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Anthrax in Cachar and Manipur, India
Anthrax i11 Cachar and llfauipm, India.
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verging at the centre ; and being very sharp, they obtain an immediate and immovable grip upon the portion of tooth to be excised. By digital manipulation, the size of the tooth is calculated, and the instrument screwed up before insertion into the mouth. This makes the actual operation much quicker, and prevents the animal becoming impatient. An even section is made in the actual directio1z in which the incisor is adjitsted; and the instrument will remove the hypertrophied portion of any tootk. Its action is most humane, the operation being, so far as I have been able to form an opinion by the quietude of my patients, perfectly painless. There is no risk-as with the shears -of cutting the buccal membrane, or gingiv;e, in excising a posterior molar. In this case, if the mouth, from the extreme length of the tooth, cannot be sufficiently op~ned with an ordinary mouth-iron, the leather mouth-expander should be used. The incisor is manufactured by Messrs. Arnold and Sons, West Smithfield, London. ANTHRAX IN CACHAR AND MANIPUR, INDIA. BY
J.
GRIFFITH EVANS, M.D., ARl\IY VETERINARY INSPECTOI-:, l\IADRAS.
( Contiuued from page 38.) 48. There are, I am told, many more ponies in the town and district of Sylhet than there are in Cachar, because it has a larger population and the na'.ives are much better off, for which reason also there is a larger proportion of them stabled. The stables of the natives at Sylhet, however, so far as I have seen, are in a far worse sanitary condition, especially the flooring, than those of Europeans in Cachar and the Brahmaputra Valleywhere Anthrax has been. 49. Bad Sanitary Conditious are not eno·tglt t.J cause tlu Disease unless the Specific Virus bearing Organisms or Spores are pr.osmt. -From the above description it appear3 that the geological formation, with recent alluvial deposits and swamps, the water conservancy, and the stable management of Sylhet town and district, are as favourable as anywhere else for Anthrax; yet the disease is not known there. We may infer from this that the saturation of the alluvial soil of the stable flo:>r with urine, a fearful amount of ordinary impurities in the drinking water,
100
The Veterinary Joumal.
alluvial soil adhering to the roots of the doob-grass eaten emanations from the retentive alluvial soil in pastures and from swamps, with favourable seasons and climate, will not of themselves, nor when all combined, cause the disease; some other element is still wanting in addition to all these in Sylhet. What is it ? I do not know, unless it be the specific virulent Bacillus, which probably is not indigenous in any part of Assam, which probably was not introduced to Gauhati before the epizootic season of 1878-9, and which I suppose has not yet been introduced to Sylhet. Though ponies are constantly going from Cachar to Sylhet, I could not learn that one ever went with the disease in the system in the incubative or other stage, to die there. It is most probable that if the disease were so introduced into Sylhet, as we know it has been taken from Gauhati and Nongpoh to Shillong, it would remain and spread, for all conditions are more favourable for it at Sylhet than at Shillong. This is a very important point to watch in future. 50. Prevention.-! shall conclude by making a few remark!! upon the subject of prevention, which is the main object in view always when investigating the cause. If it were practicable, I would first of all strongly urge a good system of drainage for the country, but at present that cannot be done. The next best thing is to pay great attention to sanitary laws in the stable management, keep the flooring dry and clean, let the ponies have the purest water available to drink, and good clean grass. When animals die of this disease, dispose of the carcases as I recommended in paragraphs 13 and 14 of my letter lg- of the 3rd ult., great care being taken to prevent any of the blood sprinkling about, remembering always that the dead animal is much more infectious than the living in this disease. The latest researches of investigators in Europe, prove that the system may be protected against Anthrax Fever by inoculation with the virus modified by cultivation, and there is little doubt that in a few years hencC:it will be adopted in all anthracoid districts, as Cow-pox is used to afford protection against Small-pox. But at the present time the safest method of cultivation has not been determined, and I think it is premature to recommend its adoption in Assam, where there are no skilled veterinary practitioners to do it.
