NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
OBSTRUCTION OF THE OVIDUCT IN A HEN.
BY
G. A. AJWANI, M. Sc., D.V.M., D.V.H.,
Officiating Lecturer in Pathology and Bacteriology, Madras Veterinary College,
AND
G. R. VISWANATHAN AND M. NOOR AHMED,
Pathological Assistants.
(Received for publication on 9th December 1931.)
HISTORY.
Leghorn hen in a live condition was received at the laboratory on 17th July 1931
from the Veterinary Assistant Surgeon in charge, Veterinary Hospital, Octacamund,
for examination. The only history furnished was that the hen was one of the dozen
kept by a lady at Octacamund and all of them have been very good layers. He
also reported that the bird which he sent was gradually getting thin and dropsical
and suspected it to be suffering from tuberculosis. The bird died after a week.
GROSS PATHOLOGY.
At autopsy, the abdomen was found hard and distended. The vessels of the
subcutis were found injected and on incising the abdominal muscles, a hard and
organised tumour of the size of a cocoanut, weighing 1 lb. and 12½ oz., was present
impacted in and adherent to the oviduct which at that region was found hyper-
trophied (Plate VIII, figure 3). On incision into the oviduct, yellowish semi-solid
mass of the egg-yolk was found to occupy the whole of its interior. The liver was
found slightly congested and some congestion of the intestines was also noted. The
other body organs were apparently normal. There were no signs of tubercular
lesions in any of the organs. Smears from the oviduct did not reveal acid-fast
organisms. There was no obstruction of the cloaca and the bird was passing normal
fæces. The point of interest is the extraordinary development of the egg in the
oviduct and the bird having lived for a number of days without further complica-
tions. The cause of death was recorded to be due to the obstruction of the oviduct
or the condition commonly known as " egg-bound ".
( 68 )
FRACTURE OF THE PELVIC BONE IN A DOG.
BY
G. A. AJWANI, M.Sc., D.V.M., D.V.H.,
Officiating Lecturer in Pathology and Bacteriology, Madras Veterinary College,
AND
R. VENKATARAMA AYYAR, G.M.V.C.,
Pathological Assistant.
(Received for publication on the 9th December 1931.)
HISTORY.
Dog, aged 4 years, in-patient No. 1137, belonging to Mr. Weston, was
admitted for treatment in the Veterinary College Hospital as in-patient on
the 27th August 1931 with the complaint that it was run over by a motor car. The
clinical diagnosis was shown as partial fracture of the hip. The animal died on the
28th August 1931 at 1 P.M.
GROSS PATHOLOGY.
The autopsy was conducted on the same day at 2-45 P.M. There was presence
of contused wound under the buttocks with the subcutaneous hæmorrhage at the
scrotum. On opening the abdominal and thoracic cavities presence of 1½ lbs. of
sero-sanguineous fluid in the former and about 3 oz. of similar fluid in the latter was
found. The bladder was found acutely congested and a punctured wound about
¾" in length was present inferiorly and clotted blood of semi-solid consistency was
seen escaping from the rupture. The bladder further presented a number of peeled
( 69 )
70 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [ II, I
off areas on the serous surface. On examination of the pelvic bene a communited
fracture was noticed (Text figure 1).
Fig. I. Fractured pelvic bone.
The left ileum bone presented a communited fracture a little above the shaft.
The right ileum showed oblique fracture (complete) commencing from above the
shaft to the anterior angle. The right pelvic bone was fractured about the middle
and a little below the acetabulum. The ischium was fractured at the extreme
upper part of its external border, a little behind the acetabulum; besides it was
found fractured close to the symphysis ischii. The parts were found displaced.
In the sacrum the extreme anterior part of the lateral border, i.e., the auricular
facet showed a partial fracture. The other body organs were found apparently
normal except the intestines which showed patches of congestion but no worms.
The cause of death was recorded as rupture of the bladder consequent on fractured
and displaced pelvic bone.
SELECTED ARTICLES
THE RELATIONSHIP OF PICA IN CATTLE TO TRYPANOSO-
MIASIS.*
BY
WILLIAM HENDERSON, M.R.C.V.S., D.V.S.M. (Vict.),
Director of Animal Health, Northern Nigeria.
