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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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C.O. 885

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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To meet this capital expenditure, a sum of about £3,000 is available, being the balance of the sum collected by Sir F. Lovell during his recent mission to the East, after deducting a sum of about £4,000, the old outstanding debt upon the school buildings.

It remains now to be considered how the balance required for the new buildings, in addition to the sum of £3,000 at present avail- able, is to be raised. It will be seen from what bas been said above that the money cannot be provided out of current revenue, as the tuition fec. &c., only bring in just enough to meet current expenditure.

There is no prospect of a contribution from the King's Hospital Fund, and, owing to the immense number of charitable appeals here in London on behalf of institutions of more im- mediate local interest, and to the perhaps excessive delicacy which the school has shown in abstaining from self-advertisement. there seems to be little hope of any large contributions from private individuals unless something is done to bring the good work of the school prominently before the public.

It is, therefore, proposed to arrange a dinner, similar to that which was presided over by Mr. Chamberlain in 1899, for the purpose of celebrating the progress of the school, and calling public attention to the good work which it had done. The dinner would probably take place in May or June of next year, but the Committee are most anxious that Mr. Chamberlain, to whom the school owes its origin, and who has been so closely identified with the recent movement for the investigation of tropical diseases, should preside again, and they would make all arrangements

to suit his convenience.

If the results of this dinner are as satisfactory as on the last occasion, it ought to be possible to carry out the greater part of the programme for the new buildings.

In addition to the proposed extension of the school buildings, there are other important objects for which more money is required, and to which I will now call attention.

Research Work Travelling Scholars.

Although attention has been chiefly devoted to teaching, some very important research work has also been carried out under the supervision of the school. Dr. Low, with the material placed at his disposal by Dr. Manson, succeeded in demonstrating conclusively that "Filaria nocturna," like the malaria parasite, passes from man to man by the agency of the mosquito.

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This discovery in itself is held to have fully justified the establishment of the school, as it indicates the precise methods by which protection from the diseases, elephantiasis, chylurin, &c., caused by this parasite can be secured. Dr. Low's discovery has been con- firmed by others, and is now regarded as fully established. The school has in contemplation further investigations, and, if the necessary funds can be obtained, much information with important practical bearings will doubtless be obtained in a few years.

An almost illimitable field of investi- gation has been opened up by the discovery of the part played by the mosquito in conveying disense. It is difficult to say what diseases these insects diffuse and how they diffuse them. Quite recently yellow fever has been brought into the category of mosquito-produced disease. Already some 500 species of mosquito are known, each of which has to be studied in its bearings on human pathology. As regards the important question of malaria, our investigations are only in their infancy. We know that certain mos- quitoes convey malaria, but we do not know all the mosquitoes which convey it, nor under what conditions they act. If this is the case with the great group of mosquito-caused diseases included under the mumes malaria, filariasis, and yellow fever, still more elementary is our knowledge of the nature and causes of the diseases, included) under the names dysentery, sprue, and chronic liarrhea, which are so frequent and so fatal to Europeans in the tropics. The question of dysentery is, at present, absolutely unsettled. We do not know whether there is one kind or a dozen kinds of dysentery, nor do we know the cause of any kind of dysentery. Equally inade- quate is our knowledge of beri-beri, Sleeping sickness, and a number of other important tropical diseases.

The question of extending our knowledge of the cause and cure of these diseases is a very serious one for our tropical colonies. We have seen how the plague has spread from place to place. Quite recently the sleeping sickness., which was supposed to be confined to the Congo Basin, where it had carried off more people than all the other diseases put together, has appeared in the Nile Basin.

About two years ago there was a serious outbreak of yellow fever at Bathurst in the Gambia, and we have recently heard of cases of yellow fever on the Gold Coast, where it was supposed to be unknown.

If some disease, such as sleeping sickness or yellow fever were to get a firm hold of one of our West African Colonies, it is difficult to estimate the damage which would ensue.

Some of these Colonies are none too thickly populated at present, and any large diminution