1
26897
SIR,
No. 69.
COLONIAL OFFICE to PROFESSOR RONALD ROSS.
[Answered by No. 84.]
Downing Street, 11 December, 1908. WITH reference to the letter from this Office of the 14th of August,* I am directed by the Earl of Crewe to inform you that your letter to Colonel Seely of the 22nd of Julyt was laid before the Advisory Committee for the Tropical Diseases Research Fund at their second Ordinary Meeting on the 27th of November.
2. The Committee have informed his Lordship that they are not prepared to endorse all the criticisms contained in your letter, as they consider that great allow- ance must be made for local conditions, and that much consideration is due to the medical departments in the respective Colonies, the members of which often work shorthanded and under great difficulties.
3. They have also pointed out that you appear in some cases to have been insufficiently informed. For instance, in the first case which you cite, viz., that of Northern Nigeria, you state that "the Government of the Colony could easily have informed the Secretary of State, had it taken the trouble to do so, regarding such important points as the general spleen rate of the children in the Colony, the number of cases of malaria treated in the hospitals and dispensaries, the administration of quinine to school children and others, the number of men employed on anti-malarial work," &c., whereas the actual facts are that the area of the Protectorate is about 300,000 square miles, approximately equal to the area of Great Britain and France combined, the population is about 9 millions, and the number of medical officers is 40, who are never all simultaneously in the Protectorate, and whose time is very fully occupied in looking after the Government officials, the native troops, &c. There are as yet no general hospitals or dispensaries in the Protectorate, and information cannot be given as to the administration of quinine to school children, inasmuch as there are no school children-Northern Nigeria not having as yet been provided with Government schools.
4. The Committee have further laid stress upon the fact that in such a case as that of Barbados, which you have also cited, the Secretary of State is not in a position to dictate to the local Legislature as to what measures are to be taken in hand, and that in all cases, without exception, there is a danger that repeated demands for statistical information involving considerable labour with inadequate means to meet it may result in retarding rather than promoting the hearty co-opera- tion which you will agree is the prime essential for carrying out the sanitary measures which are so earnestly desired.
conclu-
your
5. At the same time the Committee, while neither accepting all sions nor concurring in all the terms employed, readily admit that much remains to be done, and gladly acknowledge the public spirit which is embodied in your criticisms, and they have expressed the opinion that it is desirable that every effort shall be made to secure that all medical officers appointed to tropical Colonies duly appreciate the importance of the measures referred to in your letter for combating nialaria and other tropical diseases.
I am, &c.,
47
(Papua), requesting to be furnished with observations upon the reports from the Tropical Schools at London and Liverpool, and from the Colonial Laboratory at Hong Kong, which were laid before the Tropical Diseases Research Fund Advisory Committee on the 11th June last, I now have the honour to forward herewith a copy of a memorandum upon the subject, which has been prepared by the Acting Chief Medical Officer, Papua.
I have, &c.,
Enclosure in No. 70.
THE HON. THE GOVERNMENT SECRETARY,
DUDLEY,
Governor-General.
WITH reference to the circular from the Colonial Office of 13th July, it should be noted that there is a wide and untouched field in Papua for the investi- gation of human and other parasites by anyone who has made such parasites a special study.
The suggestion in page 7 of the Hong Kong report (October, 1907, to February, 1908) of the research at the public mortuary that beri-beri includes more than one disease is interesting in the light of my experience at Port Moresby. On
64
page of the British New Guinea Annual Report for the year ended June, 1905, the occur- rence of acute cases of cardiac failure is noted. These cases, if they had occurred in a district where beri-beri is common, would have undoubtedly been classified as beri-beri. In 1905 I had seen no cases of ordinary beri-beri; during the last two years beri-beri has become fairly common among the prisoners, I have myself seen and cases have occurred among imported labourers. some two dozen cases, yet these have all been of the paralytic form with the legs mainly affected. I have never seen a single case with noticeable cedema. On the other hand, I have seen no more cases of acute cardiac failure during the last two or three years.
Accounts which have been given of cases of sudden deaths in the Northern Division suggest that cases do occasionally occur there.
W. M. STRONG,
16 September, 1908.
Acting Chief Medical Officer.
EXTRACT from British New Guinea Annual Report for Year 1904-5. Page No. 64. Gaols.
There were 11 deaths this year, being the same number as last year. The following were the causes:-Five dysentery; scurvy and debility, one; venereal disease followed by dysentery, one; cardiac failure from an unknown cause, four. The last four were all suffering from a similar disease. As described by Dr. Strong: "There was a short period of indefinite symptoms followed by cardiac failure and alterations in the cardiac sounds but no bruit." Death occurred in 24 to 48 hours. There were no signs of beri-beri, except the cardiac ones referred to. In a post- mortem performed by Dr. Craigen, slight pleural and pericardinal effusions were found, but nothing else definite. The disease is peculiar to mountain people.
FRANCIS J. S. HOPWOOD.
40327
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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Reference :-
C.O.885
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45559
No. 70.
AUSTRALIA.
THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
(No. 267.)
MY LORD,
(Received 12 December, 1908.)
Commonwealth of Australia, Governor-General's Office,
Melbourne, 2 November, 1908. REFERRING to your Lordship's circular despatch, dated 13th July, 1908‡
+ No. 41.
• No. 44.
↑ No. 42.
No. 71. PAPUA.
COLONIAL OFFICE to CAPTAIN MUIRHEAD COLLINS (COMMONWEALTH REPRESENTATIVE IN LONDON).
SIR,
Downing Street, 12 December, 1908.
WITH reference to the letter from this Office of the 10th of November,* I am directed by the Earl of Crewe to inform you that the Advisory Committee for the Tropical Diseases Research Fund had under their consideration at their Second Ordinary Meeting, held on the 27th of November, the memorandum by Dr. W. M. Strong containing certain observations and suggestions for a scientific expedition to Papua for the purpose of investigating tropical diseases.
• No. 53.
↑ See No. 52.