NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
Review of the Annual Report of the Civil Veterin-
ary Department, Punjab, for the year 1928-29.
On July the 3rd, 1928, the Veterinary Work of the
Province was separated from its long connection with
the Department of Agriculture and entrusted to a new
department under the control of a Director, Civil
Veterinary Department. Under him were placed the
Veterinary College with its Principal, the Hissar Cattle
Farm with its Superintendent, and the field staff engag-
ed on veterinary work proper. In addition, there is a
Live Stock Officer, whose duties have been more closely
defined since the close of the year, and a Research
Officer.
Arrangements are in train to divide the
Province into five circles corresponding to the revenue
divisions, each under a Superintendent. Under him, each
district will eventually be in charge of a Deputy Superin-
tendent. The old grade of Inspectors is being abolished.
It is intended that in time the Deputy Superintendent
shall be a fully qualified Veterinary Surgeon to whom
will be entrusted preventive work against contagious
diseases and general supervision of the hospitals and
dispensaries in his charge.
The latter are for the most part in charge of
Veterinary Assistants. No decision has yet been reach-
ed on the recommendation of the Royal Commission
that these should be manned with assistants with a
specialised training on the ox.
2. The separation of the Veterinary from the
Agricultural Department has provided the Director with
wider scope for useful activity. The responsibility for
further development now rests with the technical head,
and there is an air of confidence in the report under
review that augurs well for the future. During the
year, the total expenditure amounted to Rs. 24.6 lakhs
of which 13.9 came from provincial revenues and the
rest from local bodies; of this it may be argued that
far too large a proportion was devoted to the cure of
non-contagious diseases and of similar ailments, which
in a more advanced country would be paid for by the
owners of the animals treated. But in the present day
conditions of the Province facilities for treatment must
be provided from public revenues, if there is to be any
skilled treatment at all. There is as yet little indica-
2
tion of the development of a body of trained practition-
ers living by private practice.
3. Training.—The demand for qualified men
continues to exceed the supply; and until the labora-
tory accommodation is enlarged, the Veterinary College
will remain unable to increase the number of students it
can admit. The entrance qualification is now Inter-
mediate Arts or Science, yet as many as 135 candidates
applied for admission. In the past there has been
considerable wastage chiefly due to the inability of the
student to cope with the curriculum, and in the year
under report only 16 passed the final examination; it
is hoped that with the higher entrance qualifications a
larger proportion of the original entrants will survive the
course and emerge successful. The decision to accept
students in Arts and even Matriculates represents but a
stage towards the single qualification of Intermediate
Science in the medical group. So long as any of the
students have not received a preliminary training in
science, the College must continue to provide this. Of
those admitted 3 were Graduates, 18 had passed the
First Examination in Science, and 6 the corresponding
examination in Arts of the University.
Whether the
recruitment from a narrower field will yield Veterinary
Surgeons as fit for hard out-door work as the wider field
offered by Matriculates remains to be seen. It has
further to be ascertained whether the Intermediate
Colleges can provide adequate facilities for training
students in the medical group of the type required for
veterinary work. It is suggested in some quarters that
the raising of the entrance qualification may result in
the reduction of the number of students from the rural
classes, who are more habitually accustomed to deal
with animals.
4. Research.—Major Nicholl assumed charge of the
post of Research Officer in December last, and
has already been overwhelmed with requests for assist-
ance in various problems confronting the district staffs.
Several investigations are in progress, and the Ministry
of Agriculture will watch the results with great interest.
It is clear that there is ample work for several such
officers.
3
The treatment of Surra continues to receive special
attention from the staff of the Department, and although
the fly survey operations have been abandoned other
special lines of activity continue.
5. Preventive measures against contagious diseases
are slowly gaining in popularity, but they are hardly
yet carried out on a scale sufficient to influence morta-
lity from these causes in the Province at large. In the
case of Rinderpest very little progress has been made in
the last 10 years, but the results of recent research into
the serum simultaneous method open up the prospect
of a widespread campaign in favour of the more perma-
nent protection of valuable cattle. The Director is not
yet in favour of attempting to carry out wholesale
serum simultaneous treatment of all cattle in a large
area. But the Ministry of Agriculture considers that the
results obtained in Egypt and in Mysore might be
studied more closely. In Egypt the method is now in
general use, and if Mysore can show success from its
campaign of universal inoculation, the case for attempt-
ing to drive Rinderpest out of the Province by this
method should be further considered.
