3
11. In accordance with instructions from Government conveyed in their
telegram dated 10th. November 1899, I proceeded to the cattle famine camps at
Ahmedabad to enquire into the cause of the mortality amongst the cattle there.
I found, from my past experience of Indian famines, what was to be expected,
that the majority of the deaths were due to starvation, a fact which was fully
borne out by the 42 post-mortem examinations I made, all of which revealed a
general atrophy of the tissues of the body and particularly of the heart, the
weight of which, in many instances, was only one-third and even as low as one-
fourth of the normal weight. That failure of the heart's action was responsible for
many deaths was amply illustrated. Cattle would die suddenly when being-
sent to the river to water, or be found dead in the enclosures in the morning,
without having shown any previous appreciable signs of illness.
Fardel-bound,
impaction of the third stomach, was extremely common and is always to be
found in cattle dying from starvation, because of the want of succulent food and
sufficient water ; in fact, cattle in years of scarcity simply browse on what may
be called woody fibre; this too hastens to terminate life.
There is one point of interest which I consider worthy of record. Out of
the 42 post-mortem examinations made by me, I only found signs of tuberculosis
in one animal, the seat of the disease being the lungs This goes far to prove
that the cattle of the districts are bred from extremely healthy stock. The
absence of tuberculosis too can be largely accounted for by the fact that such cattle
practically live always in the open, conditions inimical to the propagation of
such a scourge.
On my arrival at the cattle famine camps, it was reported to me that
rinderpest had existed there, but during my stay I saw no cases of the disease.
12. Surra was not so prevalent in Bombay during this year as in the previous
year, owing no doubt to the want of rain. The admissions fell below 33 per
cent. No cases were reported from Bándra, a suburb where the disease in nor-
mal years is always present during the monsoon and after it.
On looking over the records relative to surra for the past two years there is
one point of interest, viz., that no cases have occurred in the months of January,
February, March, April and May, and none in June until after the monsoon had
burst, i.e., all the cases took place in the latter half of the year.
13. During the calendar year 1899, rabies increased to an alarming exteut.
32 cases were dealt with as against 14 in 1898 This to my mind is a very
serious matter, because of the fact that the number of cases of rabies brought
to the College must necessarily be limited owing to the distance of the institu-
tion from the City, and the large increase here indicated must as a natural
consequence be equally so elsewhere.
That several human beings fall victims to this horrible malady annually there
can be no doubt. One very sad case came under my notice here where a native
gentleman brought his dog suffering from rabies which had bitten him on the
10th August and he died from hydrophobia on the 6th October.
Three pigs
of the Royal Alfred Sailors' Home in Bombay were bitten by a rabid dog and all
succumbed. To prove the correctness of my diagnosis in this instance and to
confirm opinions given by me in certain other cases, especially in one where an.
English officer had been bitten by a rabid dog, I conducted a series of experi-
ments at the Government Lazaretto which fully bore me out—vide Charts Nos.
V, VI, VII and VIII.
14. A horse belonging to the 5th Dragoon Guards and one from "F"
Battery Royal Horse Artillery proceeding on service to South Africa were sent
to the Lazaretto showing symptoms of anthrax. The former, although it had
on admission a high temperature, which ran up on the second and third day,
gradually declined, and the patient did not develop anthrax.
This was
confirmed by inoculating two rabbits with blood from the case—-vide Charts
Nos. IX, X and XI.
The latter was an undoubted case of anthrax,— the temperature on ad-
mission being 106º F, which went down to 105º on the fifth day, but on the