NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
CONGENITAL BLINDNESS OF CALVES.
267
Information regarding calves that went blind after birth at Government Military Dairy Farm, Quetta, during 1931-32.
Serial No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Name of
Dam
Bess . .
Gulkheri .
Hirkini .
Pamela .
Little .
Beaty .
Martha .
Kasauti .
Farangan .
Breed
½ Bred (Ayr.
Sah.)
Ditto .
½ Bred (Ayr.
Scindhi).
¾ Ayr. Sah.
H. B. Ayr.
Sah.
Ditto
.
¾ Ayr. Sah.
Sahiwal .
¼ (Har. Sah.)
Farm
where
served
Quetta
„
„
„
„
„
„
Gamber
„
Farm
where
spent
her dry
period
Quetta
„
„
„
„
„
„
Gamber
„
No. and names
of calves
H. 233 Half
.
H. 220 Hit .
H. 323 Harass .
H. 324 Hand
some.
H. 334 Heyland.
H. 339 Hickle .
H. 341 Higgins
H. 396 Haif
.
H. 384 Hatim*.
Date
went
blind
15-3- 30
11-4-30
21-2-31
21-2-31
10-3-31
21-3-31
18-3-31
15-2-32
14-2-32
Date
of
birth
31-8-29
18-7-29
8-10-30
9-10-30
14-11-30
15-12-30
19-12-30
6-10-30
5-9-31
Sex and breed
F. ¼ (¼ Ayr., ¼
Sah.)
F. ¼ (Ayr. Sah.) .
F. ¾ ( ½ Fr. + ¼
Ayr. + ¼ Sc.).
F. ⅞ (½ Fr., ⅜ Ayr.,
⅛ Sah.)
F. ¾ (½ Fr., ¼ Ayr.,
¼ Sah.)
F. ¾ (½ Fr., ¼ Ayr.,
¼ Sah.)
F. ⅞ (½ Fr., ¾ Ayr.,
⅛ Sah.)
F. ½ (½ Fr., ½ Sah.)
F. ⅝ (Fr. Sah.)
.
Farm
where
born
Quetta
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
**
Period sire was in
Quetta when dam
served
Sire
Omega .
Terror .
Adolf
.
Elect .
„ .
„ .
Adolf
.
Wanderer
„ .
Period
8 months .
6½ „ .
9½ „ .
9½ „ .
10½ „ .
12
„ .
12
„ .
..
..
No. of calves
born previously
No.
4
2
4
4
6
6
6
..
..
Whether
any born
blind
Her 5th calf
born blind
(NOTE.-Green fodder was fed from 17th February 1932 to 25th February 1932 and also from 9th March 1932 to date.)
* Born in the train and goes blind af or 5 months in Quetta.
** In the train from Gamber.
268 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [III, III.
1927-28.
Month
July 1927 . .
August „ . .
September 1927 .
October
„ .
November „ .
December „ .
January 1928 .
February „ .
March
„ .
April
„ .
May
„
.
June
„ .
Gram
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Bran
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Cake
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Salt
2 ozs.
per
head
per
diem
for
the
year
Kirby
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
½ Fed
„ „
„ „
„ „
„ „
Bhoosa
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
½
„
„
„
„
Berseem
Fed
½
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
½
Fed
„
Makai
..
½
Fed
½
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Remarks
Gram, Bran and Cake
were mixed in the
proportion of 6 :
2 : 1 and of this
mixture the cows
in calf received a
ration of 4 lbs., I lb.
for every month
over six in calf,
thus at seventh
} month it received
5 lbs., at 8th month
6 lbs., and in the
9th month 7 lbs.,
15 lbs. of dry
fodder throughout.
Also 10 lbs. of
green fodder was
fed per head during
months it was avai¬
lable.
1928-29.
Month
July
1928 .
August
„ .
September „ .
October
„ .
November „ .
December „ .
January 1929 .
February „ .
March
„
.
April
„ .
May „ .
June
„ .
Gram
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Bran
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Cake
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Salt
2 ozs. per head per diem for the year.
Kirby
..
..
..
..
..
..
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
Bhoosa
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
..
..
..
..
..
..
Berseem
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
½
Fed
„
„
Makai
Fed
„
½
..
..
...
..
..
..
..
..
..
Remarks
Gram, Bran and Cake
were mixed in the
proportion of 6 :
2 : 1 and of this
mixture the cows
in calf received a
ration of 4 lbs.,
1 lb. for every
month over six in
calf,thus at seventh
} month it received
5 lbs., at 8th month
6 lbs., and in the
9th 7 lbs., 15 lbs.
of dry fodder
throughout. Also
10 lbs. of green
fodder was fed per
head
during
months it was
available.