6. In the treatment of animals apart from conta-
gious diseases considerable progress continues to be
made, and the time is rapidly approaching when all stock
owners in the Province will be within easy reach of
skilled attention.
The number of Veterinary Hospitals is now 258 as
compared with 129 ten years ago; the number of
animals treated has increased in far greater proportion,
from 2,91,085 ten years ago to 8,57,951 in the year
under report.
7. The attempt to improve the breeds of cattle in
the Province continues along the two lines of the provi-
sion of pedigree stud bulls and the castration of unsuit-
able sires. Of stud bulls the number is now 3,130 as
compared with 1,265 ten years ago; the number of cas-
trations was 1,60,465 as compared with 16,728 ten years
ago. The main supply of stud bulls continues to be the
Hissar Cattle Farm, but contributions are now being-
made from grantee farms; in addition successful efforts
are being made to improve cattle in the Hariana and
4
Dhanni tracts along well thought out lines. Unfor-
tunately the Hariana scheme has met with a setback
owing to the severe scarcity of fodder, and there was a
similar but less severe dearth of fodder in the Dhanni
tract. In both areas it is claimed that the schemes have
very definitely raised the standard of bullocks available.
The Hissar Cattle Farm was well administered
during the year, and its capacity to turn out pedigree
bulls is being steadily increased. Were more fodder
available progress on these lines would be more rapid.
During the year a larger area has been brought under
cultivation, and the head of stock is being gradually
increased.
Some interesting experiments are being
carried out with varieties of fodder and now that the
water supply has been improved there is some hope that
these experiments may yield results of value.
More attention is being paid to milk and it may
perhaps become necessary in the future to remind the
Superintendent of the view expressed by the Royal
Commission on Agriculture, that the attempt to provide
dual-purpose cattle equally suitable for draught and for
milk should only be made where the prospects for suc-
cessful bull production are markedly above the average.
In a country, such as the Punjab, the chief aim must
continue to be the production of cows which are capable
of rearing calves that will grow into useful draught
bullocks.
It is too early yet to pronounce judgment on the
attempts that are being made to improve the breeds of
sheep and goats, but the Ministry of Agriculture is
watching the work with great interest.
8 The Live Stock Officer is in general charge of
breeding operations except at the (Hissar Cattle Farm),
but his chief occupation for some years to come must
be a careful scientific survey of cattle throughout the
Province with a view to collecting material for decisions
as to the best lines on which to improve breeds. It is
hoped that as a whole-time officer he will be able to
exercise closer supervision over the grantee cattle farms;
there is a marked tendency amongst the grantees to pay
more attention to their crops than to their cattle; they
possess little technical knowledge of cattle-breeding and
lack a sufficiently trained stall; the breeding of cattle is,
5
in fact, subsidiary to the growing of remunerative crops.
This must be changed, and pressure must be brought to
bear to ensure the fullest compliance with the conditions
of the grant, and instances must be reported to Gov-
ernment where the grantees refuse to adopt the advice
of the Live Stock Officer, aimed at ensuring more
complete realization of the object of these grants. The
Shergarh small holdings scheme is still in its experimen-
tal stage; milk records are being kept and pedigree
registers maintained. But the grantees lack enthu-
siasm in the cause of scientific cattle-breeding.
9. The Ministry of Agriculture is convinced that
the prosperity of agriculture is closely linked with the
improvement of Live Stock. The Royal Commission
rightly pointed out that cattle improvement depends
largely on better breeding and feeding, so that the milk-
ing qualities of cows, and the ploughing efficiency of
bullocks may steadily increase.
