058 
Supplcmatl  to  the  “ Tropical  AyricultaristT  [March  1,  1897. 
Mr.  Thacker's  mixture  consisting  of  Camphor, 
Nitre,  Datura,  Chiretta  and  Arrack  has  been  re- 
comineuded  by  Veterinary  Surgeons  llallen  and 
Pease.  I have  used  this  uiixUire  substituting 
margosa  bark  for  chiretta,  and  have  found  it 
answer  well  when  due  attention  is  paid  to  the 
nursing. 
The  animal  sliould  be  fed  with  liriuid  food  such 
ns  rice  conjee  with  the  boiled  rice  mixed.  Peas 
(kadalai,  gruel  is  recommended  by  tli(3  Indian 
Plague  Commissioners  when  there  is  a tendency  to 
excessive  purging  as  it  is  more  astringent  and 
stimulating  than  rice  conjee.  Simple  water  should 
be  very  sparingly  given,  as  excessive  draughts 
have  been  known  to  increase  tlie  diarrhoea  and 
hasten  death. 
Very  mild  laxatives  are  useful  in  the  early  stage 
of  the  disease  when  there  is  constipation  ; but  few 
villages  make  out  the  disease  at  this  stage.  When 
there  is  excessive  diarrhoea  for  more  than  24 
liours,  it  should  be  checked  by  adding  some  suit- 
able astringents  such  as  catechu  or  gallmits  to 
Veterinary  Surgeon  Thacker's  mixture  above  re- 
ferred to.  Decoction  of  “ heli"  fruit  may  be  also 
added  to  the  mixture  if  the  diarrluca  and  dysentry 
progress. 
There  are,  however,  serious  obstacles  to  the 
treatment  of  rinderpest  in  the  villages  of  the  inte- 
rior of  Ceylon.  'I'he  villagers  do  not  care  about 
the  nursing  of  any  animal  that  is  attacked  with 
the  disease.  They  do  not  even  think  of  providing 
shelter  for  it,  and  it  is  allowed  to  roam  about 
along  with  the  healthy  animals.  They  seem  too 
lazy  to  attend  to  the  nursing  or  housing,  and  are 
always  ready  with  their  excuses.  The  utmost 
they  can  be  persuaded  todooftluir  own  accord, 
is  to  tie  the  sick  animal  to  a tree  and  give  it 
some  straw  or  grass.  They  are  i)rejudiced  against 
the  new  method  of  treatment.  In  fact,  they  have 
no  faith  in  any  kind  of  treatment  for  rinder- 
pest, and  believe  that  only  their  deities  can  either 
kill  or  cure  the  infected  animals. 
No  doubt  some  specific  or  heroic  remedy  that 
could  effect  almost  a cent  per  cent  cure  will  carry 
conviction  to  their  minds  and  overcome  their  pre- 
judice. But  hitherto  veteiinary  science  ha.s  not 
discovered  any  specific  for  linderpe.'^t,  and  nursing 
has  been  considered  the  most  important  part  of 
the  treatment,  which,  unfortunately,  is  just  what 
i.s  most  neglected. 
Under  .such  circumstances  it  is  with  no  little 
eagerness  that  the  veterinary  world  has  been  look- 
ing forward  to  the  results  of  the  investigations  re- 
cently carried  on  by  Dr.  Koch  at  the  Cape  ; and 
the  telegram  published  the  other  day,  to  the  effect 
that  he  claims  to  have  discovered  a remedy  for 
rinderpest  will  be  hailed  with  intense  joy  by 
cattle-owners  all  over  India  and  Ceylon.  The 
exact  nature  of  the  discovery  has,  however,  yet  to 
be  ascertaineil,  and  wo  must  receive  the  nevvs  with 
caution,  lest  we  meet  with  disappointment.  Let 
us  however  trust  tliat  it  is  something  more  than 
the  hasty  conclusion  of  an  impulsive  enthusiast, 
and  that  Dr.  Koch  has  at  last  hit  upon  something 
that  will  make  him  a benefactor  to  the  whole 
agricultural  and  veterinary  world. 
K,  T.  IIOOLE. 
Anuraditnpura,  20th  Peb.  1897. 
“ NITliAGlN." 
