5
agency existing consists of Veterinary Assistants only, who cannot be depended
upon to do the inoculation work independently until they have been specially
trained at this Laboratory.
31. A Conference was held in Simla on the 17th September 1900, at
which it was decided to institute depôts for the reception of immunizing
agents in each Province. To maintain a stock of serum at any local centre,
the Local Governments should arrange to get the supply from this Labora-
tory and start the inoculation work under the direct supervision of their
Veterinary Superintendents, as long as the reputation of this curative agent
is not thoroughly established.
32. The experiment to prove whether serum will keep indefinitely in
any climate if kept under proper precautions is not yet finished. A certain
quantity of it has been deposited in the Deputy Commissioner's office at
Jacobabad, and will be sent for and tested when it has undergone an ex-
posure to the highest temperature in that locality.
VI.—Actual work done in the field.
33. The inoculations in the field were conducted by the Superinten-
dents of the Veterinary Department, but especially by the Assistant to the
Inspector General, Civil Veterinary Department. The detailed results of
these inoculations will be noticed by the officers of the Civil Veterinary
Department in their respective annual reports. The following short ab-
stracts, however, have been collated from the preliminary reports submitted
to this office and are here placed on record.
34. With regard to results of inoculations in the Simla District, during
the months of May and June last, the Inspector General, Civil Veterinary
Department, remarks, " I might add that the results of the inoculations
with serum alone in the affected dairy in Simla and at the affected stages
of the Bullock Train Service between Simla and Solon, were eminently
successful."
35. Results of further inoculations made in Hoshiarpur and Jullun-
der were not so satisfactory though I satisfied myself that the serum issued
from the Laboratory was not in fault.
36. The Assistant to the Inspector General inoculated some cattle in the
Dehra Dun District during the month of September by serum alone and the
simultaneous method, and found the results satisfactory. The same officer
reports that 485 inoculations carried out in the Hill States of the Simla District,
Bushair and Jubal, gave extremely satisfactory results.
37. The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, Bengal, caused the
cattle of Ranigunge and Burdwan districts to be inoculated with the serum
despatched from this Laboratory, and reports :—
"Rinderpest having broken out in Chittagong and Ranigunge, a sub-division of the district
of Burdwan, two senior students were deputed to inoculate the healthy cattle by the plain
anti-rinderpest serum method in both places. In Chittagong, 660 head of cattle were ino-
culated and in Ranigunge 366. In each case, the students revisited the villages some weeks
after the inoculation had been completed, with a view of ascertaining the results. From the
reports of the students, of which copies are enclosed, it appears that the results so far are
encouraging. The death rate in both places appears to have been greatly checked, although
statistics of this description are apt to contain errors."
(ii) With regard to inoculations in Calcutta Municipal Gowkhannas, the
same officer remarks that 32 out of 769 inoculated animals developed rinder-
pest, of which 26 died and 6 recovered.
(iii) Regarding Kanti inoculations, he says: " Experiments with anti-
rinderpest serum inoculations were also carried out at Kanti. Thirty-eight
head of cattle died before inoculation. After the inoculation, 4 out of the 225
inoculated cattle were attacked, of which only one, which had developed the
disease eight hours after the operation, died. The other three had it in a mild
form. The results were considered to be very satisfactory."
38. Owing to the objection put forward by the natives of Bengal against
the use of virulent blood, the method employed in the above outbreaks
was " Serum alone," but unfortunately the doses of serum injected were in-
adequate for that method, in most instances the quantity of serum utilized
was only sufficient for the "simultaneous method" when virulent blood is