The Ministry of Agriculture wishes to draw special
attention to the recommen lations of the Royal
Commission and would be glad if future reports give
some account of the efforts made to give effect to these
recommendations. There are now 258 hospitals in charge
of Veterinary Assistant Surgeons; it would not be too
much to expect that every Veterinary Assistant
Surgeon should take interest at least in one village in
his circle in the neighbourhood of his hospital and
should carefully study its requirements, in the matter
of milk supply, the number of bullocks required for
ploughing, and its fodder resources. It need hardly be
said that the elimination of Scrub Bulls by castration
and their replacement by locally selected bulls, where
pedigree bulls are not available, is of the utmost
importance.
The Royal Commission held that there were far
more bullocks than were required for the actual work
of ploughing, and that they were not properly fed. The
Ministry would welcome a careful investigation of this
problem in specially selected villages. It may then
be possible to organise and encourage co-operative
ploughing in cases of small holdings which cannot
afford the cost of maintaining a pair of bullocks. It
may be mentioned that to cultivate 100 acres 8 pairs
6
of bullocks are required and that the cost of mainten-
ance of a pair is in the neighbourhood of Rs. 150. The
Ministry is aware that the absence of village grazing;
grounds is detrimental to the health of both man and
his stock and hopes that with the awakening in the
villages it may be possible to arrange a rotation by
co-operation of the whole village which would secure a
common grazing and fodder area every year for the use
of the village. The correct period for harvesting cereals
to get the maximum value for straw and grain offers
another line of enquiry. Where grasses are poor as in
the hills and lowlying areas, proper mixtures will have
to be introduced.
The Dhanni and the hill cows need special attention
as well as buffaloes. The Ministry recognises the need
of close co-operation between the Departments of
Agriculture and Veterinary particularly in the matter
of research and expects that the Research Council
will bring about co-ordination which is desirable to
foster and encourage co-operation and a spirit of mutual
helpfulness in the field of research.
Mr. Quirke was Chief Superintendent of the
Department from the beginning of the year till 4th
July, 1928, when he assumed charge as Director, Civil
Veterinary Department. The Punjab
Government
(Ministry of Agriculture) wishes to acknowledge his
careful attention to the organisation of his Department.
Mr. Taylor, Principal, Veterinary College, Lahore, who
has been officiating as Director since March 1929, has
written the main report: the Veterinary College owes
not a little to his enthusiasm for Veterinary Education.
Mr. L. W. Smith who assumed charge of the Hissar
Cattle Farm from his distinguished predecessor, Mr.
Branford, has made a good beginning. Mr. Garewal
assumed charge as Live Stock Officer in July 1928, and
continued in charge of his own circle till when his duties
were defined and he was appointed as an Assistant to
the Director for breeding and Live Stock, in which
capacity he will carry on Live Stock work through the
ordinary Veterinary staff of the Department.
JOGENDRA SINGH,
Minister for Agriculture.
W. R. WILSON,
Secretary to Government,
Punjab, Revenue Department.
240 FC-260—17-12 29—SGPL Lahore.
Annual Report of the Civil Veterinary Department
of the Punjab for the year 1928-29.
Gazetted Staff.
1. Mr. W. Taylor held the charge of the Institution
during the year under report till he
was appointed to officiate as the Direc-
tor, Civil Veterinary Department, Punjab, on the 12th March
1929. Captain Walker officiated as Principal and Lala
Durga Das as the Professor of Medicine in addition to their
usual duties.
Major E. Nicholl was appointed as the Research Officer
attached to the Punjab Veterinary College by the High Com-
missioner in England. He joined his appointment on the
10th of December 1928 (forenoon).
Lala Durga Dass, Chaudhri Mushtaq Ahmad and Syed
Riazul Hassan, 1st grade Clinical Assistants, were promot-
ed to the Provincial Service on the 16th February 1927,
the 16th August 1926 and the 1st April 1928, respectively.
Non-gazetted Staff.
2. There had been no change beyond the promotion
of the above three officers into the
Provincial Service.
Admissions.
3. The educational standard for admission into this
College was raised to Intermediate in
Science or Arts Faculty during the year.
One hundred and thirty-five candidates offered themselves
for admission in October last, out of which 47 candidates
were admitted as detailed below :—
Selected by the Principal .. .. .
Nominated by other States and Provinces ..
