172 
THE DISEASES OF ELEPHANTS. 
(of various kinds) amongst mankind and beasts; and the 
emaciation consequent upon their invasion may be, and usu¬ 
ally is, solely attributable to their presence. It will be a long 
time, I fear, before this old and erroneous conception of 
cause and effect is thoroughly got rid of. To almost every 
unscientific observer it appears quite certain that the emacia¬ 
tion of a badly infested host is the cause of the abundance of 
internal parasites; whereas, in all such cases (where other 
maladies do not happen to concur), the impoverishment of 
the blood and tissues is entirely due to the presence of the 
entozoa. 
THE DISEASES OF ELEPHANTS. 
By George Fleming, M.B.C.V.S., Boyal Engineers. 
It has frequently been a matter of disappointment and 
regret, though scarcely one for surprise, that our army and 
colonial veterinary surgeons should have done so little in 
making us more fully acquainted with the general and 
special diseases affecting the domesticated animals in the 
different and widely diversified regions belonging to the 
British empire. Of the maladies peculiar to these countries 
it may justly be said that we know very little, and of their 
nature or etiology we know still less ; and thus it is that 
English comparative pathology has never advanced to any 
degree of completeness, and has yielded none of the benefits 
to science which it should have done, considering the splendid 
opportunities India and our colonies have afforded for so 
many years. The reasons for this are not far to seek, though 
they need not be alluded to here. It may be sufficient to 
remark, that India has been under the control and government 
of this country for more than a century, and veterinary sur¬ 
geons, by hundreds, it may be said, have resided there for a 
longer or shorter period; and yet, so far as any published 
records go, those who have not actually been in that country 
are almost as ignorant of the diseases which affect the different 
animals employed therein, as if veterinary medicine was 
unknown to us, or members of our profession had never 
visited Hindostan. 
This somewhat discreditable fact was rather strongly im¬ 
pressed upon me not long ago, when asked to undertake a 
share in the compilation of a Boyal Engineer manual of field 
service, and I had to cast about for the necessary materials. 
As the work was designed for reference during war in any 
