NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
Medical Officers of the Army of India.
125
Here again we have an instance of the origin and diffusion of a sclerotial
blight under the influence of conditions specially calculated to favour such an
occurrence. The soil is stated to have been excessively manured and flooded
with irrigation-water, conditions specially adapted to favour the evolution of
any sclerotia which may have been originally present in it, and the development
of invasive mycelium from the reproductive bodies to which they gave origin.
The gradual extension of the disease from one side of the field to the other
points to infection spreading from host to host by means of direct extension of
mycelium, and, as portions of the diseased roots when exposed to a moist
atmosphere became rapidly clothed superficially with emergent white strands of
filaments, there can be little doubt that this had actually taken place. In the
case of a blight of this character, affecting the superficial tissues and of directly
contagious character, the immediate removal and destruction of any diseased
plants is, of course, much more important than in the case of the sclerotial root-
blights of the Potato and Brinjal which have been previously described and in
which the parasitic elements are deeply buried within the substance of the
host. This, combined with sparing irrigation and avoidance of any excessive
manuring of the soil, would certainly tend to limit the extension of the disease
in any area in which it has actually established itself, whilst the tendency to its
recurrence at future periods would be obviated by careful burning of all portions
of diseased tissues which are likely to harbour sclerotia.
VII.—Stem-blight of the Country-Almond ( Terminalia Catappa ).
This is dependent on the invasion of the tissues of the bark and wood by the
mycelium of a species of Trameter. The first evidences of its presence appear
in the form of small isolated prominences on the surface, which seem, as a rule,
to originate in connection with the bast of embryonic shoots. The onward
growth of the shoot is arrested and it assumes the form of a thick turbinate
tumour adhering by its broader extremity to the axis. Where the primary site of
invasion is on the general surface of the stem, the tumours which gradually arise
are irregular in outline and, naturally, less prominent. The disease runs a very
chronic course and it is only after it has lasted for a long time that the parasite
reveals itself superficially by giving origin to pilei. For a long time the
tumours merely go on gradually increasing in size, and, as they do so, becoming
confluent with one another. The masses of diseased tissue which are thus
formed often attain enormous dimensions and assume very irregular outlines.
126
Scientific Memoirs by
In many instances the prominences which they form are half as thick as the
stem or bough from which they originate. Ultimately, processes of destructive
disintegration set in in the mass, and now the mycelium no longer confines itself
to vegetative growth, but gives origin to fructification in the form of crops of
deep rusty-brown pilei (Plate VI, Fig. II) of woody texture and presenting the
structural features characteristic of those of the genus Trameter. As the decay
of the host-tissues advances, masses of the tumour fall away carrying the earlier
crops of pilei with them, and leaving raw surfaces exposed, from which fresh
crops originate. In consequence of frequent repetitions of these processes, the
bulk of the morbid tissue becomes greatly reduced, but, as the invasion of
healthy areas continues simultaneously to progress, any spontaneous cure of the
disease does not tend to occur. On the contrary, the general nutrition of the
host ultimately comes to be seriously interfered with by the spread of the
parasite, and, at the same time, so much. weakening is induced by the steady
disintegrative loss of tissue, that fractures are readily induced under the
influence of any sudden strain such as that caused by gusts of wind.
The appearances presented by the morbid tissues in the earlier stages of
the disease, ere disintegrative changes have begun to occur, are illustrated in
Fig. 8 of Plate V, which represents a portion of a section through the substance
of one of the localised tumours which originate where the original site of inva-
sion is in an embryonic shoot. The particular growth from which the section
was obtained was still of small size and its outer surface was quite intact and
covered with seemingly normal bark. It will be seen from the figure that the
substance of the wood is everywhere permeated by large filaments of a deep-
brown, branching, septate mycelium which occur in especial abundance in the
large pitted vessels and the tissues of the medullary rays, whilst the wood-cells
remain practically exempt. The details of the structure of the mycelium are
further illustrated in Fig. 9, which represents portions of individual filaments
from various parts of the same section.
This blight is exceedingly common among, and eventually destructive to,
trees of Terminalia Catappa in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, but there is
little doubt that it might be practically abolished were a little attention bestowed
on detecting and treating it at an early stage of its development. It so early
shows conspicuous indications of its presence, that its invasion can hardly escape
notice at a stage long before the parasite has begun to fructify, and when the
diseased tissues might readily be completely removed by means of free excision.
Such treatment would effectually prevent its further local extension, and also the
development of the reproductive elements securing its infective invasion of other
hosts, and, considering the ornamental and economic properties of the tree, it is
certainly a pity that it should be allowed to suffer as it does.