Military Department .. ..
Total ..
30
9
8
47
Number of Students.
4. At the close of the year under report the number of
students was:—
1st Year Class .. .. .. ..
2nd Year Class .. .. .. ..
3rd Year Class .. .. .. ..
4th Year Class .. .. .. ..
Refresher Course .. .. .. ..
55
39
47
26
1
Nine students left the College during the year under
report, of these seven belonged to the 1st Year Class, one to
the 2nd Year and one to the 3rd Year Class.
2
Examinations.
5. The annual examinations took place in the 1st
week of June and the supplementary
examination, for students who failed
in one subject only, was held early in October with the
following results :—
1st Year Class .. ..
2nd Year Class .. ..
3rd Year Class .. ..
4th Year Class .. ..
Number
examined.
43
46
27
28
Number
passed.
33
39
19
16
The results show a marked improvement over those of
the past years.
Farriers Course.
6. Twenty-seven candidates joined the Farriers Class
in October including 10 men from
Burmah Military Police sent for learn-
ing cold shoeing. Eighteen farriers who joined last year
passed out during the year.
Dressers Course.
7. Dressers Class has been restarted during the year
and one man received training.
Hospital Attendance.
8. The attendance of the Hospital in its various wards
was :—
General Ward.
In-patients ..
Out-patients ..
1,755 against 1,287 last year.
3,722
„ 3,003 „ „
Dog Ward.
In-patients ..
Out-patients ..
419 against 418 last year.
523
„
541 „
„
Contagious Ward.
In-patients ..
Out-patients ..
268 against 857 last year.
149
„
91 „
„
The average daily attendance in the various wards of
the Hospital was 187.83 against 132.74 last year.
Forty-nine dogs underwent the anti-rabic treatment
during the year.
3
Special Work.
9. Major Nicholl, the Research Officer, has started
investigations on the following diseases
and has visited the following places
to study conditions and gather material to work on :—
Diseases.
Ranikhet disease in Poultry.
Deg disease in Buffaloes.
Foot and Mouth disease in Cattle.
Places visited.
Kulu Valley.
Gujranwala.
Gurdaspur.
Hissar.
Deg Nullah.
Ludhiana.
These investigations are still in progress and a full report
will be available later in the year.
Mr. Aggarwala, Professor of Hygiene and Dietetics, was
deputed to the Imperial Institute of Animal Husbandry
and Dairying at Bungalore for a period of six weeks during
the College vacations for practical work in Farm Hygiene,
Dairying and Animal Husbandry.
He also wrote a brochure entitled the "Art of milking,"
with 16 illustrations, and translated it in Urdu and Gur-
mukhi. This was published by the Government in the above
three languages for free distribution in the form of Veterinary
Bulletin No. 20, and has been favourably reviewed in India
and abroad.
The Punjab Government in appreciation of the above
sanctioned an honorarium of Rs. 200.
The X-Ray apparatus fitted last year is proving very
useful. Ninety-five animals were X-Rayed during the year.
Chaudhri Mushtaq Ahmad was sanctioned an honorarium
of Rs. 300 by the Punjab Government for having invented
an instrument for treating cases of Prolapsus of the Rectum
in Animals. He has also invented another instrument for
treating Prolapsus of the Vagina and Uterus in animals.
This has already been tried with success in 16 cases.
Experiments regarding the treatment of Intestinal
Strongylosis and Ascariasis of Equines are being conducted
in the Parasitology Section. About 200 specimens for Ecto
4
and Endo parasites were also examined in this section during
the year.
Demonstration train.
10. Specimens of common animal parasites of public
interest were prepared and supplied
along with models and other material
supplied last year for the Demonstration train.
Income.
11. Net income from all sources of the College during
the year was Rs. 32,949 against Rs. 27,652
last year. The increase is due to the
increase in the number of students at the College and the
patients treated.
Expenditure.
12. The total cost was Rs. 1,80,763 against Rs. 1,58,086
last year, the increased expenditure is
proportionately distributed amongst the
pay of officers, the pay of Establishment and partly to con-
tingencies due to the prevailing high priecs of the fodder,
etc.
