The Monte Vista journal., 1899-01-21
THE DEATH SLEEP.
PECULIAR DISEASE WHICH
ENDS LIFE PAlNLESSLY.
Two vefy Peculiar Gases in . London
Hospieal-It IL Not ALWAYS A swift
Separator of Life aud the Eissh-
Doctors Can't Explain.

Among the patients in Charing
Cross. hospital at the present time are
Two negroes who are suffering from
~hat is known as sleeping sickness.
says the London Mail.
They have been inmates since Sept.
"a. and the medical authorities and
students attached to the institution
nave been afforded the opportunity of
studying disease unknown in this
country, and, as far as is at present
known, prevalent only on the west
coast OF Africa. between Senegal and
Loanda, some 1900 miles of latitude.
besides being known as the Sleep
ing Sickness" it Is sometimes de-
seribed as the sleeping sickness OF the
congo and sometimes negro leth-
argy."
AS the last name implies, the dis
ease Is practically confined to negroes,
ana so Tar there have been no authen-
Tic cases OF pure-bred white men be-
ing attacked, though 1t has been met
with in Moors and half-breeds. In I'D
uition to the peculiar features OF Its
geographical and racial limitations,
the sleeping sickness" has another
curious phase, in that it has often
been known to lie dormant In the sys-
TEN Tor period of seven years, and
that, once seized. the patient has lit
tie or no chance OF recovery.
1t Is through the instrumentality of
DR.. Grattan Guinness that the two pa
tients-one aged about 20, with the eu-
phonious name of Eli Mboko. and the
other boy of IL or thereabouts. Ton
ia Mkaloo-have been sent to Eng
land. The elder, until about fourteen
months ago, was remarkable in his vii
lage of Mbanza Mauteka, on the Low
er Congo. as an extraordinarily active,
seH-reliant and intelligent young man.
lhen he was seized with the sickness
and began to be llstless and vacant
minded and lost all interest in his
FORMER occupations and amuser.ents.
Since his arrival here. in September
no change has become apparent in his
condition, and now he spends most of
MS time in semi-comatose condition.
rousing only for meals or if spoken to.
a feature OF his illness is the express
sion OF deep melancholy which marks
MS features. He Is able to give ant
and intelligent answers to questions
out never speaks an unnecessary word
ana appears to doze almost constantly
with the younger patient, on the
contrary. there has been a distinct i'm
proSement, SO much. indeed. that the
physicians have been tempted to he
he'e. were they not assured to the
contrary by experts. that he is no.
suffering from the disease as dag
hosed' DIR. Patrick Manson, whose
lecture on the disease exhibited by
these two patients is printed at length
IN the current issue of the British
Medical journal. says that the sick
ness gradually overpowers the vic
Tim. who eventually becomes com
pletely bedridden Sometimes a change
Tor the better Is apparent. but that is
only temporary. and the lethargy in
'ariably returns. and the disease ad-
Vances to the inevitable and fatal is
sue. The last stages are marked nv
tetaninc spasms and extreme muscular
prostration.
The disease may run It's course in
three months or II may last for as
many years. but. so far as is known.
nine months is about the average
time. Many theories have been sd-
vaneed rs to the origin OF the Sleep
ing sickness" but most of them have
ben rejected as untenable.
DIR. Manson attributes II to the In
huence OF some plant or animal At
any rate the cause must be something
which can remain alive. though +, may
be pathoiosicalIy inert for very long
time.
Since the lecture, delivered In Oc,o-
Der. there has been no appreciablc
change In the condition OF either pa
tient. whose progress is watched with
the keencst Interest by medical men.