Medical Officers of the Army Of India.
127
VIII.—Uredinous blight affecting the leaves of the Teak ( Tectona
grandis).
This disease is excessively prevalent among Teak trees in the neighbour
-hood of Calcutta, and is probably one reason of the relatively poor growth which
they make within the locality. It makes its appearance regularly in the course
of the autumn and shortly becomes excessively prevalent, being in fact one of the
principal causes which lead to the leaves assuming the very unsightly, tattered
appearance which they constantly present during many months of the latter part
of their existence. The under-surfaces of the affected leaves become gradually
covered by large patches of a brilliant yellow colour, and presently afterwards
the tissues of the entire thickness of the lamina in corresponding areas dry up
and become brown and so brittle that they readily break away and leave ragged
irregular holes in their place. The orange discoloration not infrequently covers
the greater part of the entire under-surfaces of the leaves, and, once it has
begun to appear, spreads with wonderful rapidity.
On examining the leaves more closely the orange discoloration is seen to be
dependent on the presence of a dry, pulverulent material which first makes its
appearance in isolated points, but soon becomes diffused and continuous, owing
to the confluence of the latter with one another. When examined microscopi
-cally, this powder resolves itself into a mass of innumerable orange spores of
characteristically uredinous appearance (Plate VI, Fig. 9).
They are broadly oval, or, in many cases, almost spherical in form, giving
average diameters of 24 X 21 u, and are provided with a conspicuously and coarsely
tuberculate epispore. The presence of germinal pores is hard to recognise,
save in the case of spores which have germinated, but in these, under the in-
fluence of staining reagents, a varying but always considerable number of them
may be detected, distributed irregularly over the surface. They germinate rapidly
and freely when ripe, in distilled water, giving origin to germinal tubes, which, with
-in the course of twenty-four hours, have assumed the character of very long,
sinuous, occasionally branched filaments, the apices of which are occupied
by dense masses of colourless protoplasm and accumulations of orange, oil
matter. The mere presence of moisture is thus all that is necessary to induce
the contents of the spores to travel over very considerable distances in quest of a
suitable nidus for farther development. As a rule, only a single tube emerges
from each spore and, as the protoplasm and oil advance along the course of it,
the parent spore and the proximal portion of the tube are gradually com
-pletely emptied. Mere immersion in water does not obscure the tuberculation
of the epispore as it does in the case of many other kinds of uredospores, and
128
Scientific Memoirs by
even after germination, the empty spores in many instances retain their tuber-
culate character very distinctly.
On making vertical sections through the thickness of affected leaves, there
is no evidence whatever of any general permeation of the tissues by mycelium
(Plate VI, Fig. 9). The double stratum of palisade-cells beneath the epidermis
of the upper surface of the lamina is apparently entirely free from fungal
elements, and, even in the open tissue beneath, there is no evidence of any
continuous system of mycelium. On the contrary, the mycelium appears to occur
only in the form of localised patches of dense parenchymatoid tissue composed
of closely aggregated cells (Plate VI, Fig. l0), from which the stalks of the
uredospores originate.
The normal structure of the leaf of the Teak is somewhat peculiar.
Immediately beneath the epidermis of the upper surface there is a stratum
of greatly elongated palisade-cells, which is succeeded by another in which the
elements are considerably shorter but also arranged in palisade fashion.
Beneath this comes a layer of open tissue composed of cells of irregular outline,
having large intercellular spaces between them. This tissue is everywhere
present save where its continuity is interrupted by lignified cells either belong-
ing to the fibro-vascular bundles or occurring independently of these in the form
of supporting pillars passing right through the substance of the lamina from
the superior to the inferior epidermis (Plate VI, Fig. 9). It varies, however,
greatly in thickness in different places. In many, it is composed of a single
row of cells only, but in others, it forms a series of eminences filling into the
interior of corresponding projections of the inferior epidermis. In these sites
the thickness of open tissue and the area occupied by intercellular spaces is, of
course, greater than they are elsewhere and it is to them that the mycelium of
the parasite apparently is practically confined (Plate VI, Fig. 9). Here it
forms isolated, parenchymatoid beds of closely appressed cells in the deeper parts
of the open tissue and from these cellular masses the pedicels of the uredospores
originate, filling up the interior of the prominences as they increase in size
and numbers and ultimately rupturing the continuity of the epidermis to project
free upon the surface of the lamina.
