10
46. Much further time and labour will have to be expended before a
thorough grasp of the peculiarities of the disease as observed in this country can
be arrived at, and therefore a longer period must elapse before any practical
results can be hoped for. In the meantime, every advantage is being taken of
recording by photographic methods the most important symptoms exhibited in
the different animals affected, and drawings made of the different phases in the
life history of the Trypanosoma of Dourine.
47. Human Tubercle.—The results of Professor Koch's experiments in
Europe showed that bovines inoculated with the "materies morbi" of human
tuberculosis failed to bring about any pathological changes in the inoculated
animals; with a view to discover whether the same results would be obtained
with bovines in this country, the following experiments were conducted.
48. Bull, age 3 years, body weight 190 lbs. was intravenously injected on
12th June, 1902, with 4 c. c. of a cultivation of tubercle bacilli derived from
human sputum grown in glycerine bullion.
During June to September, 1902, the temperatures varied between 36.8-
37.0°C. in the morning and 39.5-40.3°C. in the evening. On the 18th
September, 1902, the same animal was injected intravenously a second time
with 3.0 c. c. human tubercle bacilli grown in glycerine bouillon and during
October, 1902, to May 1903, the temperatures varied between 36.3-37.9°C.
in the morning and 38.8-40.6°C. in the evening. The animal was destroyed
on the 11th May, 1903, and its dead body weight was found to be 261 lbs.
against 190 lbs. at the time of injection. The post-mortem examination
revealed no sign of tubercular change in the organs or lymphatic glands; organs
healthy.
49. Hill bull, age 1 year, body weight 191 lbs., was intravenously injected
on 10th October, 1902, with 1.20 c.c. of fresh sputum containing a large num
ber of tubercle bacilli obtained from a case of human tuberculosis of lungs.
The sputum was mixed with 6.0 c.c. of 0.6 per cent. salt solution just previous
to injection. The evening temperature during a period of nearly 6⅔ months
varied between 39.1 and 39.7°C. Except on one occasion it rose to 41.2ºC. in
November. The morning temperatures varied between 36.4 and 37.4°C. On
April 30th, 1903, after an interval of 203 days (body weight 247 lbs. showing an
increase of 56 lbs.) the bull was destroyed and a postmortem conducted with
the result that no sign of tubercle in any form could be discovered in any of the
organs or lymphatic glands.
50. Control experiments were at the same time made in rabbits with the
result that these animals succumbed in an average of 92 days after inocu
lation.
51. Result.—The bacillus of tubercle obtained from a human source is
unable to reproduce the disease in bovines. There is therefore an indication
that tuberculosis in human beings might be retarded, if not cured, by the con
tinued administration during a long period of healthy bovines serum either
subcutaneously or per os.
SECTION II.
Application of the result of research.
52. Rinderpest.—During the year under review, 473, 471 c.c. of anti-
rinderpest serum have been prepared and 539,600 c.c. or 87,791 doses were
issued, as per detail shown in Appendix I. The serum prepared is equivalent to
73,288 doses, as against 52,187 doses during the past official year. The demand
for this serum was greater by 40,018 doses than that of the last year.
53. Owing to the budget provisions having been made under the new
scheme, sufficient funds were at our disposal to facilitate the increased output of
serum and therefore we were in a position to prepare 21,101 doses more than
that of the previous year. Unfortunately, as the large centrifugal machine and
oil engine did not arrive in India and none of the required buildings were taken
in hand during the past official year, it was impossible to increase the full num
ber of serum giving animals.
Further, foot and mouth disease, which is always enzootic in the Bhotia
villages, made its appearance amongst the control and serum giving animals by