late
receipt of reports. The disease prevailed somewhat virulently
in Muthukrishnapuram and neighbouring villages in Cuddalore
taluk. The Madras Cattle Disease Act was enforced in and
within 5 miles radius of Muthunarayanapuram and the weekly
cattle fair held at the latter village was closed for a period of
two months from 6th March 1928.
28. Sheep-pox.—Three reports were received and attended
to.
29. Kumri—Eight
cases were diagnosed by the staff
during the year.
30. Trypanosomiasis.—Seven cases of surra among horses
were confirmed microscopically, two by me during the course
of my tours and the rest by the Principal. Madras Veterinary
College. Compensation in six cases was given to the owners
in accordance with the Glanders and Farcy Act.
31. Rabies.—Thirty cases of Rabies were brought to the
notice of the staff of which 15 cases were confirmed micros-
copically.
32. Spirochætosis.—An outbreak of Spirochætosis among
fowls in Tanjore district was investigated into and necessary
treatment, preventive and curative, was given,
51
33. There were also other outbreaks of the disease amongst
fowls in the Government House, Guindy, and in the neighbour-
hood of Saidapet. Treatment with subcutaneous injection of
soamin was resorted to with very good results.
34. Other diseases.—Sixteen miscellaneous reports were
received by the staff and 13 of them were attended to, but they
were found to be of a non-contagious nature.
35. Bacteriological cases.—Two hundred and ninety-nine
specimens were submitted to the Principal, Madras Veterinary
College, for microscopical examination, of which 143 were
declared positive for various diseases.
VI.—MISCELLANEOUS.
36. Criminal poisoning.—The staff were asked to conduct
post mortem examinations on four cases suspected for criminal
poisoning and materials were sent to the Chemical Examiner
and death due to poisoning was declared in all the cases.
37. Malicious injury.—Thirty-four post mortem and wound
c3rtificates were issued by the staff. Two cases were thrown
out, one was compromised in the court and the results on the
lest are not available.
38. Government livestock.—The Government animals at
the Agricultural Farm at Aduturai, the calves at the King
Institute, Guindy. the conservancy bullocks belonging to
St. Thomas' Mount Cantonment, the Government livestock of
the Borstal School at Tanjore, the municipal cattle at Kumba-
konam, the Government animals at Central Jail, Vellore, and
the bullocks of Agricultural Farm, Palakuppam, were inspected
by the respective staff and advice given whenever it was neces-
sary.
39. Meat inspection.—The Municipalities of Kumbakonam,
Cuddalore, Tiruvalur and Tiruvannamalai continued to utilize
the services of the local Veterinary Assistant Surgeons for
slaughter-house and meat inspection work. The slaughter-
house inspection work of Tanjore municipality was given to the
Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in charge, Veterinary hospital,
Tanjore, from 1st July 1927. The Union Board, Ranipet, also
availed of the services of the local Veterinary Assistant Surgeon
for slaughter-house inspection from 20th October 1927.
40. Fairs and shows.—The subordinate staff attended the
weekly and annual cattle fairs held in this circle during the
year.
52
41. Propaganda work.—Charts and diagrams relating to
the cattle diseases communicable to man were exhibited at the
cattle show held by the Zamindar of Kangundi in January
1928. A magic lantern lecture in Tamil on Rinderpest was
delivered by me to a very large number of ryots on the above
occasion.
42. Lectures on animal diseases were delivered by the
local Touring Veterinary Assistant Surgeons, Tirutturaippundi
and Ponneri, during the Health Week celebrations.
43. Investigation and research, etc.—During the month of
November 1927 a most interesting epidemic amongst the
domestic fowls and wild crows of Tanjore district was investi-
gated by me in conjunction with the Veterinary Assistant
Surgeons of the district. The epidemic was first brought to
the notice of the department by the District Medical Officer,
who stated that a large number of fowls and crows were dying
in several places in the district including Tanjore town itself.
The symptoms noticed in fowls were diarrhœa, reluctance to
take food, drowsiness, paralysis of the legs and death in 24
hours in some cases, whilst crows were said to fall out of the
trees either dead or dying.
44. As a result of my observations on many fowls, I came
to the conclusion that they were dying of spirochætosis or fowl
tick-fever. Unfortunately I was unable to observe the disease
in crows, but from the stated similarity between their
symptoms and those shown by the fowls I was of opinion that
these two classes of birds were dying of one and the same
disease. In confirmation of this, it is interesting to note thai
in one place the disease broke out in fowls only after the
death of a few crows in the neighbourhood.
45. Attempts made to confirm the diagnosis by micros-
copical examination were not successful but transmission
experiments were carried out in the laboratory attached to the
Madras Veterinary College from the two sick fowls sent from
Negapatam. As a result of the above in both the cases spiro-
chetes were recovered from the blood of the two healthy fowls
inoculated with the blood taken from the sick ones. This
confirmed the diagnosis of spirochetosis at least as far as the
epidemic in fowls was concerned. Instructions were given
about curative and preventive treatment of sick and healthy
fowls with subcutaneous injection of soamin and spraying of
poultry-yards with antiseptics to get rid of ticks.
53
VII.—GENERAL REMARKS.
46. The Veterinary Assistant Surgeons in charge of
Veterinary hospital, Cuddalore, and Veterinary dispensary,
Negapatam, granted certificates in respect of the livestock
exported to Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States and
one half of the fees collected was credited to the Government.
47. During the year under reference the staff had to com-
plain against 41 officers (village or taluk) for either not
reporting outbreaks of cattle diseases promptly or for not
maintaining the cattle mortality register or for not transmitting
the outbreak reports received from the village officers to the
concerned Veterinary Assistant Surgeons.
48. On the whole the executive staff worked satisfactorily
during the year and the names of the following Veterinary
Assistant Surgeons deserve special mention :—
1. G. Krishnaswami Mudaliyar.
2. W. J. D'Costa.
3. K. A. Ramaswami Ayyar.
4. G. Theophilus.
49. The work of the office staff continued to be satisfac-
tory.
A. J. WILSON,
Officer in charge, IV Circle,
Civil Veterinary Department, Madras.