109
551. We now have one in Bengal which, when in working order, should
be able to furnish Veterinary assistants for Bengal and portions of Oudh;
whilst the Lahore School will undoubtedly be able to supply men not only for
the Punjab, but also for the North-Western Provinces. Last year this school
passed out 26 men, 8 of whom were military, leaving 18 for whom employ-
ment will be necessary. This, for a few years, will not perhaps prove a
matter of any difficulty, but when each district is supplied with its Veterinary
assistants, vacancies will be few; and by that time we shall have Rajputana
and Bengal schools in full working order, and I feel assured that the supply
would, within the next five years, be in excess of the demand.
552. Burma is supplied with its own school, which will be sufficient
for its requirements, except perhaps that it may have occasionally to indent on
Bombay for a Veterinary graduate.
553. Bombay is fully supplied, and Madras is now the only Presidency
which is so far behind others in the matter of veterinary education. I have
already remarked on the want of a school in that Presidency, and I sincerely
trust that the Madras Government will shortly be induced to start one on the
lines of that recently opened in Bengal.
Dispensaries.
554. Good work has been done by these institutions; and as they appear
to have afforded great benefit to the zemindars, I would much like to see them
extended.
Conclusion.
555. In conclusion, although no section of this report is allotted to con-
tagious diseases of horses, I feel compelled to allude to that fatal malady,
glanders and farcy, fatal not only to equines but also to mankind.
556. But little notice has been paid to it in the reports of the various
Superintendents. Although when Inspecting Veterinary officer of the Eastern
Circle, I found it to exist largely in military stations in that Circle, it existed
in three corps at Lucknow, also at Fyzabad, Bareilly, Saugor, Allahabad, as
well as in His Excellency the Viceroy's Body-Guard at Dehra Dun. Some of
these cases appear to have had a local origin, but others appeared in batches
of remounts railed from Amritsar and other centres, showing that the disease
is widespread. To endeavour to prevent its dissemination all remount
officers were directed to have their batches examined by the Veterinary officer
on duty at the fair at which they were bought, and they were further directed
to cause them to be strictly isolated for 30 days on joining their respective corps.
557. That glanders and farcy exist to a great extent in the large cities
and towns throughout India cannot be denied. In order to protect our large
military centres, especially our remount depôts, it is of the greatest impor-
tance that Act No. XX of 1879 should be extended to the whole of India.
This necessary measure I shall be prepared to submit for the consideration of
Government.
558. In February 1894 two acute cases of glanders were discovered at
Amritsar; and, in accordance with a recommendation received from the Superin-
tendent, Civil Veterinary Department, South Punjab, intimation was fur-
nished to all officers Commanding Native Cavalry regiments, to the Director,
Army Remount Department, and to the Commissary-General-in-Chief, with a
view of their segregating all remounts purchased at the Bysakhi Fair.
559. The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, South Punjab, brings
forcibly to notice the hardship to owners, who, having their animals destroyed
under the Act, are compelled in this Province to make the necessary arrange-
ments for the cremation of the carcasses. I quite agree with him that the
expense should be met by the local authorities, and shall make the necessary
recommendation to the Director of Land Records and Agriculture of that
Province, as the regulations on this point are left to the discretion of the
Local Governments.
SIMLA ;
The 12th September 1894.
A. E. QUERIPEL, Vety. Lieuk-Colonel,
Inspector-General, Civil Vety. Department,