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Veterinary Adviser to expedite their completion. Provision should be made for
the erection of a residence in the school compound for the Second Superinten-
dent who at present has his headquarters in Rangoon. Mr. Keith considers
that before any new buildings are constructed a small committee of veterinary
experts selected from outside the department might usefully be appointed to
examine the school buildings, present and proposed and the present curriculum
of studies and to advise the Local Government on these matters and on the
extent to which the school meets the requirements of the province. Outside
criticism, especially outside expert criticism is nearly always useful and is espe-
cially valuable in the case of a department like the Veterinary Department in
which the number of superior officers is too small to provide adequate criticism
from within the department. The Committee might also advise regarding the
possibility of providing higher education in veterinary subjects. In Mr. Keith's
opinion the number of government appointments is too small and the demand
from private sources too small to justify any large expenditure on an institution
capable of training out officers first for appointment to a Provincial Service.
4. Treatment of Diseases.—There
was again a gratifying decrease in the
number of cattle deaths from contagious diseases during the year of
report, 27,437 as a ainst 40,409 in 1920-21 and 59,425 in the previous year.
This total, however, is still more than three times as great as the average number
of such deaths during the four war years 1914-15 to 1917-18
Rinderpest as
usual claimed the majority of the victims and more than half the deaths from
rinderpest are reported from the Upper Chindwin District, Only a fifth of the
deaths are reported from districts in Lower Burma. In Upper Burma cattle
deaths are not registered outside Yamethin district and the reliability of the
figures is doubtful. Mr. Keith considers that the system of registration in force
in Lower Burma should be extended to Upper Burma. This extension has been
proposed more than once and the question has again been referred for the
opinion of Commissioners. If the estimates are correct it would appear that
nearly 22,000 cattle perished in the sparsely populated Upper Chindwin District
alone during the past two years. Preventive inoculation was carried out in 20
districts and 28,380 animals were inoculated, less than half the average number
inoculated during the three previous years, The number of deaths from rinderpest
among animals inoculated was only 76 or about one-fifth of the average during
each of the previous two years. The number of animals inoculated in the Upper
Chindwin District is comparatively small and Mr, Keith considers that special
arrangements should be made for dealing with the disease in this area.
5. Veterinary Hospitals and Dispensaries.— Sanction was accorded by the
Local Government in your letter No, 24M.— 1V.-24 of the 4th April 1921, to the
establishment of Experimental Veterinary Dispensaries in the towns of Pakôkku,
Myingyan, Prome and Pegu each at a total cost not exceeding Rs. 2,500 per
annum. The Prome and Myingyan Dispensaries were opened on the 1st Octo-
ber 1921 and the Pakôkku Dispensary on the 1st November. The Pegu Dispen-
sary has not yet been opened owing to the difficulty of finding accommoda-
tion at a reasonable rent and the officiating Development Commissioner has
recently approved a suggestion by the Veterinary Adviser that a Dispensary
should be opened at Toungoo instead of at Pegu, The Dispensary at Prome
was indifferently attended ; only 106 patients were treated during the six months
for which it was open. At Pakôkku 291 patients were treated in five months.
At Myingyan the attendance was 657 in six months or more than one-fourth of the
total number of patients treated during the year at the old established Veterinary
Hospital at Insein, In Akyab a Dispensary was maintained at the cost of the
Municipality from the 1st May 1921, In the twelve months ended the 30th April
1922 only 131 animals were treated, The Municipal Committee has decided to
continue the experiment for another year, The success of the Myingyan
Di pensary is distinctly encouraging and Mr. Keith considers that with some
rearrangement of charges it should be possible to provide a dispensary at each
district headquarters without increasing the strength of the veterinary staff. By
concentrating the staff of Veterinary Assistants at district headquarters instead of