(Reprinted from the Veterinary Journal, November 1931.)
Pica or geophagy is the condition in which a depraved appetite develops, and
in itself it is not a disease sui generis. It is well known to the Fulani cattle owners
of Northern Nigeria, and they call it " mudu ". The condition may be present
in many disorders of livestock, the outstanding case being osteomalacia. Hutrya
and Marek give the condition a special description of its own in their monumental
" Special Pathology and Therapeutics of the Diseases of Domestic Animals ", and
call it "licking sickness ", which well describes the main sign.
The present investigation was undertaken as the first piece of co-operative
work arising out of the formation of an Animal Health Committee for Nigeria.
At the discussion which initiated the work, it was maintained that trypanosome
infection was the cause of pica in Nigerian cattle. This seemed such an unusual
view as to the ætiology of the condition that it was decided to attack the problem
as amongst the first on which work must be done.
PICA AS FOUND IN NIGERIAN CATTLE.
One of us (N. B.) submitted the following on the condition as seen by the
veterinary officers who are working in the field amongst the nomadic cattle of the
country: ' Mudu' is a peculiar symptom observed in cattle infected with trypano-
somes in which the animals eat large quantities of earth. It has been stated that
cattle show preference for ant-hill over ordinary earth, but this has not been my
experience. I have seen affected cattle eating earth close to an ant-hill without
touching the latter. In advanced cases of the disease the affected animals have
been seen to eat earth as ravenously as a cow at home will eat a well prepared
mash.
* Animal Health Committee of Nigeria: Report, Series No. 1, Part I.
( 71 )
72 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [ II, I
Occurrence. This condition has been recognised by the Fulani for many years.
It is worth while mentioning that almost all the Fulani cattle owners associate
' mudu' with trypanosomiasis. The disease has not been observed in suckling
calves, but seems to affect old milch cows more severely than others.
Distribution. Mudu appears to be fairly widespread amongst trypanosome
infected herds in Kano, Katsina, and Zaria Emirates, and throughout large areas
of Adamawa. It has so far rarely been observed amongst trypanosome infected
cattle in the Plateau Province.
Symptoms. Mudu cattle show symptoms identical with those shown in
chronic trypanosomiasis, and are as follows: The first symptom noted is the star-
ing coat, some loss of condition, loss of milk supply in the cow, appetite good, but
the animal seldom fills itself. The abdomen becomes tucked up, and the visible
mucous membranes become pallid. The superficial lymph glands are seen to be
enlarged, and are somewhat softer than usual. Only rarely, and then only in very
advanced cases of the disease, have œdematous swellings of the hind legs been
noticed. As the disease advances, the above symptoms become more pronounced.
Loss of condition becomes marked, mucous membranes become a dirty yellowish
colour, blood becomes visibly altered in appearance, being of a light-red colour and
watery in consistence. At this stage very often anæmic ulcers appear in the tail
towards the tip, and there is some sloughing of the skin of that part. If at this
stage the pre-scapular gland is punctured with a needle, the gland juice is easily
obtained, and may sometimes squirt out through the needle if the gland is grasped
tightly by the hand. Spears of this gland juice may or may not contain trypano-
somes. At varying intervals in the more or less advanced stages of trypanosomia-
sis, animals will be noticed to eat earth. Cattle have been seen to eat all kinds
of earth ; but as to why they perhaps eat ant-hill more often than ordinary earth,
is probably that an ant-hill projects upwards from the ground, and is therefore
more accessible to the animal. Animals eat earth for irregular periods, and there
is usually an interval of from two to four days between each onset of earth eating.
If during the period that the animal is eating earth, gland smears are examined for
trypanosomes, they will be found to be positive. The point is of importance that
when an animal is eating earth, trypanosomes are always demonstrable in gland
smears. As the disease advances, the animal becomes greatly emaciated, complete
loss of milk supply, pica symptoms become so marked that the animal will conti-
nue to eat earth to the exclusion of its normal food, and it tires quickly at the
slightest exertion. The animal finally goes down and is unable to rise even when
assisted. Death supervenes from six to ten hours from inanition.