CONGENITAL BLINDNESS OF CALVES.
269
1929-30.
Month
July 1929
August „
September „
October „
November „
December „
January 1930
February „
March
„
April
„
May
„
June
„
Gram
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Bran
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Cake
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Salt
2 ozs.
per
head
per
diem
for
the
year.
Kirby
Fed
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Bhoosa
Fed 4 days
„ 7 „
„ 10 „
Fed
..
...
..
..
..
..
..
..
Ber¬
seem
Fed
½
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
½
month Fed
„
Makai
..
½ month
Fed
½ month
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Remarks
Gram, Bran and Cake
were mixed in the
proportion of 6 :
2 : 1 and of this
mixture the cows
in calf received a
ration of 4 lbs., 1
lb. for every month
over six in calf,thus
at seventh month
} it received 5 lbs., at
8th month 6 lbs.,
and in the 9th
month 7 lbs., 15
lbs. of dry fodder
throughout. Also
10 lbs. of green
fodder was fed
per head during
months it was
available.
Statement showing minerals fed to cattle at Government Military Dairy Farm, Quetta.
Lime*
April 1928 to July 1928 :—
No information available.
August 1928 to March 1929 :—
Fed.
April 1929 to November 1929 :—
Fed.
December 1929 to 7th May 1930 :—
Nothing fed.
8th May 1930 to 4th July 1930 :—
Daily.
Bone meal*
April 1928 to February 1929 :—
Fed.
March 1929 :—
13 lbs. only.
April 1929 to December 1930 :—
Nothing fed.
January 1930 :—
200 lbs. only.
February 1930 to May 1930 :—
Notning fed.
10th June to date :—
Being fed daily.
Iodide of Potassium
Fed at the rate of 2
ozs. per ton of concen-
trates to the herd from
1st April 1928 to 31 st
June 1930.
* Quantity fed : —8 ozs. per 100 lbs. of concentrates. This works out at an average of 1 oz. per
animal.
270 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [III, III.
Analyses of grasses at Quetta.
Register
No.
230
59
58
368
Name
of
sample
Hill grass .
Kirby
.
Bhoosa. .
Kirby
.
Locality
Quetta.
„
„
„
Rain¬
fall
in
inches
..
..
..
..
Air
per
cent
dried
wt.
..
5.4
..
..
Ash
per
cent.
9.584
8.03
14.41
10.4
Insol :
residue
on fodder
4.92
2.63
7.49
4.31
Crude
fodder
..
46.1
44.1
..
Pro-
tein
5.4
.89
1.19
1.74
Lime
1.08
.54
1.60
.800
Phos-
phate
.141
.315
.074
.177
Chlo-
rine
.358
..
..
.644
Iron
.176
..
..
..
PLATE XXI.
FIG. 1. Head of a newly born calf showing a teratomatous growth completely filling the palpebral fissure of the left eye.
FIG. 2. Photomicrograph showing dermoid teratoma at the cornea-scleral junction.
PLATE XXII.
FIG.
1. A pair of eyeballs totally covered by extensive teratomatous formation.
The eyeballs in this case were very small and rudimentary.
FIG. 2.
A. Topmost pair—In the left eye only a few hairs are seen — size and appearance
of eyeball practically normal. Right eye shows a large tuft of hair.
B. Middle pair—Almost ¾th of the eyeballs covered up with the growth. Size of
eyeball slightly smaller than normal.
C. Lowest pair shows a more pronounced affection. Eyeballs practically obliterated.
Left eye shows the eyeball as a black speck only.
PLATE XXIII.
FIG. 1. Photomicrograph showing the histology of a dermoid teratoma of
the eye, with a sebaceous gland.
FIG. 2. Photomicrograph showing the structures which compose a dermoid
teratoma of the eye.
THE CHEMOTHERAPY OF CONTAGIOUS BOVINE ABORTION.
A RÉSUMÉ.
LAKSHMI SAHAI, M.Sc, M.R.C.V.S..
Veterinary Investigation Officer, Bihar and Orissa.
