438 
Supplement to the *' Tropical Agriculturist." Dec. 1, 1899. 
accumulation of guano below tliem, the same 
nest is used frequently. The nests are often 
found among the refuse on the floor of the caverns 
where these birds build. According to Dr. Trimen 
the isinglass-like matter which so largely enters 
into the composition of these nests, is most pro- 
bably secreted by the glands situated on either 
side of the gullet, and which if pressed in a bird 
just shot emit a viscid matter. 
The bird itself is an insignificant-looking little 
creature, of a somewhat smoky colour, darker 
on the head, wings and tail than on the other 
parts of the body. The Japan and Borneo repre- 
sentatives of the species are blue, but the two are 
said to be identical. The article is prepared for 
export to China by the natives of that country, 
who pay Government a small annual sum for 
the exclusive privilege of collecting the nests in 
certain caves, chiefly in the Morawak Korale of the 
Southern Province. The yearly value of this 
article of export does not exceed E4,000. 
As regards the Guano, Dr. Watt says: — "There 
is no reason why India might not meet its.own 
demands for Guano, if not open up an export 
trade in the article." Mr. de Jioepstorff, referring 
to the Kicobar Islands, said, " I am certain that 
I can produce bird nests and guano to the value 
of at least one lakh of rupees per annum" ; to which 
might be added the possible supply from the 
Andamans. There is no reason why all the 
guano procurable in Ceylon should not be conserved 
and utilized If or manuring purposes. 
RINDERPEST AND ITS REMEDY. 
Captain Leonard Rogers, i m-s., who has been 
holding the post of Imperial Bacteriologist in 
India during tne absence of Dr. Lingard on 
sick leave, has published a most interesting 
paper on his researches in connection with the 
treatment and prevention of rinderpest. He does 
not claim to have fathomed the subject to its 
bottom, as may be seen by his opening remarks, 
but no one interested in cattle in this country 
can read his paper without feeling that very 
important and practical advances have been made. 
He commences thus : — " During the last three 
years a large amount of research work, with 
a view to discovering methods of protective inocu- 
lation against rinderpest, has been carried out 
in South Africa, with the result that several 
methods, differing more or less completely from 
each other, have been discovered and put into 
practice in that country. Differences of opinion 
as to the value of these divers methods were 
inevitable, and as, moreover, the conditions with 
regard to the prevalence and severity of the 
disease in India are very different from those 
of South Africa, it has been deemed necessary 
to test these methods carefully at the Muktesar 
laboratory and to apply the results obtained in 
actual outbreaks reporting with regard to what 
steps should be adopted to check the enormous 
loss of cattle from this disease which annually 
occurs in India. At the same time some new 
lines of inquiry have been opened out, although 
any great advance on the discoveries recently 
made in tSouth Africa as a result of several years' 
work by numerous observers can hardly be expect- 
ed. As it was not until January, 1899, or four 
months ago, that these experiments were com- 
menced, no delinite conclusions have as yet been 
arrived at, so only a brief outline of the work 
that has so far been carried out can be given 
in this report, reserving for a future occasion 
a full examination of the question. He then 
goes on in a most lucid manner to deal with 
the various methods of inoculation for rinder- 
pest that have been in vogue in South Africa, 
it is of interest to note that the original method 
by Professor Koch, of inoculating the animals 
it was desired to protect with the fresh bile of 
an animal suffering from rinderpest, was borrowed 
from the natives of South Africa. There were 
many objections to this method, and, therefore, 
other means had to be resorted to. One of these 
was the injection of a large quantity of defibrin- 
ated blood of an animal which had suffered from 
rinderpest. The inoculated animal was then ex- 
posed to natural infection, contracted a mild form 
of the disease and was thereby rendered perma- 
nently immune. This plan was a great advance 
and formed the basis of the serum treatment to 
be presently mentioned. The principal objections 
to it were the large doses of the blood required, 
and the risk of transmitting malaria with the 
remedy. 
The method which has been adopted in South 
Africa with the most encouraging re&ults was one 
discovered by Messrs. Turner and Kolle. It con- 
sists in injecting a small dose of a powerfully 
protective serum into one side of the animal, at 
the same time, that a dose of virulent rinderpest 
blood is injected into the opposite side. The pro- 
tective serum is obtained by repeated injections 
of gradually increased doses of virulent blood into 
an animal which has had rinderpest. The serum 
of the animal so prepared is thus made powerfully 
protective. The inoculated animal then goes 
through a mild attack in 90 per cent of the cases 
tried, and is, thereafter, permanently immune. 
Only half per cent of the animals so treated die. 
The latest report states that in Rhodesia over 
100,000 animals had been inoculated with a loss 
of less than one per cent, the disease being thus 
stamped out of the country. Dr. Rogers goes on 
to say : " It might be thought at first sight from 
the above description that it only remains to put 
into practice in India the methods which have been 
so successfully used in South Africa, but a mo- 
ment's consideration of the great differences 
between the intensity and distribution of the 
disease in the two countries will suflBce to show 
that the problem is not quite so simple. . . la 
India the disease has been present fc r centuries, 
and consequently a certain degree of immunity 
has been gradually acquired, so that the disease 
is usually rather of an endemic than of an epide- 
mic type, and is attended with a lower mortality, 
and has much less tendency to spread widely and 
rapidly than was the case in South Africa, although 
at times it assumes a more epidemic character." 
What is most wanted is a method which will 
produce an immunity as rapidly as possible, 
as the outbreaks will seldom be reached until 
they are at their height, while, if it is to gain 
the confidence of the villagers, care must be 
taken not to run any risk of any material mor- 
tality among the inoculated cattle, or of a top 
