NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
24
Three more colts will be ready for issue in the forth-
coming year and all promise to be better than majority of
the so called desert Arabs available in the open market
now-a-days. Eight foals were born during the year.
As regards contagious diseases, I am glad to note that
inspite of the unusually heavy rains the farm was again
completely free from Hæmorrhagic Septicæmia. Attempts
have been made to rid the farm of this fell disease by rou-
tine vaccination of the calves born, and if the disease has
been eradicated, as those incharge of the farm begin to
hope, it is a great achievement. There was unfortunately
a serious recrudescence of equine contagious abortion in-
spite of early diagnosis and isolation of the stock. Mr.
Branford now acting as Chief Superintendent, Civil Veteri-
nary Department, is taking up the matter with the Director
of the Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory, Muktesar.
Details of the cases of contagious diseases are given
below:—
Disease.
Rinderpest ...
Hæmorrhagic Septicæmia
Anthrax ...
Black-quarter ...
Foot and Mouth ...
Coptagious abortion ...
Class of animals.
Cattle ...
Cattle ...
Sheep ...
Cattle ...
Sheep ...
Cattle ...
Cattle ...
Sheep ...
Pony and Arab mares
Donkey mares ...
1921-22.
...
...
...
16
5
5
2
4
3
14
1922-23.
Deaths.
...
1
1
3
1
23
...
...
Cases.
3
3
1923-24.
...
...
...
i
1
3
2
...
8
11
The total value of the livestock at the end of the year
was Rs. 6,68,063 as against Rs. 6,31,116 at the end of
the previous year.
25
A complete statement of the return of the animals on
the farm at the end of the year under report is given by
Mr. Egan, officiating Superintendent of the Farm, in Table
XII on pages xxiv—xxvii.
The crops on the farm did well. Lucerne as a rule
does extremely well, cuttings weighing up to 116 maunds
per acre having been got. I think farmers elsewhere in
the province would do well to pay more attention to this
crop especially as a source of green fodder during the spring
and early summer months.
Some very interesting information was got from the
results of treating oat seed before sowing with formalin as
compared with treatment with copper sulphate, only one
affected ear being found in several acres of crop sown with
the formalin treated seed, while the area treated with copper
sulphate was noticeably affected with smut. Smut does a
considerable amount of damage to the oat crop in damp
cloudy winters.
The annual audit and inspection note shows that the
profit on the farm for the year under report as worked out
from the figures given in the books was Rs. 31,946 as
against a profit of Rs 7,192 in the previous year.
Mr. Branford, who is now officiating as Chief Superin-
tendent, Civil Veterinary Department, was incharge of the
farm during the whole year under report and thanks are
due to him for his very efficient management. Mr Egan,
who is now officiating Superintendent of the farm, has com-
mended the whole staff both outdoor and clerical for the
good results achieved inspite of epidemics of Malaria and
Dengue fevers. I associate myself with this and wish to
thank Mr. Egan for a most interesting and lucid report.
I may also note that the statistical tables at the end
of this report have been overhauled and re-arranged as de-
sired by Government.
D. MILNE,
The 7th August 1924. Director of Agriculture, Punjab.
26
Annual Report of the Punjab Veterinary
College, Lahore, for the year 1923-24.
Gazetted Staff.
1. COLONEL G. K. WALKER, C.I.E., O.B.E., V.D., resum-
ed his duties as Principal and Professor
of Medicine on the 1st of October 1923,
after his return from leave, which commenced from 3rd May
1923. During Colonel Walker's leave Mr. Taylor officiated
as Principal and Sardar Mool Singh acted as Professor of
Medicine. Captain Sewell resigned his appointment with
effect from 19th November 1923.
Khan Bahadur Sayad Sardar Shah retired from his ap-
pointment with effect from 1st January 1924. This Officer
served the College meritoriously for 34 years. He held the
post of Professor of Bovine Pathology, and during his service
wrote several text-books for use in the College and also
pamphlets on cattle breeding, cattle diseases, etc., for distri-
bution amongst Zamindars.
Sardar Hardit Singh was confirmed in his appointment
as Professor of Anatomy with effect from 1st October 1923
in the Provincial Service. Kh. Karam Elabie was appoint-
ed on probation with effect from 1st January 1923 as Pro-
fessor of Parasitology in the Provincial grade.
Sardar Mool Singh was appointed on probation for two
years with effect from 1st July 1923 as Professor of Phar-
macology in the Provincial grade.
