MUKTESAR, FOR THE TWO YEARS ENDING THE 31ST MARCH, 1924 47
placed at his disposal for the work to be carried out. In the first place,
arrangements were made for a preliminary experiment upon the relative
susceptibility of the indigenous breeds vis-à-vis a known European strain
of bovine virus. Twelve calves of each of the following kinds of cattle
were subjected to the standard form of artificial infection at Izatnagar
during the cold weather season, 1923-24 :—(1) Hill cattle, from around
Muktesar, (2) " Plains " cattle of Rohilkhund Desi breed (local United
Provinces breed mixed with Hariana and Gangapari breeds), (3) Buffalo
calves, from the Bareilly District. The results obtained would appear
to show that all the breeds employed exhibited a high degree of resistance
to tuberculosis. The buffaloes were found to be much more resistant
than the ox calves. Some of the ox calves of both breeds, however,
were found to exhibit nearly as high a degree of susceptibility as is pos-
sessed by the average British calf. The results seemed to warrant the
prosecution of an experiment on the same lines on a large scale, and
steps were taken in conjunction with the agricultural authorities through-
out India to procure calves representative of all the important pure in-
digenous breeds together with calves containing a very high admixture
of European blood for test simultaneously with recently imported very
virulent European bovine virus.
Two strains of organisms were isolated from lesions of cattle in Cawn-
pore, and are now under study in the laboratory. Tests hitherto per-
formed indicate that they are of the " bovine type."
Examination of specimens received at the laboratory seems to indi-
cate that equine tuberculosis is not an uncommon disease in India;
the four specimens diagnosed during the period were recognised by
histological examination, for, as is now known, the detection of the
causal organism is very difficult in equine lesions that have not com-
menced to degenerate. A number of reactions to tuberculin have also
been recorded in horses tested in widely separated parts of India. A
very rich tuberculosis infection in an elephant was detected in specimens
sent to the laboratory by Mr. R. S. Narayanan from Rampur State.
(j) Infectious bovine nasal granuloma. Specimens of lesions from
the curious condition known as " snoring-disease " in cattle were received
at the laboratory from Bihar and Orissa, Bombay Presidency, Assam,
and Mysore State. The lesions, limited to the mucous membrane of
the nostrils, are histologically similar to those of bovine actinomycosis,
and in the new tissue can be seen " granules " composed of aggregations
of club-shaped elements, closely resembling the involution structures of
causal significance seen in actinomycosis. These findings had previously
been reported upon in cattle in the Madras presidency by Mr. V. Krishna-
murthi (Professor of Pathology and Bacteriology), I.V.S. In November
1923, a streptothrix was isolated culturally from the lesions, from which
it may be obtained in a pure state, and this organism is now under
study in the laboratory. Naturally infected cattle were also received
at the laboratory from Bihar for study. Mr. Cooper was directed to
execute the work in connection with this disease.