RefNo | NLB/15/204 |
AltRefNo | NLB/15 p117-121 |
Level | Item |
Title | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Colonial Office, Downing Street, S.W. |
Date | 13 July 1897 |
Description | Harrison is directed to report, for the information of Mr Chamberlain, the progress of the inquiry concerning the Tsetse Fly disease.
Last November an animal suffering from Ngana disease was placed in the hands of the Committee, and since then the Committee has been engaged in continued study of the disease. The first question investigated was whether the haematozoon gave rise to the injurious results by the production of toxins and whether it was possible to secure immunity against the disease. The results have been distinctly negative.
The Committee propose to continue the pathological inquiry and attempt to identify the exact manner in which the haematozoon reproduces itself within an animal body. However such an inquiry does not give a distinct promise of terminating in suggestions for practical remedial measures.
That Dr [David] Bruce was right in concluding that the haematozoon is the morbid agent, has been corroborated. Further investigations in Zululand regarding the natural history of the Tsetse fly and haematozoon in Zululand are now urgently required. It would be of great importance to ascertain the limitations of distribution of the fly, and to ascertain if the haematozoon has any state of development in which it exists outside the bodies of living animals. Such inquiries can be carried on in Africa by Dr Bruce.
The whole of the money promised for the inquiry can be spent in enabling Bruce to continue to work and the Committee hope that it will be so spent. Should Bruce ultimately find it desirable to have a colleague to assist him, one could be sent out from England, but presently this step does not seem necessary to the Committee. |
Extent | 5p |
Format | Carbon |
PhysicalDescription | Typescript |
AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
Code | PersonName | Dates |
NA8153 | Bruce; Sir; David (1855 - 1931) | 1855 - 1931 |