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No. 54. !

MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE MANAGING COMMITTEE OF THE SLEEPING SICKNESS BUREAU, HELD ON THE 18TH OF DECEMBER, AT 4.30 P.M.

PRESENT:

Sir J. West Ridgeway (in the Chair).

Sir Patrick Manson.

Mr. E. A. Waldron Clarke.

Mr. Read.

Dr. Bagshawe (Acting Secretary).

1. The Minutes* of the meeting of the 30th of October were approved.

2. The Director laid before the Committee the proof of a post-card, which he proposed to send to the recipients of the third number of the "Bulletin," asking them to acknowledge the receipt of the "Bulletin," as a notification of their wishi to receive future copies. The Committee approved the post-card.

3. The Director mentioned that the bulk of the next bulletin would deal with Glossina palpalis, and would treat of the prophylaxis of sleeping sickness, the development of the trypanosome in the fly, and experiments with Glossina palpalis as to the transmission of the disease. It would also contain an account of current work on subjects which had already been dealt with in previous bulletins.

4. The Committee agreed to publish a report by Dr. Hodges, provided that Dr. Rose Bradford, who was now reading it, considered it suitable for publication.

5. The Director laid before the Committee photographs of biting flies which had been prepared for issue in a popular pamphlet.

6. A letter from the Principal Medical Officer of North-Eastern Rhodesia was considered.

7. Mr. Clarke undertook to have the attention of the Governments of France. Germany, and Portugal, called to the desirability of sending copies of their official publications to the Sleeping Sickness Bureau.

9130.

III-MEDITERRANEAN FEVER.

No. 55.

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received 14 March, 1908.)

[Copy to Governor, 25 March, 1908. No. 40. L.F. See No. 58.]

Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 4, Whitehall Place,

London, S.W., 13 March, 1908.

SIR,

I AM directed by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to advert to Mr. Cox's letter of the 19th October last, No. 25993/07,† enclosing a copy' of a despatch, dated the 17th July last, from the Officer Administering the Government of Malta, as to the elimination of goats infected with Mediterranean fever, and I am to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State, that the Board delayed their reply in the expectation that their Chief Veterinary Officer would be able to confer personally on the subject with the Chief Veterinary Officer for Malth. who, as it was understood, was about to pay a visit to this country.

This expectation has, however, not been realised, and the only observation which the Board feel themselves in a position to make, in the absence of personal conference is with regard to the suggestions made in paragraph 2 of Professor Zammit's memorandum, that the question therein referred to is not one to be dealt with by veterinary surgeons. This suggestion is opposed to the general principles upon which diseases communicable from animals to the human subject are success- fully combated. The Board are advised that a system of regular inspection of goats in the island by veterinary inspectors with bacteriological knowledge might greatly

• No. 51.

† No. 121 in Miscellaneous No. 201.

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expedite the diagnosis of the disease in goats in those districts in which human beings are reported to be suffering from Mediterranean fever.

I am, &c.,

9133

(No. 49.)

MY LORD,

No. 56.

MALTA.

T. H. ELLIOTT.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received March 14, 1908.)

The Palace, Valletta, March 9, 1908.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's circular despatch of the 23rd December last,* communicating to this Government certain suggestions of the Advisory Committee of the Tropical Diseases Research Fund with regard to the work which is being carried out in the laboratories and research institutes of various Colonies.

2. In reply. I have the honour to inform your Lordship that there is no insti- tution of this kind in Malta, and the Executive Council, whom I have consulted, do not consider it advisable to establish one now that the Mediterranean Fever Commission have completed their investigations.

3. I take this opportunity of forwarding, for your Lordship's information, a copy of the following reports which have been prepared by Professor Zammit, viz.:-

"Report on the goats bought suffering from Mediterranean Fever in April, 1906, and on the kids born of some of them at the Lazaretto," and Report on the observations made on kids fed on infected milk."

I have. &c.,

H. F. GRANT,

Enclosure 1 in No. 36.

Governor.

REPORT on the Goats bought suffering from Mediterranean Fever in April, 1906, and on the Kids born of some of them at the Lazaretto.

The goats bought by the Commission in April, 1906, ill with Mediterranean Fever were kept for nearly a year at the Lazaretto with a view, mainly, of observ- ing if they would get better, or, eventually, if they would in time shake off the fever altogether.

2. Later on, I thought that it would be worth while to have these goats impregnated again with a view to observing whether the kids born from infected mothers would have acquired immunity against Mediterranean infection. result of these observations is here tabulated.

The

3. For the sake of comparison, five kids were bought, born out of the Lazaretto from presumably healthy mothers, and of the same age as the kids born from our infected goats.

4. Of the eleven animals, four, including the sheep, remained barren; but of these, two continued to yield milk, which was tested to the last; the other two dried up by September.

5.

Table "A" shows the result of the observations made on these animals. 6. The sheep (No. 107), which had always proved to be badly infected, Its milk yielded remained saturated with Micrococcus melitensis to the last. throughout a large amount of cocci, and at the post-mortem examination Micro- coccus melitensis was abundantly obtained from practically all organs (spleen, liver, inguinal glands, and mesenteric glands). This sheep, therefore, found infected in April, 1906, never got better till August, 1907, when it was slaughtered, a period of 16 months, without, of course, taking into account the unknown period for which it was ill before it was examined. The animal during all this time showed no objective signs of its illness, it never lost flesh, it fed well, and gave abundant milk, which looked normal till it became watery, and then disappeared in January, 1907.

32650

• No. 81 in Miscellaneous No. 202.

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