In spite of this essentially localised distribution of the mycelium, the exten-
sion of the disease and of the coincident destruction of the tissues of the host
is very rapid, owing to the readiness and rapidity with which the uredospores
germinate and the great length which the resultant germinal tubes are capable
of attaining in their search for a suitable site for further development. All that
is necessary is the presence of a certain amount of moisture—that which is
nightly provided in the lower Gangetic delta by drenching dew being amply
sufficient—in order to secure the immediate germination of the ripe spores,
whilst, as the energy of the mycelium which arises subsequent to the access of
130
Scientific Memoirs by Medical Officers of the Army of India.
abnormal loss of water from the laminar surfaces. The excessive prevalence of
the blight may thus well be one factor in determining the very imperfect growth
of the Teak-tree in Lower Bengal.
IX.—Destructive fungal blights affecting seedling Conifers.
Specimens of two distinct blights of this nature were sent to me by Mr.
J. S. Gamble and are illustrated in the first seven figures in Plate VI. The first
occurred in seedlings of Pinus longifolia, and caused considerable loss among
them, " the needles becoming blackened and brittle and the entire shoot ulti-
mately dying." On microscopic examination, the entire thickness of the open
tissue beneath the epidermis was found to be permeated by a brown, closely
septate mycelium (Plate VI, Fig. 1). At certain points this gave origin to
dense masses of similar filaments from the free surfaces of which numberless
conidial cells were given off (Plate VI, Figs. 2-3). They pressed outwards against
the under side of the epidermis, and, ultimately rupturing its continuity, appeared
free on the surface of the needles. In addition to this, small groups of consider-
ably larger and very dark brown conidia occupied the cavities of the stomatic
vestibules in sites where the mycelium abounded in the corresponding
substomatic spaces (Plate VI, Figs. 4-5). The general blackening of the
surfaces of the needles which formed such a prominent feature of the disease
appeared to be mainly owing to the accumulation and germination of both the
forms of conidia which are thus set free.
The second blight occurred in forest-sown seedlings of the Deodar ( Cedrus
Libani, var. Deodara), in the neighbourhood of Chakrata. In this case, the
disease did not occasion any conspicuous blackening of the needles like that
present in the previous blight, the affected tissues merely drying up and acquiring
a bright brown colour and brittle texture. There were no external evidences of
the presence of fungal elements of any kind, but vertical sections through the
thickness of the needles revealed the presence of an abundance of large, pale-
brown, septate mycelial filaments ramifying through the substance of the open,
chlorophyll-containing tissue between the hypodermis and the colourless paren-
chymatous sheath of the vascular bundle, around which they, in many cases,
tended to form a more or less continuous stratum (Plate VI, Figs. 6-7). No signs
of fructification of any kind were present in any of the specimens.
Calcutta, March 22nd, 1895.
Plate I.
Blights affecting the Potato in India.
FIG. 1. Bangle-blight; showing the blighted portion of the base of the
a x i s
.
.
.
.
.
.
Nat. size.
„
2. Section of a tuber in the early stage of disease
. . .
„ „
3.
„ „ „
in a later stage of disease.
.
.
.
„ „
4. Transverse section of an axis ; showing the position of the fibro-
v a s c u l a r b u n d l e s
. . . .
x 3.5
„
5. Spiral vessel containing mycelial filaments
.
.
. x 400
„
6. Large pitted vessel containing mycelium
.
.
x 400
„
7. Uncoiled spiral from a vessel surrounding mycelial filaments
. . . x 400
„
8. Portion of a wood.cell containing mycelium .
.
. x 400
„
9. Transverse section of a large pitted vessel partially blocked by
mycelium.
.
.
.
.
x 6 6 0
„ 10. Pitted vessel containing a sclerotium. . .
x 6 6 0
„
11. Portion of a pitted vessel containing mycelium and developing
sclerotia
.
.
.
.
.
x 400
„
12. Fructification of Phytophthora infestans. .
.
.
x 400
„
13. Pythium-blight ; oospores in the cells of the cortex .
.
.
. x 150
„
14. Oospores from the pith
.
.
. x 660
„
15. Asexual sporangia from the pith .
.
.
.
x 4 0 0
„
16. Fungi occurring in connection with " Karrah,"
PLATE I
D. D. C. del. ad. nat.
BLIGHTS AFFECTING THE POTATOE.
Plate II
Sclerotial blights occurring in India, and Mites which are sometimes associated
with them.
FIG. 1. Sclerotia of blight affecting tubers of potato .
.
.
. x 1 0
„
2. Mites ♀ which assist the fungal mycelium in attaining access to
the interior of the tubers .
.
.
.
.
.
. x 5 0
„
3. Portion of the leg of such a mite .
. . . . . x 1 5 0
„
4. Another form of mite, probably the male of the same species,
and occurring along with the large females .
.
.
