144
47417
270
No. 117.
SIERRA LEONE.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
(No. 426.)
MY LORD,
(Received 25th September, 1920.)
Government House, Sierra Leone, 11th September, 1920. WITH reference to Your Lordship's Miscellaneous despatch, dated the 14th of May last,* on the subject of extended investigations in Africa in connexion with the prevalence and attendant dangers of the tsetse fly, I have the honour to report that, with the assistance of Executive Council, I have considered the question from the point of view of this Colony.
2. Although at present the problem would not appear to be very acute in Sierra Leone, only forty-three cases of sleeping sickness having been diagnosed at the various hospitals and dispensaries during the course of the past ten years, the Medical Department and the members of the Council are fully alive to the import- ance of research work of this nature.
3. This Government is, therefore, quite willing to adopt the proposal con- tained in the sixth paragraph of Your Lordship's despatch by which the unexpended portion of the sum voted for yellow fever investigation should be utilized for tsetse fly investigations; Council much regrets, however, that the present financial position of the Colony does not justify this Government voting a lump sum towards this purpose.
4. In regard to the fifth paragraph of Your Lordship's despatch, the Acting Principal Medical Officer (Dr. Beringer) has expressed the opinion that he does not think we are in a position to detail a Medical Officer for work under the scheme in view of the fact that the Medical Department is not up to its full strength.
I have, &c..
271
Governor-General's Office, Khartoum, THE FIRST Secretary, Residency, RamLEH.
19th September, 1920. WITH reference to your covering slip, dated 20th July last, transmitting copy of Foreign Office despatch No. 820, dated 26th June, 1920, and enclosure from the Colonial Office, relative to proposals regarding the introduction of practical measures for the control of the tsetse fly, am directed to state that the following are the observations of the Sudan Government thereon :-
The scheme from a scientific point of view commends itself to this Government, but at present it is regretted it is impossible to provide the staff necessary for the carrying out the investigations required by the Glossina Sub-Committee.
The researches would occupy the whole time of two entomologists for a number
of years and, to be of practical value, would also embrace problems connected with the bionomics of blood-sucking diptera other than those of the Glossina group.
The Glossina group of diptera cause comparatively small losses amongst animals in the Sudan, chiefly because they inhabit such a small area of the country and, as
a consequence of their presence, very few domestic animals occupy these areas.
The losses occasioned amongst animals in the Sudan from trypanosomiasis are mainly due to blood-sucking flies of quite a different type.
Most of the fly belts of this country have been surveyed, and practical measures have been adopted in limiting the spread of human trypanosomiasis in regions where the disease is endemic.
A. B. B. HOWELL, Assistant Private Secretary.
50344
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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Reference :-
mico.885/25
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
60126
No. 118.
R. J. WILKINSON,
Governor.
FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 12th October, 1920.)
THE Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs presents his compliments
to the Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office, and, by direction of the Secretary of State, transmits herewith copy of a despatch from Mr. E. Scott (Cairo), respect- ing measures for the control of the tsetse fly in Africa.
Foreign Office,
11th October, 1920.
Reference to previous correspondence: To Foreign Office, of 22nd June.†
(No. 1088.)
Enclosure in No. 118.
MY LORD,
The Residency, Ramleh, 28th September, 1920. WITH reference to Your Lordship's despatch No. 820 of 26th June, 1920, relative to the introduction of practical measures for the control of the tsetse fly, I have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of a memorandum embodying the observations of the Sudan Government on the subject.
The Right Honourable
I have, &c.,
ERNEST SCOTT, Acting High Commissioner.
Earl Curzon of Kedleston, K.G., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E.,
&zc.,
&c.
&c.,
* No. 104.
+ No. 108.
No. 119.
TANGANYIKA.
THE ADMINISTRATOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 12th October, 1920.)
(No. 360.) MY LORD,
Government House, Dar-es-Salaam, 1st September, 1920. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Lordship's despatch Miscellaneous of the 14th May* inquiring to what extent this territory is able and willing to participate in the scheme of co-ordinated investigation of the tsetse fly problems of tropical Africa which has been proposed by the Imperial Bureau of Entomology.
2. In my view any attempt at investigation and research which has for its ultimate object the protection of human and animal life against fly-borne disease is of special interest to this country, which has in its livestock an asset of present value and of greater potential worth, while large tracts of its area are infested with fly, and I am therefore very ready to lend all possible support to the proposals of the
Bureau.
3. As regards the steps to be taken towards this end, it is evident that the suggestions of the Sub-Committee can best be carried out, in this preliminary stage of the investigation, by a practical entomologist, and that the pathological aspects of the problem can be left until a later stage of the inquiry.
4. It is, of course, very desirable that the work should be placed from the outset in the hands of a man trained and qualified to study the bionomics of insect life, but I realize the difficulty of obtaining such a person, and I have no officer at present in the country who could be specially detailed to concentrate on the work. More than one Medical Officer now here is keenly interested in the question, but the circumstances of the Department in respect of personnel are such that no Medical Officer can be spared indefinitely for special duty.
5. Were it possible to obtain his services I would most strongly recommend the employment of Dr. W. A. Lamborn for this duty. His work on tsetse flies and general parasitology in Nyasaland is too well known to Your Lordship and to scientific societies to need special mention, and I believe that no more capable, reliable, and energetic man among the younger scientists could possibly be found
No. 104.