Employment.
13. The demand of qualified men continues to exceed
the supply, and measures are being
taken to admit a larger number of
Punjab Civil Students.
Increased Laboratory accommodation, and a slight
increase in the teaching staff will be necessary to do this.
General Remarks.
14. During the year the health and behaviour of the
students continued to be good. The
interest in games and sports was revived
as the lawns and fields in the hostel compound could be
levelled and irrigated owing to the tube well coming into
action early last year.
The Principal is pleased to record his appreciation of
the work of the staff throughout the year.
Sohawa Laboratory.
15. Chaudhri Kahan Singh remained in charge of the
office of the Camel Specialist, Sohawa,
throughout the year.
Owing to the comparative failure of the monsoon Surra
was less prevalent than usual.
The number of animals
treated for Surra at all the newly added and the old Surra
centres as detailed in the statement below was 31 camels
and 109 ponies. At Sohawa 613 animals belonging to
private owners were treated for diseases other than Surra.
5
SUMMARY OF ANIMALS TREATED FOR SURRA AT VARIOUS PLACES
IN THE PROVINCE.
Serial
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Name of places where
treatment was car-
ried out with names
of their districts.
Sohawa (Jhelum) ..
Qila Sheikhupura ..
Muridke (Sheikhu-
pura).
Sharakpur (Sheikhu-
pura).
Qila Harnam Singh
(Sheikhupura).
Bhera (Shahpur) ..
Wandoh
(Gnjran-
wala).
Mukerian (Hoshiar-
pur).
Total
..
TOTAL NUM-
BER OF
ANIMALS AD-
MITTED FOR
TREATMENT.
Camels.
12
1
6
..
..
12
..
..
31
Ponies.
4
22
43
1
12
6
6
15
109
TOTAL NUM-
BER OF
CASES CURED.
Camels.
12
1
6
..
..
8
..
..
27
Ponies.
4
18
43
1
10
6
5
15
102
NUMBER OF
DEATHS DUR-
ING TREAT-
MENT.
Camels.
..
..
..
..
..
2
..
..
2
Ponies
..
4
..
..
2
..
1
..
7
REMARKS.
1, relapsed later.
1, relapsed later.
2 camels not
received full
treatment.
5,
relapsed
later.
Eight Veterinary Assistants belonging to the Civil Vete-
rinary Department, Punjab, two Veterinary Assistants
belonging to the Civil Veterinary Department. North-West
Frontier Provinces, and 23 students belonging to the 4th
Year Class of the Punjab Veterinary College were trained in
the treatment of Surra during the year.
Veterinary Inspector B. Abdullah Khan was deputed
for a ten days' training in the treatment of Surra by Intrathe-
cal method of injection in October last at the Imperial Insti-
tute of Veterinary Research, Muktesar.
The Fly Survey operations restarted in 1926 were
finally abandoned during the year.
Experiments.
16. The following experiments were undertaken during
the year with a view to ascertaining
(i) whether the Trypanosomes enter the
spinal fluid on intravenous injections of germicidal drugs,
till after the effect is over (18 experiments).
(ii) To ascertain whether the "Bayer 205 and Tartar
Emetic" method of Surra treatment cleanses the spinal
fluid of Trypanosomes or not. (Eleven experiments). The
results obtained so far are favourable.
6
(iii) To find out whether the Trypanosomes remain
present in the spinal fluid or not, even at the time they are
absent or present in the peripheral circulation ten experi-
ments were undertaken. If so, after what period or in which
paroxysms of the disease do they go there is also being
watched.
Twenty-three further experiments with O. Crossii dis-
closed :—
(i) that the maximum period up to which the tick
remains capable of spreading the disease is
still 622 days;
(ii) that the tick can survive without food for 739
days against 720 days reported before.
General.
17. The Punjab Government has decided to close
down the Sohawa Laboratory before
31st March 1930.
The total expenditure incurred on running the Labora-
tory during 1928-29 was Rs. 39,593 against Rs. 34,702 last
year.
U. W. F. WALKER, I.V.S.,
Off. Principal,
Punjab Veterinary College.