REPORT
OF THE
CIVIL VETERINARY DEPARTMENT,
EASTERN BENGAL AND ASSAM,
FOR THE YEAR 1908-09.
PREFACE—GENERAL ADMINISTRATION.
1. During the year under report I held charge as Superintendent of the Civil
Veterinary Department in this Province. I was on tour for 243 days and travelled
7,568 miles by rail, 2,970 miles by steamer, and 905 miles by road.
2. The following dispensaries and hospitals were inspected by me :—
Gauhati four times, Jorhat three times, Shillong, Mariani, Dibrugarh and
Jalpaiguri twice each, and Tezpur, Goalpara, Barisal, Chittagong, Mymensingh,
Rangpur, Nator, Bogra, Pabna, Rajshahi, Comilla and North Sylhet once each. The
Dairy herd at the Shillong Farm was inspected four times, the cattle on Dacca
Farm six times, and Rajshahi and Jorhat Farms once each. I assisted in the
judging of stock at the Shillong and North Sylhet cattle shows. The tonga ponies on
the Shillong-Gauhati road were inspected four times by me during outbreaks of Surra
and Glanders. At Jorhat, Gauhati and Shillong, sites were chosen for Veterinary
Hospitals, and plans have been prepared in my office.
3. The Local Government instructed me to attend Sonepur Fair in Behar, where
I remained for 8 days and purchased seventeen pairs of plough bullocks for Dacca
Farm, also one Patna bull, one Patna bull calf, and one Patna cow for Shillong Farm.
I also attended Kalimpong Fair, specially to see the hill cattle—the siri breed—and the
sheep from Bhutan and Tibet. I attended the Agricultural Conference at Rajshahi
and, as a member of the Board of Examiners at the Bengal Veterinary College,
examined in the following subjects :—Senior Anatomy, Botany, Pharmacy, Principles&
of Shoeing, Soundness and Aging of animals.
4. A visit was also paid to the Sylbet and Cachar districts where the Veterinary
Officer of the Tea Planters' Association has been engaged in inoculating work.
General satisfaction was expressed by the Managers of Tea Estates on the results of
inoculations against Rinderpest and Anthrax. The two seats where Surra broke out,
were also visited; several ponies which were believed to have been cured by the Atoxyl
and trypsin red treatment were found to have been only temporarily relieved, as they
all relapsed and were either destroyed or died.
5. A special investigation was also carried out regarding the misconduct of the
Veterinary Assistant in the Sundarbans portion of the Barisal district where Rinderpest
had been very severe .and the mortality high.
6. The Glanders and Farcy Act, which previously was only enforced in certain
towns and areas, has, during this year, been extended to all the plains districts
of the Province. To facilitate the working of the Act, to neutralise active opposition,
and to be able more thoroughly to stamp out this disease by testing all animals which
have been in contact with diseased ones, a scheme for compensation to the owners of
such animals has been drawn up and is now under the consideration of Government.
PART I.—VETERINARY INSTRUCTION.
7. There is no College in this Province at which Veterinary students can be
trained. Three years ago arrangements were made with the Bengal Government that
in consideration of a contribution of lis. 28,000, one-third of the vacancies at the
Bengal Veterinary College would be filled by students from this Province. This
arrangement has again worked very satisfactorily and the students have had opportuni-
ties of gaining a knowledge of their profession, especially from a practical point of
view that could hardly be improved upon.
8. There were 12 Government stipendiaries attending the College last year. Of
them, all but one successfully passed their examination, most of them with consider-
able credit. Students from Eastern Bengal and Assam occupied six places, out of the