( 10 )
The total number of animals treated at the dispensary at Burdwan during
the year under report was 152. The number treated by the Veterinary
Assistant in the interior of the district was 231 during the year. (Appen-
dix XIV).
Appended will be found a statement which shows in detail the income
and expenditure of the veterinary dispensary during the year under report
(Appendix XV). The Chairman also reports that from the remarks left by
his predecessor on the tour diaries and from the reports of the present Veteri-
nary Assistant, he was satisfied with his work. The dispensaries were inspected
by me or by a member of my staff except the one at Burdwan. The Magistrate-
asked that the inspection of that dispensary might be postponed, because the
Veterinary Assistant was away at the time. Reports were duly forwarded.
GLANDERS AND FARCY OPEEATIONS IN NORTH BIHAR.
41. In last year's report I mentioned that three Veterinary Inspectors
were engaged under the Glanders Act in each of the three districts of Saran,
Muzaffarpur, and Champaran, where there was an outbreak of glanders, to
test horses with mallein. Besides these, two of the lecturers and the Veteri-
nary Assistant attached to the Muzaffarpur Veterinary Dispensary were also
gazetted as Veterinary Inspectors under the Act. In Saran, 342 horses were
tested, including the 92 Hathwa Raj horses, of which 2 were found to be
glandered; in Muzaffarpur 197 were tested and 4 were found to be glandered;
and in Champaran 105 were tested, of which 4 were declared to be glandered.
The operations have ceased in Saran and Muzaffarpur, and in Champaran they
are expected to be shortly closed.
Fortnightly progress reports were duly sent to the Director of Land
Records and Agriculture, Bengal. A complete report will be submitted as soon
as the operations come to an end.
The expenditure on account of the glanders work during the year under
report was Rs. 4,523-2-8, which includes the pay and travelling allowance of
Veterinary Inspectors, price of mallein, temperature charts, syringes, &c.
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.
42. In Calcutta.—Rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease broke out
during the year in Calcutta, and Howrah and suburbs.
43. In the mufassal.—Appended will be found a synopsis of transactions
in connection with cattle-disease, and a tabulated statement in the prescribed
form showing the districts where outbreaks of cattle disease occurred during
the year under report. (Appendices XVIII, XVIII). It will be seen from the
statement (XVIII) that the number of reported attacks is the greatest in Puri.
These figures have been compiled from reports received from the District
Officers, Subdivisional Officers, and thana officers. They are probably not
very correct, but progress towards accuracy is being made in some of the
districts. I am inclined to think that in some instances foot-and-mouth-disease
may have been mistaken for rinderpest and vicâ versa. In last year's report
I mentioned that I had submitted proposals for a system of reporting upon
post-cards outbreaks of disease direct to this office from police thanas, the
object being to save time and lighten clerical work in other offices. The
proposal received the support of the Director of Land Records and the Inspec-
tor-General of Police, and I think it will be a great improvement upon the
old method of reporting. The system has been at work only two or three
months, and I am satisfied with it so far. A final opinion must be reserved
till next year.
EXPERIMENTS.
44. Rinderpest.—With a view to gain some idea of the probable result
of serum treatment in Bengal, both when used in combination with virulent
blood and as a curative, I conducted two experiments, the reports of which
were submitted to the Director of Land Records and Agriculture, Bengal, in
this office letters Nos. 2305V.D., dated 7th December 1898, and 439V.D., dated
7th March 1899, and to the Inspector-General, Civil Veterinary Department,
in this office endorsements No. 2432 V.D., dated the 30th December 1898, and
No. 440V.D., dated the 7th March 1899. The general conclusions I came to