Lesions. Are those of a profound anæmia. Œdema of connective tissues
under the skin, enlargement œdema of the lymph glands of the body, some en-
RELATIONSHIP OF PICA IN CATTLE TO TRYPANOSOMIASIS
73
largement of the liver and the spleen. The small amount of fat at the base of the
heart and in the grooves is yellow and gelatinous in appearance. The heart and
liver surfaces are very pale. The liver usually shows some indication of either a
fatty degeneration of infiltration. The kidneys do not appear enlarged, but the
capsules strip easily. The alimentary canal is normal, no diarrhœa being present.
A varying amount of serous fluid, sometimes blood stained, is present in the peri-
toneal cavity.
Diagnosis. A definite diagnosis is made from the history, the above symptoms,
and the finding of trypanosomes in the blood or gland smears.
Treatment. As no case of 'mudu ' is seen independently of trypanosomiasis,
therefore it would appear that trypanosomes are the exciting cause. There can
be very little doubt that trypanosomes are responsible for this condition; but as to
how they produce pica is a problem for further investigation. The treatment is
therefore the eradication of the infecting trypanosomes. For this purpose, I give
three injections of tartar emetic. This drug is specific in its effect, and all ' mudu '
symptoms disappear invariably after the second injection ".
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATION.
All veterinary officers are agreed that the symptoms of pica disappear when
the trypanosome-infected animals are treated by injections of tartar emetic. This
would appear to narrow the problem down to one as due to trypanosome infec-
tion alone, but the probabilities were all against this, as the tsetse fly does not
exist in many countries in which pica has been observed in farm stock. Elliot,
Crichton and Orr (1922) induced pica in pigs by feeding them on rickets-producing
diet. Theiler (Theiler, Green, and Du Toit, 1924) caused pica in stall-fed cattle
by feeding them on a ration which was poor in phosphorus. Anderson, in Nigeria,
working with one of us (W. E. McC.), induced pica in cattle by feeding them on
a ration deficient in minerals. Pica can be induced in farm stock at will in places
in which any trypanosome infection was utterly impossible.
The probability that pica was a sign of mineral deficiencies in the dietary of
the cattle, and that trypanosomiasis was a purely adventitious complication,
seemed much more likely, but there was always the awkward fact that the second
injection of tartar emetic, which is given to cure the trypanosome infection, is
invariably followed by the cessation of all signs and symptoms of pica. This fact
was basal to the whole inquiry.
Foster (1927) reviewed the literature on pica, and he cites many cases among
animals which have been traced to dietetic deficiencies. All of these cases were
74 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [ II, I
associated with some lack in the mineral constituents of the rations. In America
and in Kenya it is known, and acted upon, that salt-licks rich in sodium carbo-
nates have a prophylactic effect. Cathcart (1921) ascribes the prophylactic value
of the edible earth from the cases at Lumbwa to its richness in sodium oxide; but
Foster points out that sodium chloride alone has not been found to eradicate pica,
although it does appear to decrease the craving for salt-licks. This means that
supplying any possible sodium chloride deficiency is not sufficient to cure pica,
and therefore the condition does not depend, at any rate, on these deficiencies
alone. Further, Foster mentions the fact that the Lumbwa earth contains as much
as 5.25 per cent. tricalcic phosphate.
Ostertag and Zuntz (1906) have considered that alkali deficiency plays a part
in licking sickness, and Foster states that Zuntz now suspects that abnormally
high potassium sodium ratio will cause the disease. In all the recorded cases
which have been investigated it has appeared that some inorganic constituent of the
dietary is incriminated, and yet in Nigeria the symptoms and signs have invariably
disappeared when the overlying disease of trypanosomiasis has been treated by
tartar emetic, which is a combination of an organic acid that can have no
important part in nutrition (because of its constitution), and a metal which has not
yet been shown to be of first rate importance in the nutrition of herbivores. It
would appear that the preponderance of evidence points to pica being caused
by a deficiency of those minerals that preserve the alkali reserve of the blood.
