870 
Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturists 
[.luNE  1,  1896. 
differs  from  this  in  its  action  on  milk  ami  in  its 
pathogenic  properties  on  largo  animals.  On  agar 
it  grows  as  a luxuriant  greyish  white  growth.  It 
does  not  turn  yellow,  but  retains  its  greyisli  colour 
constantly. 
“Rinderpest  is  a disease  that  only  affects  an 
animal  once.  If  the  animal  recovers  from  tlie  attack, 
it  will  pass  througli  later  epidemics  with  perfect 
immunity.  From  this  fact  whicli  is  well-known 
in  those  parts  of  the  country  wliere  rinderpest  is 
particularly  fatal,  a protected  animal  possesses  a 
special  value,  and  is  worth  much  more  than  an 
unprotected  one.  Resides  being  a very  fatal 
disease,  it  is  extremely  infectious,  every  secretion 
and  excretion  from  the  animal’^  body  being  infec- 
tive ; one  animal  placed  among  a herd  will  be  the 
means  of  conveying  the  disease  to  nearly  the 
whole  herd,  for  there  seem  to  bo  very  few  animals 
which  possess  a natural  resistance  against  the 
disease.  The  loss  to  the  farmer  and  peasant  is 
enormus.  I have  seen  in  Calcutta  a (jowcdla  lose 
his  whole  stock  in  less  than  a fortnight.  It  is 
no  uncommon  thing  to  come  across  a fjowalla  who 
has  lost  half  of  his  stock  from  this  disease,  in  fact, 
if  a ijoicalla  gets  rinderpest,  or  (/utee  ns  he  calls  it 
among  his  cows,  he  is  fortunate  if  it  destroys  only 
one-third  or  half  of  his  stock.  At  those  times  when 
rinderpest  is  very  prevalent  in  the  country,  tlie 
loss  in  cattle  is  so  great  that  in  many  places  it  has 
a serious  effect  on  the  crops  owing  to  the  farmers 
having  an  insufficient  number  of  cattle  to  work  in 
their  Helds.  It  will  be  .“eon  from  these  remarks 
that  the  study  cf  rinderpest  is  a very  important 
matter  in  the  sanitary  problems  of  this  country. 
In  1871,  when  the  Indian  Cattle  Plague  Commis- 
sion investigated  this  disease,  and  c une  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  the  same  disease  ns  that 
which  had  caused  so  ranch  destruction  on  cattle 
in  England  in  1866,  the  question  of  protecting 
aiumarsby  inoculaling  them  with  the  crude  virus, 
i.e.,  with  ' the  Iluids  taken  from  a sick  animal,  wais 
discussed,  so  also  w'as  the  amount  <jf  ])rotection 
produced  liy  ordinary  vaccination  wdth  vaccine 
lymph;  both  of  tho«o  jirocesses  had  been  tried 
extensively  in  Russia  and  Austria,  but  not  with 
very  satisfactory  results. 
In  inoculating  with  the  crude  virus,  it  was 
found  that,  though  in  many  cases  a mild  disease 
was  caused,  very  frequently  a virulent  type  was 
produced,  and  that  there  w'as  no  real  control  over 
the  disease.  In  the  case  of  vaccinating  with  ordi- 
nary vaccine  lymph,  because  of  tlie  view  that 
rinderpest  is  allied  to  small-pox  in  man,  the  evi- 
dence as  to  protective  effect  wars  too  conllicting 
to  justify  any  practical  action,  With  the  microbe, 
liow'ever,  now  in  our  hands,  1 consider  it  to  be 
merely  a matter  of  time  to  prepare  a vaccine  which 
.shall  not  only  bo  protective,  but  which  shall  give 
us  control  over  the  disease.  I have  carried  on  a 
number  of  experimeuts  in  tliis  direction,  but  I hey 
are  not  sufficiently  advanced  to  make  any  observa- 
tions upon  them  at  the  present  time.  In  a number 
of  these  I have  been  fortunate  in  securing  the  able 
assistance  of  Veterinary  Captain  Gunn,  the  Veteri- 
nary Inspector  for  Rengal,  who  has  from  the  lirst 
been  most  anxious  to  inish  forward  the  experi- 
ments. M e propose  to  take  advantage  of  the  lirst 
large  epidimiic  of  rinderiiost,  wdiich  chiclly  occurs 
ill  Northern  India,  to  cai'ry  these  experiments  to  a 
further  stage,  and  with  the  microbe  in  our  hands 
there  is  a prospect  that  not  only  will  u vaccine  for 
preventive  purposes  be  prepared,  but  also  an  anti- 
toxin for  the  treatment  of  tho.se  cattle  that  have 
become  affected.” 
INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  OISIN  FECTION. 
The  following  “ instructions  " (which  we  take 
over  from  the  N.S.  JF.  Afjricultund  Gazette) 
are  those  issued  by  the  German  Government  for 
the  disinfection  of  places  where  animals  have 
been  kept  suffering  from  infectious  disea.ses,  and 
should  prove  very  valuable  to  all  stockowners: — 
{Extract  from The  Veterinarian^  October,  1895.) 
1. — CiiEANSixa  AXD  Disinfecting  Materials. 
1.  Water  and  Steam. — Hot  water  sliould  be 
used  in  preference  to  cold  water  where  it  is 
available,  and  as  near  the  boiling  temperature 
as  possible.  One  hour's  heating  of  substances  in 
boiling  water  is  sufficient  to  disinfect  them. 
2.  Soapsuds. — This  may  be  made  of  either 
yellow  or  black  soap,  1 lb.  in  100  lb.  hot  water. 
3.  Soda  Lye. — Dissolve  1 lb.  of  washing  S(jda 
in  10  gallons  svater. 
4.  Lime. — Freshly-slaked  lime-sliell,  eitlier  in 
the  form  of  powder  or  mixed  with  twice  its 
own  bulk  of  water  and  used  as  a thin  paste, 
viz.,  milk  of  lime. 
6.  Chloride  of  Lime. — F'resh  .“trongly-smelling 
chloride  of  lime  may  be  aj)plied  in  two  ways, 
viz.,  as  a thick  paste,  i.e.,  one  part  of  chloride  of 
lime  to  three  parts  of  water ; or  as  a thin  paste 
- one  [lart  ciiloride  of  lime  to  twenty  parts  of 
water. 
6.  Carbolic  Acid  Solution. — Mi.x  together  one 
part  of  licjuitied  carbolic  acid  with  twenty  parts 
of  w’ator,  viz.,  a 5 per  cent,  solution. 
7.  Oressol  Water. — Made  from  cressol  soap 
and  nine  parts  of  water. 
8.  Coal  Tar  or  tVood  Tar. 
ft.  Eire.  Iho  singeing  of  substances  that  can 
endure  lire  over  their  whole  surlace  is  a thorough 
means  of  destro_)ing  infection.  ” 
11.  Cleansing  and  Disini.-jvcting  Methods. 
before  cleansing,  all  straw,  fodder,  litter,  and 
dung  should  bo  removed.  Thorough  cleansing 
must  always  precede  methods  of  disinfection. 
The  cleansing  of  a stall  or  stable  must  extend 
to  everything  therein,  and  to  the  soil  and  subsoil. 
All  old  wcodeu  boards,  linings,  and  the  like  should 
be  taken  down  and  Inirned.  The  cleansing  should 
begin  at  the  rool,  then  go  to  the  walls  and 
partitions,  and  lastly  to  the  floor.  Hot  water  or 
hot  1^  e is  better  than  cold.  The  cleansing  of  a 
pait  of  a stable  or  the  like  should  e.xtend  to  4 
feet  beyond  the  infected  part  in  all  directions. 
The  water  used  for  cleansing  should  not  be 
allowed  to  come  in  contact  with  anything  that 
can  be  a carri(n-  of  infection  until  it  has  bemi 
disinfecti'd,  and  it  must  not  go  into  a stream 
Anything  of  little  worth  should  be  burned. 
1.  AVood,  stone,  and  iron  fixtures,  if  not  oil- 
painted,  should  be  scoured  and  then  washed. 
Woodwork  with  a rough  surface  should  be  planed 
smooth,  and  any  ragged  wooil  or  jiorous  or 
rotten  wood  should  bo  removed  and  burned. 
2.  riastered  walls  should  be  scraped  down 
so  that  the  wliole  surface  is  renewed,  and  any  loose' 
parts  or  ornamental  parts  should  be  takeii  away 
3.  Oil-pamted  surfaces  arc  to  bo  washed  with 
hot,  soapy  water. 
