5
considerable lesions were noted in the horses and mules, and ones of a slighter
character, beneath the skin at or around the seat of inoculation, in the bovines;
the "materies morbi" of this disease being frequently recognised by the
microscope in the affected tissues. After an interval of 1 year and 9 months,
at which date the animals were destroyed and the post-mortems conducted,
no trace of the inoculated disease could be found and no lesions of the internal
organs referable to the same were observed.
19. In conjunction with Veterinary Captain Cranford, Army Veterinary
Department, experiments were undertaken to ascertain whether horses could
contract the above mentioned disease, when " mutty" obtained from the
standings of diseased animals was applied to the surface of granulating wounds.
Three animals (equines) were used for these experiments:
In the first experiment, the " mutty " was taken from the just vacated
standing of a bad case of Lymphangitis Epizootica, and the result was
positive. In the second and third, certain selected standings, previously
occupied by severe cases of the above disease, were railed in and allowed to be
exposed to the weather, during a period of two months, before the material
was collected and smeared on the granulating surfaces. The granulating
wounds were cleaned and smeared daily with " mutty " obtained from the
above source, between 30th July and 7th September 1901. Although the
second and third cases remained under daily observation for a period of eight
months, no untoward symptoms resulted and no Lymphangitis Epizootica
supervened.
20. Lymphangitis Epizootica has now become a generalized disease in many
districts in India. On investigating the outbreaks at Hapur and Karnal
Remount Depôts in 1900, affecting horses and mules, I traced the disease to
previous cases imported from Italy, but in no way connected one with the other.
During my visit to Hapur, 27th March 1902,I found two animals segregated
in the confines of the depôt, only received from Lahore and Jacobabad fairs
within a period of three weeks, the former to be suffering with well marked
Lymphangitis Epizootica, in the tissues of which the Cryptococcus was
demonstrated microscopically, and the latter presented every symptom of an
early case.
21. Surra.—Researches with regard to this absolutely fatal disease in
equines, has been continued during the year under review. There is not much
to note with the exception that a serum was prepared which possessed a power
of destroying " in vitrio " the Trypanosoma of Surra in two and-a-half minutes,
and the Trypanosoma in control specimens still survived after a period of 6 or
7 hours. Even in equines suffering from Surra, subcutaneously and intraven-
ously injected with this strong serum, the tendency was always for the
Trypanosoma to return after an interval of days, and the serum was therefore
of but very little value. From such serum, it is feared, no hope of success can
be entertained, and for this reason modifications will have to be introduced
and other lines of research entered upon, especially when the Bareilly Depôt is
complete and work commences there.
22. Strangles.—Whenever the opportunity has been afforded of obtaining
material from animals in the plains affected with this disease, cultivations
have been secured and forwarded to the Laboratory for further investigation,
but up to the present, I have been unable to reproduce this disease in equines,
at an elevation of 7,500 feet, from cultivations grown at Muktesar. Conse-
quently, but little progress could be made in the preparation of a serum
capable of combating this affection.
23. During this year, I have seen and secured photographs of animals
affected with Lymphangitis Epizootica and Strangles at the same time, render-
ing an absolute diagnosis impossible without the aid of the microscope, but
when this instrument was used, the organisms of the two diseases were easily
recognised.
24. Paralysis.—On the Director, Army Remount Department, wiring
concerning severe outbreak of Paralysis affecting equines at Karnal Remount
Depôt, I was ordered, by the Secretary to Government, Revenue and Agri-
cultural Department telegram No. 4047, to proceed to Karnal immediately
On arrival, every endeavour was made to determine the cause of the outbreak
principally amongst Australian remounts. The disease was observed to follow