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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :--

CO.885/25

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

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will receive money contributions from all British Colonies in Africa, as well as, if possible, from the other European nations interested in the solution of the problem, which would, should the method be adopted, offer the best chance of success and reduce expenditure by each of the Administrations concerned to a fractional amount of what it now is

'The Acting Secretary, Livingstone,

42289

Northern Rhodesia.

No. 94.

A. MAY,

Principal Medical Officer.

THE BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY to COLONIAL OFFICE.

STR,

+

(Received 21st July, 1919.)

[Answered by No. 103.]

The British South Africa Company,

Rhodesia House, 2, London Wall Buildings,

London, E.C.2, 18th July, 1919. I AM directed to refer to my letter of the 16th instant,* on the subject of the proposed conference of entomologists of the Empire.

With regard to the memorandumt by the Principal Medical Officer of Northern Rhodesia which was transmitted therewith, I am directed to say that the Board is gravely concerned at Dr. May's statement that, although no definite information on the subject is available, it is generally supposed that the fly areas in Northern Rhodesia are increasing in extent and that this increase constitutes a menace to the whole territory.

The Directors agree with Dr. May that individual effort on the part of the Administration on a problem which intimately concerns the whole continent of Africa is not likely to provide results of practical value, but that the work of entomological research on the tsetse fly problem should be combined under one central organization, which would receive money contributions from all British Colonies in Africa as well as, if possible, from the other European nations interested in the solution of the problem.

I am respectfully to submit that, in view of the urgency and immensity of the problem to be faced, the work of entomological research as regards the tsetse fly should not wait for the assembling of the proposed conference of entomologists of the Empire, which might involve considerable delay, but that steps should be at once taken to form a central organization for the whole of Africa for the study of the problem. I am to inquire whether the Secretary of State sees his way to initiate action on the lines suggested.

I am, &c.,

45867

SIR,

No. 95.

A. P. MILLAR,

Secretary.

IMPERIAL BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received 7th August, 1919.)

The Imperial Bureau of Entomology,

British Museum (Natural History),

Cromwell Road, London, S.W., 5th August, 1919.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th July, transmitting copies of replies from various Colonial Governments with reference to the proposed conference of entomologists and of a letter§ from the British South Africa Company urging the desirability of centralizing all research work in connexion with tsetse fly problems.

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2. The likelihood of a greater influx into Tropical Africa of European settlers in the near future renders it in the highest degree desirable that more energetic measures should be taken to assist in the discovery of some practical means of controlling the various species of Glossina, which at present constitute the most serious obstacle in the way of the satisfactory development of that

country.

3. I am in complete agreement with the view expressed by the Principal Medical Officer for Northern Rhodesia that isolated entomological investigations on a small scale are not likely to be of much benefit: and that more satisfactory results will be obtained, and in a shorter time, if these investigations can be linked up as parts of a properly organized plan, so as to avoid overlapping and waste of effort, and to ensure that the inquiries are being directed towards a common objective, instead of running on parallel or divergent lines. Indeed, before he left for Uganda recently I urged upon Mr. W. F. Fiske that, as soon as his work on Victoria Nyanza was well started, he should formulate for consideration a comprehensive scheme of field work, with a view to initiating an effective campaign against Glossina on a large scale.

I cannot, however, agree with Dr. May that such a policy, if properly carried out, would render it possible to "reduce expenditure by each of the Administrations concerned to a fractional amount of what it now is," for one of the primary difficulties to be faced is that the present expenditure is really quite inadequate for the purpose.

4. It would seem as though he contemplated the concentration of all research work on tsetse flies in one locality; but this does not appear to be either feasible or desirable. It is in the highest degree improbable that any one control measure will be universally effective; it is far more likely that success will be attained only by a combination of different lines of attack, which will vary according to the species involved and the diverse local conditions. For example, the highly effec tive campaign carried out by the Portuguese against Glossina palpalis in the island of San Thome would obviously be inapplicable to continental Africa; and, if the scheme that has just been inaugurated for the reclamation of the palpalis zone on the shores of Victoria Nvanza be successful, it will be of little assistance towards the solution of the palpalis problem as it presents itself in Nigeria or the Gold Coast. Again, while it seems possible that in the smaller and isolated fly belts of Southern Rhodesia Glossina morsitans might be eradicated by partial clearing and a reduction in the food supply, such a policy would obviously bu futile as applied to the extensive and thinly populated fly areas of Northern Rhodesia and German East Africa.

5. Thus, in my judgment, what really needed is not concentration, but an increased number of local investigations working on a definitely organized plan under a centralized control.

6. The entomological investigations in connexion with Glossina at present in progress are unfortunately extremely limited, largely as a result of the War. These are practically confined to Uganda, where work on Glossina palpalis is being carried out by Mr. Fiske and Dr. G. D. H. Carpenter, assisted on the pro- tozoal side by Dr. H. L. Duke; and Zululand, where the Union Government has started a comprehensive inquiry into the relation between game and Glossina pallidipes, this being the first occasion on which any attempt has been made to study the bionomics of this species. It remains to be seen whether the results obtained in connexion with the latter insect are really applicable to Glossina morsitans, from which it differs markedly in habitat.

The work that was being carried on in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland has now been discontinued for some three years; and the experiment in game destruction in the Sebungwe District, Southern Rhodesia, for which the local Legislature voted £1,000, appears to have been temporarily suspended.

In our West African Colonies and Protectorates, I gather from discussions with members of the West African Medical Service, that the local administrations are not favourably disposed towards undertaking any special entomological investi- gations. The morsitans-longipalpis problem is, and has always been, entirely neglected; and, so far as palpalis is concerned, they consider that the only feasible course is merely to keep going the routine work of clearing fords and watering A similar places, and encouraging cultivation along each side of main roads. attitude appears to prevail in the French and Belgian colonies.

* 41881: not printed.

Enclosure in No. 99.

42280: not printed.

$ No. 04.