Ch. Haq Nawaz Khan on his appointment on probation
for two years with effect from 20th August 1923 as Profes-
sor of Physiology in the Provincial grade after his return
from England relieved Mr. B N. Singh temporarily appoint-
ed last year.
Mr. W. Taylor, Captain Walker and Khan Sahib M.
Ghulam Rasul Khan held their respective appointments
throughout the year.
Urgent representations have been made requesting the
immediate appointment of a specially qualified Officer to
take Captain Sewell's place, but up to the present the ap-
pointment is vacant.
As a result of this there has been a serious break in the
continuity of the 3rd year course, and it has been necessary
27
to omit temporarily the important subject of Hygiene in-
cluding milk and meat inspection from this course, while in
the time which ought to have been allotted to Hygiene, a
more extensive course has been given in Pathology. An
attempt will be made to give the Hygiene course nest year
to those students who ought to have had it this year, pro-
vided that a suitable Officer is forthcoming in time. It is
anticipated that difficulties will be encountered in securing
the services of a suitable qualified Officer on the salary
offered, as it is a post requiring special knowledge.
Non-Gazetted Staff.
2. Sheikh Faqir Ali, Professor of Hygiene, retired from
Government service with effect from
21st June 1923 on medical certificate
and the services of M. Abdul Wahid Khan were obtained to
replace him.
Vernacular Course.
3. Eleven men who had failed in one subject only in the
last examination were examined in
June 1023 and passed. There were
only eleven failed students in third year class vernacular
course who were examined in March 1924, four of them
passed, three having failed in one subject only will be re-
examined in June next.
English Course admissions.
4. Ninety-four candidates applied for admission in the
first year class of the English Course and
37 were admitted. One F. Sc., Medical
Faculty group, was also admitted. Three students were sent
by the Mysore State.
Number of students in
the College.
5. There are :—
(a) English Course ...
Total ...
(b) Post-Diploma
Course.
39 students in the 1st year class.
10
„
„
2nd „ „
10
„
„
3rd
„
„
59
1 student.
Examination.
6. The annual examination of the 1st and 2nd year
classes was held in June 1923.
28
The results are shown below :—
Examinees.
2nd year class ...
1st „ „ ...
12 ...
13 ...
Passed.
10
7
Farriers.
7. Fifteen Farriers were trained
during the year.
Dressers.
8. No application was received for the dressers' class-
9. The attendance of the Hospital during the year
was :—
In-patients
Out-patients
In-patients
Out-patients
General Ward.
... 1,454 against 1,081 last year.
... 2,167 against 1,981 last year.
Dog Ward.
... 461 against 512 last year.
... 500 against 445 last year.
Contagious Ward.
335 against 67 last year.
Average daily attendance in the various wards of the
Hospital was about 120 patients.
Thirty-eight dogs have undergone the anti-rabic treat-
ment during the past year.
Buildings.
10. In order to provide suitable accommodation for the
teaching of Physiology, alterations and
additions have been made in the Anato-
mical Block. These were completed at the end of 1923.
The resulting Laboratory is used for Biology in addition to
Physic logy, and fills a long felt want in the College. It is
not, as yet, fully equipped as a Physiological Laboratory,
but additions will be made from time to time, when funds
are available, and will eventually be worthy of the College.
The same cannot be said of the present accommoda-
tion for the teaching of Chemistry, Physics and Phar-
macy. It is the worst in the whole College and can scarcely
be referred to as a laboratory, but is merely a room in
which these subjects are taught as well as possible with
the available equipment. A Pharmacological Laboratory
fitted so that it can be utilized for Chemistry also is sorely
needed. Physics should be taught in a separate room. If
sufficient money is not available for an entirely new build-
ing, improvements could be made in the present room, but
they would have to be somewhat extensive.
29
Income.
11. The income from the Hospital and students' fee
amounted to Rs. 16,613
against
Rs. 16,303 in the previous year.
Expenditure.
The expenditure was Rs. 1,60,352 against Rs. 1,62,078,
the net cost being Rs. 1,43,734 against
Rs. 1,45,775 last year.
12. From time to time questions have been asked refer-
ring to the cost per student at the College The reasons for the
increased cost are not far to seek. Until three years ago it
was customary for half the vacancies in the College to be
reserved for Military students. There was never any diffi-
culty in filling these vacancies. For the past three years
the Military authorities have not sent any students at all,
thus cutting down the numbers by half. In addition to
this when the course was changed from Vernacular into
English it was also changed from a three to a four years'
course, and the standard of Entrance was raised to the
Matriculation, whereas in former years there was no definite
standard, and many of the students had had practically no
primary training. Also having raised the standard of the
training, the Government did not raise the scale of pay
after qualification, but it remainded on the former scale of
Rs. 60 per mensem, so that for the first two years very few
students applied for admission. Several of these left the
College during the first year on account of not being able
to compete with the work.
