The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-12

At q lecture recently delivered In Washington before the National Geo- graphic Society, the speaker made tne statement that when the Duke or the Abi uxzi landed in Africa for the pur- pose of ascending the Ruwenzori, the only danger he feared was the Sleep inR Sickness. In view of tho fact that this dreadful malady Is transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly. the question arises: Will. Theodore Roosevelt run more risk from the poisonous stab Fof this insect than from the lion which can entor a sleeping can and fell Its victim with one blow of a huge paw2
 The first printed record of the dis ease appeared in 1908. Later 1t Was discovered in Brazil and the West Indies. Scientists toyed with it, and novelists used it for the purpose Of their plots Only when 1t affected his commercial enterprises, did the white man begin to investigate 1t in earnest. With the completion of the railroad connecting the eastern coast or Africa with Lake Victoria. the full horror or the disease became known to the Eng fish people. Formerly limited to West Africa, 1t seemed to have quietly fol- lowed the trade routes of Central AZ rica. Between the years 1901 and 1906 over 1000 natives died. The trafI1c or the region suffered to such an extent that the entire India rubber trade or the Sese Islands had to be abandoned.
 The symptoms of the Sleeping Sick ness are recognized by the natives themselves and the inevitable issue calmly awaited. A low fever, head aches, lustreless eyes and general apathetic appearance indicate the first stages. Later come diniculty of mo- tfon. tremulousness, lethargy, and in- sensibility ending in death. The du- ration of the illness varies from two months to twelve. It seldom. attacks white people, but one noted instance attests It's malignity. pr. Tulloch, like pr. Walter Reed of yellow fever fame, became a martyr to science. He died of the Sleeping Sickness on June 20, 1906, having contracted the disease during the course of his investigations.
 When England in 1902 awake to her duty, scientists differed greatly as to the cause of the fatality. The poison ous root of the manioc a staple article of food, was one belief; bacteria an- other. One expert declared that the disease was caused by thread worm akin to the vinegar eel. Others thought certain fish produced the evil.
 The Foreign Office, anxious to have the matter thoroughly investigated, and having no funds for such a pur- pose, appealed to the Royal Society for aid. The latter sent out three medical men, and to the present day has sup ported a Sleeping Sickness commission. To one of the first three men. Dr. Cas- teIlani belongs the credit of discover Ing the trypanosome (animal organ ism), although he did not place 1t as the actual cause of the disease. It was left to Dr. David Bruce. sent out the next year as Director of the Sleeping Sickness Commission, to prove that the little organism, since called Typano- soma gambfense. causes all the trouble; that it Is carried by a species of tsetse fly known as Glossina palpalis; and that 1t can exist in the human blood without causing and inconvenience. As long as it does not make Its way into the cerebo-spinal fluid and thus to the brain. no damage is done. The immunity of Europeans Is due to their habit of wearing clothes. and their general precautions against flies, mos- Quitoes and the like.
 Unfortunately Dr. Bruce was soon obliged to return to England. and there are still many questions unan- swered. Such problems as the proven ton of the disease. its cure, the reser- voirs of the trypanosomes. the place of deposit of the pupa of the tsetse fly. the duration of infection in the fly. are all awaiting solutions. Germany and Belgium have forces in the field: while England is doing threefold work. being represented by the Army Medi- cal Department. the Royal Society of London, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In order that the field should be covered by cooperative measures of the countries interested an International Conference was held. It took place in London in June. 1907. It was called the First Conference.' in- dicating that the participants realized that the battle had only begun. The report is published in both French and English and the protocol opens thus:
 '"The governments of Germany, the Independent Congo State. France Great Britain, Italy. Portugal and the Soudan having resolved to proceed to the consideration of the measures to be taken to combat the sleeping sick ness in tropical Africa" etc. Lord Fitzmaurice. the President, in his opening address made an admission which hitherto no one had dared to whisper: Already" he said. mot I ease, and many of those still alive are known to be affected"
 The Conference adjourned after passing certain administrative meas ures likely to facilitate experiment and assist prevention. Not the last among them was the establishment of Cen tral Bureau In London, to which all information should be sent, and which would. from time to time, publish pamphlets on the subject Another resolution covered the preparation of an official map indicating the affect ed areas. Again, all missionaries go- ing to Africa, were to be invited to take certain courses in one of the Tropical Schools of medicine.
 MT. Austin of the British Museum identified the insect as one of the seven species of tsetse fly found only in Africa. By careful observations, it was learned that the disease was con- fined to distinct 'fly-acres" or belts In these areas the flies flourish-not in swampy ground-but by the side of steep banks of running brooks, wrich are well shaded. With the re- moval of the shade producing vegeta- tion. the flies disappeared. They were not exterminated, they simply moved on.
 l Native boys were hired to collect the pests from a certain spot, and for sev- eraI years thousands were caught per day But the swarms showed not the slightest diminution in number. On the contrary they seemed to have in- creased. Ordinarily the fly is not found over fifty yards away from his natural haunt. even when following a victim. But occasionally, protected by large hat or an umbrella, one has been found at distance of two miles.
 Another movement was In the line ! of experimental study on animals l The organism can flourish in the blood of sheep. goats. oxen and guinea pigs, 1 but these animals refuse to be affect