294 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



number of mammals l)eli;iriging to different families, including the majority of domes- 

 ticated animals. Man and birds are entirely immune to the disease. The habits 

 and anatomy of the tsetse fly ( Glossina morsitans) are described, with special refer- 

 ence to the manner of infection in which this insect acts as agent. The authors car- 

 ried on numerous inoculation experiments with the trypanosoma of this disease on 

 different exjierimental animals, including rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, and dogs. 

 It was found that when fresh blood containing trypanosoma was injected into the 

 subcutaneous connected tissue, the organisms usually appeared in the blood in from 

 36 to 48 hours. Mice which were inoculated in the body cavity with virulent blood 

 diluted in 5 times its volume of physiological salt solution showed signs of infection 

 after 2 days and died at the end of 5 days. Virulent blood carefully collected and 

 preserved in glass vessels in contact with the air retained its virulence for at least 3 

 days. In exi:»eriinents to determine the influence of cold upon the trypanosoma it 

 was found that this organism could not ])e preserved so long in a refrigerator as 

 T. lewld. The organism retained its virulence no longer in an ice chest than at the 

 temperature of the room. "When the organism was subjected for 3 hours to a tempera- 

 ture of 40° C, or for 1 liour and 20 minutes at a temperature of 42° C, the virulence 

 was destroyed. Detailed notes are given on the morphology of T. hrucei; its appear- 

 ance in fresh blood and in stained preparations, the mode of multiplication, and its 

 agglutination are discussed. The organism was differentiated from other closer 

 related species of the same genus. This species became agglutinated in from J to 1 

 hour in l)lood which was drawn directlv from the heart. A detailed account is given 

 of the course and symptoms of the tsetse-fly disease in the various species of mam- 

 mals which are susceptible to this disease. The characteristics of other diseases 

 caused by other species of trypanosoma are discussed for the purpose of distinguish- 

 ing them from the tsetse-fly disease. The related diseases are surra, mal de caderas, 

 and dourine. 



The tsetse-fly disease, A. Theiler {Schiveiz. Arch. Tierh., 43 {1901), Nos. 3, pp. 

 91-112; 4, pp- 133-162). — The greater part of this article is occupied with a critical 

 discussion of the literature relating to this subject. Attention is called to the dith- 

 culties of demonstrating the presence of the blood parasite in the blood of affected 

 animals. The blood parasite outside of the animal body lives for periods of different 

 lengths, depending on the medium in which it is cultivated. In defibrinated steril- 

 ized blood the organism was maintained in a living condition for 8 days. In some 

 instances the blood parasite is present in such small numbers that the investigator 

 may fail to find a single example, in making tests for this purpose. Where large 

 quantities of blood are examined, however, a few parasites will be found in all cases 

 of the disease. The period of incubation of the disease varies in different species of 

 animals. In horses the minimum was 3 days and in one case the period was 12 days. 

 The duration of the disease in horses varied in the author's experiments from 4 to 22 

 days. During the progress of tsetse-fly disease a progressive ana?mia is observed. 

 The number of red blood corpuscles per cubic millimeter diminished in one case from 

 5,500,000 to 2,500,000. In sheep the course of the disease occupied from 26 to 48 

 days. The author was unable to demonstrate the presence of trypanosoma in the 

 ))lood of infected sheep or goats. The blood parasite was most easily demonstrated 

 in the dog. The jjarasites were readily seen on the second day after the appearance 

 of the disease. The clinical symptoms are described and attention is especially 

 called to those symptoms which differentiate the tsetse-fly disease from other similar 

 diseases. No medicinal treatment has proved successful. The author tried exper- 

 iments with cjuinin, by way of the mouth and subcutaneously, and with arsenic l)y 

 way of the mouth, without good results. 



The action of human serum on the trypanosoma of the tsetse-fly disease, 

 A. Laver.-vn {(.'ompt. Rend. Acad. 8ci. Paris, 134 {190-2), No. 13, jjp- 735-739). — Dur- 

 ing the author's researches on the subject of the treatment of tsetse-fly disease, 