It was not to be expected that a student under the
new conditions would put in four years' work at the College
with the prospect of obtaining Rs. 60 per mensem after
qualifying. The result was that a poor class of students
was obtained who had probably failed to gain admittance to
other Colleges whose professions held out better prospects.
After two years the pay was raised to Rs. 100 per
mensem. The immediate result was that there were ninety-
four applications for 25 vacancies.
The cost per student next year will still be high as it is
not proposed to admit more than 25 Punjab students as yet.
It is useless to fill up the College with students while the
ultimate prospect of employment is small, as this will only
cause dissatisfaction and future lack of students for
admission,
30
The present standard of education in the College is a
high one, and in view of the State Veterinary requirements
of the country, it is one which must be maintained at the
highest possible level. In this respect, owing to the ex-
ceptional facilities offered, the Punjab Veterinary College
can cater for the whole of India in higher Veterinary edu-
cation.
The health and behaviour of the students have been
satisfactory.
The present hostel accommodation leaves much to be
desired. It is hoped that the Government will, in the near
future, take steps to improve it.
The students are taking an increasing interests in
games. Cricket has been discontinued on account of com-
paratively high cost of its equipment, which would not be
covered by the athletic fund fees paid by the small number
of students at the College. Also the large majority of
students appear to be keener on hockey and football. Two
challenge cups are now competed for. One has been
presented by Khan Sahib Ghulam Rasul Khan, and is
presented to the winners of the Inter tutorial football com-
petition. The other is held by the Tutorial group which
obtains the most marks in Football, Hockey, Volley Ball and
Athletic sports.
The members of the staff have worked well, and their
efforts are much appreciated by the Principal.
31
Report on the Civil Veterinary Department,
Punjab, for the year 1923-24.
BY MR. E. BRANFORD, M.R.C.V.S., I.V.S., CHIEF SUPERIN-
TENDENT.
Part I.—Administration.
1. The following statement shows the names of officers
who held charge of the several appointments and the amount
of touring performed by them during the year under
report :—
Name of appointment.
Chief Superintendent,
Civil Veterinary De-
partment, Punjab.
Deputy Superintendent,
Civil Veterinary De-
partment,
Central
Punjab.
Superintendent, Civil
Veterinary
Depart-
ment, North Punjab.
Officer
attached
to
North Punjab Circle,
for training.
Officiating
Superin-
tendent, Civil Veteri-
nary
Department,
North Punjab.
Deputy Superintendent,
Civil Veterinary De-
partment,
North
Punjab.
Superintendent, Civil
Veterinary Depart-
ment, South Punjab.
Deputy Superintendent,
Civil Veterinary De-
partment,
South
Punjab.
Deputy Superintendent
Civil Veterinary De-
partment,
South
Punjab.
Name of Officer.
Mr. T. F. Quirke
P. Janki Nath ...
Mr. J. S. Garewal
Mr. M. J. Brett ...
Ditto
M. Talib Khan ...
Major F. G. Sikes
Rai
Sahib Lala
Kotu Ram
P. Janki Nath ..
DATE OF HOLDING CHARGE.
From
1st April 1923
Ditto
Ditto
20th Novem-
ber 1923.
1st February
1924.
1st April 1923
Ditto
Ditto
15th February
1924.
To
31st
March
1924.
11th February
1924.
31st January
1924.
Ditto
31st
March
1924.
Ditto
Ditto
14th February
1924.
31st
March
1924.
I
NO. OF MILES.
No. of
days
spent
on
tour.
91
57
56
9
23
117
52
115
30
By
rail.
6,528
1,787
3,745
544
1,915
2,660
4,220
4.911
1,014
road,
323
56
617
121
32
662
658
1,134
185
2. As usual the Chief Superintendent, Superintendents
and the Deputy Superintendents toured in their respective
32
circles in connection with horse, mule and cattle breeding,
investigation of equine and bovine diseases, for the inspec-
tion of Veterinary hospitals and tonga lines and for select-
ing sites for new Veterinary hospitals.
3. Rai Sahib Lala Kotu Ram retired on superannuation
pension with effect from the afternoon of 14th February 1924
and was relieved by Pandit Janki Nath, Deputy Superinten-
dent, transferred from the Central Punjab Circle.
