FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31ST MARCH 1940.               17

possible to test the gharry ponies in the Mandalay Municipality.
Unfortunately before the Municipal authorities could come to any
decision on the measure of assistance which they could afford to this
Department for the purpose of carrying out the test, the Municipal
Committee was superseded and the question had to be re-opened
by the Committee which succeeded it, with the result that
no action could be taken during the year. It is feared that the funda-
mental objection to the slaughter of reactors to the Mallein test may
prove an obstacle very difficult to surmount when the question of giving
the necessary assistance for the carrying out of the test is the point at
issue. Without such assistance, however, it would be no easy task for
officers of this Department to undertake the work. The gharry owners
may not co-operate, especially as no compensation is given for animals
destroyed.

3.   It is again a pleasant duty to acknowledge the help given to the
Department by District Officers, whose assistance and ready co-opera-
tion has played an appreciable part in the measures the Department
has been able to take for the prevention and control of contagious
disease.

The work of the field staff has been very satisfactory on the whole,
and the staff at the Veterinary College and Research Laboratory has
continued to do very useful work under the enthusiastic and efficient
supervision of the Research Officer and Principal, Mr. Pfaff.

4.  The cost of the Department during 1939-40 was Rs. 6,00,425
compared with Rs. 5,65,040 for 1938-39.

                                                                       S. R. RIPPON,

                                                         Director of Veterinary Services,
                                                                            Burma.