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A.—During outbreaks of Rinderpest calves are apt to die rather suddenly and to show no anti or post mortem
symptoms typical of any specific disease. I mention the fact, I have not had time to discover the cause.
B.—Repeated dosage with dejectæ, fibrinous casts, &c., from a Rinderpest case has failed in some instances to
produce the disease, but a subsequent injection of 10 c. cm. of blood has produced the desired result in the same
animal. This experience confirms Koch's experiments in South Africa.
C.—An animal that has recovered from an attack of Rinderpest does not re-act in a typical manner when re-
infected, but he does not seem to become absolutely immune against hypodermic infection. For I find that a hypo-
dermic injection of virulent Rinderpest blood causes an important rise of temperature in a recovered animal, and in
one case diarrhœa also occurred.
In testing animals rendered immune by bile or serum treatment, the above facts should not be lost sight of.
D.—I have preserved bile by adding Glycerine to it as suggested by Dr. Eddington and I find that so treated,
it preserves its colour and remains free from smell for some time, at the ordinary temperature of my office in the
cool weather.
E.—A bull suffering from Rinderpest was treated by injecting 2 oz. of bile and Glycerine into the jugular vein.
The diarrhœa ceased within a few hours, but was resumed two days later and a subsequent injection of a similar
dose produced no effect whatever on the course of the disease, which ended in recovery.
F.—Dr. Eddington's method of treating the bile is said to have the advantage that a great number of biles,
good, fair, and indifferent in quality can be mixed together, and thus an average quality of bile obtained. The
advantage which is said to be derivable from this system is to be found in its economy, because a quantity of
indifferent material can be used up.
As buffaloes are cheap in this country it seems undesirable to use risky material in order to save an occasional
two or three rupees, hence the above system need not be used at present.
G.—A cutting from the Times of India of 25th October 1897 was sent to me detailing Dr. Eddington's further
experiments in South Africa. It contained the following:—
'He has found that blood of animals affected by Rinderpest when treated with Citric Acid and kept for such a
time as to ensure the death of the coutagium, confers immunity from the disease when injected in animals exposed to
infection.'
The information was misleading because Citrate of Potash turned to be the agent used and not Citric Acid;
moreover, the quantity of the drug was not stated. However, I experimented with a number of combinations of
Cirtric Acid and Citrate of Potash and found that a small quantity of Citrate of Potash prevents coagulations, but
appears to have no appreciable effect in preventing decomposition, and as blood outside a laboratory cannot be pre-
vented from decomposing rapidly, even when a percentage of Citrate of Potash is added, this method, though interest-
ing and ingenious does not appear to be suitable for Bengal at present.
H.—In one of his reports from South Africa, Professor Koch does not appear to have finally decided if pigs may
acquire Rinderpest. Hence six young pigs have been inoculated with large doses of Rinderpest blood, in order to
solve the doubtful point if they are subject to the disease.
One pig was found dead on the 5th day without showing premonitory symptoms. Post mortem showed very
severe congestion of the lungs, liver, spleen and heart. The stomach was congested with some petechial spots on the
mucous membrane, the intestines were slightly congested. These symptoms do not point to Rinderpest, and as the
other animals remained healthy, it appears that pigs do not suffer from this disease.