Contagious bovine abortion is one of the most dreaded and widespread scourges
of the cattle industry causing enormous economic loss to stock-owners, but in spite
of the fact that the disease has claimed the attention of some of the best workers in
all lands for well over a quarter of a century, hitherto very little has been accom-
plished in the way of its control. Biological products such as the various kinds of
live and dead vaccines have been widely tried, but while they have proved to be of
some value as palliatives they have been found to bo of little use for the complete
eradication of the disease. The undoubted success which has been achieved in the
treatment of certain human and animal affections with chemicals has led a number
of workers from time to time to turn their attention towards chemotherapy in the
hope of finding some remedy that might offer a relief from the disease. Although
the field of chemotherapy has been widely explored and the search is by no means
at an end, the literature on the subject remains so scattered as to be almost
inaccessible to most field workers and it was therefore thought that if the informa-
tion so far gathered were collected and compiled in an easily accessible form it might
be of some benefit to field workers in this country, if only because it might serve to
put them on their guard against placing too much reliance on the so-called abortion
cures which are from time to time advertised. The résumé that follows has been
compiled with that object in view.
Of the various chemotherapeutic agents that have been tried, those of the
flavine series have perhaps attracted the widest attention due to their supposed
affinity for or selective action on the genital organs of the female and of these
acriflavine is the most important. Edwards and Coffman [1926] were the first to
claim successful results in the treatment of contagious bovine abortion with intra-
venous injections of acriflavine. Three injections were given, the first injection was
of a 1—500 dilution, the second of a 1-200 dilution and the third of a 1-100 dilution,
the dose varying from 100 to 200 c.c. All the cows which received treatment had
given positive reactions to the agglutination test in dilutions ranging from 1—50
to 1—500 and higher. Within a year after the treatment was given the reaction
( 271 )
272 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [III, III.
of the blood of one of the cows gradually became less and less markedly positive
and in fourteen months it was negative to the test. The blood from all other cows
gradually lost its agglutinating power. Guinea-pigs injected intraperitoneally with
milk from cows that had been treated failed to develop the characteristic lesions.
The milk was positive to the biological test before the treatment. All cows
receiving two large doses bred and produced normal calves after a normal gestation
period. These findings of Edwards and Coffman attracted a good deal of attention.
Huddleson [1927], however failed to confirm these findings. A Shorthorn cow that
had aborted received three injections in doses of 200 c.c. each of a 1 in 100
solution of acriflavine at intervals of a week. Huddleson failed to note any
reduction in the agglutinin content of the blood or any change in the microflora of
the udder as detected by the guinea-pig inoculation test up to three and a half
months after the last injection. According to Bryan [1929], however, who tried
the drug on two herds with a history of recurrent abortions, the animals became
negative to the test and ceased to abort. Graham and Thorp [1930] have shown
that while acriflavine in dilutions of 1 to 2000 has a definite bactericidal action on
the Bacillus abortus suis Traum in vitro, it has no germicidal action in vivo as judged
by the agglutination titre which remained unaltered.
Proflavine which is closely allied to acriflavine but is soluble only in dilutions
of 1 in 220 and above was found to be highly efficacious by Power [1926]. He gave
a single intravenous injection of 350 c.c. of a 1 in 300 dilution except in one case in
which two injections were given. Huddleson [1929] obtained no better results with
this drug than with acriflavine. An infected cow was treated with two injections
of 300 c.c. each of a 1 in 200 dilution of proflavine, but the agglutination titre of the
blood and the bacterial content of the udder remained practically unchanged for
one and a half years after the treatment.
Schubert [1929] records very good results following the use of trypanblue.
The drug was tried on 27 herds heavily infected with the disease. After the
trypanblue treatment the disease completely disappeared from 22 herds, the remain-
ing 5 herds showing only occasional isolated cases. The treatment consisted of
three injections of a 1 per cent. solution in sterile water given intramuscularly
preferably in the neck muscles. The second injection was given three weeks after
the first and the third two months after the second. Schubert stresses the import-
ance of giving the injections at the intervals specified and on the basis of observa-
tions extending over some years claims that the treatment is highly effective.
Larrieu [1932] strongly recommends Brauer's method of treatment with phenol
with certain modifications which he has used extensively in France and which he
finds to be very efficacious. The treatment consists in the administration of an
CONTAGIOUS BOVINE ABORTION.
273
ampoule of Nator B after 30 days and a second after 45 days of gestation and
from the commencement of the fifth month a subcutaneous injection behind the
shoulder of 5 c.c. of a 5 per cent. aqueous solution of carbolic acid once every fifteen
days until calving is accomplished.
Leuthold [1920] reports favourably on the therapeutic value of syrgotral which
is an odourless and tasteless 1-6 per cent. aqueous solution of syrgol, a solid sub-
stance containing 20 per cent.silver in the form of colloid oxide of silver and of
colloidal silver. The drug is administered per os and the best results are obtained
when syrgotral is administered before the animals are bred and during the first
two months of pregnancy or during the seventh, eighth and ninth month of
pregnancy.
