June  1,  1896.] 
Siqiplemcnt  to  the  “ TropiGtil  AgricultupktP 
869 
The  same  paper  says  that  “ fire  protection  in 
Ceylou  seems  to  be  still  iu  abeyaiicO;  but  tlie  teak 
plantations  were  successfully  protected  during  the 
year.”  Damage  and  destruction  by  forest-tires  are 
by  no  means  so  common  in  Ceylon,  while,  to  ipiote 
the  Indian  Agriculturist,  “the  forest  officer  iu 
India  must  sometimes  be  in  despair  at  the  havoc 
wrought  among  the  trees  in  his  charge  by  the 
tires  kindled  wilfully  by  the  people.” 
The  Inspector-General  of  Forests  in  India  in  his 
annual  report  for  189d-94  states  that  in  Bengal 
the  total  area  burnt  was  'M  per  cent,  of  the  area 
protected,  that  is  689  square  miles  burnt  and  1,889 
protected.  In  Singbhoom,  we  are  told,  matters 
were  worse,  629  out  of  869  miles  being  burnt  over, 
though  72  special  watchers  were  employed. 
These  two  instances  will  give  some  idea  of  the 
enormous  destruction  by  fire  to  forests  in  India. 
The  sixth  ainuial  prize-giving  at  the  Imperial 
Forest  School,  Dehra  Doon,  took  place  on  May 
1st.  Of  37  candidates  in  the  iqiper,  and  8 in  the 
lower  classes,  29  upper  and  .j  lower  class  students 
have  been  grantea  certificates,  leaving  8 failures 
in  tlie  upxrer  and  3 in  the  lower  class.  There 
were  no  honour — men  among  the  students  who 
jrassed  out.  We  note  that  the  xu'ize  given  by 
ilr.  Bagshawe,  Conservator  of  Forests,  Berar,  for 
the  best  Engineering  Note-book  went  to  J.  W. 
Modder,  a student  from  Ceylon. 
Mr.  Hill,  the  Insirector-General  of  Forests, 
addressing  the  students  at  this  ]U'ize-giving  cere- 
mony, said:  To  those  students  who  have  xrassed 
1 would  say  that  you  have  failed  to  learn  more 
than  a jiart  of  what  the  school  can  teach  you,  and 
that  this  is  only  a droj)  in  the  ocean  of  what  you 
have  yet  to  learn  before  you  can  X-U'ove  yourself  to 
be  a credit  to  the  school  and  worthy  members  of 
the  Government  service.  Strive  therefore  to  turn 
the  knowledge  you  have  acquired  to  good  account, 
and  by  careful  observation  and  axq)reciation  of 
facts  and  xdienomena  that  may  come  in  your  way, 
endeavour  to  make  yourselves  thoroughly  efficient 
officers  of  the  stale  and  of  the  Forest  service, 
'i'ou  may  have  discouragements  and  disnxtpoint- 
ments,  but  you  may  rest  assured  that  if  you  know 
your. business,  and  work  with  energy  and  strict 
observance  of  those  princix)les  which  rve  have  tried 
to  imiiress  uxjon  you  at  the  school,  you  must 
succeed. 
There  has  bsen  a good  deal  of  discussion  of  late 
as  to  the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  Laniana. 
The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  seems  to  be 
the  opinion  that  the  lantana  Avhile  n x)estiferous 
weed  in  cultivated  areas  and  [larticularly  iu 
Forests,  is  a wonderful  renovator  of  fallow  land. 
THE  CAUSE  OF  BINDEIIPEST. 
At  a general  meeting  of  the  members  of  the 
Microscopical  Society  of  Calcutta,  held  on  the 
9th  ultimo  in  the  Asiatic  Society’s  rooms.  Dr.  W. 
J.  Simpson,  Health  Officer,  made  some  important 
remarks  about  his  discovery — the  dijilo-bacterium, 
which  causes  rinderpest — a discovery,  it  may  bo 
added,  the  economic  value  of  which  is  undoubted, 
especially  iu  India.  We  are  enabled  to  give  a 
verbatim  rexmrt  of  his  remarks  as  follows: — 
“ I shall  now  exhibit  to  the  members  of  the 
Society  the  micro-organism  of  a disease  which  is 
peculiarly  interesting  to  India,  as  it  )>roducc3  a 
malady  Avhich  is  fatal  to  the  cattle  of  this  country. 
and  inflicts  enormous  financial  loss  on  the  agricul- 
tural population.  I refer  to  rindei’i)est.  This 
disease  is  of  such  importance  that  an  Imperial 
Bacteriological  Laboi'atory  lias  been  established 
at  Almora  with  the  special  object  of  investigating 
its  cause.  Hitherto  the  researche.s  have  not  been 
attended  with  success. 
