17
total number of cases treated of about 85,000 which may be regarded as satis-
factory, especially as it represents in many cases work carried out for only a
part, in some cases only a few months of the year.
Veterinary
Hospitals and
Dispensaries.
108. The number of these institutions, the Veterinary Assistants employed
and the cases treated is given in Table V. There has been an increase of 21
dispensaries during the year and the number of Veterinary Assistants employed
was, 342 against 317 last year.
109. In the United Provinces, 6 new dispensaries have been opened, i.e., one
each at Aligarti, Mainpuri, Etah, Basti, Banda and Bijnor. In Eastern Bengal
and Assam—one at Rangpur and one at Maldah. A generous contribution of
Rs. 4,000 was contributed towards the Rangpur dispensary by Srimati Bhaba-
sundari Debya Choudhurani, in memory of her late husband the Zamindar of
Pirgacha. This contribution is the more appreciated as the want of veteri-
nary aid was previously badly felt in the district. In Bengal, one has been
opened at Arrah and two are under construction—one at Chapra and the
other at Bhagalpur,. The donor of the latter, Babu Ramoni Mohun Singh,
deserves praise for his public spirit. The hospital has been equipped with
every surgical appliance and has cost over Rs. 10,000. These two gifts show
a practical appreciation of the benefits the people are reaping from Veterinary
Science. In the Central Provinces, 7 new dispensaries were opened, i.e., 3
in the Raipur district, one each in the Betul, Balaghat and Wardha districts
and one at Raj Nandgaon. Of these, 4 are dispensaries for itinerating men.
Four new dispensaries were opened in the Bombay Presidency; i.e., 1 at
Ahmednagar, 1 in Poona and 2 in Kolaba. In Madras, 5 were opened, i.e.,
1 each in the towns of Vellore, Coimbatore, Pudukotta, Vizianagram and
Vizagapatam. In the North-West Frontier Province, a new hospital has just
been opened at Bannu. In addition to these, a number of dispensaries have
either been sanctioned or are under construction in the various Provinces.
110. The total number of in and outpatients treated in these hospitals shows
a satisfactory increase in all provinces. The numbers have increased by 67,480,
i.e., from 267,555 to 335,035. There has been an increase of 1,323 horses,
1,740 cattle and 455 other animals treated as in-patients and 18,876 horses,
37,361 cattle and 7,682 other animals as outpatients.
111. It is very difficult to fairly estimate the work done at these insti-
tutions. Some of them have only been working for part of the year and
being new the numbers of cases are few, as the people have not yet had time
to get confidence in them. Also, when epidemic diseases are prevalent, the
tahsil Veterinary Assistants have to leave their hospitals and unless there is a
good compounder who can carry on the work temporarily, they have to be
closed. This difficulty will no doubt be met in the future by providing 2
assistants in each tahsil. The time has probably arrived when it is advisable
to class as "Hospitals" those institutions which have proper accommodation
for in-patients and where a stationary assistant is posted, and as "Dispen-
saries" those which are in charge of an Assistant who is liable to be sent out
to attend ordinary cases of disease. This would enable us to form a much
better idea of the work done. The value of dispensaries is very great in
most provinces, in others, especially where Rinderpest is very prevalent and
the staff small, doubtless the first duty is to concentrate all the available staff
on outbreaks of contagious disease which are far more important.
112. Table VI shows the receipts and expenditure on Veterinary dispen-
saries during the year.
III.—BREEDING OPERATIONS.
(1).—BOVINES.
Stud buils and
their produce.
113. Table VII gives the number of stud bulls, the property of Govern-
ment and of local Boards, during the year. It will be seen that there is a
small but steady increase in numbers, the total number of bulls the property of