The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1909-09-11

86LOub stage OF lL9 0eveIOpmenC.
It would have been possible to dis
infect the skins at once. but scientific
interest prevailed over fear of conse-
quences, and it is probable that some
Of the eggs Of the dread fly, which are
harbored In the skins in countless
numbers, will be hatched and the in-
sects used for experimental purposes.
It is not denied that this is risky
and dangerous business. The expert
menters have in mind the experience
OF Massachusetts, where the present
destruction being caused by the gypsy
and the brown-tailed moths was start
ed through the escape of a few speci-
mems that were being raised in mu-
seums.
It is not known what attitude the
health Office may take toward the ex-
pertinent Of raising the tsetse fly here.
It has been found, however, that the
,nge of the fly in Africa is much
3Eu. than was at first supposed, and
a, h.. south to point where the
wins sko., uplands are almost as
Fly 20 Germ.
1t is known, z the work Of
Maj. Ross of the L,> pool school Of
tropical diseases, that the tsetse fly
carries the sleeping sickness much az
the mosquito carries yellow fecer. 1t
was thought for long time that the
bite of the fly, which is blood-suck-
ing insect, was harmless to man and
fatal only to cattle and horses. But 1t
was afterward discovered that the fly
carried the germ of the sleeping sick
ness which has recently so greately
extended in Africa and has played
such havoc among the natives. It
may be said that the blacks are much
more susceptible to the bite of the fly
than white people, though few cases
of sleeping sickness have occurred
among the comparatively scanty white
population of both the east and west
coasts.
The fly in the course of it's develop
ment lays 1t egges under the hides Of
horses and cattle, but these quickly
succumb to the bite of the insect and
are rare in the regions the fly most
inhabits. The greatest carrier of the
eggs is the rabbit, "ipecanculus ro-
densius," to give him his proper name,
and 1t is two specimens of this species
that have been found in the collec-
tion.
There are numerous eggs of the fly
still clinging to the hairs, and it is
from these that 1t hoped to raise the
mature flies. 1t so happens that the
lection were none of them packed in
brine, but were merely stretched and
dried in the shade, 80 that the eggs
are in perfect condition. The aid Of
either the marine hospital or the
biological laboratory of the depart
ment OF agriculture will be sought in
rearing the insects and carrying out
experiments with them on animals
What can be learned, 1t is, thought,
from the experiments is whether the
disease the fly carries is hereditary
and Inherent in the fly itself, or
whether, like the yellow fever mos
quito, It has to bite a victim of the
sleeping sickness to develop the In
fection in It's body.
Might Escape From Laboratory.
There is one frightful risk about
trafficking with the tsetse fly in cap
tivity, and that is that some of them
may escape and spread the Infection
here. AS has been said, the gypsy
moth, which has caused millions of
dollars damage in New England, es-
capped from some that were being
reared for laboratory work. The same
thing might happen with the tsetse
fly, but all possible precautions will
be taken to prevent.
The sleeping sickness is just what
its name implies, and, while 1t is
slower than rabies, 1t is none the less
fatal. It was first noticed among the
blacks in the interior of Africa, and
afterwards extended to the coast. It
has been the subject Of study by sci
entists for several years past, but
while its etiology is pretty we'll un-
no cure for it has been dis
covered. It first manifests itself in
an abnormal amount of sleep in twen-
ty-four hours, and this is followed by
lassitude at all times, longer periods
of unconsciousness and finally COL
lapse and death.
When the attention of the district
health department was called to the
danger of the spread of sleeping sick
ness from the skins which Col Theo-
dore Roosevelt and his expedition
have sent to the Smithsonian insti-
tuition, they admitted that the situa-
tiOn was such an unusual one that
they could not say at once what they
will do. 1t has not been brought to
their attention officially.
"That is q tropical disease ex-
planned Acting Health Officer Saw
telle, "and we don't know much about
1t here; and they don't even know
much about it down where 1t is pre-
Special Regulation Needed.
Should 1t be definitely determined
that there are sleeping disease germs
in the peNs removed from the T. r.
casks, It was explained by Acting
Health Officer SaWtelle. the conmis-