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other respects unnecessarily expensive. I also observed, that in selecting microscopical apparatus for the Colonies and Protectorates it would be well to observe uniformity, and to follow the type of instrument in use at the Loudon School of Tropical Medicine.
26180.
I am, &c.,
PATRICK MANSON.
155
Without such assistance, or unless, as proposed by the Colonial Surgeon, an Im- perial grant is made towards it, or unless the various other West African Colonies make considerable contributions, I am doubtful whether the establishment of a fully equipped laboratory at Sierra Leone similar to that which exists at Saint Louis would be possible. Some assistance to the study of diseases might be given by providing in the estimates for the Medical Department of the Colony a larger sum for the item from which scientific apparatus can be purchased, and in the draft estimates for 1900 which I am preparing for the consideration of the Governor on his return I am making such provision.
191
No. 257.
GOLD COAST.
MR. CHAMBERLAIN to Governor Sir F. M. HODGSON. (No. 400.) SIR,
Downing Street, October 6, 1899,
I gave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 329 of the 16th of August,* and to inform you that I approve of your proposal to establish a govern- ment laboratory at Acera for the investigation of malurial disease.
2. With regard to the apparatus, an indent for which was submitted to you, it appears to me very desirable that there should, as far as possible, be uniformity in this respect, not only between the laboratories which may be established in the different Colonies specially interested in this subject, but also between these laboratories and that of the London School of Tropical Medicine, where, in the future, Colonial medical officers will receive their training.
3. I have, therefore, transmitted the indent for revision by the superintendent of the school, and when his reply has been received the Crown Agents will be instructed to purchase and send out the necessary articles,
I have, &c,.
28242.
(No. 281.)
(Extract.)
No. 258.
SIERRA LEONE.
J. CHAMBERLAIN,
ACTING GOVERNOR NATHAN to MR. CHAMBERLAIN.
(Received October 17, 1899.)
Government House, Freetown, Sierra Leone, September 30, 1899.
**
The suggestion of the Colonial Surgeon is generally to the effect that expendi- ture should be incurred to enable, at any rate, some of the medical officers employed in West Africa to pursue scientific investigations into the cause and cure of diseases there, instead of having to confine themselves entirely to the care of patients and the charge of hospitals. Obviously the expenditure that Dr. Prout proposes cannot be directly remunerative, but in Colonies where the main difficulty of administration is derived from the bad health conditions an expenditure which will improve those con- ditions in the future would, to say the least, be justifiable. I am disposed to think that in view of the fact that the conduct of European commercial concerns suffers at least as much as the conduct of the Government, from the constant sickness of employés, the merchant firms in Great Britain interested in West African trade may extend to a scheme for the continuous study of West African diseases on the spot the generous assistance which has recently enabled a medical research expedition to visit this Colony to make a preliminary investigation into the way in which one form of tropical disease is contracted.
• No. 253.
-
Enclosure in No. 258.
COLONIAL SURGEON to COLONIAL SECRETARY.
Colonial Medical Department, Sierra Leone, September 10, 1899.
*
I would venture to suggest that more should be done by the Governments of the different Colonies to encourage scientific research on the part of their own medical officers, partly by special grants to those who are willing to devote themselves to this work, partly by relieving them from other duties, and partly by the provision of proper apparatus, or even the establishment of a fully equipped laboratory. The difficulties in the past have been very great. As a rule the staffs have been kept at their mini- mum working power, there is a great deal of routine official work, and medical officers, in other Colonies at any rate, have been liable at any moment to be moved from station to station. Nothing militates so much against accurate scientific observation as want of continuity, and if an officer, when he shows a special aptitude, could be detailed for scientific work, as was done some time ago by the Government of India in the case of Major Ross, I have no doubt that valuable results would be obtained. A Com- mission with special qualifications and scientific training, such as has been appointed to visit the various Colonies, will no doubt do valuable work, but it must not be forgotten that the discases which require investigation, such as the so-called black-water fever, cannot be made to order, and the trained observer who is always on the spot is more likely to have opportunities of research than those whose visits are only of a temporary nature. Much is being done at home, as I have already said, by the establishment of schools and laboratories at different places, notably London and Liverpool, to solve the problems of tropical disease, but these places must always suffer more or less from want of material, and I would now suggest for His Excellency's consideration and that of the Secretary of State, whether the time has not come for the establishment on the West Coast of Africa of a thoroughly equipped laboratory for the study of tropical disease. In this connection I would point out that the French have shown us an example, for a laboratory has existed at St. Louis, Senegal, for some time past, and I attach a copy of the "Colonial Journal Officiel," in which the work of the laboratory is described. It seems to me that Sierra Leone offers many facilities for an institution of this kind; it possesses a large hospital, it is in more regular and frequent communi- cation with Europe than any other part of the Coast, it has a considerable European population, and a large native one collected from a very extensive hinterland.
Of course, it is obvious that a scheme of this kind will entail expenditure; there will be the equipment and upkeep of the laboratory, and a medical officer will have to be sufficiently paid to allow him to devote himself to this work without the liability of interruption. In the past the reply to any suggestion of expenditure in this direction has been want of available funds, and I can understand that there is a not unnatural reluctance on the part of the Executive to enter on expenditure which does not appear to be immediately remuncrative, but I would venture to submit that this is a question of such general importance that in the event of funds not being available locally, the giving of Imperial assistance might be considered. It will not now be disputed, and I am glad to see that it is being gradually realised at home that one of the first essen- tials to successful colonization are healthy surroundings, conditions which allow a man's body and mind to be kept in as high a state of vigour as possible, and I submit
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