12
showed no rise in temperature or other symptoms of tuberculosis. This obser-
vation tends to emphasize the importance of passing tuberculine through a
porcelain filter during the process of preparation, for, although the bacilli
proved to be inert after a period of four years, they must have retained their
vitality in the first instance in order to increase in number, but even then it
is questionable whether they could have retained their virulence.
44. Specimens examined.—During the year under report, 101 specimens
containing in some instances several different objects for examination, were
received at the Laboratory. The majority of these specimens were submitted
with a view to determine the presence or absence of the cryptococcus of Lymph-
angitis Epizootica and the causal factors of various forms of Trypanosomiasis.
In other instances, tissues were forwarded for diagnosis and report. In each
case the result of examination was reported to the respective person interested
after the shortest possible interval.
SECTION III.
Application of the result of research.
45. Foot and Mouth disease has caused much inconvenience during the
past twelve months. First it appeared in July and August and, at a later date,
during the months of December 1905 to March 1906 ; it stopped the prepara-
tion of rinderpest serum to a great extent.
46. During the autumn of 1905, extensive arrangements were entered
into for the preparation of rinderpest serum by hyper-immunizing a large
number of extra plains bulls, so that they would be available for serum giving
should it be impossible to bring hill bulls to the Laboratory estate, in the
event of Foot and Mouth or any other disease interfering with the further
preparation of this serum. To this foresight, with regard to precautionary
measures, we have much to be thankful for, as during four months, December
1905 to March 1906, some nine batches of hill bulls arrived in Muktesar,
some affected with Foot and Mouth disease but in the majority of instances
in apparently good health. The period of segregation, lasting 10 to 14 days,
is rigorously carried out with each batch of animals on their arrival at
Muktesar. Unfortunately, many of the animals in the respective batches,
supposed to be healthy on their arrival, after an interval of a few days (2 to
5), were observed to exhibit symptoms of Foot and Mouth disease and it took
nearly six weeks or longer for the animals of each batch to completely recover
and be fit for use.
In this connection, it must be noted, that the roads in the Kumaun
Division between the Bhootia villages in the mountains are for the greater
part of the year infected with Foot and Mouth disease due to Bhootia cattle
traversing them and therefore the following strict instructions were issued
to our agents in the Himalayas :—
(i) To collect no animals from those districts in which Foot and Mouth
was known to exist.
(ii) To segregate all animals for at least three weeks before despatching
to Muktesar.
(iii) To avoid public high roads by which Bhootias take their cattle
and to send the animals for the Laboratory by round-about
routes, little or seldom frequented by Bhootias.
47. It is of interest to note that by careful antiseptic and other precautions
we were able to confine the above-mentioned disease to the outskirts of the
Laboratory estate, and, for this reason, the animals previously hyper-
immunized during the autumn, produced a certain amount of serum, but this
could not be tested at Muktesar for want of hill bulls. The difficulty was,
however, overcome, as work is carried on at Bareilly during the winter months,
and we were, therefore, able to test and continue to issue the Muktesar serum,
with a minimum of inconvenience to the indenting officers, as during the
cold season we keep a certain number of hill cattle at the Bareilly Depôt for
experimental purposes.
48. Rinderpest Serum.—The quantity of anti-rinderpest serum prepared
during the year under report, was equivalent to 1,198,569 c. c. or about 211,407