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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TLCO 885/26
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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Enclosure 2 in No. 16.
REPORT BY DR. JOHN G. THOMSON, DIRECTOR OF PROTOZOOLOGY, LONDON School of TROPICAL MEDICINE, FOR THE HALF-YEAR ENDING 30TH APRIL, 1924.
In addition to the routine classes in Protozoology eleven advanced students received tuition in the Department in protozoological technique, including methods of cultivation.
Miss M. J. Trifitt, M.Sc., has carried out an investigation into the intestinal protozoa of certain animals. This has resulted in the discovery of a coccidian parasite, which, from the shape and dimensions of the oocyst and sporocyst, is probably an Eimeria of a previously unknown species. Miss Triffitt has also found an amoeba in the fæces of an eland. This amoeba, in the cystic stage, showed certain points of similarity to the Entamoeba of the human intestine, such as the presence of chromatoid bodies, etc.
Mr. R. H. Harris, Government Entomologist in Zululand, made a series of dissections of the bug Rhodnius prolixus, which is the carrier of Trypanosoma cruzi in Venezuela.
Dr. Andrew Robertson, Assistant in Protozoology, has carried out important research work on the causative organism of rat-bite fever in man. This was men- tioned in the last report, and the findings are now in course of publication. The conclusions arrived at were that the correct name for the parasite should be Spirillum minus, Carter, 1887, and that Spirocheta laverani, Breinl and Kinghorn, 1905, S. muris, Wenyon, 1905, S. morsus muris, Futaki, Takaki, Taniguchi, and Osumi, 1917, S. petit, Row, 1922, Leptospira morsus muris (Futaki, Takaki, Taniguchi, and Osumi, 1917), Manson-Bahr, 1922, and Treponemella muris, Sangiorgi, 1922, are synonyms,
This means that, so far as is known, only one species of Spirillum occurs in the blood of mice, rats, etc., as a natural infection, and that this is the same organism which causes rat-bite fever in man.
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I have continued my researches into the causation of blackwater fever. short preliminary paper was read before the Royal Society of Medicine, Tropical Section, giving a brief outline of the lines on which the work was performed. I emphasized the necessity for taking into account all the factors in the causation of this disease, e.g., the infantile endemic index, the length of stay in the black- water country, the prevalence of malignant tertian malaria, etc., and the futility of attempting to stamp out blackwater fever by concentrating on only one or a few of these factors.
Recently I gave a demonstration of microscopical preparations, which had a bearing on the etiology of the disease, before the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at a laboratory meeting. Slides were shown from cultures of the malarial parasite (Plasmodium falciparum), and also blood films from cases of malignant tertian malaria and blackwater fever. The former illustrated the tendency for the malignant tertian parasite to clump round the large endothelial cells, while the latter showed the so-called "brassy" corpuscle and Stephen's and Christopher's dots.
In my work in Rhodesia I established several important facts in the relationship of blackwater fever to malaria. The co-relationship between the seasonal incidence of these two diseases in Southern Rhodesia is absolute as seen by an examination of the monthly incidence over a period of ten years.
A careful study of the morphology of the malarial parasite (p. falciparum) associated with blackwater, and the effect of this on the containing erythrocytes, shows that as the normal rings grow the hæmoglobin or the stroma of the cells becomes chemically altered in a marked degree, as seen by the altered staining reaction.
In my opinion it is this altered chemical reaction of the infected corpuscles which renders them capable of acting as an antigen and so producing a specific hæmolytic amboceptor. Further experiments with cultures of Plasmodium falciparum give evidence that during schizogony of the parasite there are hemolytic substances present in the peripheral blood, and this more or less confirms the observations of Simpson in Liverpool.
As soon as available, reprints of paper on rat-bite fever organism (Spirillum minus) by Dr. Robertson, and Preliminary Report on blackwater fever in Southern Rhodesia by myself will be sent to you. During the next few months I hope to complete my monograph on blackwater fever, and this also will be sent to you.
