MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 445 
graziers therefore applied for permission to remove their sheep to the hilly and 
cultivated areas for two months, The permission was granted, 
But the question with me was, why there were so many sudden deaths from 
diarrhea among the sheep grazing on the coastal area, On inquiry the 
Rabaries informed me of what they thought to be the cause of such sudden 
mortality. They appeared to think that the diarrhea was due to the sheep 
having eaten immature grass, and that the jinjvo-grass [(Gujrati e'«4)) 
Ischemum pilosum, Dalz., Bomb. Flo., page 305] growing around the culti- 
vated areas and on the hilly tracts was harmless. If at all the sheep suffered 
(but asa matter of reality they do not suffer from diarrhea after eating 
Jinjvo-grass), that diarrhea was amenable to treatment. 
This explanation of theirs for a time satisfied me, but at the same time I 
was carrying on inquiries as to the real cause of the mortality. I discovered that 
although several cows and buffaloes which happened to be grazing at that time 
on the same coastal area had not suffered from diarrhea, the sheep had, 
I thought therefore that there was some special reason why the sheep should 
suffer, and that there was some special herb which caused the diarrhea among 
the sheep. I therefore made out a list* of all the plants growing on the coastal 
area. Among these plants I found that the Bhdakhd plant [(Gujrati envi) 
Indigofera cordifolia, Heyne, Hooker’s Flo. Br. Ind., Vol. IT, page 93] 
was the most predominant. I suspected that feeding on it was the cause of 
diarrhea among the sheep. But as the rainy season was then over, I was 
unable to make any further investigations in the matter. One fact, however, 
was noticeable at this time—namely, that although the sheep and goats had 
returned to the coastal area for grazing, they did not suffer from diarrhea. 
A few days after, I heard of the sudden death of two healthy bullocks in a 
village. Iwas told that they had fed freely on Bhdkhd. After three or four 
days more a cow anda bullock belonging to a villager died after feeding on 
Bhakhd. It appeared that these two animals had wandered from their master’s 
yard and fed freely on Bhakha during the whole night and in consequence died 
in the early morning after a copious drink of water with their abdomens tumid. 
Tt is commonly believed by graziers and villagers that excessive feeding on the 
Bhakhé plant is productive of death among horned cattle. They are therefore 
not allowed to feed for any length of time on ground where the Bhdkhd plant 
grows wild. 
Having noticed that these deaths had occurred among the horned cattle after 
the rains, I ordered that they should not be allowed to graze after the rains on 
the coastal area wherever Bhakh&é grew. Thereupon several buffalo-graziers 
and the men in charge of the State camels represented that the coastal 
area was a proper feeding ground for their animals and that the Bhakha plant 
did them no harm. On such representation I countermanded my orders and 
allowed buffaloes and camels to graze on the coastal area. I could observe 
no injurious effects following such grazing. 
Tip is To BES oo, PRE Ree on ee 
* This list I propose to place before the Society on some future occasion with my notes, 