We  have  much  pleasure  in  announcing  that 
we  have  received  some  specimens  of  “ Nitragin’ 
(pure  cultivation  bacteria  for  leguminous  crops) 
preiiared  according  to  Doctors  Nobbe's  and  Hiltner’s 
direction  in  lldchst-ou-the-Main.  The  Nitragin  is 
contained  in  bottles  inserted  in  a brown  paper 
case,  and  has  to  be  kept  protected  from  light  and 
heat.  The  following  are  certain  facts  referring  to 
the  material  as  set  forth  by  the  manufacturers 
The  principal  food-materials  abstracted  from 
the  .soil  by  plants,  and  which  therefore  require  to 
be  replaced  in  the  form  of  manures,  are  potash, 
phosphoric  acid,  lime  and  nitrogen. 
Re.«i>ectiug  the.  last  it  has  been  known  that 
leguminous  crops,  such  as  clover,  vetches,  peas, 
beans,  lupines,  etc.,  do  not  usually  require  to  be 
manured  with  nitrogen  (in  the  form  of  nitre  or 
ammoniacal  compounds),  and  yet  under  favourable 
conditions  yield  rich  harvests,  whilst  the  soil  is 
even  enriched  with  nitrogen. 
Tile  reason  of  this  peculiar  behaviour  for  many 
years  remained  unexplained,  but  the  onward 
march  of  modern  science  has  new  demonstrated 
the  ability  of  leguminous  plants  to  abstract  nitro- 
gen from  the  air — only,  however,  bj'  the  aid  of  a 
sjiecitic  kind  of  micro-organism,  a bacterium  that 
re, 'ides  in  tlie  characteristic  nodules  on  the  roots. 
If  these  bacteria  are  not  at  the  disposal  of  the 
plant,  then  it  loses  its  ability  to  utilise  the  atmos- 
pheric nitrogen,  and  hence  it  is  found  that  not 
every  leguminous  plant  i.s  able  to  flourish  luxuri- 
antly without  niirogeneous  manure  ; many  remain 
small  and  .stunted  under  conditions  otherwise 
favourable,  and  evidently  suffer  from  the  lack  of 
nitrogen. 
It  is  therefore  a mutter  of  extreme  importance 
to  the  farmer  to  make  certain  that  each  fleld  of 
legumes  is  supplied  with  the  necessary  quantum 
of  bacteria  ; only  then  can  he  expect  to  obtain 
full  crojis  from  jioor  sandy  soils  without  nitrogen 
manures  [i.  e.,  w’ithout  saltpetre,  ammonia  etc.) 
and  only  then  wdll  he  reap  the  advantage  of  a soil 
enormously  enriched  with  nitrogen. 
The  wide  bearing  of  this  newly-di.scovered  prin- 
ciple has  already  been  taken  into  practical  con- 
sideration, and  fields  are  now  inoculated,  that  is 
to  say,  strewn  with  earth  in  which  legumes  have 
already  flourished.  This  method,  however,  apart 
from  its  great  cost  and  the  loss  of  time  and  labour 
entailed,  also  involves  the  danger  of  disseminating 
injurious  as  w^ell  as  useful  bacteria. 
This  disadvantage  is,  however,  now'  completelj' 
overcome  by  the  Patent  Germ  Fertiliser 
NITRAGIN 
whicli  consists  of  a pure  cultivation  of  the  specific 
bacteria  of  legume  nodules  in  a suitable  medium. 
The  inoculation  of  the  seed  or  of  the  soil  with 
the  Germ  Fertlli,«er,  according  to  the  directions 
given  below, possesses  the  following  advantages  : — 
1.  Fvery  single  .seed  is  surrounded  with  bacte- 
ria which,  after  germination,  penetrate  the  root- 
hairs  a7id  commence  their  role  as  collectors  of 
nitrogen,  so  that  a good  crop  is  secured  in  the 
poorest  soil  without  nitrogenous  manures. 
2.  Tlirough  the  storage  of  nitrogen  by  the  bac- 
teria, the  soil  itself  become.-*  richer  in  nitrogen  in 
an  assimilable  .state,  to  the  advantage  of  the  other 
crops  grain  in  rotatioti. 
