Liberia (^ 



in the body ot the water insect above mentioned, and so con- 

 tinue their strange cycle ot existence. No doubt this spread 

 of the worm often occurs through the Negroes standing in water 

 in order to wash the affected part. By continueci douching 

 the worm protrudes an inch or so ot its length. It is then 

 cautiously but firmly seized, anci the protruded portion is 

 attached to a small stick. This is mven two or three turns 

 a day until at last the whole worm is wound up and removed 

 from the body. The winding has to be most cautiously under- 

 taken, or the worm will break, and serious results might follow 

 caused by the portion of the creature that remains in the body. 



A West Coast Negro may sometimes have as many as 

 twenty-five of these Guinea worms in his system. Cases of 

 five or six at once are not uncommon. It is thought that 

 the germ enters the body not only through the stomach but 

 also through any wound or abrasion. 



Sleeping sickness occurs in this country sporadically, mostly 

 in the western districts. It seems to be traceable, on the 

 Mandingo highlands, back to the thirteenth century, so far as 

 recorded history is concerned. In Liberia it became noticeable 

 early in the nineteenth century : Doalu Bukere, the inventor 

 of the Vai alphabet, died from this disease. The Mandingo 

 from the St. Paul's River illustrated in the frontispiece to 

 Vol. I died of sleeping sickness in 1905. The symptoms seem 

 to be the same as those characterising the disease in Congoland 

 and Uganda. 



As regards remedies for the simpler maladies, the native 

 pharmacopoeia is well supplied with drugs derived from vegetable 

 substances and a few minerals. As on the Gold Coast and in 

 the Niger Delta, trade gin enters largely into the composition 

 of some of the medicines. So far as I can ascertain, the 

 vegetable drugs in use amongst the natives of Liberia are 



