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No. 87.

COLONIAL OFFICE to THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. SIR,

Downing Street, April 11, 1906. I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant,* from which His Lordship is interested to learn that the Chair of Protozoology at the University of London has been filled by the appointment of Mr. E. A. Minchin, M.A., Jodrell Professor of Zoology at University College, London, and sometime Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, who has lately been on special service in Uganda.

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No. 84.

I am, &c.,

C. P. LUCAS.

COLONIAL OFFICE to THE BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. SIR,

Downing Street, April 21, 1906. I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to express his Lordship's regret at the delay which has occurred in answering your letter of the 29th of Marcht relative to the proposed establishment of a scholarship in tropical medicine.

2. In reply, I am to inform you that the correspondence with the British Medical Association was brought before the Advisory Committee of the Tropical Diseases Research Fund in December last and that the Committee considered it unnecessary to take any further steps in the matter as the Association were unable to allocate any of its funds towards the support of the proposed teaching appoint- ment in the University of London and the Committee had no funds at its disposal to contribute towards the establishment of the scholarship which the Association desired.

3. Lord Elgin much appreciates the desire of the Association to renew their offer, and, if the Association can suggest any scheme to obviate the difficulties above referred to, he will gladly bring the matter again before the Committee.

13837

I am, &c.,

C. P. LUCAS.

No. 85.

"THE EARL OF ELGIN to THE GOVERNORS.1

(Circular.)

17784

Downing Street, April 23, 1906. [Printed as Appendix I. in [Cd. 3306], January, 1907.]

No. 86.

THE LONDON SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received May 19, 1906.)

Dreadnought Hospital, Greenwich, S.E., May 18, 1906. [Printed as Appendix V. (1) in [Cd. 3306], January, 1907.]

• No. 81.

† No. 80.

Sent to the Governors of the West Indiar Colonies, to Bermuda, Fiji, the Eastern Colonies, and to the Mediterranean Colonies, the West African Colonies, and the West African and East African Protectorates,

MINUTES OF AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR THE TROPICAL DISEASES RESEARCH FUND MAY 22, 1906.

PRESENT:

Sir R. Moor (Chairman),

Sir T. Barlow,

Surgeon-General A. M. Branfoot,

Mr. T. W. Holderness,

Mr. C. P. Lucas,

Sir P. Manson,

Mr. H. J. Read, and

Mr. Keith, Secretary.

Mr. Lucas explained that the meeting had been called under the following circumstances. Major Seely had moved in the House of Commons for a return showing the measures taken in the Crown Colonies and Protectorates to eradicate malarial fever and the results, as shown by the health statistics of the inhabitants, and had given to the Secretary of State a memorandum, which Mr. Lucas read, showing exactly what he proposed. Mr. Lucas had pointed out to the Secretary of State that many circulars had already been sent to the Colonies on the subject of measures against malaria, and that there was a danger of adding too much to the work of medical officers in the Colonies, and further, with regard to the suggestion which was made that the Indian, Naval, and Military Authorities should co-operate, that there already existed so much friction among military, naval, and civil medical officers, that it was most important to avoid creating further possibilities of disagree- ments. In the result Lord Elgin had an interview with Major Seely at which Mr. Lucas was present, and it was agreed to refer the question to the Advisory Board. A draft circular despatch had therefore been prepared and was submitted for the consideration of the Board.

Mr. Lucas desired, however, first to obtain the opinion of the Board as to whether the sending of any instructions on the matter would be likely to do harm or good. Sir R. Moor was of opinion that the publication of results was, from the point of view of obtaining contributions to the fund and to the Tropical Schools, of great importance. Sir T. Barlow concurred in this view, but was anxious not to overburden the Colonial medical officers. Sir P. Manson was decidedly of opinion that statistics such as those desired by Major Seely were premature, and deprecated the publication of figures which would probably be inaccurate, but he agreed that a circular might be sent as a matter of policy, though the scientific value of the figures likely to be received would be very small. Mr. Lucas mentioned that Professor Ray Lankester was in favour of the sending of a circular, and finally the Board agreed to his proposal that he should report to the Secretary of State that in their opinion the matter should not be unduly pressed, but that a circular should be sent inviting statistics and other information.

The terms of the draft circular were considered in detail, and considerably altered. On the suggestion of Sir P. Manson and Sir T. Barlow, its terms were extended to include yellow fever and other mosquito-borne diseases, and on the suggestion of Mr. Holderness, stress was laid on the necessity of sending only accurate statistics.

Mr. Holderness and Surgeon-General Branfoot deprecated any attempt being made to obtain statistics from India. The Annual Sanitary Report of the Govern- ment of India contained references to anti-malarial measures, but not in a form or to an extent suitable for separate publication.

Surgeon-General Branfoot. referred to the fact that measures suited for small areas like Ismailia were quite out of place in large territories like India, and this view was accepted by the other members of the Board, who desired it to be brought to the notice of the Secretary of State.

It was decided not to obtain statistics from India, and not to invite the co- operation of the War Office or Admiralty, but to confine the effort to the Crown Colonies and Protectorates.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

9 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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