CO885-(21-23) — Page 143

PRESENT:

108

MINUTES.

Mr. RRAD (in the Chair);

Sir THOMAS BARLOW;

Sir JOHN ROSE BRADFORD;

Sir HAVELOCK CHARLES;

Mr. DRAKE;

Sir RONALD Ross;

Mr. KEITH (Secretary).

1. The minutes* of the Second Ordinary Meeting of 1912 were approved. 2. The reports† of the London and Liverpool Schools of Tropical Medicine for

the half-year ended the 30th of April, 1912, were received.

3. The reports on mosquito-borne diseases from Hong Kong, Uganda, Swazi- land, and Southern Rhodesia were received, and it was agreed that Sir Ronald Ross should comment upon them together with the other reports to be received at a later Atten- date. The reports from Fiji of the 24th of October, 1912, was considered. tion was called by Sir Thomas Barlow to the importance of taking care in the use of salvarsan. Mention was made of the fact that most valuable reports on the work being done with the drug in cases of syphilis were contained in the reports in the Royal Army Medical Corps Journal, and it was agreed that copies of the reports should be communicated to the Colonies and Protectorates. It was mentioned that the intravenous method of administration was, if conducted with proper care, the most successful method, but that it was, of course, dangerous unless administered skil- fully. It has not yet been adopted by Medical Officers in the Colonies.

4. The reports on the work done in the British Guiana and Mauritius Labora- tories were considered, and it was agreed in both cases that valuable work was being done which was worthy of the commendation of the Secretary of State.

5. The question of the steps to be taken to prevent the introduction of yellow fever into India were considered. The recommendations made by Major James and summed up in the second paragraph of the despatch from the Government of India of the 20th of March, 1913, with the exception of No. 5, were dealt with. The Committee were unanimously agreed that the report of Major James, with regard to the possibility of the dissemination of yellow fever, justified the proposed appoint- ment of a Medical Officer as an Intelligence Officer at Panama with a view to obtain continuous and trustworthy information regarding any outbreak of yellow fever. While thinking that it would probably be desirable that the Medical Officer appointed for this purpose should be attached to the British Consulate, the Com- mittee considered that that matter was an administrative one for arrangement between the India Office and the Foreign Office, upon which they were not called to advise. As regards Hong Kong and Singapore the Committee considered that the work should be carried out by the existing Health Departments in these Colonies, the staff being supplemented if it proved necessary, and they recommended that the Secretary of State should communicate with the Colonial Governments to ascertain whether there would be any difficulty in carrying out the suggestions made in Major James's report.

Sir Thomas Barlow and Sir Ronald Ross also expressed the opinion that the United States plan, which Major James proposed to adopt as regards Panama, of stationing officers in possible sources of infection to report on developments of the disease was an excellent one which might profitably be extended to reports on other diseases than yellow fever; such reports, in their opinion, would be of advantage, for example, to the West Indies and even to the United Kingdom. It was agreed, however, that it was not necessary to make recommendations on this branch of the subject in the absence of a reference from the Secretary of State.

(2) The question of the prosecution of enquiries into the etiology and prevention of yellow fever under the control and auspices of the Royal Society was considered.

Sir Ronald Ross pointed out that the Secretary of State had appointed a Com- mission, of which he was a member, which was charged with the investigation of yellow fever in its connexion with West Africa. The enquiry would last three years and would cover the whole field of the etiology and prevention of the disease. If necessary, the Commission could send to South America to study the disease in its most prolific haunts. Mr. Read, however, pointed out that the Commission had only

Nos. 1 in Appendix V. and 1 in Appendix IV. to [Cd. 7261]. Nos. 1, 6, 11 and 9 in Appendix L. to [Cd, 72611. No. 5 in Appendix VI. to Cd. 7261).

See enclosure in No. 68. No. 1 in Appendix VI. to [Cd, 72611 and 6297/13: not printed.

• No. 49.

109

£5,000 a year at its disposal and that this sum would not suffice if an expedition were to be sent to South America.

Sir Ronald Ross pointed out that the Government of India might usefully place a sum at their disposal, and thus enable them to carry out further investigations. Sir John Rose Bradford said that the Royal Society would not, of course, care to take up a subject which was being dealt with adequately by some other body. On the other hand the period suggested by Sir Ronald Ross was decidedly a long time to wait.

Finally, it was agreed, on the proposal of Mr. Read, that the question should stand over with a view to a meeting between the expert members of the Commission and Sir John Rose Bradford and Sir Havelock Charles to consider how far the terms of reference to the Commission covered the enquiries which were suggested by Major James.

Sir Ronald Ross called attention to the fact that he had expressed the view that the explanation why yellow fever had not made an appearance in East and South- West Africa and in India was the comparative infrequency of the Stegomyia fasciata; just as in the case of England, where the anopheles actually existed, yet malarial fever was not indigenous, so in India, though fasciata was known, it was not sufficiently frequent to spread the disease.

(4) With regard to the systematic investigation in India of the stegomyia problem, Mr. Read mentioned that Lord Cromer had suggested to Lord Crewe that this work should be entrusted to the Entomological Research Committee, which would undertake certain work in connexion with agricultural entomology for the Government of India, and this yellow fever research, in return for an annual contri- bution of £500. The Ceylon Government, which is in touch with the Committee, had secured the services of Major James to investigate the stegomyia in that Island, and Mr. Strickland, an able entomologist, who was formerly in the employ of the Committee, had now entered the service of the Federated Malay States. The Com- mittee was in a position to do the proposed work much more effectively and cheaply than any other agency. Mr. Drake concurred that this would be the best solution to this part of the work.

The question of the improvement and extension of high-pressure water supplies was not discussed, as not being within the scope of the reference to the Committee. (3) The proposal for the establishment of a Central Intelligence Bureau was considered, and it was pointed out that the information to be distributed should include information supplied by the Entomological Committee as suggested above.

Mr. Read pointed out that, so far as the medical work was concerned, the distribution could be carried on conveniently by the Tropical Diseases Burcau, on which the India Office was already represented.

Sir Ronald Ross called attention to the fact that there was a Yellow Fever Bureau at Liverpool, but he admitted that it was not possible to prefer that Bureau to the Tropical Diseases Bureau, which had the advantage of being already a Govern- ment undertaking and of being located in London.

Mr. Read pointed out that some addition to the funds would presumably be required. If the material was sufficient a separate publication on yellow fever could be issued. At present the literature was summarised more or less briefly from time to time, but if additional information were received a special sectional editor could be entrusted with the work.

Mr. Read also pointed out that it would be desirable that the Advisory Com- mittee for the Tropical Diseases Research Fund should exercise a general control over the work which was being done, and this proposal was concurred in by the members of the Committee. Mr. Read pointed out that there would be no difficulty in adjusting matters between the Advisory Committee for the Research Fund and the Managing Committee of the Bureau in view of the similarity of the composition of the Committee.

(6) It was agreed by the Committee that the Government of Hong Kong should be invited to consider the strengthening of the line of sanitary defence in the manner suggested by Major James in his report.

6. Mr. Read recommended that the grant to the London and Liverpool Schools of Tropical Medicine should be increased by £600 in each case. He added that Dr. Leiper, who was the helminthologist in the London School, had called upon him to explain that he had received an offer from Birmingham which he would feel bound to accept unless he could be given some degree of assurance that his position would not be less secure in the future than in the past.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

22 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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