CESTODA 



77 



"The whole of this meat was otherwise well fed and of 

 excellent quality. The waste of so much good food led me to 

 make inquiries ; 1st, as to the sources from which the cattle 

 obtained the Tsenia ova, and the best means for preventing their 

 infection ; and 2ndly, as to whether or not any evil results fol- 

 lowed the consumption of this meat when properly cooked. 



" From information obtained from the Commissariat Officer 

 I found 1st. That the infected cattle had been purchased by 

 native dealers from various parts of the district, not from any 

 particular locality. 2ndly. That when brought in they were 

 lean, and on an average required from two to three months' 

 feeding at the Commissariat cattle yards before they were fit 

 for the shambles. 3rdly. That their food consisted of the grass 

 they could pick up on the grazing grounds of cantonments, 

 supplemented by such an allowance of grain and bhoosd as their 

 condition required. 



" They were supposed to be watered at a trough with water 

 drawn from a well, but on closely inquiring as to this, it tran- 

 spired that they very frequently were taken to a large dirty 

 tank near the yard for their water. The question which 

 occurred to me was, were the cattle infected before their pur- 

 chase by the Commissariat, or was there anything in their 

 feeding to account for it after purchase ? I am inclined to the 

 latter opinion for several reasons, thus : In the large number 

 of the diseased cattle, the Cysticerci were of remarkably small 

 size ; many of them having no capsules, except such as were 

 formed by the surrounding structures, and not being more 

 than i to J of an inch in diameter. Although the dry food 

 given to the cattle was doubtless good, still much of the water 

 they got during 1868 was probably filthy. The tank pre- 