••  llindeiqiest  and  other  diseases  of  cattle  hare 
always  attracted  much  of  my  attention,  not  so 
much  on  account  of  the  diseases  of  cattle  them- 
selves, as  on  account  of  the  relationship  these 
affections  be;ir  to  human  diseases.  I am  convinced 
that,  in  the  disapjiearauce  and  re-ap[)earance  of 
disease  among  men,  animals  ]ilay  an  important 
jiart,  and  that  it  is  necessary,  for  the  investigation 
of  the  causes  ot  disease,  to  keep  in  view  man’s 
relatioushi])  with  his  environment  both  in  the 
animal  and  vegelable  world.  It  has  ahvays  been 
due  to  this  1 elation  that  the  diseases  of  animals 
and  ])lants  have  interested  me,  and  I have  en- 
deavoured to  interest  others  in  the  same  pursuit. 
It  w'as  in  carrying  out  this  policy  lliat  in  Septem- 
ber, 1891,  w'hile  Monsieur  llaffkine  and  I were 
examining  diseased  cows  for  comma  bacilli  and 
mici’obes  generally,  we  isolated  a small  diplo- 
bacterium  from  a diseased  buffalo.  Some  experi- 
ment.s,  which  were  instituted  at  the  time,  failed 
to  iiroduce  any  noticeable  effect  on  animals,  so 
thac  the  micro-organism  was  laid  aside  as  one  of 
tho.^e  numerous  harmle.ss  mitirobes  that  are  so 
often  to  be  found  in  animal  tissues.  1 had,  how- 
ever, come  across  a similar  bacteria  in  a human 
disease,  which  1 have  ahvays  been  much  interested 
in,  and  on  account  of  this,  I was  not  disposed  to 
abandon  the  microbe  altogether,  and  so  after 
keepitig  this  microbe  in  the  laboratory  for  two  or 
three  months,  1 determined  to  further  experiment 
Avith  it,  but  in  a different  way  from  that  Avhich 
had  resulted  in  failure.  In  December,  1894  1 
discovered  that  the  microbe  possessed  distinctly 
pathogenic  properties,  which  proved  to  be  of  a 
Iteculiar  nature,  and  in  a .short  time  1 found  I Avas 
dealing  Avith  a microbe  Avhich  produces  rinderpest, 
the.  most  fatal  and  most  destructive  disease 
amongst  cattle  in  India  and  the  East.  It  is 
thought  to  have  oiiginally  come  from  Chinn.  The 
disea.se  can  be  produced  ex])eriinentally  by  the 
microbe  in  question,  and  on  .searching  for  cattle 
suffering  from  rinder])est,  the  same  microbe  has 
been  isolated  from  them,  which  in  turn  reproduces 
the  disease  in  animals. 
“ The  microbe  is  a di]do-bacterium,  vaiying  from 
0'3  to  0'6  m.m.  in  length,  and  about  one-third  of 
this  in  breadth.  It  has  a clear  space  in  the  centre, 
and  in  old  specimens  this  division  is  still  more 
pronounced.  Occasionally  two  diplo-bacteria  are 
lixed,  end  to  end,  and  give  the  impre.ssion  of  a 
longer  bacillus.  The  microbe  is  not  unlike  the 
bacillus  found  by  Dr.  Kline  in  ordinary  calf  vac- 
cine. It  is  easily  stained  by  the  ordinary  dyes 
fuchsin  and  gentain  violet.  It  grows  Avith  air  and 
without  air,  but  gradually  becomes  attenuated 
in  virulence  by  repeated  growth  in  air,  so  much 
so  that  at  the  early  jiart  of  1895,  tAvo  tubes  rubbed 
into  sores  on  the  shin  of  an  animal,  Avould  kill  the 
animal,  whereas  12  tubes  uoav  will  only  jiroduco 
a slight  illnss.  It  is  a motile  bacillus,  is  sporeless, 
multiplies  raiffdly  in  bouillon  with  the  formation 
of  air  bubiile.s,  and  forms  air  bubbles  in  stale  cul- 
f lo'ps  of  galatiiie.  It  is  destroyed  at  a temperature 
of  57°,  even  when  only  exposed  for  a quarter-of- 
an-hour.  It  is  not  unlike  the  bacillus  coli,  but 
