PUBLIC RECORD
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9PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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Sir P. Manson, who may be regarded as representing the views of the School, with which he is closely identified, maintained that the pressing needs of the School required that provision of some kind should be made at once for the teaching of this important subject, and that the scheme put forward by the School. under which some promising young man who had shown capacity for this kind of work would be engaged for a period of six years, with an initial salary of £250 a year increasing to £500 a year as he proved his competency, was the best which could be devised with the money available. On the other hand Sir M. Foster and Sir T. Barlow were of opinion that the subject of protozoology was so important that it ought to be placed at once on a higher plane and that a professorship in the subject ought to be established at the University of London to be filled by a scientific man who had already risen to eminence in this branch of science, qualified at once to teach and to carry out independent research. To secure a scientific man of this type it was considered that a salary of £750 per annum ought to be provided and that the £500 per annum which was to be allotted to the study of protozoology at the London School should be supplemented by a sum of £250 to be deducted from the grant to the Royal Society, the professor to carry on both his teaching and his research work at the London School, although his post would be in full measure a professorship of the University of London.
15. While heartily approving of the institution of such a professorship, as an important step forward in the investigation of tropical disease, the Royal Society considered that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to secure the services of an experienced protozoologist, if the post were not made permanent. They also considered that the sphere of the Professorship should not be confined to the London School.
16. From supplementary enquiries which I have made, I am satisfied that men of science, familiar with the question, are agreed that it is necessary in order to make any real progress in dealing with discases of parasitic origin that a post should be establised of a permanent character and endowed with a salary which a really able man would be willing to accept. The permanency of the post is necessary not only in order to obtain the services of a man of proved ability but also in order that the work may be carried on without interruption for many years.
17. It is much to be desired that the appointment should if possible carry with it a salary for the payment of an assistant. It is considered that the professor should receive £750 a year for himself and £250 a year for an assistant, and that the assistant should be appointed, and be liable to dismissal by, the professor. In this way, it is urged, the professor's power of work will be much increased and provision will be made for the training of younger men.
18. In other countries provision is male for this kind of study by means of University professorships and also by special Institutes. In Continental countries the State is closely associated with the Universities, and provision is made in the Universities of Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, and others, for more than one Professor of Pathology who is able to give full time to studies connected with microscopic parasites, because he is not a medical practitioner. In this country teachers of pathology are, I am informed, with rare exception medical practitioners; they have barely time to give a course of lectures to students and hardly any time to study microscopic parasites and investigate by experiment their relation to tropical diseases and the means of checking their work. In Berlin there is, moreover, the independent State-supported Imperial Hygienic Institute with a considerable staff of investigators at the head of which was, until a few weeks ago, Dr. Robert Koch. In Paris, there is the Institut Pasteur, partly endowed by the State, partly by private gifts, its management and the conduct of the researches for which it is famous being in the hands of the staff of professors.
19. But, while provision of this kind is made for the study of parasitology in countries to which the matter is of less vital importance than it is to the British Empire, the United Kingdom is so inadequately equipped in this respect that it is necessary to send would-be students to foreign countries for instruction.
20. It is impossible for anyone who is brought into close relation with this subject, as of necessity I must be, not to feel its deep importance. The frightful ravages of tropical disease among the natives under our rule alone constitute urgent responsibility and obligation to do all we can for their remedy, and of even more pressing cogency is the case of the young men of the Colonial and Indian services who confront these perils with unswerving courage.
21. I have not attempted to enforce my arguments by quoting statistics of the mortality caused by tropical diseases, as the subject in its broad outlines is, I know, familiar to you, but a despatch from the Acting Commissioner of Uganda, dated the 3rd
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of November, 1904, which has been recently brought under my notice, is so pertinent to the subject of this letter from another point of view, viz., the waste of money as well as of life which is due to preventable diseases, that I cannot refrain from quoting the follow- ing short extract :—
"I am aware that it would be unnecessary, and probably be regarded to a great degree as irrelevant, to produce financial inducements to extend operations in combating such an awful scourge (i.e., as sleeping sickness)—one that is depopulating whole islands and large shora counties; but It is perhaps not withoat interest to note the computation of experts, that of the 80,000 victims in the Uganda Kingdom and Buenga, at least 60,000 have been able-bodied men, including 30,000 who were potential taxpayers. From the mere point of revenue, this can be regarded as a dead loss to the State of at least £30,000 in direct taxation, allowing only an average five years' life to each taxpayer. This loss is still continuing at the rate of 12,000 persons per year in Uganda alone, as is shown by exact statistics, which indicate a loss in the whole Protectorate of 9,000 taxpayers per year. But the aspect from the more important political view is grave.
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When it is considered that in India alone, to take one more instance, the number of deaths every year from tropical diseases of protozoal origin runs into hundreds of thousands, I think that you will agree with me that the case is overwhelming,
22. To sum up :—
Parasitic diseases are the cause of an enormous mortality among human beings and animals in the Empire. As regards animals, especially in South Africa, the best scientific opinion in this country is unanimous in affirming that no better step can be taken to check the ravages of these diseases than to promote the study of parasitology.
Although other countries, which have a smaller stake in the matter, have made provision for this important study, and although individual Englishmen have done much to advance the subject, this country, either through the Government or through organized institutions, has so far done practically nothing.
It is generally agreed that the protozoological branch of parasitology should take precedence and be first provided for.
To ensure that the study of protozoology shall be placed on a proper basis it is necessary to establish a permanent professorship of protozoology so that its holder can devote the greater part of his time to pure research, and to provide an assistant for the professor.
It is agreed that this professorship would best be established at the University of London.
A temporary fund has been formed, consisting of £2,600 a year for 5 years con- tributed by the Imperial Government, the Colonies, and India, from which temporary provision will be made for the teaching and study of Protozoology at the Schools of Tropical Medicine of London and Liverpool on a small scale, but this fund is altogether inadequate for the purpose of making the permanent endowment which is required for a professor and his assistant at London University, and there is no prospect of raising the additional sum required by a further appeal to the Colonies, which have already contributed considerable sums to the cause of tropical medicine.
It is agreed that there is ample work both for the Professor at the University of London and his assistant and also for the holders of the temporary posts at the Schools of Tropical Medicine. It is provisionally suggested that, for purposes of research, there might be convenient installation of a laboratory in the buildings of the University at South Kensington and that arrangements might be made for a certain amount of teaching to be given by the Professor at the London School of Tropical Medicine, and, further, that facilities should be afforded for the Professor to take part in suitable expeditions as occasion might arise. In fact it has been pointed out to me that it is very desirable to keep prominently in view the threefold duty of the Professor, namely:
(a) Research at home;
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(6) A defined amount of teaching at the School of Tropical Medicine; (c) Expedition work abroad, as occasion offers, with more or less lengthened stay.
I am assured that there is no shadow of doubt that, in the course of a greater or smaller number of years, parasitic diseases will be made thoroughly known to man and with that knowledge man will make an end of the diseases. How soon this result shall be achieved, whether within 20 years or not within a century, depends solely on the number of able and scientific investigators who may be employed.
23. I therefore very earnestly appeal to you and your co-trustees for assiture and would ask you, if it lies within your power, to provide a sufficient sum (say £25,000 to