9
I must say at once that Lord Elgin's circular despatch of the 23rd December, 1907, was taken here to mean that it would be advantageous if it could be arranged for such laboratories to work more or less under the supervision of the Committee. It is understood now that the circular was not intended to have quite that meaning, and that it merely sketched out how, in general interests, Directors of Laboratories might advantageously work, and stated that the Committee would be prepared to advise Directors when such advice was wanted.
To this there can be no possible objection, and if our laboratory arrangements were more complete than they are, we should be able to go further and carry out to their fullest extent the wishes expressed in the circular despatch. I am not at all sure that I shall be successful in getting a larger staff, and until we do get it our work must necessarily be almost entirely restricted to local requirements. What Dr. Wise, the Government Bacteriologist, has been able to do in the matter of research work has been done by him out of the usual hours of work.
I hope you will assure the Advisory Committee that as far as possible research work here will be conducted on the lines suggested, and that this Government is most anxious to assist the Committee in every way.
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(No. 56.) MY LORD,
No. 13.
JAMAICA.
Yours sincerely,
F. M. HODGSON.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 25 February, 1909.)
King's House, Jamaica, 10 February, 1909. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Circular despatch of the 13th July, 1908,† enclosing copies of reports from the Tropical Schools at London and Liverpool and from the Colonial Laboratory at Hong Kong, and asking for any observations which I or my medical adviser may desire to offer on them.
2. In reply, I have the honour to say that the Superintending Medical Officer states that he has no observations to make on these reports except that the work represented in them is exceedingly interesting and that he only wishes that this Government could afford to pay a greater number of its medical officers larger salaries, so that either their whole time or a greater part of it should be at the disposal of the Government, and so that they could be used to help in "research
'original investigation."
or
3. I have to add that the Superintending Medical Officer also states that he will send a circular to the various medical officers of this island asking them to collect and send what specimens of insects they can from time to time for the benefit of the Schools of Tropical Medicine, as well as to report any rare or interesting conditions they may find as the result of post-mortem examinations.
8015
(No. 70.)
No. 14.
I have, &c.,
SYDNEY OLIVIER,
Governor.
EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 6 March, 1909.)
[Copy to Sleeping Sickness Bureau, March 9, 1909. L.F.]
Governor's Office, Nairobi, 8 February, 1909. [Published as No. 6 in Appendix VII. to [Cd. 4999], February, 1910.]
9912
No. 15.
PROFESSOR G. H. NUTTALL to MR. H. J. READ.
DEAR MR. READ,
(Received 9 March, 1909.)
[Answered by No. 56.]
3. Cranmer Road, Cambridge, March 8, 1909. I WRITE to ask you if you think it will be possible for me to obtain an addi- tional grant from the Tropical Diseases Research Fund for the coming year or two- this in addition to the grant for the Studentship in Medical Entomology. Since the studentship was established, I have appointed a Protozoologist (Dr. H. B. Fan- tham) to the post of Assistant to my Chair. The appointment is a University one, and is made by myself in conjunction with the Vice-Chancellor. I pay the Assistant's salary (£100 per annum) out of my own pocket. At present the sum of about £160 is available out of the Quick Fund for the purpose of running the Quick Laboratory the sum is, of course, totally insufficient. Fortunately, I have secured a grant of £50 for several years from the Government Grants Committee of the Royal Society, and this has been of material help, especially in the purchase of apparatus. It is costing about £300 a year to run the laboratory, and the extra £90 or so have to come out of my pocket or the work will not go on. Do you think the Fund could allow me, say, £100 a year? It would be a great help.
As you know, we are engaged on all kinds of work bearing on tropical medicine. Experimental work is now going on on trypanosomiasis, spirochaetosis, piroplas- mosis, and on medical entomology (including the study of the biology and structure of blood-sucking animals like fleas, ticks, lice, mosquitoes, and leeches, &c.). A very large material is being sent to us for classification from all parts of the Empire. Investigations on the housefly and lice in relation to the spread of disease are being conducted in the laboratory on behalf of the Local Government Board; these investi- gations also bear on tropical disease. There have been 13 persons, including myself and the attendants, engaged in the work during the last term, and you will readily understand that the upkeep of the laboratory is growing considerably. It is impossible for me to make ends meet without delving into my own pocket, besides lending my own apparatus and books to the workers in the laboratory. I can obtain no further aid from the University. My chief laboratory assistant has recently recovered from relapsing fever, acquired in the course of our work upon that disease, and my private secretary had to do his work for over six weeks in other words, I have to constantly call upon my private resources to ensure the progress of the investigations we have in hand.
The collections received from the Colonies are classified and reported upon; at least 16 Colonies have sent us material, and specimens also reach us from other tropical countries (Dutch Indies, Central and South America, parts of Africa, &c.). Cabinet room has to be provided, postage is a serious item, there is much clerical work to be done. The animals required for the study of the life histories of disease- producing protozoa are a great source of expenditure; they have to be purchased, housed, and fed.
During the last year, I have had workers from India, Australia, Canada, and Egypt working with me, besides persons resident in Great Britain who are devoting themselves to these studies.
I shall be greatly indebted to you if you will be so kind as to bring these matters to the notice of the Fund. I cannot see my way to financing things much longer out of my own resources, especially as I see that an increasing number of research workers is coming to the laboratory, and consequently that the running expenses will proportionately grow.
Apologising for this lengthy letter, on the ground that I think it better to put you in possession of all the facts,
I remain, &c.,
G. H. F. NUTTALL.
* Appendix VIII. to [Cd. 3992], March, 1908.
† No. 41 in Miscellaneous No. 221.
See No. 34 in Miscellaneous No. 202.
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
9
Reference :-
C.O.885
19 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH——NOT TO
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No. 16.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNORS, &c.* (Circular.)
Downing Street, 11 March, 1909.
[Published as Appendix VIII. to [Cd. 4999], February, 1910.]