. x
5 0
„
5. Details of structure
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. x 150
„
6. Section of part of a sclerotium of the sclerotial blight of Ficus
stipulata .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. x 400
„
7. Portion of the under-part of a leaf of a Begonia ; viewed
from above, showing mycelium of the sclerotial blight of
Ficus stipulata entering a substomatic space
.
.
. x 150
„
8. Vertical section of a leaf of Begonia ; showing the mycelium of
the sclerotial blight of Ficus stipulata spread out over the
inferior epidermis and passing inwards between the large
hypodermal cells into the chlorophyll-containing tissues . x 150
„
9. Section of the superior epidermis and hypodermal cells of a leaf
of Begonia in a later stage of disease ; showing mycelial
filaments entering the hypodermal cells from the palisade-
tissue
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. x 1 5 0
„
10. Blighted leaves of Ficus stipulota bearing sclerotia
.
. Nat. size.
„
11. Section of leaf of Begonia infected by sclerotial blight
.
. x 1 5 0
PLATE II.
D.D. C. del. ad nat.
Lith. by A. C. Mukerjei.
SCLEROTIAL BLIGHTS, & MITES
ASSOCIATED WITH THAT OF POTATOE—TUBERS.
Plate III.
Vegetable blights of Tea and Rice.
FIG. 1. Portions of two shoots of Tea affected by Cephaleuros virescens
as a bark-blight
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. Nat. size.
„
2. Vertical section of the bark ; showing algal cells permeating its
entire thickness down to the level of the bast
.
.
. x 150
„
3. Vertical section of the bark ; showing great thinning owing to
detachment of successive strata from the surface, and the
expansions of algal tissue which cause this .
.
.
. x 1 5 0
„
4. Vertical section showing normal structure and thickness of the
bark of Tea
.
.
.
.
.
. . . . x 1 5 0
„
5. Portion of a Tea-plant affected by " Thread-blight"; showing the
strands of mycelium which run along the shoots from leaf to
leaf to give origin to destructive mycelial expansions over
the under surfaces of the leaves .
.
.
.
.
. Nat. size.
„
6. Root-blight of Tea caused by invasion of the tissues by fungal
mycelium
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
„
„
7. Rice affected by Ustilago
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
„ „
8. Spikelet of Rice with one grain affected by Ustilago .
.
.
„
„
9. Spores of the Ustilago of Rice
.
.
.
.
.
. x 1030
PLATE III.
BLIGHTS OF TEA & RICE.
Figs. 13, Cephaleuros as a bark - blight on Tea.
Fig. 4; Normal bark of Tea.
Fig. 5; Thread - blight of Tea.
Fig. 6; Root - blight of Tea.
F i g s . 7 - 9 ; U s t i l s g o o f R i c e .
D.D.C. del. ad nat.
L i t h b y S . C . M o n d u l .
Plate IV.
Opium Blight.
FIG. 1. Vertical section through a portion of a leaf stained with picro-
carmine ; showing mycelium and aërial fertile filaments of
Peronospora arborescens .
.
.
.
.
.
.
X 400
„
2. Upper extremity of a fertile filament and detached sporangia
from a fresh preparation
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
x 400
,,
3. Groups of mature oogonia and oospores in the tissue of a dead
leaf
. . . . . . . . . .
x
50
„
4. Immature oogonium and oospore with adherent antheridium
.
x 400
„
5. Small mature oogonium with adherent antheridium .
.
.
x 400
„
6. Mature oogonium and oospore
.
. . . . .
x 400
,,
7. Immature oogonium and oospore with adherent antheridium
. x
400
PLATE IV.
D. D. C. del. ad. nat.
OPIUM-BLIGHT
e l i u m , S p o r a n g i c a n d O o s p o r i c f r u c t i f i c a t i o n
Peronospora arborescens.
Plate V.
Fungal blights of Brinjal (Solanum Melongena), Lucern (Medicago sp.) and
Terminalia Catappa.
FIG. 1. Transverse section of base of stem of Brinjal stained with picro-
carmine ; showing imperfect formation of the secondary zone
of wood in consequence of the presence of fungal mycelium .
x
10
, , 2. Portion of a medullary ray containing mycelium
. . .
x
400
„
3. Large pitted vessels containing mycelial filaments
.
. .
x
150
„
4. Bundle of larger mycelial filaments from one of the non-lignified
areas in the secondary zone of wood
.
.
. . .
x
150
,,
5. Transverse section of two pitted vessels and surrounding wood-
cells containing fungal mycelium
.
.
. . .
x
400
,,
6. Transverse section of a root of Lucern stained with picro-
carmine ; showing numerous small sclerotia in the substance
of the cortex .
.
.
.
.
