New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-18

y
pest that fatally afiicts animals but not
man. and has thus far been confined to Central
and Southern Africa. is the subject Of report
to the Royal Society in England. 10y commit
tee appointed to investigate the matter The
disease in question is the result of a bite by n
fly scarcely larger than the common house Hy,
and though its progress is someW hat slower
than that Of the poison from snake bite the
effect is equally deadly to OK. horse or dog. A
sting like that of mosquito leads to symp-
toms resembling those Of a cold and the animal
grows steadily worse until it dies perhaps
week or ten days after the tiny wound in
nicted
| The importance Of a malady Of this sort was
so apparent that the Royal Society appointed a
committee two years ago to study its nature.
and to ascertain. if possible. whether any cure
| could be- found. A good deal OF interesting in
! formation is presented in the report, but as yet
| In spite Of some original and thorough expert
ments. no remedy has been found for the dis
ease The most that science can recommend at
present is a continuance Of the protective meas
| ures resorted to by the natives. which consist
of pastering animals over. before they are
taken into an infected district with manure
and other filthy substances.
| The setse fly sucks blood does the mos
quito and communicates its poison uninien-
tOnally no doubt. Just as mosquitoes are sup
posed To convey malarial poison into the VEINS
of then victims. The mischicf-makng agent in
both instances appears 10 be "A living organism;
IA microbe characteristic in the case OF
malarial fever and in the other Of the strange
and fatal tsetse disease The existence Of the
latter parasite was discovered 10y Surgeon Ma
jor Bruce several years ago after careful
M. ii, &c
and pernciously active in some regions that
they cannot he inhabited 10y horses and cattle.
1t is curious fact though. that man appears
TO be entirely unaffected by lis bite
The great advances made within tho last few
years in bactcriology naturally suggested TO the
Royal Society investigators "A line OF tXper'-
ment from which at the outset. il was reason
able to expect much The first step was I" OBJ
tain specimens Of the microbe; The ncN' was 10
look into his habits and relationships anc 'he
third was to see what could be done in the way
of producing an antitoxn from his poison
The microbes wanted were taken from the
blood az q dog that had been infected with the
disease on lis way home from Africa cultures
were then made in the usual manner Various
animals were inocuiated with the parasites. and
attempts were made 90 produce serum such
as is obtained for snake bite diphthera and
tctanuS. that would protect dnlIndlS mat Hdo
not been attacked and cure those which had
But the system which works so admirably with
few Of the best known bacterial maadies does
not seem to he eficacious with that which re-
suits from the bite Of the tsetsc fly. Several
variations Of the standard methods were tried
without success. Bile from diseased ANIMALS
Was injected. for instance So were prepare
tons containing the parasites q: kindred mala-
dies Dieting was also rcsorted to, but yielded
no palliative effects
The inquiry of the committee carried on
in such a comprehensive manner to include
a comparison with the tsetse infection Of some
what similar phenomena noticed among rats in
India and elsewhere. Koch is said to have az.
tributed a plague prevalent among Indian rats
to the tsctse parasite. The Royal Society COM
mittec does not consid'~ the point established
but the identity Of the African malady with &c
observed in Algeria is more probable.
One part of the investigation conducted ty
the committee related 10 the kinds o. animals
that are subject to the pest under discussiou
To obtain information this point cats dogs
ra bbits. mice. rats guinea pigs and hedge
hogs were inocula,ed They proved susceptible
to the disease. At frs, il was suspected that
the guinea pig was immune. but while il re-
spends more slowly than some other animals TO
the poison. it succumbs eventually. No recov-
cry occurred after the parasites had once got
into the creatures blood. Not only does the
horse die in consequence Of a tsetse fy bite but
a hybrid Of the zebra and ass does too No
hope Of finding a substitute for the nobler ami
NAL that would Toe proof against the disease
was afforded by this test Here. however. are
two or three comforting facts although they