13 



tacked Mio elephauts of the Government stud at Dacca, in Bmigal, 

 atout 30 years »go, and canied o« nearly 50 per cent, of a total of 

 upwards of 300. It lasted, with varying virulence, for more than 

 ten years. The animals in best conditions suffered most; only 

 two, both in poor condition, are recorded as having recovered 

 after seizure. The symptoms were : breaking-out and gather- 

 ings on the throat and legs, spots on the tongue, and running 

 fiom the eyes, with the cessation of the flow from the eyes tlie 

 animals died, usually on the second day after attack. In 1862 a 

 siniihir epidemic carried off large numbers of elephants in the 

 Chittagong forests, a few years later the herds in the Kakankote 

 jungles ill Mysore were attacked ; but the mortality was not great 

 and the disease soon left" (Thirteen years among the Wild Beasts 

 of India). The description of symptoms is not ample enough for 

 exact diagnosis. The disorder is seldom severe among adults, 

 internal treatincut and preventive measures as suggested for Foot 

 and mouth disease may be adopted. The seat and nature of the 

 eruption will enable the observer to readily distinguish between 

 these two disorders. 



Having thus indicated the epizootic disorders to which 

 the elephant is liable w'e must, finally, point out that they 

 are generally communicable from and to other species- 

 That such hygienic preventative measures as modern 

 science suggests are possible and should bo rigidly enforced in 

 all cases of communicable diseases of elephants. They are, prin- 

 cipally, isolation of affected or suspected animals, disinfection of 

 saddlery and other appointments with destruction of the least 

 valuable. Cremation of litter, carcases, and excreta (especially dung 

 and urine), disinfection of lines, and then, if possible, a change of 

 station for the healthy. It must be remembered that medical 

 and ordinary attendants can convey these diseases, unless great 

 care be exercised. Prevention and repression are better than cure. 

 I have known Bullocks affected with Foot and mouth disease 

 " isolated" by being put among the elephants I 

 Statistics of ElepJiant Mortality. 

 Tonnent shows that, out of 240 elephants employed by the 

 Ceylon Government whicli died in 25 years (1831 -5G), when the 

 duration of captivity was known it was under one year in about 

 50 per cent. ; of these \ were females. The following are enu- 

 merated as the causes of 34 deaths between 1841 and 1849 : — 

 Swellings of Jaws and Abdomen, 9 ; Cattle Murrain (?), 10 ; 

 Sore feet, 1 ; Colds and Inflammation, 6 ; Diarrhoea, 1 ; 

 AVornis, 1 ; Distased liver, 1 ; injuries from, a fall, 1; General 

 debility, 1 ; uukuowu causes, 3. 



