Bridgeton pioneer., 1916-02-03
AWAITS DEATH By
SLEEPING ILLNESS
Orouklyn Physician Bitten. by
Tsatss Fly Five Years Ago.
SCIENCE HAS NO REMEDY

msr Suffers No Pain. Rational During
t.,e Time He is Awake and Talks OF
lis Disease With others-Moments
81 Wakefutness, However, Are Be-
eor,in, Less Frequent as End Nears
Slumhertug 10 death in the grip OF
the african sleeping sickness. Or. Al
bert {. pervcil of Brooklyn, explorer
and biz game hunter, has attracted the
St;eu3iOn Of physicians in all parts OF
the world who are students of tropical
diseases Ills ease is remarkable In
tbSr i've years elapsed between the
tine he was infected by the germ car
ryinS tSetse iy in the Kongo jungle
and his entrance upon what has prov
ed in practically all cases to be the
fatal sleep The most unique case on
record previous TO this was that of an
English physician. who fought Off the
sleep for two years.
In a last hope that somewhere a
remedy may be found to rouse her son
from his lctharsy, his mother. Mrs.
Delaney Perveil. who has been lis de-
voted nurse, is making a widespread
appeal 10 physicians with knowledge
Of the dread disease. One physician
asserted a belief that the sufferer
might he saved.
Although he has not been out Of bed
IL eight weeks. DR.. Perveil does not
suffer the slightest pain. He appears
10 be sleeping peacefully and shows
not the slightest trace of disease. The
rugged tan of the African sun has not
left bis cheeks, he has lost but little
weight, and as he is in the prime of
life, about forty years old, over six
feet in height and of athletic build 1t
is hard TO believes, after a sight of
him. that he is ilI9 He has the ap-
pearaDce of a man coming from hard
days work and sleeping soundly.
Clear Mind In Waking Moments.
At intervals during the day he wakes
up and remains awake for several min
utes. Then he is given food which he
minutes of consciousness he can talk
clearly of his case. of his African
travels and adventures and of matters
Of general interest, but often in the
middle of a sentence his eyes will close
and he will sink back upon the pillow
sound asleep. His heart. lungs and all
the organs of his body are in sound
condition.
DR.. Perveil graduated from New
York university in 1894 and six years
later went to the Kongo with an ex.
ploring party of Belgians. He remain.
ed there until May. 1914. when he re-
turned to Brussels. Three years be-
fore leaving the Kongo he had been
bitten by tsetse flies and was taken
with the first symptoms Of the sleep
Ing sickness. He used herbs prepared
by the natives and with his rugged
constitution apparently wore away the
disease. but 1t reappeared when he ar.
rived in Brussels.
Upon his arrival he found that a
man TO whom he had been sending his
earnings had stolen the money and
left for South America He suffered
a nervous breakdown after hearing Of
this, and In his weakened condition
the disease again came on him. He
was treated in Brussels and was tax
en- from there to the Pasteur institute
In Paris and later to a hospital I'm
Liverpool where tropical diseases are
specially treated. Nothing could be
done for him, and last August he re-
turned to this country.
The glands and muscles of his legs
and arms were affected when he ar
rived here. but he did not have the
sleepy feeling. That came on grad
ually and eight weeks ago became so
pronounced that he coa,d not leave
his bed. His moments of wakefulness
now are getting fewer and fewer. and
IL Is becoming more difficult to give
him nourishment.
Scientists Offer Little Hope.
Ihe little parasite deposited in the
oiood by the tsetse fly, which carries
from the mouths of wild animals
or the jungle, lodges In the cerebro-
Su' anu IL Is III the spinal
nerves leading to the brain that it ex-
erts Its Influence according to Sir vii.
nam osier of Oxford and Professor
ihoihas McCrae of Jefferson Medical
coiiese or Philadelphia who made
Joiht study of the disease. Until ten
years ago the cause of the sleeping
nicAhess was unknown. and it was be-
,e'eu disease peculiar to the negro.
Dut Dr. J. L. Dutton discovered it was
uue 10 germs carried by the tsetse and
distributed with its bite. The fly is
aoout three-quarterS of an inch long
anu looks like cross between a com
mon holsetiy and n bee
After stating that few in the pre-
il'ilhary STAGES of the disease recover