PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
गय
Reference -
C.O.885
21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
62
stress on the fact that it was difficult to believe that the confidence of the Governor of Nyasaland as to the limitation of the disease could be justified, and, further, he pointed out that it was really impossible effectively to quarantine any part of the Protectorate.
Mr. Lambert explained that there was the difficulty that if in any way labour was prohibited from visiting the Transvaal, the labourers would still go there, running a greater risk than if emigration was permitted subject to medical inspec-
tion.
It was finally agreed that the British South Africa Company should be asked what steps were being taken by the Southern Rhodesia Administration to render effective the wishes of the Portuguese Government, and generally what views they held on the question. It was also agreed that it should be pointed out to the Com- pany that Mr. Harcourt was advised that the views of the Governor of Nyasaland as to the degree of prevalence of the disease and the possibility of quarantining parts of the Protectorate were open to grave question.
The Committee also decided to recommend that a telegram should be addressed to the Governor-General of the Union, saying that the Secretary of State would await further information, but conveying a warning as to the probability of the views of the Governor of Nyasaland being unduly optimistic.
The question of sending a commission was then discussed, and Dr. Bagshawe intimated that he understood quite unofficially that the Tanganyika Concession might be willing to contribute as much as £1,000 towards the expenses of the com- mission. It was agreed that Dr. Bagshawe might suggest this privately to the British South Africa Company. It was also agreed that the Governor-General of the Union should be told that the expenses of the commission were now estimated at £5,000, and that he should be asked if the Union Government would pay, say, one-third of the expenditure.
8283
No. 51.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MANAGING COMMITTEE OF THE SLEEPING SICKNESS BUREAU, HELD AT THE COLONIAL OFFICE ON FRIDAY, 17TH MARCH, 1911, AT 4 P.M.
PRESENT:
Sir WEST RIDGEWAY (in the Chair).
Sir RUBERT BOYCE.
Sir DAVID BRUCE.
Sir PATRICK MANSON.
Dr. ROSE BRadford.
Mr. READ.
Mr. KEITH (Secretary).
Dr. BAGSHAWE also attended.
(1) The minutes of the last meeting* were approved.
(2) The question of the extension of the operations of the Bureau was con- sidered. Mr. Read explained that the Secretary of State had been in communication with the Governor-General of the Union of South Africa with a view to obtaining a contribution of £500 annually towards the expenses of extending the operations of the Bureau so as to include a Veterinary Bulletin. The Union Government had not · finally replied. In the meantime the Bureau was in a strong financial position, the Treasury having raised to £1,000 the annual contribution of the Imperial Government, and 33 per cent. being saved in the printing bill as a result of doing the printing through the Stationery Office. The normal income for 1911-12 would thus be £1,000 from Imperial funds and £300 from the Sudan Government, while an amount of £380 was also available, being the balance over the sum of £500 contributed by the Government of the Transvaal on behalf of the four South African Colonies for the purpose of extending the work of the Bureau.
Dr. Bagshawe proposed that the Bureau should issue a quarterly Bulletin dealing with the allied diseases variously known as Kala Azar and Delhi boil. The disease was prevalent in the Sudan and also in India. The question was raised
63
whether it would be possible to obtain a contribution from the Indian Government in view of the Bureau undertaking work in connection with this disease. Sir West Ridgeway and Sir David Bruce were afraid that it was not likely that the Indian Government would consent to grant anything. Dr. Rose Bradford thought that they might be willing to make a contribution towards work which was in no sense research work at all and did not interfere therefore with their work and supplied a want which they made no effort to meet. should undertake the publication of a Bulletin without regard to the question But in any case he thought that the Bureau whether India contributed or not.
A discussion then arose as to whether some other disease might not be more profitably taken up, as, for example, anchylostomiasis, yaws, filariasis, &c., but stress was laid by Dr. Bagshawe and Sir Patrick Manson on the fact that Kala Azar was, or might be, allied to sleeping sickness, and therefore publication by the Bureau would be appropriate. Sir Rubert Boyce raised the question whether some investigation as to sleeping sickness might not be carried on, but it was pointed out that investigation was not the object of the Bureau but fell within the sphere of the Tropical Diseases Research Fund. Finally, it was agreed unanimously to recommend to the Secretary of State the publication of a Bulletin dealing with the literature of the disease.
*
(3) Mr. Read laid before the Committee a telegram from the Governor of Nyasa- land of the 10th March, in which he pointed out that sleeping sickness was, appa- rently, much more prevalent there than has been believed, urged that much economic loss was caused by the unusual and increasing prevalence of glossina morsitans, and asked that a Commission should be appointed to investigate the question or at any rate investigators should be sent out. from the Sleeping Sickness Bureau, in which it was pointed out that a Commission He also laid before the Committee a letter had already been set on foot by the British South Africa Company which would investigate in Rhodesia the connection between sleeping sickness and morsitans; it was undesirable, therefore, to send out an independent Commission, both as causing friction and because the results of the Commission in Rhodesia would be at the disposal of the Nyasaland Government. On the other hand, Dr. Bagshawe thought that it was most desirable to investigate the bionomics of glossinu morsitans
order
to see whether measures could not be taken to prevent its increase or even to exterminate it.
Mr. Read mentioned that he had ascertained from Sir Rubert Boyce that Mr. Newstead, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, would probably be willing to go to Nyasaland and carry on an investigation there, leaving it to be completed by the entomologist whom it had been decided to appoint to the Protec- terate. Sir Rubert Boyce said that Dr. Todd had been emphatically in favour of an investigation of this sort taking place, and it was unanimously agreed by the Managing Committee to recommend the proposal to the most favourable considera- tion of the Secretary of State, the period of Mr. Newstead's residence in the Protec- torate to be fixed, if possible, at six months.
(4) Sir Rubert Boyce enquired whether there were any records showing the prevalence of trypanosomiasis in children. Dr. Bagshawe said that they had no such figures available, and it was agreed after discussion that Sir Rubert Boyce should send a list of the questions on which he desired information to the Colonial Office, when steps would be taken to communicate the questions to the Administra- tions of Uganda, East Africa, Northern Nigeria, and the Gold Coast
(5) It was agreed, on the proposal of Dr. Bagshawe, that the salary of the Librarian, whose work he commended, should be increased from £3 3s. a week to the amount drawn by Major Thimm, viz., £3 10s. a week.
8283
No. 52.
COLONIAL OFFICE to THE DIRECTOR, SLEEPING SICKNESS BUREAU. [See No. 53.]
SIR,
AM directed by Mr. Secretary Harcourt to transmit to you, for your infor-
Downing Street, 27 March, 1911. mation and guidance, the accompanying extract† from the minutes of the meeting of
• No. 50.
* 7896: not printed.
† No. 51 (paragraph 2).