99
verging at the centre ; and being very sharp, they obtain an immediate and immovable grip upon the portion of tooth to be excised. By digital manipulation, the size of the tooth is calculated, and the instrument screwed up before insertion into the mouth. This makes the actual operation much quicker, and prevents the animal becoming impatient. An even section is made in the actual directio1z in which the incisor is adjitsted; and the instrument will remove the hypertrophied portion of any tootk. Its action is most humane, the operation being, so far as I have been able to form an opinion by the quietude of my patients, perfectly painless. There is no risk-as with the shears -of cutting the buccal membrane, or gingiv;e, in excising a posterior molar. In this case, if the mouth, from the extreme length of the tooth, cannot be sufficiently op~ned with an ordinary mouth-iron, the leather mouth-expander should be used. The incisor is manufactured by Messrs. Arnold and Sons, West Smithfield, London. ANTHRAX IN CACHAR AND MANIPUR, INDIA. BY
J.
GRIFFITH EVANS, M.D., ARl\IY VETERINARY INSPECTOI-:, l\IADRAS.
( Contiuued from page 38.) 48. There are, I am told, many more ponies in the town and district of Sylhet than there are in Cachar, because it has a larger population and the na'.ives are much better off, for which reason also there is a larger proportion of them stabled. The stables of the natives at Sylhet, however, so far as I have seen, are in a far worse sanitary condition, especially the flooring, than those of Europeans in Cachar and the Brahmaputra Valleywhere Anthrax has been. 49. Bad Sanitary Conditious are not eno·tglt t.J cause tlu Disease unless the Specific Virus bearing Organisms or Spores are pr.osmt. -From the above description it appear3 that the geological formation, with recent alluvial deposits and swamps, the water conservancy, and the stable management of Sylhet town and district, are as favourable as anywhere else for Anthrax; yet the disease is not known there. We may infer from this that the saturation of the alluvial soil of the stable flo:>r with urine, a fearful amount of ordinary impurities in the drinking water,
100
The Veterinary Joumal.
alluvial soil adhering to the roots of the doob-grass eaten emanations from the retentive alluvial soil in pastures and from swamps, with favourable seasons and climate, will not of themselves, nor when all combined, cause the disease; some other element is still wanting in addition to all these in Sylhet. What is it ? I do not know, unless it be the specific virulent Bacillus, which probably is not indigenous in any part of Assam, which probably was not introduced to Gauhati before the epizootic season of 1878-9, and which I suppose has not yet been introduced to Sylhet. Though ponies are constantly going from Cachar to Sylhet, I could not learn that one ever went with the disease in the system in the incubative or other stage, to die there. It is most probable that if the disease were so introduced into Sylhet, as we know it has been taken from Gauhati and Nongpoh to Shillong, it would remain and spread, for all conditions are more favourable for it at Sylhet than at Shillong. This is a very important point to watch in future. 50. Prevention.-! shall conclude by making a few remark!! upon the subject of prevention, which is the main object in view always when investigating the cause. If it were practicable, I would first of all strongly urge a good system of drainage for the country, but at present that cannot be done. The next best thing is to pay great attention to sanitary laws in the stable management, keep the flooring dry and clean, let the ponies have the purest water available to drink, and good clean grass. When animals die of this disease, dispose of the carcases as I recommended in paragraphs 13 and 14 of my letter lg- of the 3rd ult., great care being taken to prevent any of the blood sprinkling about, remembering always that the dead animal is much more infectious than the living in this disease. The latest researches of investigators in Europe, prove that the system may be protected against Anthrax Fever by inoculation with the virus modified by cultivation, and there is little doubt that in a few years hencC:it will be adopted in all anthracoid districts, as Cow-pox is used to afford protection against Small-pox. But at the present time the safest method of cultivation has not been determined, and I think it is premature to recommend its adoption in Assam, where there are no skilled veterinary practitioners to do it.