PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TTT C.O. 885.
20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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(No.
50
No. 83.
SOUTH AFRICA.
THE EARL OF ELGIN to HIGH COMMISSIONER THE EARL OF SELBORNE.
C
[Copy to Foreign Office, February 11, 1907. L.F. See No. 105.]
[Answered by Nos. 117, 132, 175, 187, 206, 209, 210, 221, 237.]
(No. 93.) MY LORD,
__
Downing Street, February 9, 1907. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you a copy of a letter from the Foreign Office respecting the desire of the Portuguese Government to be informed, before ratifying the London Convention of the 19th of May, 1900, whether the provisions of that Convention have been extended to all the South African Possessions and Colonies contiguous to the zone defined in Article I.
In conformity with Article VII. of the Convention (which is printed at pages 86 et seq. of the Blue Book, [Cd. 3189]), Mr. Chamberlain caused enquiry to be made of the Governments of Cape Colony and Natal in 1900 as to their willingness to adhere to the Convention, and, as will be seen from the despatches from the Governors of the two Colonies, printed in the Blue Book, those Governments expressed themselves at that time as willing to adhere. I should be glad if you would consider the effect of the measures consequent on adhesion to the Convention on the various territories in South Africa. In particular I should be glad to learn whether in view of the imposition of export duties contemplated by Article II, Section 10, you think it desirable to consult the parties to the South African Customs Union, and whether, in view of the lapse of time since the Convention was last before the Governments of the Cape Colony and Natal, it would not be proper to make sure that those Colonies have not in any way altered their views, and it is also desirable, in view of the grant of self-government to the Transvaal, that you should ask the Ministers of that Colony, as soon as they are appointed, whether they are prepared
to concur.
In making these enquiries it will be desirable, having regard to the South African Customs Union, that special attention should be directed to the provisions of Section 10 of Article II. of the Convention, respecting the imposition of export duties. You will observe that the Cape Ministers in their Minute of the 31st of October. 1900,† suggested that enquiry should be made of the other Signatory Powers as to the action they proposed to take in this regard. I have not been placed in a position to give this information; but I should be glad if, as a preliminary step, you would ascertain from the parties to the Union, who are all, as such, interested in the subject, their views as to the best method of carrying this section of the Convention into effect.
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No. 84.
NORTHERN NIGERIA. TREASURY to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 11 February, 1907.) [Answered by No. 86.]
I have, &c.,
ELGIN.
SIR,
Treasury Chambers, 11 February, 1907. In reply to Mr. Antrobus's letter (3056/1907), of the 1st instant, I am to request you to inform the Earl of Elgin that in view of the further explanations now furnished, the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury approve the proposed veterinary survey of Northern Nigeria, to be completed within a period not exceeding twelve months.
Their Lordships accordingly sanction the expenditure suggested, except as regards the honoraria, which in their opinion should be fixed at £150 for each period of six months, making the total remuneration, &c., £700.
I am, &c.,
G. H. MURRAY.
• No. 79.
Enclosure in No. 84 in [Cd. 3189].
* No. 81.
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SIR,
51
No. 85. GAMBIA.
CAPTAIN A. G. TODD to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received February 12, 1907.)
Army Veterinary School, Aldershot,
December 18, 1906.
I HAVE the honour to forward this my second report on the animal diseases of the Gambia.
I have, &c.,
Enclosure in No. 85.
A. G. TODD, Captain,
TSETSE FLY DISEASE (TRYPANOSOMIASIS).
A. V..C.
This disease has existed in the Gambia for a number of years. Some of the old and more intelligent natives remember in their youth that cattle died of this sickness. It was not until 1902 that it was proved to be caused by a trypanosome in the blood. In this year Doctors Dutton and Todd made an expedition to the Gambia to study sleeping sickness, and found trypanosomes in the blood of horses and many other animals, as well as in man. They described the disease in horses, but they failed to observe it in other domestic animals. During my stay in the country I found it to be the disease most frequently met with in horses, donkeys, and cattle.
Cause. The cause of the disease is a spindle-shaped organism (a protozoon) called a trypanosome which is transmitted from animal to animal by the tsetse fly The organism (Glossina palpalis), and possibly by other blood-sucking flies. as found in the blood of the horse and donkey varies in shape; it is either long and spindle-shaped or stumpy and spindle-shaped, like a tadpole. In cattle the long forms only were observed. This appears also to be the case in Egypt, British East Africa, and Uganda, where the symptoms of the disease are almost identical with those seen in the Gambia.
Duration of the disease.—It is more severe in horses and donkeys than in cattle, never very acute, the most and the mortality is greater amongst the former. It severe cases taking about a month to die, and I never heard of one dying under this time. In ordinary cases it is a very chronic disease, and an animal may be affected from six months to a year before death or recovery takes place. One donkey I saw took 18 months to recover, and another in the same village died after 16 months' sickness.
Influence of age.-Young animals appear to be more susceptible than old ones. It is the exception to see the disease in animals over ten years of age, but this may be because those I saw over that age had had the disease at a previous time and had recovered.
Symptoms. In horses and donkeys the first symptoms noticed are dulness, weak- ness, and a slight rise in temperature. These are followed by pallor of the mucous membranes and progressive emaciation, although the appetite remains good all the time. No matter how good the food or how much is eaten, the animal gradually gets thinner and thinner. It is rare to find such a combination of symptoms from other causes than trypanosomiasis, and when they are present one may very strongly suspect the existence of tsetse fly disease. Other symptoms which are inconstant may appear later, but whatever form they take the above clinical picture is always present.
Fever As a rule, the temperature is only two or three degrees above normal, rising during the day and falling during the night. Exposure to glaring heat, and general neglect increase the animals' temperature and aggravate the disease. Sudden elevations usually denote increase of trypanosomes in the blood, and it is on these occasions that the organisms are most readily found.
Dropsical Swellings. Sometimes the legs, sheath, breast, throat, and face become the site of oedematous swellings. This is a form of the disease frequently met with. (See photographs Nos. 2 and 3.)*
• Not reproduced.
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