G54 
SuppJp.DV'nt  Vt  thi'  “ Tropical  Af/ricuKurriftlT  [Ma.rCH  I,  181)7. 
Symptoms  live  increased  respiration. -a  darkening  of 
he  colour  of  the  coat,  either  completely  or  in 
patches  (while  the  hair  of  the  coat  at  the  same 
time  tends  to  become  lonp  , am\  in  milch  cuttle 
of  milk.'  The  uhove  ure  no  doubt  some  of 
tlie  principal  .symptoms  that  are  seen  and  ob- 
serveil  at  a glance.  However,  the  writer  has  had 
Oppovtunities  of  e.vamining  animals  said  to  be 
suffering  from  the  comjdaint  noted  above  and  some 
of  the  identical  animals  from  which  the  above 
particulars  have  been  gathered.  In  addition  to 
these  principal  symptoms,  one  also  ob.«erves  a 
slight  abdominal  ilistention  in  the  affected 
animahs,  yellowi.ih  tinted  mucous  membranes,  and 
altered  dung.  The  animal  is  sluggish  and  dull 
and  the  jmlse  is  very  weak.  From  these  and 
other  .symptoms  it  is  evident  that  the  animals 
•suff’er  from  a liver  complaint  and  that  no  other 
than  inllammation  of  the  liver  (Hepatitis). 
The  reason  of  this  disease  being  described  as 
a “ new  form  of  desease”  is  that  as  liver  desease 
is  somewhat  rare  in  cattle,  it  is  only  seldom  one 
gets  the  chance  to  study  it,  nidess  it  be  in  a 
tropical  country.  Steele,  in  his  admirable  work  on 
the  diseases  of  cattle,  writes  as  follows  under 
hepatitis,  : — It  is  sometimes  seen  in  high-bred 
animals  fed  with  an  exces.'ive  amount  of  highly 
stimulating  food  associated  with  want  of  exer- 
cise. It  is  most  prevalent  in  hot  weather.  It 
is  also  iittiilmti'd  to  changes  of  temperature  and 
of  food,  as  Well  as  to  exjiosim'  of  various  kinds.’’ 
Jsow  the  (iovernment  dairy  cows  that  suffered 
from  this  complaint  were  well-bred  animals 
(comparatively',  were  fed  with  a large  amount 
of  stimulating  food,  and  had  very  little  exercise  ; 
for,  the  Sind  cows  that  were  brought  down  to 
the  Government  Dairy,  were  in  their  native  land 
not  fed  with  stimulating  food,  and,  with  the 
cattle  bn‘eder.-<  of  th  .t  di-:ricl,  it  is  the  invariable 
])i'actice  to  allow  llieir  animals  a deal  of  exeicise 
so  1 hat  they  had  to  cover  miles  and  miles  of  ground 
daily  in  their  pa.stures.  It  is  the  same  case  with 
the  Soutli  Indian  cows  that  get  affected  with 
the  complaint  at  the  Government  Dairy.  They 
are  bought  off  a cattle-dealer,  w ho  brings  them 
from  the  interior  of  .Southern  India,  where 
there  is  not  jilentiful  pasturage  and  where  the 
animals  daily  have  to  cover  a large  area  of  ground 
in  picking  uji  their  foixl.  These  lue  brought  to 
Colombo  and  the  dealer  keejis  them  in  his  stalls 
and  feeds  them  up  with  stimulating  food 
to  bring  them  in  condition,  We  have  also 
the  authority  of  Professor  Gamjee  to  account  for 
numbers  of  animals  getting  affected  at  the  same 
time  ; the  Professor  cites  in-tances  where  hepati- 
tis had  a.'sumed  alrno.-t  ejiizootic  forms  in  hot 
climates.  ,So  far  then  all  the  causes  that  lead  to 
hepatitis  were  found  in  this  particular  instance, 
and  we  will  also  see  presentlj'  that  the  symptoms 
of  hepatitis  were  present  in  the  dairy  cows  that 
were  affected  with  this  “ curious  form  of  disease.” 