Graham and Thorp [1930] experimenting with acriflavine, trypacrin " A"
(a compound of gentian-violet and neutral acriflavine), tryparsamide, colloidal
carbon and iodine in the form of alkali hypoiodite "Farodine", found that while
acriflavine, both neutral and acid dyes, and to a less extent trypacrin " A"
possessed some bactericidal action on Bacillus abortus suis Traum in vitro, these
and the other drugs exerted no germicidal action on the organism in vivo in that
they failed to alter the blood serum agglutinin titre of abortion infected cows.
Acriflavine, trypacrin "A", tryparsamide and colloidal carbon were administered
intravenously and alkali hypoiodite " Farodine " intramuscularly.
Gwatkin failed to note any beneficial results following the use of formaldehyde
and mercurochrome in artificially Bacillus abortus infected rabbits when adminis-
tered intravenously in 3 per cent.and 1 per cent.strengths respectively.
Ziemann [1921] claims to have cured cases of undulant fever by intravenous
injections of collargol and to have tried the. drug in contagious abortion infected
herds but does not give any results.
Other drugs that have been unsuccessfully tried include neoarsphenamine and
sodium cacodylate administered intravenously, pyridium and butyl chloride per os,
thionin intravenously and by the mouth and chloroform vapour viâ the teat canal.
Neosalvarsan, mercuric iodide and methylene blue have likewise been found to be
of no value.
From the above summary of the results hitherto obtained, it will be seen how
difficult it is to assess the relative merits of the various therapeutic agents that have
so far been tried in the absence of more extended and properly controlled trials,
for while in the case of some, conflicting findings have been recorded with regard
to the efficacy or otherwise of the others we have the testimony of individual
workers alone to rely upon. The disease has proved so ruinous and intractable
274 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [III, III.
to treatment that in our anxiety to seek relief from its depredations we are
perhaps too apt to seize upon any remedy for which success is claimed only to find
later that the claim is unreal and based on insufficient data. Contagious bovine
abortion is a self-limiting disease in which there is a decided tendency after the
first storm has blown over for the abortions to subside and for the affected animals to
acquire after the first one or two abortions a degree of resistance that enables them
to go through the normal period of gestation without a mishap which in the absence
of adequate controls is apt to be attributed to the supposed benefit of the particular
treatment that has been employed, while what has really happened is nothing more
than the normal process of recovery which would have ensued in the natural course
of events even if no treatment had been adopted. It is well known that agglutinins
may persist in the blood long after infection has been overcome. Their presence
merely indicates that either the animal is or has been infected while in some of the
experiments cited above an immediate fall in the agglutinin titre has been sought
for as evidence in support of the therapeutic value of the treatment adopted.
Breeding efficiency and agglutination titre, unless observations on the latter are
made for fairly prolonged periods, are therefore not a safe criterion in assessing the
value of any drug in the treatment or cure of contagious bovine abortion. In ap-
praising results in those cases in which a previously infected animal which has been
treated brings forth a normal calf at the end of a normal gestation period reliance
must necessarily be placed on the bacteriological examination of the milk, the vagi-
nal discharges and the fœtal membranes. It is very doubtful however whether any
drug, however potent it may be and however administered, can have any marked
effect on organisms lodged in such sheltered and inaccessible situations in the body
as the fœtal membranes and the tissues of the udder and perhaps some of the other
internal organs.
Chemotherapy has yielded encouraging results in the treatment of undulant
fever in man against which it would appear to be the most efficacious form of reme-
dy, the two products that have given the best results being gonacrine and mercuro¬
chrome. Experiments with these two products in the treatment of contagious
bovine abortion have however yielded altogether negative results. These conflicting
results in the two cases according to Raymond Moussu and P. Courtehoux are due to
the fact that undulant fever in man represents a disease entity characterised by
symptoms of more or less protracted fever, profuse perspiration, asthenia, hypertro-
phy of the spleen, pain in the joints, etc. On the contrary in contagious bovine abor-
tion there is no clinical manifestation of the disease. These essential differences
separate human and animal brucellosis and explain the conflicting results obtained.
In human subjects considered as cured the characteristic symptoms disappear and
CONTAGIOUS BOVINE ABORTION
275
these individuals become again capable of resuming their former vocations. But it
is very doubtful whether this clinical cure connotes also a bacteriological cure, for
relapses sometimes occur and it would therefore appear that what has occurred is
merely a clinical cure, such individuals remaining carriers of the germs which again
become active when a suitable opportunity offers. Since cattle and, for the matter
of that, goats and sheep affected with contagious abortion show no clinical symp-
toms of the disease at all, the apparent discrepant results in the two cases are in
reality not discrepant at all.