The retirement of Rai Sahib Lala Kotu Ram involves
the Department in a loss difficult to replace. The Rai
Sahib possessed in a marked degree the qualities necessary
for a successful District Veterinary Officer, tact, energy
and enthusiasm. His experience and knowledge of the
Department have been of the greatest help to a succession
of Superintendents.
The vacancy caused by the retirement has not been
filled up so far and it is with great difficulty that Chief
Superintendent (whose work and responsibilities are rapidly
increasing with the expansion in the activities of the Depart-
ment) is doing the work of Deputy Superintendent in
addition to his own.
4. Consequent upon the departure on leave of Mr.
Cross, Camel Specialist, Sohawa, from April 5th, 1923, the
staff of the Sohawa Laboratory were temporarily placed under
the Chief Superintendent as an additional charge.
5. Propaganda work by means of lectures and demon-
strations was carried out at all the principal fairs. Arrange-
ments were made for the attendance of the staff at local
meetings of Co-operative Societies with a view to giving
popular lectures on the work of the Department.
Every encouragement is given to the staff to keep
themselves up-to-date in their professional work. It is hoped
that in the near future it will be possible to arrange for
regular refresher courses and also to utilise more fully the
facilities which the Government Cattle Farm, Hissar, pro-
vides for the training of the staff.
6. The Chief Superintendent visited the following
places outs de his own circle in the interests of the Depart-
ment :—
Simla, Lyallpur, Montgomery, Ferozepore, Delhi,
Gujar Khan, Rawalpindi and Sargodha.
33
He visited Government Cattle Farm, Hissar, twice and
office of the Camel Specialist, Sohawa, thrice during the
year under report. The following cattle fairs in the North
and South Punjab Circles were also attended by him :—
Delhi, Montgomery, Gujar Khan and Sargodha.
As usual regular inspections of the various dairy and
cattle breeding farms in the Province were made by the
Chief Superintendent. He also acted as an Examiner at
the Punjab Veterinary College, Lahore, and attended the
Conference on District Board Finance, etc., held in the
Legislative Council Chamber at Lahore on the 8th and
10th December 1923.
He delivered a lecture on cattle breeding illustrated
by magic lantern under the auspicies of the Victoria
Technical Institute.
He was allowed to visit the Imperial Bacteriological
Laboratory, Muktesar (United Provinces) to study
contagious diseases and gain experience in Laboratory work.
7. The appointment of a separate whole-time Superin-
tendent for the North-West Frontier Province which after
pressure by the Department for many years was actually
sanctioned by the Secretary of State in 1915 has not vet
been filled. The rapid expansion of the Department makes
it eminently desirable that the Superintendent, North Punjab,
should be relieved of the North-West Frontier Province work
as soon as possible so that redistribution of the Punjab
Districts may be made reducing the number of districts
at present in charge of the Chief Superintendent and the
Superintendent, South Punjab.
Part II.—Treatment of Disease.
I.—CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.
Mortality—Table 11.
S. During the year under report 39,394 deaths from
contagious diseases were reported against
28,907 in the previous year. Rinderpest,
Hæmorrhagic Septicæmia and Black-quarter are mainly
responsible for rise in the mortality amongst bovines as
shown by the table below :—
Disease.
Rinderpest ...
Hæmorrhagic Septicæmia
Black-quarter ...
Year.
1922-23.
... 6,936
... 13,684
... 569
1923-24.
12,107
20,676
1,348
D
34
The increase is partly due to the fact that (1) the
previous year was unusually free from contagious disease, and
probably partly (2) to the Department being largely
immobilised by the drastic cuts made in the travelling allow-
ance budget.
For example we were only able by various
methods of preventive inoculation to protect 268,775 animals
in the year under report as against 312,588 in the previous
year. It is bad business for the Province to maintain a
Veterinary Department, mainly to prevent contagious disease
at a cost of 14 lacs and then for the sake of saving a few
thousand rupees working expenses in the shape of travelling
allowance, sacrifice much of the benefits which should be
derived from the Department.
Examination and collec-
tion of Paralogical Speci-
mens.
9. During the year under report 506 specimens were
received from the subordinate veterin-
ary staff for microscopical exami-
nation and they all were examined in
the laboratories attached to Civil Veterinary Department
offices at Lahore, Rawalpindi and Ferozepore.
I. (a)—Equines.
NOTE.—Only those outbreaks of contagious diseases
amongst equines which occur in the "non-selected" districts
of the Province are dealt with by this Department.
Glanders—Table II.
10. No case of Glanders was reported during the year
under report as compared with 5 during
the previous year.