All observers are agreed that the herbage in Nigeria is deficient in mineral
constituents. Several varieties of grasses have been analysed by McCulloch, and
the composition varied between the following limits, on a dry matter basis; pro-
tein, 7.5 to 3.8; total ash, 7.6 to 4.3; sol. ash, 2.1. to 1.4; insol. ash, 5.5 to
2.9 ; CaO, 0.64 to 0.21; P 2 O 5 , 1.27 to 0.11. The very exceptional grass that con-
tained 1.27 per cent. of P 2 O 5 was reputedly a good grass for cattle, but it contained
only 0.37 per cent. of CaO. The amount of silica in these grasses is worthy of
note. Woodman and Evans (1930) give the following average composition of a
"mineral deficient herbage'', on a dry matter basis: Crude protein, 13.00; true
protein, 12.67 ; amides, 0.33 ; ether extract, 1.90; N free extractives, 46.39 ; crude
fibre, 35.15; ash, 3.57 ; silica, 0.58; silica-free ash, 2.99; lime, 0.27; phosphoric
acid, 0.25; potash, 1.19 ; soda, 0.15; chlorine, 0.43 ; magnesia, 0.32.
The Nigerian grasses are seen to be very poor in protein and very rich in
silica, while the lime and phosphoric acid contents are on the whole slightly higher
than the above figures, but still definitely very deficient. The low content of the
Nigerian grasses in soluble ash points to a general deficiency of minerals in them
as a whole territorial group. The phosphorus content of the grasses seems to follow
RELATIONSHIP OF PICA IN CATTLE TO TRYPANOSOMIASIS
75
the rule for other Nigerian food stuffs, that it is not as low relatively as the calcium
content.
Woodman and Evans (1930) have also given the composition of an average
meadow hay after a very full review of the literature on this matter. They con-
clude that an average meadow hay should conform to the following composition
on a dry matter basis:—Crude protein, 11.3; ether extract, 2.9; N free extrac-
tives, 47.9; crude fibre, 80.7; ash, 7.2; chlorine, 0.32 to 0.53; magnesia, 0.23 to 0.3;
lime (about), 1.25; phosphoric acid, 0.62 to 0.72; soda, 0.34 to 0.39 ; potash, 1.19 or
higher. A comparison with the figures for the Nigerian grasses at once shows that
they are grossly deficient in protein, calcium and phosphorus.
All these considerations pointed to one of two possibilities: either that pica
is caused by mineral deficiencies in the herbage, and the trypanosomiasis found
was purely adventitious; or that a combination of trypanosomiasis and mineral
deficiency was necessary to induce pica. But the fact that therapeutic doses of
tartar emetic stopped pica, forced on us a third possibility—that trypanosomiasis
alone was all that was necessary to induce pica, and that this was all there was to
the matter.
The work of Woodman and Evans (1930) on mineral deficiency pasturage
demonstrated that this type of pasture contains enough starch, equivalent both
for maintenance and growth, and they make the bold generalisation, which we
believe, ' it may be presumed that such herbage is as well supplied with vitamins
as any other type of young herbage. The conclusion must be made, therefore,
that malnutrition in young stock on pasturage of this character is due simply and.
solely to mineral deficiency'. They stress the fact that the digestibility of
mineral deficient herbage follows the same rule as for normal cultivated herbage,
and that it is a function of its maturity, as its digestibility is influenced by the
degree of lignification of its fibre. This is an important generalisation, as it clears
away the old bogies of unpalatability, and failure of absorption because of the
mineral deficiencies present. The cattle in northern Nigeria get fresh herbage only
during the rains, and they have an excessive lignification with which to contend
for several months of the dry season.
EXPERIMENTAL (a): RELATIONSHIP OF SALTS TO PICA. W. E. MCCULLOCH, M.D.;
N. BURKE, M.R.C.V.S. ; AND N. CLARKE, M.R.C.V.S.
Animals brought to the veterinary camp at Yelwa, near Zaria, which were
seen to be suffering from pica, were purchased from the owners, so as to be com-
pletely, under the control of the veterinary officer, Mr. Burke in the first instance,
76 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [ II, I
and later, Mr. Clarke. Twelve animals were brought, and divided into four groups
of three. In every case the animal was observed to be eating earth, and in every
case trypanosomes were found in the gland juices.