REFERENCES.
Bryan (1929). Vet. Med. 25, 511—512.
Edwards and Coffman. (1926). "A promising chemotherapy for infections aportion of cattle."
No. Ameri. Vet. 7, 31—32.
Graham and Thorp (1930). Cornell. Vet. 20, 4.
Gwatkin (1930). J. A. M. A. 77, 743-745.
Huddleson (1927). J. A. V. M. A. 71, 231-234.
Larrieu(1932). Perva Veterinaire. 84, 142—143.
Power (1926). No. Ameri. Vet. 7, 32.
Schubert (1929). Wiezer Tierarzal Monatsschr. 16, 23, 913—931.
Ziemann (1921). Duet. Med. Wacheuschr. 47, 180, 506.
F
SELECTED ARTICLES
MINERAL METABOLISM OF FARM ANIMALS.*
BY
KSHITISH CHANDRA SEN.
INTRODUCTION.
For quite a long time research in nutritional problems meant the study of the
body requirements of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. About half a century ago
the Munich School of Physiologists headed by Voit drew attention to the fact that
minerals were necessary for the proper utilisation of foods. Thus Förster 1 showed
that in the case of dogs which were given food from which the major part of the
mineral matter has been extracted with hot water, the animals were unable to digest
the food which was vomited unchanged after several hours. This aspect of the
nutritional problem did not however attract much attention till the work of Hart,
Steenbock, McCollum and others was started in 1906 2 in which the importance of pro-
viding sufficient mineral matter for the proper nutrition, growth and power of repro-
duction of farm animals was demonstrated. With the growth of our knowledge in
vitamin physiology in recent times, the question of mineral requirements has as-
sumed a place of great importance as in some cases it has been definitely shown that
there is a marked correlation between the need of a vitamin factor and the assimila-
tion and retention of certain mineral constituents.
The object of the present paper is to give a short summary of the present posi-
tion of the problem of mineral metabolism with special reference to the nutrition of
farm animals. It is not intended to discuss the vitamin question in detail. The
importance of the problem from the point of view of Indian conditions will be
touched upon as far as possible, though very few experimental results of this nature
are available.
THE NEED FOR MINERALS.
It is important to determine, before we proceed further, the rôle of the minerals
in the living organism. The animal body has been analysed and the results are scat-
tered throughout the literature. In general the following are the elements besides
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen which are found in large quantity: calcium,
phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, magnesium, potassium, sulphur and iron. It was
* Reprinted from Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray Seventieth Birthday Commemoration Volume of the
Jour. of the Ind. Chem. Soc. (1933).
( 276 )
MINERAL METABOLISM OF FARM ANIMALS
277
at first thought that these were the only minerals essential for the body. It is how.
ever now known that there are other minerals, often present in traces, such as copper,
manganese, iodine, etc., which are also necessary and serve important physiological
functions in the growth and maintenance of the body.
We can classify the known functions of the minerals in the following way :
(1) the maintenance of a proper osmotic pressure in the body fluids,
(2) the maintenance of the neutrality of the blood and the lymph,
(3) the maintenance of the proper physiological balance between various mine-
ral ingredients in the blood,
(4) to aid the processes of digestion and absorption, and
(5) for the supply of various constituents of growing tissues and of internal
secretions.
It is not necessary to say anything more now with regard to the above classifi-
cation, as the importance of minerals for the abovementioned purposes is well known,
MINERAL REQUIREMENTS.
The question of mineral requirement is not a simple one and the amount varies
in the case of different animals, with age and time. Thus a lactating animal re-
quires a higher percentage of lime than a non-lactating one. Our information with
regard to most elements is scanty ; only definite results are known in the cases of
lime and phosphoric acid. Mineral requirements as a rule are greater for a young
animal than for an aged one, because in addition to the maintenance of the body,
more minerals are necessary for the growing skeleton and tissues.
It has been known for a long time that milk is an ideal diet for the young and
an interesting relation has been discovered between the rate of growth of an animal
and the composition of its mother's milk. 3 In Table I the numerical relations are
shown.
TABLE I.
Species
Man
Horse
Cow
Goat
Sheep
Pig
Dog
No. of days in which wt. of
the newborn is doubled
180
60
47
22
15
14
9
Milk of the species contains%
Protein
1.6
2.0
3.5
4.3
6.5
6.7
7.1
Ash
0.25
0.38
0.72
0.81
0.89
1.03
1.01
CaO
0.049
0.114
0.161
0.191
0.277
0.395
0.338
P 2 O 5
0.056
0.121
0.189
0.219
0.269
0.357
0.364
F 2