Soldiering and Sport in Uganda 



before nervous symptoms show themselves, by 

 which time the case is hopeless. 



The symptoms and clinical features of an ordinary 

 case lasting over six months are roughly as follows : — 

 The first sig^n commences with a slio^ht chang-e in 

 the mental attitude of the victim, followed, after a 

 short interval, by a disinclination to work and a 

 tendency to sit about. He undergoes a facial 

 change, and from the happy and intelligent look- 

 ing native he becomes dull, heavy, and apathetic. 

 He mumbles in his speech and acquires a shuffling 

 gait ; his head keeps nodding, and his eyes close 

 automatically ; he becomes drowsy and lethargic. 

 Terrible emaciation eventually sets in, accompanied 

 by general weakness, and he falls into a coma, from 

 which eventually it becomes impossible to awaken 

 him. 



Any casual observer who has watched the disease 

 in its various stages cannot but be filled with mixed 

 feelings of horror and pity for the poor wretches, 

 whose very ignorance has made them easy victims. 

 It is a terrible thing to have to stand by and look 

 helplessly on at a victim ; to watch the vacant 

 expression growing almost idiotic after the third 

 month, by which time the speech will be thick and 

 husky and the body puffy and bloated. A month 

 more and another horrible change has taken place. 

 So weak has he become that in attempting to sit 

 down he falls in a heap, unable to save himself, his 

 hands having lost their power of grip. His 

 previously bloated body has become so hideously 



98 