Anthrax—Table II.
11. No cases were reported to or
by the district veterinary staff.
Three cases were however definitely diagnosed and
reported from the Government Cattle Farm, Hissar : one a
donkey, one a sheep, one a calf. No doubt cases do occur
and go unreported but there is also no doubt that the
Province is remarkably free from this disease, as regular
epidemics such as have recently devastated parts of South
Africa could not possibly pass unreported.
Surra— Table II.
12. Total number of deaths reported during the year
under report is 233 only. Out of these
73 were confirmed as Surra cases, the re-
maining were reported either by patwaries or were brought
to the notice of the staff of this Department by other means.
Consequently the accuracy of the figures cannot be vouched
for.
35
During the previous year only 14 deaths from this
disease were confirmed. The incidence of this disease always
varies with the rainfall, but it is of course a much worse
scurge than the figures indicate.
The disease was most prevalent in selected horse breed-
ing districts where equine diseases are under the control of
the Army Remount Department.
The staff of the Sohawa Laboratory was employed
during the Surra season in carrying out the treatment by
the drug tartar emetic in Surra infected ponies collected at
the Sheikhupura hospital. Details of the results of treatment
are given in the report of the Officer Incharge, Camel Special-
ist's Office, Sohawa. In collaboration with the Director and
1st Bacteriologist, Muktesar, it is intended to pursue the
investigation of a suitable remedy for equine Surra by the
employment of natural Surra cases presented for treatment at
our hospitals.
Dourine—Table II.
13. Like last year no case of
Dourine was reported during the year
under report.
Other contagious diseases
—Table II.
14. Under this head one death
only from "Tetanus" was reported as
against 48 last year.
I (b)—Bovines.
Rinderpest—Table II.
15. Rinderpest appeared in all the districts of the
Province except Ludhiana, Multan,
Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan.
Twelve thousand one hundred and seven deaths were
reported from this disease against 6,936 in the previous year.
Increased mortality was probably partly due to in-
creased virulance of the outbreaks and partly as explained
above to the cut in our travelling allowance. The disease
does not appear to have been more prevalent than during
the previous year.
Anti-Rinderpest Inocula-
tions—Table III.
16. We were able to protect by inoculation only 38,643
cattle and 107 goats in 202 outbreaks,
as against 48,213 cattle and 662 sheep
in 292 outbreaks last year. Only 46
animals died after inoculation and these were probably al-
ready in the incubative stage of the disease at the time they
were inoculated. We are attempting to use the protective
D2
36
serum with greater care and in large doses. This no doubt
accounts for the excellent results where we were able to use
it.
Foot and Mouth Disease
—Table II.
17. During the year under report 983 animals died
from this disease against 695 in the
previous year. The disease appeared in
all the districts of the Province except
Simla, Gujranwala and Jhang. The highest mortality took
place in Jullundur, where alone 202 animals died. As usual
necessary preventive measures to check the disease were
adopted by the staff of this Department. The disease during
the year was usually virulent as noted also by the Superin-
tendent, Government Cattle Farm, Hissar, in his report.
Hæmorrhagic
Septicæ-
nia—Table II.
18. During the year under report Hæmorrhagic Septi-
cæmia appeared in all the districts of
the province. Twenty thousand six
hundred and seventy-six animals were
reported to have died against 13,684 in the previous year.
This disease was, as usual, prevalent in low-lying areas along
the banks of the rivers. It assumed its most virulent type
in the Sialkot District, where alone 2,690 animals are report-
ed to have died from it.
Inoculations against Hæ-
morrhagic Septicæmia—
Table III.
19. Preventive inoculations against Hærnorrhagic Sep-
ticæmia were performed in 314 out-
breaks and 82,976 animals were inocu-
lated against 312 outbreaks and 83,608
inoculations during the previous year
Three thousand nine hundred and forty-five and 22 animals
died before and after inoculations respectively. Inoculations
could not be performed in many outbreaks partly owing to
the late receipts of patwaries' reports and partly for want of
serum.
Preventive Vaccinations
against Hæmorrhagic Sep-
ticæmia—Table III.
20. Hæmorrhagic Septicæmia vaccinations were per-
formed on 131,380 animals in 461 vil-
lages of 27 districts against 170,944, 746
and 27 respectively during the previous
year.
The vaccine protects animals for a prolonged period,
whereas the serum protects for a week or two only, and is
only to be recommended in the face of an outbreak. Every
effort is being made to popularise the vaccine which
should be used annually in all areas in which the disease is
known to be endemic.