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PUBLIC RECORD

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OFFICE

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C.O.885

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ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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We believe that for strictly medical purposes, and to avoid unnecessary bulk, it is advisable to separate the medical reports from the administrative and financial state- ments required by the Governments of the several Colonies.

These medical reports should, in all Colonies, be made up to the end of each year, and sent in to the Colonial Office so as to arrive there before April 30th of the following year. They should be submitted to the medical adviser of the Colonial Office for com- pilation, so as eventually to be printed and issued for information in all Colonies.

By the methods we have proposed the annual medical report from the Colonial Office would be brought into some correspondence with the Army Annual Returns.

We now tender the recommendations* we have agreed to offer, and which we think generally applicable to the Crown-Governed Colonies.

15009 A.

No. 35.

We are, &c.,

CHAS. GAGE BROWN. PATRICK MANSON.

T. IRVINE ROWELL, M.D. S. LEONARD CRANE. W. R. HENDERSON.

MR. CHAMBERLAIN to LORD LISTER, PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. [Answered by No. 36 ]

MY LORD,

Downing Street, July 6, 1898.

My attention has been strongly directed, since I have been Secretary of State for the Colonies, to the high death rate which prevails among European officers serving in tropical climates, and notably among those who are sent to the Colonies and Protectorates in tropical Africa.

2. The want of sanitation in such regions as the West Coast of Africa and of adequate hospital treatment has also been brought to my notice as affecting the health and lives, not only of the comparatively few European residents, but also of the native population.

3. I am aware that, humanly speaking, the rate of mortality must in certain parts of the British Empire always be high as compared with the death rate of civilised coun- tries in temperate climates, but I am convinced that much remains to be done by scien- tific training and experience to ameliorate existing conditions and to some extent diminish the loss of life.

4. I have had the advantage of consulting Dr. Patrick Manson, the present medical adviser of the Colonial Office, who has had personal experience of tropical climates and the treatment of tropical diseases, with the result that arrangements have been made with the Seamen's Hospital at Greenwich for the formation of a School of Tropical Medicine, at which the medical officers of the Colonies and Pro- tectorates administered by the Colonial Office and Foreign Office respectively will, prior to appointment, and possibly at intervals in the course of their service, re- ceive special instruction in the treatment of those diseases which are specially preva- lent in the tropics.

5. A memorandum,† in which the scheme was submitted for the approval of the Lords of the Treasury, is enclosed in order to show the objects and the scope of the scheme. I need hardly say that it is not intended for publication, but is sent for the confidential information of your colleagues and yourself, and I am glad to add that the Lords of the Treasury have consented to defray one-half the initial cost from Im- perial funds, while the Colonies and Protectorates concerned will be invited to con- tribute the other half. The cost of training each medical officer will be probably borne by the Colony or Protectorate in which he is about to serve.

6. I am confident that this scheme will have good results in increasing the effi- ciency of the medical staff in the Colonial possessions with malarious climates and thereby saving life and health; but I am not satisfied to rest at this point, and wish to invite the co-operation of the Royal Society in taking further steps.

See Miscellaneous No. 114.

↑ Enclosure in No. 28.

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7. It is my desire that a thorough investigation should be undertaken into the origin, the transmission, and the possible preventives and remedies of tropical diseases, especially of such deadly forms of sickness as the malarial and blackwater fevers preva- lent on the West African coast; and, feeling assured that the object is one which will commend itself to the Royal Society, I would invite them to take the matter in hand There should be, in conjunction with, and after conference with, the Colonial Office.

I assume, enquiry on the spot by scientific experts, and it would be well in my opinion that these experts should be appointed by and take instructions from your colleagues and yourself.

8. My request then is, in short, one for a grant from the funds of the Royal Society for the specific purpose of investigating disease and combating its effects in the malarious regions of the British Empire. If such a grant can be given and if the Royal Society will undertake the disposal of the money and the carrying out of the object in view, your Lordship may be assured that I will give all the assistance in my on behalf of the power, and, further, I am prepared within reason to promise Colonies concerned a grant of equal amount to that which the Society may contribute. 9. I am given to understand that the last meeting of the Council of the Society before the autumn will be held on Thursday next, the 7th of July, and it would be a pleasure to learn that at that meeting a committee had been appointed to consult with representatives of the Colonial Office as to the necessary arrangements for carrying out the proposals to which this letter refers.

I have, &c.,

15546.

SIR,

No. 36.

J. CHAMBERLAIN.

THE ROYAL SOCIETY to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received July 11, 1898.)

[Answered by No. 42.]

The Royal Society, Burlington House, London, W.,

July 7, 1898.

YOUR letter of July 5* to the President was this day laid by him before the Council of the Royal Society, and it was resolved to appoint a committee, consisting

of the President and officers, Dr. J. N. Langley, Professor E. Ray Lankester, and Professor Burdon Sanderson, in accordance with your letter.

It was further resolved that the Royal Society should make an initial grant of £300 from the Government Grant Fund towards the expenses of the above.

15756.

No. 37.

I have, &c.,

M. FOSTER,

Secretary R.S.

SEAMEN'S HOSPITAL SOCIETY to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received July 15, 1898.)

[Answered by No. 53.]

Seamen's Hospital Society, Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital,

Greenwich, S.E., July 14, 1898.

SIR,

Your letter of the 30th ultimo, numbered 13675/98,† was duly laid before my you that Committee at their meeting on Friday last, and I was then instructed to inform the Seamen's Hospital Society accept the offer contained therein on behalf of the Colonies and Protectorates towards the initial cost of the establishment of a School for the Study of Tropical Diseases, and that, in order to arrange for the reception of the

† No. 31.

• No. 35.

1918