Arizona republican., 1909-12-13
VICTIM 0F AFRICAN LETHARGY
Or Sleeping Sickness, It Is Feared By Physicians,
 Conducting Microscopic Examinations of Blood of
 the Former Sailor. i

Charles Nelson. the sleeping Swede, | at the county jail at late hour last
 night, his second slumber having been continuous for twenty eight hours.
 His first was of forty hours duration.
 The startling theory has been ad- vanced that he is victim of sleep ing sickness or African lethargy. Ma
 gana, the Zulu name for the disease.
 but described by doctors as human trypanosomiasis.
 This theory which was at first bas-
 ed on The Republicans description of the condition of Nelson, has been al-
 ready partly sustained by an examin- alton of the blood of the sleeping man yesterday The examination was not made under the most favorable con-
 ditions. but it will be pursued still further today. The investigation though. has disclosed what is believed beyond doubt to be the protozoon, try
 panosoma gambiense. in several drops of blood taken from the ear of Nell son. A half dozen of these micro organisms were found
 There is lacking yet the history of the man. It is only known of him that he has been a resident of the
 vicinity of Mesa and Tempe for the last fourteen months and that he has been a sailor. It is thought that Neils
 Peterson, for whom he worked. may know something of his wanderings, and MT. Peterson will be in town to- day. It is also hoped that Nelson
 l,s.. I,.I long enough to give some account of his past life.
 If il should be learned that he has been in Central Africa within the last two years or that he had touched at a Central African port especially along Sierra Leone. theSstiold Coast Sene- gal or along the Congo, the physicians would have no doubt that he Is af- flicted with the sleeping sickness.
 Even if this confirmation should not be obtainable or if it should be proved that Nelson had, never been in that part of the world. they would still not abandon their theory but would have to look elsewhere for Dthe source of his infection.
 If Nelson has sleeping sickness, this is the second case of it ever discover ed in the United States. The first was at St. Louis last summer. The victim was never able after his case attracted attention to give a history of himself. but after his death. the medical authorities of this country and Europe conducted an investiga- ton which resulted in proof that he had been in Africa for a short time. two or three years previous to the development of the disease.
 The popular impression is that the disease is caused by the poison of the tse-tse fly. It has been discovered that the fly is only the distributor of the poison in precisely the same man ner that malaria and yellow fever are distributed by the mosquito.
 For more than sixty years the fly has been associated with the disease but the original source was not dis covered until about two years ago. when Dr. Robert Koch, who spent sev- eral months in Africa believed that he had found the natural habitat of the protozoon in the blood of the croco- dile, whence it is carried by the tse- tse fly which gathers in great num- bers on these reptiles. as it does on the hippopotamus. Previous to Koch's discovery. Castellani had found the germ in 70 percent of the victims of sleeping sickness examined by him. It has been found not alone in the blood. | but also in the cerebro spinal fluid. |
 A century ago the disease was con- fined to a comparatively small part of the West Coast, but it has since been spread by military and trading expedition over all of Central Africa. |
 The disease generally attacks the natives and cattle and horses though | foreigners are by no means immune. | Statistics are not available show ing theN percentage of mortality, but | it is probably greater than that of any | other disease. It is said that 100000 | persons in Uganda alone died of it | in five years and the population of the island of Victoria Nyanza was reduced from 30.000 to 12.000 in five | years. Those Who recover from the disease are thereafter immune.
 The symptoms of Nelson are those | of the second stage and there are | but two. In the first there is al remitting fever. quicker pulse and | respiration, an enlargement of the | lymphatic glands. slight swellings and | redness of the skin in patches. The | second stage is marked by higher | fever, dullness and apathy which fin ally give way to somnolence. Coma | ensues and death comes last and i quickly.