( 18 )
disease in Bengal, it seems probable, from the work I have done, that by inject-
ing virulent blood into a healthy animal and immediately afterwards injecting
defibrinated blood taken from an immunized case, the healthy animal becomes
subject to an extremely mild attack of rinderpest and recovers. This is what
has happened in my experiments, but it remains to be seen if the attack is
always as mild as has happened up to the present.
217. Should this method become recommendable for practical use, it will
have this advantage, viz., that a mild attack of Rinderpest can be run through a
herd (isolated for the purpose) and the owners' mind set at rest for probably
some years.
218. But I do not think this method will commend itself generally to the
raiyats of these Provinces, as it is rather too complicated for them to understand.
Moreover, the dose of defibrinated blood required is large, which is also a
draw-back.
219. I have been for some time engaged in attempting to prepare a useful
serum of greater immunizing power than is obtained from animals that have
recovered from an ordinany attack of Rinderpest. Should I succeed, it may bo
possible to keep a stock of material at Belgatchia, ready for distribution.
220. The records, charts, &c., connected with these experiments have been
carefully preserved, but they are somewhat bulky, would cost a good deal to
print, and would be of interest to very few people. Therefore, I have not
appended them to this report.
221. Besides the knowledge gained and reported above, a few other
matters may be recorded, for instance: —
(a) The number of immune cattle round about the suburbs of Calcutta is
very large, so large in fact as to infuse an element of uncertainty
into experiments.
Many calves have withstood infection or
only had very mild attacks. Buffaloes do not appear to be
immune to the same extent. At any rate only one of my
experimental animals has withstood infection.
(b) The number of ordinary cases of cattle plague that recover, if care-
fully nursed, is comparatively large see paragraph 34).
(c) Repeated dosage with dejectae, fibrinous casts, &c., from a rinder-
pest case has failed in some instances to produce the disease,
but a subsequent injection of 10 c. c. m. of blood has produced
the desired result in the same animal. This experience con-
firms Koch's experiments in South Africa.
(d) I have preserved bile by adding glycerine to it, as suggested by
Dr. Edington, and I find that so treated it preserves its colour,
and remains free from smell for some time, at the ordinary
temperature of my office in the cool weather.
(e) A bull suffering from rinderpest was treated by injecting two ounces
of Bile and Glycerine into the jugular vein. The diarrhœa
ceased within a few hours, but was resumed two days later,
and a subsequent injection of a similar dose produced no
apparent effect on the course of the disease, which ended,
however, in recovery.
(f) Dr. Edington's method of treating the bile is said to have the ad-
vantage that a great number of biles, good, fair, and indifferent
in quality, can bo mixed together, and thus an average quality
of bile obtained. The advantage which is said to be deriv-
able from this system is to be found in its economy, because
a quantity of indifferent material can be used up.
As buffaloes are cheap in this country, it seems undesirable to use indiffer-
ent material in order to save an occasional two or three rupees; hence the
above system need not be used at present.
(g) A cutting from the Times of India of 25th October 1897 was sent
to me, detailing Dr. Edington's further experiments in South
Africa.
It contained the following:—"He has found that
blood of animals affected by rinderpest, when treated with
citric acid and kept for such a time as to insure the death
of the contagium, confers immunity from the disease when