148
dei bufali). It appears that it is very common in the neighbourhood
of Salerno, Rome, and Terrade-Lavare. It was first described by Metaxa,
more recently it has been likened to anthrax It is observed in the summer
and appears commonly in young buffaloes. It begins with high fever 105 to
107 F. Among its principal symptoms there is swelling of the throat, flow
of saliva, inflammation of the buccal membrane and tongue and intense dys-
pnoea. Swellings may appear on other parts of the neck, shoulders, &c. They
are œdematous and do not crepitate and bear the impress of the finger. In
sub acute cases death may occur in from 10 to 24 hours, but it usually
takes place in from 3 to 6 hours. When the disease is prolonged for more
than 24 hours, cure is possible.
The difficulties which lie in the way of investigating this disorder are
of no mean order, and I am now trying to catch an outbreak and to collect
material for Dr. Lingard to use in his investigations.
Jowar Poisoning.—Poisoning by the Jowar plant (sorghum vulgare).
550. It has for a long time been known to the native agriculturist and to
others who take an interest in animals that the usually wholesome and
valuable fodder plant jowar (sorghum vulgare) becomes in certain circums-
tances poisonous, and causes the death of animals which eat it in any quantity.
The conditions in which the plant becomes harmful are when owing
to failure of the rains, the plant becomes stunted and dried up. The natives
consider that the plant is, at this time attacked by a small insect to which
they give the name of "Bhaunri" and it is the animal swallowing this insect
that they attribute their death.
Vernacular name.—In the Punjab the people know this form of death
as "Patta-lar-gaya" or "Patta-lag-gaya."
Previous notices.—The fact of animals being poisoned by this plant has
given rise at various times to some enquiries being made as to the course,
and various opinions have been given, some of which are to be found in the
Dictionary of Economic Products under the heading "sorghum." At page 303
the following occurs:—
"It is otherwise with the insect pests. Some of them are fully understood, others are so obscure that-
much difference of opinion prevails as to whether the poisonous property (spoken as possessed at times by the
stems, when used as fodder) is due or not to an insect in the special article on pests (Vol. VI, part 1, page 147).
It is stated that the larvae of a moth known in the North-Western Provinces as "Bhaunri" (not yet identi-
fied) attacks the jowar stalks in much the same fashion as the sugarcane is channelled by the sugarcane borer.
These leaves in fact, bear so strong a resemblance to those found in cane that Mr. Cotes suggests that they
also set up decompositions sufficient to cause the poisonous properties regarding which so much has been
written. It may be added that the prevalent idea amongst the natives is that the poison is the result of an
insect, and it is worthy of note that it occurs at the same period and under similar conditions as in cane, viz.,
during an exceptionally dry season."
The following two passages may be taken as representing the some-
what exhausting controversy that exists on this subject:—
"The most peculiar of the diseases to which jowar is liable is that which makes the stalks poisonous to
cattle, if eaten by them when semi parched from want of rain. Of the fact there can be no doubt; in the
scarcity of 1877 great numbers of cattle were known to perish after a meal of the young jowar plants and
death ensuing shortly afterwards, apparently in severe pain. A good explanation, however, is not forth-
coming. The opinion universally accepted by the natives is that young jowar, when suffering from deficiency
of rain becomes infected by an insect named "Bhaunri," to which its poisonous effect in cattle is due. Im-
mediately the rain falls the insect is said to perish, and unless the ears have appeared before the rain failed,
the crop often recovers itself and yields a good outturn of grain" (Duthie and Fuller).
551. A totally different explanation of the great mortality amongst cattle
in the year 1877, is given in a paper by Veterinary Surgeon J. Anderson Agri.
and Hort. Soc. Journal, (Volume I, Part I, page 1, New series). The following
extract will show the opinion arrived at by the writer:—
"From my recent experiments and investigations I have come to the conclusion that jowar is not poison-
ous. Some stocks here and there contain insects, others a fungus, both of which are supposed by many to
be the medium of poison. Even if they were poisonous they are not found in sufficient quantity to prove
injurious and account for such wholesale mortality. The prevailing idea is that jowar has become poisonous
not only from want, of the usual rains but also from the scorching effects of the unusual hot winds, or that
a poisonous gas is engendered in the stalks by the heat, &c., I look upon jowar as a destructive substance
or thing, and not as a poison. It destroys life by acting mechanically on the system. When it has been
eaten, it generally produces "Hoven" distention of the first stomach known by the generation of a large
quantity of confined air a product of fermentation arresting the natural function of rumination and digestion
which causes the animal to swell even to a state of suffocation.
This writer is of opinion that the disease is nothing more nor less than
the ordinary "Tympanitis in an expedemic form."