6
Government has sanctioned the building of a Chemical Laboratory, and the
work is in progress; a number of appliances for its equipment have been received
from England. Thus we shortly shall be able to give our students a course
of practical chemistry which will prove most valuable to them, and I trust that
testing for poisons, analysis of food stuffs, and investigation of animal fluids
and tissues will in future be among the duties of chemical branch of the
College.
No start has yet been made with the Botanical Garden because of an
unanticipated objection on the part of the Trustees of the Hospital estate to place
the necessary small pieces of ground at our disposal. I hope to overcome these
objections in the future, but if not successful, will propose to Government some
other arrangements to secure adequate instruction in practical botany.
The equipment of the Forge and Shoeing Shed, as also that of the Dissecting
Room, has been considerably increased by the special grant for furniture passed
by Government (ride Government Resolution, Revenue Department, No. 5929,
dated 2nd September 1887). The native farriers employed hitherto in place of
the European Farrier Major have not been considered competent to teach
practical shoeing, so the forge has hitherto been utilized merely to meet
hospital requirements. It is now ready for immediate use for the clinical and
educational purposes when a competent farrier is appointed.
The Operating Shed, which has this year been built under orders of Govern-
ment, proved very valuable for teaching, examination, and hospital work.
The Dissecting Room has been freely used by Class B, and " subjects "
obtained by special arrangement with a contractor, as the supplies of fatal cases
from the hospital were not sufficient to fully meet our requirements. The
dissections this year have been of a fair average considering that was the first
year of practical anatomy of both instructor and students.
Numerous post-mortem examinations have been made—some fifty-three
being hospital cases,a few of animals sent from the Victoria Gardens for determina-
tion of cause of death, and a few cases of suspected poisoning or special disease,
such as Rabies.
The valuable mass of material for study in the Pinjrápol has not yet been
made much use of by us because the teachers and students had no time available
for proceeding for study periodically to such a distance from the College, also
because the material obtained in other ways has proved quite adequate, and,
finally, because the Class C, to which such instruction as can best be obtained at
the Pinjrápol would be of special value, can hardly be yet considered to exist.
Among the special practical facilities which have occurred for education of the
students in the past year must be mentioned the inspection of the large number
of cattle brought to Bombay for shipment to Massowah, also of horses brought
from Persian Gulf in the steamship " Assyria," among which Glanders broke
out. His Excellency's Body Guard and the Transport Department have sent
animals for treatment in our Hospital.
The dead stock of the College has been increased during the past year by
the purchase of furniture for the Forge, Dissecting and Lower Lecture Rooms.
The number of diagrams for illustration of lectures now amounts to 37. The
Museum has had its number of specimens added to considerably, both from the
Hospital and by presentations from various members of the veterinary pro-
fession and others, to whom have been conveyed the thanks of the Administrative
Committee. The Museum space available is being very considerably increased
under orders from Government, and when the alterations have completed and
the anatomical lecturer has mounted the skeletons which are ready for the
process, the College Museum will intrinsically and educationally constitute a
valuable portion of the institution.
The Library has had a fair increase in number of its volumes as given in
Appendix D.