I have, &c.,
J. G. THOMSON. Director of Protozoology.
SIR,
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Enclosure 3 in No. 16.
London School of Tropical Medicine,
Endsleigh Gardens, Euston Road, London, N.W.1,
13th May, 1924.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF HELMINTHOLOGY.
I HAVE the honour to submit a Report on the work of my Department for the half-year ending 30th April, 1924.
Staff- -There have been no changes in the staff during the past six months. The Medical Research Council have renewed their grant amounting for the year 1924-5 to £400 for the salary and research expenses of Miss I. Hiles, M.Sc., as personal research assistant.
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Teaching. Two courses of Medical Helminthology each extending over period of three weeks have been given during the winter months. Mr. G. S. Thapar, M.Sc., Mr. P. L. le Roux, M.R.C.V.S., and Mr. Elahie have attended the Laboratory for various periods for advanced study on domesticated animals. Occasionally laboratory facilities have been provided to visitors, including Miss G. Theiler, Ph.D., and Miss Price from South Africa.
Collections. The staff of the Agricultural Section has continued to pay daily visits to the Zoological Gardens to collect parasites from animals which have died there, and the material has proved of value in the teaching of the School, apart from scientific interest.
Publications.-A report on the results of the British Guiana expedition for the purpose of studying Filariasis has been issued as Memoir No. 7 of the Research Memoir Series of the London School of Tropical Medicine. The Journal of Helminthology, which is subsidized by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, has been issued regularly at bi-monthly intervals and continues to provide for the prompt appearance of original communications by those working in or in associa- tion with the Department. Its reception by Libraries and Laboratory workers all over the world has been a source of much encouragement to the staff. The following twelve original communications, all of which have appeared in the Journal, indicate, by their titles, the scope of the research work completed by members of the Depart- ment during the past six months.
Scott, H. H. A Contribution to the Experimental Study of the Life-histories of Hymenolepsis fraterna Stiles. 1906, and Hymenolepsis longior Baylis, 1922, in the Mouse. Vol. I, No. 5.
Goodey, T. Eelworm Disease of Potatoes caused by Tylenchus dipsaci. Vol. I,
No. 5. Cameron, T. W. M. On the biology of the Infective Larva of Monodontus
trigonocephalus (Rud.) of Sheep. Vol. I, No. 5.
Anderson, J., Khalil, M.. Lee. C. U.. Leiner, R. T. A Filarial Survey in British
Guiana, 1921 Vol. I, No. 5.
Goodey, T.
The Anatomy of Oesophagostomum dentatum (Rud.), a nematode parasite of the Pig, with observations on the structure and biology of the free-living Larve. Vol. II, No. 1. Ortlepp, R. J. On a collection of Helminths from Dutch Guiana. Vol. II, No. 1. Cameron, T. W. M. On Gaigeria pachuscelis Railliet and Henry, 1910, a nematode
parasite of Ruminants. Vol. II, No. 1.
Cameron, T. W. M. Dochmoides: a new genus for the Hookworm “Uncinaria”
stenocephala Railliet. Vol. II, No. 1.
Goodey, T. The Anatomy and Life-History of the Nematode Rhabdias fuscovenosa (Railliet) from the grass snake Tropidonotus natrix. Vol. II. No. 2. Cameron, T. W. M. On the Nematode genus Globocephalus Molin, 1861. Vol. II,
No. 2.
Khalil, M. On the Morphology of Schistosoma boris. Vol. II, No. 2. Morgan, D. O. A Survey of Helminthic Parasites of Domestic Animals in the Aberystwyth Area of Wales, from October, 1923, to March, 1924. Vol. II, No. 2.
British Empire Exhibition. Much care has been devoted to the preparation of an exhibit illustrating the various sides of the Department's activities. In view
of the close association of parasites of man to those of domesticated animals, as exemplified in the research work of the Department, the Ministry of Agriculture generously provided a special case near the entrance of the Agricultural Section in
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