Group I: Given bone meal, oz. iv. daily, as a bolus. Group II : Given rock
salt ad libitum, as a lick. Group III: A combination of groups I and II. Group
IV:Treated for infection by tartar emetic. No minerals supplied. All animals
were allowed to graze within the limits of the camp, and had no other supplements
beyond water or those listed above.
Two animals which arrived in extremis were allowed to die, and their femora
and ribs were preserved for analysis.
Group I (bone meal, oz. iv). All continued to eat earth at irregular periods
(two to four days), and all had died by the twenty-fifth day.
Group II (rock salt ad libitum).—All died in twenty-four days. Contrary to
Foster's statement, the fact that these animals did use the salt lick did not appear
to affect their craving for earth to any degree that was noticeable.
Group III (bone meal and rock salt). No. 1 ceased eating earth three days after
start of the experiment. Remained in poor condition. Returned to eating earth
on the eleventh day of the experiment, and was not again observed to eat earth
up to the thirty-first day, but remained in very poor condition. Animal then
injected with tartar emetic and physical condition at once started to improve.
Discharged cured from the camp. It is noteworthy that trypanosomes disappeared
from blood and juices of the glands after third day, and never returned. No. 2
continued to eat earth, and trypanosomes remained present in blood and glands
up to death on the twenty-eighth day of experiment. No. 3, after fourteen days,
stopped eating earth. Remained in poor condition, and trypanosomes had dis-
appeared from the blood and glands. On September 6th, again started eating earth,
and trypanosomes were again in the peripheral circulation. The earth-eating now
was very markedly reduced in intensity, as the animal only licked an ant-hill once
or twice, and then stopped for three days. Again stopped eating earth, and
trypanosomes again disappeared from the peripheral circulation. But condition
remained very poor. Injected with tartar emetic on September 21st, and dis-
charged cured.
Group IV (injection of tartar emetic and no mineral supplements). All
animals stopped eating earth the day after the second injection, and never returned
to the habit in thirty days. On discharge from the camp were obviously very fit
animals.
RELATIONSHIP OF PICA IN CATTLE TO TRYPANOSOMIASIS
77
Analyses of Bones of Untreated Animals.
Ash
Organic matter
C a O......
P 2 O 3
C a O 2 /PO 5
A/R
Femora
63.265
36.735
26.77
20.4
1.3
1.71
Ribs.
50.8
49.2
24.56
20.0
1.23
1.03
The ash to organic matter ratio is clearly one of a rachitic or osteomalacic
character (adult rickets), Merely the fact that the skeleton is fully grown pre-
vented any of the stigmata of rickets being present. As the animals had grown
to adult form in the normal manner, these analyses can only mean that there was a
tremendous loss of calcium phosphate going on from the bones before the animals
finally succumbed to the loss. Physically it was observed that the cortical portions
of the bones were much thinner than the corresponding bones from the slaughter
place.
Hutyra and Marek (1926, third edition) remarked that any calcium deficiency
is aggravated by any excess of phosphoric acid in the dietary, as this merely
causes a further excretion of calcium. The tendency appears, on average, with
many exceptions, for plants to be much richer in phosphorus than calcium in
Nigeria, and so there is a strong probability that any calcium deficiency in the
herbage is intensified by the higher proportion of phosporic acid present, even
though, as has been pointed out, the phosphoric acid present is really in itself
deficient in amount.
But calcium deficiency, whatever its cause, cannot cause any drain on the
pre-formed long skeleton except under certain conditions. Bunge's hypothesis that
potassium salts in excess lead to an abnormally high excretion of sodium salts
is generally used to explain the craving of livestock for sodium chloride. This
hypothesis seems to depend on the generally accepted fact that livestock are not
likely to suffer from deficiency of potash when fed on any type of pasture, while all
grasses tend to be poor in sodium. Another reason for the drain of sodium from
the system is a dietary in which there is a marked acid imbalance. A large acid
supply with a low alkali content of the blood will lead to a combination of sodium
and postassium with these acids, and so the combining power of the calcium ions
present is reduced merely by the absence of substances with which to combine.
Were the cause of the pica the very low calcium content of the feed, we should
have found that bone meal would have stopped the disease. Salt and bone meal,
however, did stop the condition in Group III. Now Foster has pointed out the
F