Match 1, 1895.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist:' 
641 
simplicity of the treatment which we have reason 
to believe lias been attended with much success, 
is certainly very striking ■ — 
Rinderpest or Cattle-plague is a frequent and 
fatal disease in many parts of the country. A 
week to a fortnight after an animal has been ex- 
posed to infection, he falls sick and the disorder 
rapidly spreads in a herd. It is difficult in the 
earliest stages to decide as to the exact nature of 
the disease, but later very marked symptoms set 
in ; of these, extreme weakness amounting to 
prostration, twitching of the muscles of the body, 
first constipation followed by severe diarrhoea, 
with a very foul and peculiar swell of the 
matter passed, which is often mixed with blood, 
eruptions of the membrane of the nose, mouth, 
and certain parts of the skin, such as those cover- 
ing the vulva and the udder. A peculiar cough 
is generally present, in addition to general high 
fever and a flow of acrid tears from the eyes. The 
disease ruus its course in from seven to ten days, 
and usually ends fatally. After death', the intes- 
tines and stomach are especially found diseased, 
and large patches of blood, which has escaped from 
the veins, are found in different parts of the body. 
Cattle suffer from this disorder, and sheep can 
take, it from them ; it is highly communicable. 
It must not be confounded witli simple dysentery, 
in which there is no eruption in the mouth. 
'treatment. — The healthy animals should beat 
once segregated from the sick. The deceased 
animals should be given an ample supply of 
drinking-water with salt and nitre in it. When 
the bowels are constipated they should be given a 
laxative dose of epsom salts. When dysentery 
sets in, bitter tonics, such as chiretta, cinchona 
bark, also decoction of bael fruit may be given 
along with a. 'rack. Their strength should be 
supported by giving canjee, milk, &c. 
HOW FARMERS MAY TEST THEIR SOILS. 
Many farmers have somehow become imbued with 
the idea that to apply manures profitably, and at 
the same time determine the kind of crop most 
suitable for a certain locality, all they have to do 
is to obtain an analysis of the soil from the agri- 
cultural chemist. This is all a delusion, because 
crops differ in their capacity to pick up nutriment 
from the soil. A chemical analysis shows what 
the soil contains, perhaps at the moment of exami- 
nation, but it does not pretend to give the quantity 
in which the constituents will be available to the 
plant during the period of growth. Tin? weather 
or the seasons have a large influence in such mat- 
ters. For instance, a shower of rain or the absence 
of that shower may alter the character of a crop 
to such an extent as to render the analysis of the 
soil, or its supposed resulting benefits, entirely 
worthless. The way to get at the real value and 
character of any particular soil is to make somo 
pructical experiments with it. If it is desired to 
know whether a soil is already provided with 
nitrogenous mat ter it is sufficient to sow a handful 
of wheat upon a small square of ground which has 
been manured wit li a mineral substance only. Or 
the test may be made without the aid of mineral 
matter. If the ground yields a good crop, it shows 
that the soil already contains a sufficient supply ol 
nitrogen. On the other hand, to asseUaiu whether 
the soil contains a sufficiency of mineral manure 
(phosphate of lime and potash), manure plots with 
nitrogenous substances only, planting, say, one 
with maize and the other with potatoes. The great 
influence that phosphate of lime has on maize and 
sorghum and potash on potatoes is well known; 
therefore if the maize flourishes you may be sure 
the land has enough phosphate of lime, and the 
potatoes will indicate if the ground lacks potash. 
Thus two experiments, requiring but a small area 
of ground, and trying three different crops, are 
sufficient to obtain the indications necessary to a 
judicious system of culture. The best method of 
obtaining what is needed in any given case to 
produce a particular crop is to put the question to 
the soil itself. Such experiments will abundantly 
repay the investigator in the practical money 
value of the results. — Australasian. 
SOME SKIX DISEASES IN CATTLE. 
Tinea tonsurans. — A skin disease, characterized 
by the appearance of gray scaly patches, appeared 
in some of the Sind cows belonging to the Govern- 
ment Dairy. Tne disease spread especially among 
the calves who for a time were much incon- 
venienced. Tinea tonsurans is caused by a 
parasitic fungus described under the genus Tri- 
cophyton. Its contagious character was manifested 
amply by its attacking over twelve calves. The 
contagion was not so marked in the older animals 
for only two cows were troubled with it, and 
that too only to a very mild extent. It may be 
remarked that this affection is not peculiar to 
any ountry, but is widely distributed over dif- 
ferent cattle-breeding districts of the world ; 
however, it is neither common nor, when present, 
of any serious nature in animals' that are well 
housed and properly taken care of. But as 
cattle in Ceylon, as a general rule, are not much 
attended to as regards their housing, and are 
in ippst cases allowed to graze about in herds, 
if they once get a skin disease of this nature, 
it would undoubtedly assume a serious form for 
want of proper attention, and, as a result, the 
animals would become unthrifty, and in the end 
almost unfit for any work. 
The disease rarely spreads over the whole sur- 
face of the skin, but usually locates itself in the 
face, neck and upper portion of the body ; it is 
very seldom that it extends as far down as the 
limbs. At the commencement a small circum- 
scribed patch, perhaps not bigger than a cent piece 
will be observed with hair standing on eud. 
Subsequently the hair falls off and the upper layer 
ot the shin (epidermis) becomes prominent and 
discoloured first a dirty yellow and subsequently 
a leaden grey, showing several layers of dry 
epidermis over the patches. Such patches gradually 
crop up close upon each other till a comparatively 
large area is thu* affected. At the early stages 
slight itching ( pruritis).is observable, but as the 
diseased patches dry up itching ceases, but new 
patches crop up rapidly. 
Tinea toiUsili'aHs is not conflriod to cattle alone, 
but is observed in many species of animals, and 
so far it is known to be met with in horses, 
dogs, cats and pigs. The affection is even 
communicated to man from these animals. 
'Treatment. — The preventative treatment con- 
sists in proper attention to the cleanliness of the 
