5
ing attention at the various Colleges. The sanction of the Secretary of State
to the formation of a Provincial and pensionable subordinate service in Bengal
will materially assist in obtaining men of fair education and it is a matter
for congratulation that 11 matriculates joined that College this year against
3 last year. Bombay is also devoting more attention to this subject and the
proportion of matriculates who joined during the year is still good, i.e., 16 out of
49 against 17 out of 49 last year. In Madras, 20 matriculates joined out of 29
against 16 out of 23 last year. The Board of Examiners remarked that the
material was distinctly good and my own experience is that the students who
presented themselves at the final examinations were very intelligent. Although,
therefore, Madras is still on the same footing as other Colleges in regard to the
standard of education required for admission, we have pretty strong evidence
that the starting pay and the general prospects of the Department are not
sufficient there to attract a class of men with really good educational qualifi-
cations.
24. In Burma, a good deal of difficulty is experienced in obtaining men
with the required educational qualifications for local reasons.
25. In addition to the training of Veterinary Graduates, classes for trans-
port drivers were held. In the Punjab, 65, in Bombay 10, and in Bengal 8
men received a three months' course of dressing and first aid during the Col-
lege vacations. Nine nalbunds were trained at Lahore and 2 in Bengal.
26. A course of 48 lectures in Veterinary Hygiene and Cattle breeding
and rearing were delivered to 23 agricultural students of the Civil Engineering
College in Calcutta.
27. In the research laboratories attached to the Punjab and Bengal
Veterinary Colleges, the sphere of work has extended in various directions.
Punjab is the only one where a half time officer has been employed and he has
this year, for the first time, been able to submit a report on the work which
has been done. This has been:—
(a) The demonstration to the final year's class of the various contagi-
ous diseases likely to be met with in India.
(b) Treatment of, or destruction and disposal of, all cases of contagious
disease which occur in the College practice.
(c) The examination of and reporting on all pathological specimens sent
in from various quarters for the purpose.
(d) Investigation in new fields. This has been carried out as far as
possible when other work admitted of it.
28. In Bengal too, material comes in connected with the Glanders and
Farcy Act. The rapid method of the diagnosis of Rabies has been carried out.
Bacteriological examinations of samples of bone meal and investigation into a
cattle disease not hitherto observed in India, are being conducted and some
preliminary work on the treatment of Surra is being done.
29. At the Bombay College, the present Patho-Bacteriological Laboratory
only admits of diagnostic work being attempted and this has been performed.
30. It is hoped that some temporary assistance may be given to Bengal
and that Bombay and Madras will soon have laboratories and segregation wards
suitable for teaching purposes.
31. The demand for Veterinary Graduates still continues to be far in
excess of the supply. There are none unemployed in Bengal, Punjab, Madras
or Burma, but 17 graduates of Bombay are shown as unemployed, 11 of them
having only recently graduated. It has been ascertained that the demand for
vernacular trained men is very great indeed and that when the sanctioned es-
tablishments are filled the college will not be able to meet half the annual
requirements. The question of establishing another vernacular college is being
considered.