142 A HAND-BOOK OF THE MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 



between April and June ; and to Australia from November to February. 

 "With regard to their transport inland, it is important to remember 

 that the climate of Lower Bengal is uncongenial to gyals (it is 

 unnecessary to say anything about the gaur, as they are so seldom 

 acquired) which, if possible, should be brought down to the plains 

 during the winter and rains only. 



Teeatment in sickness. 



Either during the transit or after a few days in the plains, gyals 

 generally become subject to diarrhoea. Change of climate, hardship 

 and discomfort of the journey bring it on. Restrict such animals to 

 bamboo leaves alone, and they will soon recover. Some of them linger 

 and die. New arrivals, especially those that have been on board an inland 

 vessel for a length of time, during their passage from Assam or Oachar 

 to Calcutta, and confined more or less to dry food, when turned loose 

 in a grassy paddock, begin to eat greedily, and soon gorge themselves 

 with green grass. The stomach becomes much distended, and its action 

 suspended as it were ; fermentation in the meantime sets in, and as the 

 gas accumulates, the distention becomes excessive and painful. In 

 really bad cases the animal becomes restless, breathes with difficulty, 

 and manifests pain by its groans ; the eyes become much congested. 

 The most effectual treatment is to puncture the side, about 9 inches from 

 the last rib and lumbar vertebra to allow the accumulated gas to escape. 

 The operation is easy, and a sharp pointed, stout gunny needle is 

 enough to perform it with, if a trochar is not handy. Immediately 

 after the operation, half an ounce of aromatic spirit of ammonia and two 

 ounces of tincture of ginger, or 4 ounces of juice of raw ginger, in 

 a pint of warm water should be administered. For at least two days 

 the animal should be fed on linseed meal, chopped hay, bran, and other 

 food, and for some time afterwards its allowance of green grass should 

 be sparing. In milder cases, where the symptoms are not such as to 

 bode immediate danger, one pound of sulphate of magnesia, one ounce of 

 aromatic spirit of ammonia, and two ounces of juice of raw ginger, in 

 about a pint of tepid water, have been administered with good result. 



Innumerable/>amsto, about § of an inch long and of a reddish brown 

 colour, were found in the stomach of a gyal, which died within a few 

 months after its arrival in Calcutta. This animal never recovered from 

 the debilitated condition in which it came, and gradually dropsical 

 swellings about the lower jaw and feet appeared. 



Rinderpest — Has now and then broken out, and done havoc 

 amongst the cattle, deer, and sheep. Though generally of a virulent 

 and contagious character, the symptoms and the period of its duration 

 varied. 



The following appearances were observed on opening the body of 

 one of the victims (a banteng calf) some three hours after death : — 



Lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen and heart healthy; no ulceration in 

 the stomach or small intestines ; ulcerated patches preseut here and 

 there in the large intestines ; larynx and trachea extensively congested ; 

 trachea full of frothy and sticky mucous. 



In order to save the parent bantengs with another calf about four 

 months old, which were already segregated, they were sent over to, 



