6
and whose blood had been inoculated into susceptible animals on 3 occasions
during this time with negative results, was inoculated intravenously with
20 c. c. of fresh blood of a pony suffering from Surra, which blood contained
a few trypanosomes (1 in 20 fields). Trypanosomes appeared in the camel in
11½ days.
31. Serum experiments with a recovering camel —This camel had shown
no trypanosomes under daily examination from 1st November 1908 to 17th
August 1909 when a few were seen which dispersed on 18th August ; on 14th
July 1910, trypanosomes not having reappeared, and 3 susceptible animals
having been inoculated from the camel's blood with negative results, the
spontaneous recovery of this camel was considered complete and the following
experiments were made :—
The simultaneous but separate inoculation of this camel's serum and the
blood of another camel containing trypanosomes was carried out subcutane-
ously on two guineapigs, with one control guineapig ; the dose of serum was
3 c. c. in one case and 2. c. c. in the other. Trypanosomes appeared in the
two guineapigs on the 4th and 5th day and in the control on the 6th day.
The experiment was repeated exactly as above with the difference that
the serum was injected 24 hours before the virulent blood. In this experi-
ment the control showed trypanosomes on the 12th day and the two others on
13th day.
On 30th September 1910, scanty trypanosomes again appeared in the
camel in an isolated paroxysm, the interval being 408 days.
The serum of a camel which is recovering from Surra spontaneously does
not have any marked protective power for guineapigs; and it is at present
almost impossible to tell when a spontaneously recovering camel has completed
his recovery.
32. Rebari Urine test for Surra in camels.—In the South-east Punjab the
Rebaris have a test of their own for Surra in camels and the knowledge of this
test is practically confined to them amongst camelmen.
I have not met with a Mohamedan camelman who can do it. It requires
a little practice and I and my assistants have practised it, checking our results
with the microscope, until we are fairly expert at it.
33. One requires a handful of clay taken from some clean place ; the
suspected camel is made to stale on this handful of earth—until it is wet
enough to be made into a ball, which is then laid aside for half an hour. At
the expiration of this time, the ball is broken up and gives a characteristic
smell in the case of a camel with Surra. This smell may be described as being
pungent, sweetish and rather sickly.
The urine of healthy camels merely smells of ammonia
A large number of observations have been made on this ingenious test
but the characteristic smell is found to be only obtainable during the parox-
ysms of fever which are accompanied by the presence of numerous trypano-
somes in the blood and even then not invariably ; it seems to depend more on
the presence of a large number of trypanosomes than on the actual degree of
fever, in fact when trypanosomes are few the smell is generally imperceptible.
The smell is absent during the intervals between the paroxysms.
The smell is found when no albumen is detectable in the urine and in
urine alkaline or neutral to litmus.
34. The microscope is of course more useful in diagnosis than the Rebari
test as by the former one can find the trypanosomes when no smell is percep-
tible by the latter ; and advanced cases tending towards recovery may escape
detection altogether by the latter test, even when trypanosomes are present.
The camel will generally stale on rising after having sat for an hour or
two ; if not, he can often be made to stale by lifting one of his fore legs. The
urine is thus easily obtained.
The Rebari custom is to test the urine of camels observed to be off their
grazing, and if the smell is detected, to isolate the animal until they can sell it.
The test is known as " Dalli lena."
BILHARZIOSIS IN THE CAMEL.
35. During a search for adult filariae a parasite was found in the
mesenteric veins of a camel by Veterinary Graduate Kahan Singh on 28th