.
. . .
x
1 0
„
7. Vertical section through the cortex ; showing mycelial elements
in the deeper strata and a sclerotium breaking through the
superficial layers
.
.
.
.
.
. . .
x 150
, ,
8. Section of one of the tumours on the stem of a tree of Terminalia
Catappa ; showing brown mycelial filaments in the pitted
vessels and medullary rays of the wood
.
.
.
. x
150
, ,
9. Portions of the brown mycelium
.
.
.
.
. .
x
400
D. D. C. del. ad nat.
Lith: by S. C. Mondul.
PLATE V.
Figs. 1-5, Root-blight of Solanum Melongena.
Figs. 6-7, Root-blight of Medicago Sativa.
F i g s .
8 - 9 ,
B l i g h t o f s t e m o f T e r m i n a l i a C a t a p p a .
Plate VI.
Blights affecting Conifers and the Teak.
FIG. 1. Portion of a longitudinal vertical section of a needle of a seed-
ling of Pinus longifolia ; showing mycelial filaments and
subepidermal conidiiferous pustule
. . . . . x
150
„
2. Portion of a subepidermal conidiiferous pustule breaking up the
hypodermal tissue
.
.
. . .
.
. .
x 400
, ,
3. Detached conidia from such a pustule
.
.
. . .
x
400
„
4. Larger conidia occurring in the stomatic vestibular spaces
.
x 400
„
5. Similar large conidia and mycelial: filaments in the substomatic
space
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. . .
x 400
, ,
6. Portion of a transverse, vertical section of a needle of a seedling
Deodar ; showing abundance of large, brown mycelial fila-
ments in the deeper parts of the tissue immediately around
the central area
. . . . . .
.
.
x
150
„
7. Portions of such mycelial filaments .
.
.
.
. .
x 400
, ,
8. Vertical section of a portion of a Teak-leaf showing one of the
prominences of open tissue on the inferior surface which
constitute the special sites within which pustules of uredinous
fructification are developed .
. . . .
.
x
400
„
9. A similar section including a pustule of uredinous fructification .
x
400
,, 10. Portion of the dense, parenchymatous mycelial tissue from which
the uredospores originate .
.
. . . . .
x
400
„ 11. Polyporus causing the stem blight of Terminalia Catappa ; small
specimen .
.
.
. . . . . .
Nat. size.
D.D.C. del. ad nat.
PLATE VI.
FUNGAL BLIGHTS OF CONIFERS, TEAK & TERMINALIA CATAPPA.
Figs. 1-5; blight of PIN US LONGIFOLIA.
Figs. 6,7; blight of CEDRUS DEODORA.
Fi gs . 8- 10; ur e di nous bl i ght of T E C T O N A GR ANDI S .
Fig. 11; fructification of Stem-blight of TERMINALIA CATAPPA.
SCIENTIFIC MEMORIES
BYM E D I C A L O F F I C E R S O F T H E A R M Y O F I N D I A .E
D I T E D B Y
SURGEON-MAJOR-GENERAL J. CLEGHORN, M.D., C.S.I.,
DIRECTOR-GENERAL, INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE.
PART X.
1897.
1. —Choleraic and other Commas ; on the influence of certain conditions in
determining morphological variations in vibrionic organisms. — Brigade-
Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel D. D. Cunningham, C.I.E., F.R.S. (Page 1.)
2. —Notes on the Malarial Parasite as observed in the blood during life, and
in the tissues post-mortem, at Lahore, Punjab.
—S
u r g e o n - C a p t a i n J . M u r r a y , M . B .
(P
a g e 2 9 .
)
3. —On the influence of variations of the ground-water level on the pre-
valence of Malarial Fevers.—Surgeon-Captain Leonard Rogers, M.S., B.S., Lond., F.R.C.S., Eng., I.M.S. (Page 53.)
4.—Report on the results of experiments on the action of various reputed
antidotes to Snake-venom conducted during the season 1895-96.—
Brigade-Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel D. D. Cunningham, C.I.E., F.R.S.
(Page 59.)
5 . — O n
c e r t a i n d i s e a s e s o f F u n g a l a n d A l g a l O r i g i n a f f e c t i n g e c o n o m i c p l a n t s
in India.—Brigade-Surgeon-Lieutenant Colonel D. D. Cunningham, C.I.E.,
F.RS. (Page 95.)
CALCUTTA:
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING, INDIA.
1897.
Price Four Rupees.
REPORT AND RETURNS
OF THE
LUNATIC ASYLUMS
IN THE
UNITED PROVINCES OF AGRA AND OUDH
FOR THE YEAR 1909.
ALLAHABAD:
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