The daily Alaskan., 1916-03-17
AWAITS DEATH BY
 SLEEPING ILLNESS
Brooklyn Physician Bitten by
 TS8tS8 Fly Five Years Ago,
SCIENCE HAS NO REMEDY.


 He DIeeRoe With OthOrs-MomSnts
 of WaHsfulness, However, Arc Be-
 coming Less Frequent as End Nsarh'
 slumberlng to death In the grip of the African sleeping sickness, pr. AL bert 0. PerYen of Brooklyn, explorer and big game hunter, has attracted the attention of physicians in all parts of the world who are students of tropical diseases. His case is remarkable in that Ave years elapsed between the time he was infected by the germ car rying tsetse fly in the Kongo jungle and his entrance upon what has prov cd 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 of tho sleep for two years.
 In a last hope that somewhere a remedy may be found to rouse her son from bis lethargy, his mother, Mrs. Delaney PerYen, who has been his de- voted nurse, Is making a widespread appeal to physicians with knowledge of the dread disease. One physician asserted a belief that the sufferer might be saved.
 Although he has not been out of bed In eight weeks, Dr. Perveil does not suffer the slightest pain. He appears to be sleeping peacefully and shows not the slightest trace of disease. The rugged tan of the African sun has not left hls 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 believe, after q sight of him, that he Is Ill. He has the ap- pearance of @ man coming from hard days work and sleeping soundly.
 Clear Mind In Waking Moments.
 At intervals during the day he wakes ID and remains awake for several min utes. Then he is given food which he digests without trouble. In his few 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. Peryeu graduated from New York university In 1894 and six years later went to the Kongo with an ex- ploring party of Belglans. He remain ed there until May, 1914, when he re- turned to Brussels. Three years be- 1 fore leaving the Eongo he had been fdtteu 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 ths disease again came on him. Be was treated in Brussels and was talk en from there to the Pasteur institute in Paris aud later to a hospital In Liverpool where tropical diseases ure 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 SC pronounced that he could not leave his bed. His moments of wakefulness now are getting fewer and fewer, and f. is becoming more difficult to give him nOUrishment
 Scientists Offer Little Hope. The little parasite deposited in the blood by the tsetse fly, which carries if from the mouths of wild animals | of the jungle, lodges In the cerebro animal luid and 1t is in the spinal nerves leading to the brain that 1t eX erts it's influence, according to Sir VII liam Osler of Oxford and Professor Thomas McCrae of Jefferson Medical i college of Philadelphia, who made a | toint study Of the disease. Until ter years ago the cause of the sleeping sickness was unknown, and 1t was be lueved a disease peculiar to the negro Ibut pr. J. D. Dutton discovered 1t was idue to germs carried by the tsetse and distributed with its bite. The fy fl Iabout three-quarters of an inch long and looks like a cross between a com mon housefy and bee.
 After stating that a few in the pre- lfminary stages of the disease recover lDr. Osler in his treatise says that when the patient reaches the sleeping 1 stage all hope Is lost and death comes sooner or later
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