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25th August.—Reports received through the Vice-President, from the
Senior Durbar Veterinary Superintendent, that two bullocks at the village of
Chunari, and 1 at the village of Majhaye on the Jhelum Valley Road between
Chakote and Garhi, were found to be suffering from Gloss-Anthrax. The latter
died, and the two former are under treatment. The Veterinary Superintendent
also reported that there were no cases of Foot and Mouth disease.
31st August.—The Senior Durbar Veterinary Assistant has gone to Kathai,
a village on the right bank of the Jhelum river near Uri, where cattle disease is
reported to have broken out.
Madras.
847. At the commencement of the official year five districts were selected,
viz: Coimbatore, Salem, Chinglepat, North and South Arcot districts for the
purpose of commencing the Bacteriological Survey in the Madras Presidency. It
would seem, however, that no progress has been made, possibly because the
Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, Madras, did not quite grasp the
meaning of his instructions. In an important enquiry, such as would be
necessitated in a Bacteriological Survey, it is obvious that an expert would be
required to test the answers given by the people from whom information was to be
obtained, and nobody but a highly qualified Officer could fill the position
satisfactorily. It was, therefore, never intended that this duty should be relegated
to Stock Inspectors, but should be personally carried out by the Superintendent
himself. One district should be taken at a time, and all information obtainable
concerning cattle, their points, breeding, bulls, diseases affecting localities, which are
predisposed to favor germ growth, indigenous drugs, native methods of treating
diseases, &c., &c., shall be noted and tabulated for future reference. From the
report under review it would seem that nearly all the Stock Inspectors were employed
on plague duty, and when relieved from this duty they attended the various Cattle
Fairs held in the Presidency.
848. The Superintendent states that talukas have been surveyed in parts,
and on completion, maps will be submitted. Inspectors were instructed to take up
one taluka and confine themselves to that until they had finished, but in some
instances they had to visit other talukas also to investigate outbreaks of epizootics
reported from them. In such cases they were asked to collect information for the
Bacteriological Survey also of the localities visited by them.
849. It has already been explained that the work is meant to be carried out
by the Superintendent himself, and if he toured for a month or so through a
district, accompanied by a Stock Inspector as Interpreter, he would no doubt
be able to collect much useful information.
850. Stock Inspector, Moses Abraham, reports that in Karnool district the
people are in the habit of suspending a carcass of an animal dead of Rinderpest
to a tree close to the village. The idea is that should the healthy cattle breathe
the foul air surrounding the decomposing carcass they are thereby rendered
immune.
851. During the year from 1st January to 31st December 1897, 126,000
cattle were reported to have succumbed to contagious cattle disease: of these
Anthrax is responsible for 328, Rinderpest 35,730, and Diarrhœa and Dysentry for
21,028 deaths. It is doubtful whether cases of deaths said to be due to Diarrhœa
and Dysentry are properly diagnosed, as these two diseases are prominent symptoms
of Rinderpest and are therefore misleading. It would cause less confusion if these
two diseases were deleted from the statement under the head of contagious
diseases.
852. Anthrax shows a very large number of deaths. This is a highly
contagious disease and should be thoroughly investigated. In certain localities
where the disease is known to exist it would certainly be worth while to conduct
experiments with a view to protect animals living in the neighbourhood. M. Pasteur
has demonstrated successfully that inoculation with anthraxine is a favorable
prophylactic, and there is no reason why this large mortality might not to a large
extent be prevented. The Godawari district would appear to suffer heavily from
this disease, and this would be a suitable locality for first operations.
853. The quarterly reports do not seem to be quite reliable for it would
appear from these that only 265 equines died in the Presidency during a period of