510 



TEJE AQBIGULTUBAL JOURNAL. 



with brood. I hope to send you some 

 empty comb, in which I think you will 

 find smaller cells than in English combs. 

 I should say the cells here would run 

 five or six to the inch, but have never 

 measured them myself. In all the str.ng 

 hives drones are found all the year round. 

 The bees here are splendid workers, 

 labouring from daylight till dark when 

 fine. They stop working, however, in the 

 middle of the day when very hot. Then, 



as already said, we have the bee-enemies 

 to contend with. Finally, and after all 

 my experience since I wrote last, it has 

 only confirmed the opinion I then ex- 

 pressed— i.e., that bee-keeping here is very 

 unlike what it is at Home. The bees need 

 two things, viz., plenty of air when it is 

 hot (which is very often\ and plenty of 

 room, and no warm wraps to keep the 

 cold out. 



Serum Treatment of Rinderpest. 



GOVERNMENT EN' 



The committee appointed on 24th June to 

 consider and report, on the claim of Mr. H. 

 Watkins-Pitchford, F.K.C.V.S., Principal Vete- 

 rinary Surgeon, to have been the discoverer — 

 eitllier individually or in con, unction with Mr. 

 Theiler — of the serum treatment of rinderpest, 

 has made an interesting report to the Govern- 

 ment The committee con.sisted of Mr. J- 

 Hyslop, D.S.O., C.M.G., M.B., Mr. A. W. Cooper, 

 J.P. F.R.^M.S.. and G. Leucihars, M.L.A. 



The report stated that Mr. Watkins-Pitch- 

 ford arrived in Natal at the end of May, 1896. 

 and that in September of tlie same year he left 

 for tihe Transvaal for the purpose of investi- 

 o-ating rinderpest, in conjunction with Mr. 

 Thieler, the Transvaal Veterinary Surgeon. 

 Before leaving, he indicated to :\Ir. G. M. Sut- 

 ton, the Ministerial head of his department, 

 that he intended to follow the serum method 

 of treatment in his investigations, witlh a view 

 to its application to rinderpest. On the 12th 

 December, ISOG, writing to his wife, Mr. Pitch- 

 ford .said: "I am reporting by this post to the 

 Government that our investigations are very 

 promising, and that we have produced a cura- 

 tive serum which will confer immunity." He 

 also reported to tlh© Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture, on the 10th December, seven days later, 

 that they (Messrs. Pitchford and Theiler) "had 

 been able to discover a process by which un- 

 doubted immunity could be conferred." This 

 report, with other documents relating to 

 Messrs. Pitdhford and Theiler's researches on 

 rinderpest, were destroyed in the Maritzburg 

 Town Hall. The first public ofTieial announce- 

 ment in Natal of the results of these investiga- 

 tionfi appeared in the "Gazette" on April Oth, 

 1897, being dated February 15th of the same 

 year. 



The committee then point out tlliat Profes.sor 

 Koch reached Kimberley on December .5th, 

 1896, and that the first report in which he re- 

 ferred to serum in connection w'ith his investi- 

 gations into rinderpest was dated .lanuary 



lY AND RESULT. 



31st. On February 10th he stated that '"by 

 mea.ns of a mixture of serum and virulent 

 blood ■' he was able to produce " an active im- 

 niunity equal to that of a beast w-hieh had con- 

 tracted rinderpest and recovered." 



The committee, after hearing the evidence of 

 the Hon. G. M. Sutton and Mr, C. B. Lloyd, 

 late Commissioner of Agriculture, and con- 

 siderinn- various reports, found as follows : — 

 That" Messrs. Watkins-Pitchford and Theiler 

 are iustifieil in claiming priority in the suc- 

 cessful application of the serum method of 

 treatment to rinderpest. 



That at the same time there is no evidence 

 before the committee, nor does the committee 

 know of anv evidence to show that Mr. Wat- 

 kins-PitchfoVd published the result of his re- 

 searches prior to Professor Koch. 



The committee further find that Mr. Pitch- 

 ford's claim to have been — in conjunction with 

 Mr. Theiler — the originator of the application 

 to rinderpest of the serum method of treatment 

 i.s a just and reasonable one, and that it is, in 

 the opinion of the committee, of such an im- 

 portant nature as to merit recognition. 



The committee recommend that this report 

 be laid before Parliament, and that copies be 

 forwarded to the Royal College of Veterinary 

 Surgeons, London. 



The committee desire to record that, in their 

 opinion, the gieatest credit is due to Mr. H. 

 Watkins-Pitchford for his careful and assidu- 

 ous researcfli, ably conducted, often under ad- 

 verse ciiTumstances, into the riuestion of rin- 

 derpest. 



The late Miss Ormerod's will shows a personal 

 estate of over £50,000. The deceased lady has 

 been good to her friends, and has particularly 

 remembered, with more than gratitude, the 

 Edinburgh University, where the degree of 

 LL.P, was bestowed upon her. 