I’rofessor  .Steele,  in  de.scribing  the  .symptoms  of 
the  di.sea.'-e,  .'^ay.s  that  “ yedowness  of  the  visible 
nuicoLis  memlii’anes  and  of  ( he  skin  is  considered 
dingncsiic  ol  liver  disease  but  it  is  not  alwai/s  .so. 
a certain  amount  of  abdominal  disten- 
sion is  observed,  the  bowel.®  are  tm-pid  and  fieces 
dry,  .scanty  amJ  of  a chocolate  cclour,  milk  is 
scanty,  skin  is  harsh  starinp  and  coated  with  a 
yellowish  brownij  matter,  the  respiration  is  some- 
what impeded  and  the  pulse  is  soft,  weak  and 
frequent.  Lameness  of  the  right  fore  limb  has  not 
yet  been  observed  in  cases  of  this  kind  in  the  o.r. 
The  animal  is  very  dull."  Almost  all  the  above 
symptoms  were  present  in  the  affected  animals. 
Impeded  respiration,  darkened  coat,  hair  tending  to 
become  long  (staring  coat),  loss  of  milk,  the  gene- 
ral symptoms  observed  by  even  a casual  observer, 
are  .symptoms  of  hepatitis. 
Those  who  are  acustomed  to  a deal  of  theory 
without  much  of  its  practical  application  would, 
no  doubt,  be  disappointed  to  find  two  of  the  so- 
c.illed  patent  symptoms  in  liver  disease,  yellow- 
ness of  the  visible  mucous  membranes  and  the 
skin,  and  lameness  of  the  right  fore  limb,  absent 
in  the  di.sease  wdiich  affected  the  animals 
in  question,  and  hence  the  idea  of  liver  disease 
might  have  entirely  escaped  them,  but  what  does 
Steele  say  under  the  very  disease  Hepatitis  : 
Yellowness  of  the  mucous  membranes  and  of  the 
skin  is  considered  diagnostic  of  liver  disease,  but 
it  is  not  always  so.  Lameness  of  the  right  fore  limb 
Jus  not  yet  been  observed  in  cases  of  this  kind  in 
the  o.r. 
So  then  this  curious  form  of  disease  was  nothing 
else  than  hepatitis,  and  Professor  Wallace,  with  hi.s 
well-trained  practical  eye,  detected  the  cause 
without  even  being  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  the  cases. 
The  writer  had  no  difficulty  whatever  in  pro- 
nouncing the  cases  to  be  hepatitis  on  their  very 
first  appearance  and  it  well  worth  testing  that 
opinion  by  adopting  the  treatment  for  the  disease 
in  even  a few  cases.  It  may  be  mentioned  that 
such  drugs  as  dilute  hydrochloric  Acid,  Ammonia 
Chloride,  Magnesium  .Sulphate  and  Ipecachuana 
answer  well  in  affections  of  the  liver  in  domestic 
animals  in  warm  climates. 
W.  A.  D.  S. 
THE  COCONUT  PALM. 
In  an  account  of  the  coconut  palm  Dr.  George 
Watt  gives  the  following  instructions  as  to  its 
cultivation  in  his  Dictionary  of  the  Economic  Pro- 
ducts of  India : — 
Sowing. — Ripe  nuts,  carefully  collected,  should 
alone  be  employed,  and  for  this  purpo.se  they  ure 
usually  gathered  from  February  to  May.  Seed 
from  very  young  or  very  old  trees  should  be  avoid- 
ed. After  having  been  kept  for  a month  to  six 
weeks  they  should  be  planted.  This  may  take 
place  in  January  to  April,  or  again  in  August, 
provided  the  rains  are  not  heavy.  The  seed  bed.s 
should  be  dug  2 feet  deep  and  the  nuts  planted 
1 foot  apart.  The  nuts  should  be  laid  on  then, 
leaving  2 inches  of  their  surface  expo.sed.  .\shes, 
or  ashes  and  salt,  should  be  freely  placed  in  the 
trenches;  these  act  both  as  a manure  and  us  a 
preventative  against  insects.  The  seed-bed  thus 
prepared  should  be  kept  moist,  but  not  soaked. 
The  germinated  seeds  may  be  transiilanted  when 
they  are  in  their  second  to  their  sixth  or  even 
twelth  month.  In  the  Godaveri  district  they  are 
placed  ill  their  permanent  jiositions  when  three 
to  four  years  old.  In  damp  localities  the  tran.s- 
])liinting  may  be  done  in  the  hot  season,  other- 
\\ise  during  the  rains. 
TuAN.siM.VN'i'iNa. — The  siellings  should  lut  be 
put  out  in  the  plantalion,  pits  j2  yards  apart 
