6
The Veterinary Assistant in charge of the Veterinary Hospital, Guntūr, alone
obtained confirmation in the case of 14 dogs. In addition, in 45 dogs and seven
other domestic animals, two of which were horses, a diagnosis of rabies was made,
but confirmation was not sought. Two elephants belonging to the Raja of Nilam-
bur were put under anti-rabic treatment, as they had been bitten by a rabid dog.
One of them subsequently died of rabies confirmed microscopically.
42. Sheep-pox.—Nine reports of this disease were received from Rāmnād
district, in which it is reported to have been very severe.
43. Pleuro-Pneumonia of sheep.—A heavy mortality amongst the sheep and
lambs of the Agricultural Farms at Hagari and Bantanahal in Bellary district
occurred during the year and many of the cases showed pneumonic lesions. A com
plete diagnosis of the causes of the mortality, however, has not yet been made and
the matter is still under investigation.
44. Bovine Lymphangitis.—This disease deserves separate notice in this Presi
dency, for in some districts, particularly the northern ones, it causes considerable
trouble.
Material has been sent from cases in this Presidency to help the Director of
the Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory in his endeavours to isolate the casual
organism of the disease.
45. Red-water.—Acute cases of this bovine complaint were discovered in Nellore
district, but the outbreak soon subsided.
46. Strangles.—An epidemic of this disease broke out amongst the jutka ponies
in Nellore town. Fifty-five animals were inoculated with anti-streptococcus serum
with fairly good results.
47. Silai—This is the Tamil name given to a peculiar disease of short duration
which frequently occurs in cattle, mostly buffaloes, in Periyakulam taluk of Madura
district. Efforts will be made to discover more about the etiology of it during the
current year.
IV.—MISCELLANEOUS WORK.
48. For the Forest Department.—At the instance of the Superintendent three
Government elephants, which were in very poor condition and no longer required in
Ganjām, were transferred by rail from that district to the Mudumalai nursery in
The Nilgiris. One died while being marched from the railway to the nursery, but
the other two have improved considerably and should do sufficient work to justify
the trouble and expense incurred in moving them.
49. A second Veterinary Assistant from this department was sanctioned for the
Forest Department during the year with headquarters at Gudalur.
50. For the Police.—Still further improvement is to be recorded with regard to
the use of the members of this department in criminal cases connected with
animals.
They held a post-mortem examination on 46 cases of suspected criminal poison
ing, and in 33 of them sent the viscera to the Chemical Examiner for report.
Poison was detected in ten of them.
In the previous year the staff of this department held only 31 such examinations.
In addition, they examined 130 animals for malicious injury as against 73 the
previous year, and gave evidence when called upon to do so.
51. The Chemical Examiner reports that he dealt with 99 cases of suspected
criminal poisoning in animals altogether, and detected poison in 44 of them. Guntūr
again supplied the largest number of cases, 14 proving positive, and the other
districts in which poisoning was most common were also the same as last
year, viz., Gōdāvari, Nellore and Kistna.
Yellow oleander was found in 28 of the cases, and arsenic, in some form or
other, in 13 of the remainder.
52. Reports as to the number of cases of criminal poisoning dealt with in the
courts have been received from all districts except Vizagapatam. Thirty-four