September, 1956 ]
R. M. SHARMA AND H. M. BHATIA 121
Ordinarily the cases recovered after the first 6 injections. Some required treatment
during the second week. The treatment was, however, continued for two weeks.
It was purposely given for a longer time to avoid occurrence of any relapse. The
above doses were for adult animals. For young kids and lambs, the doses were
reduced accordingly.
The results obtained in the above trial were encouraging and warranted further
work in this direction. Consequently 28 more cases were given the above treatment
during the period from 1950 to 1953. Out of these 28 cases thus treated, 22 made
complete recovery, two showed partial improvement and four died. These results
indicate that vitamin B 1 has some part to play in the causation of the disease. It
is believed that vitamin B is normally synthesised in the rumen of ruminants and,
therefore, it is contended that ordinarily there is no deficiency of this vitamin in
the polygastric animals. It is likely that some factors such as deficiency of trace
elements like copper, cobalt and iron may be interfering with the normal synthesis
of vitamin B complex in these animals.
(9) Accordingly a mixture consisting of cobalt sulphate 20 mg., copper sulphate
20 mg. and ferrous sulphate 100 mg. was administered once every week for 6 months
from 1st April to 30th September for two consecutive years to a total of 92 lambs,
30 Betal goats and 20 Betal kids. An equal number of these animals were kept as
controls under identical conditions of feeding and management for comparative
study. The results were judged at the end of the usual season of the disease and it
was observed that 12 animals from the two groups developed the disease,
three from the treated and 9 from the untreated group. These observations indicate
that deficiency of the above trace elements may be playing some role in the causation
of the disease. To obtain direct evidence in this direction, five samples of suspected
fodder obtained from the grazing fields of Chhaoni block and Goat Breeding Section
were sent to the Head of the Division of Animal Nutrition, Indian Veterinary
Research Institute, Izatnagar for estimation of their copper, cobalt and iron con-
tents. Results received in respect of two samples showed that there was a definite
deficiency of copper in one sample and cobalt content in it was on the border line.
(10) The effect of feeding gram ration—a rich source of vitamin B—at one pound
per goat per day, for 6 months from 1st June to 30th November, on the incidence
of lumber paralysis was studied on 32 goats. A similar number of these animals
of identical age-group were kept as controls for comparative study. Four ani-
mals from the two groups developed the disease, one from the grain-fed-group and
3 from the control group.
(11) The prophylactic value of Diethyl carbamyl-4 methyl piperazine citrate—
"Hetrazan" (a preparation of Lederle Laboratories), prescribed by Shoho [1952],
was studied on 37 male kids, 25 goats and 6 lambs of this farm. A similar number
of these animals, of the same age-group and kept under identical conditions of feed-
ing and management, were left as controls. The dose given was 20-30 mgm./kg. of
body weight. The drug was administered about 20 days before the usual time of
occurrence of the disease. Results obtained showed that two cases of the disease,
one in each group were encountered amongst the experimental animals.
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