HEALTH AND DISEASE 313 



grain doses of quinine, up to 30 grains in the day, 

 and 5 - grain doses of phenacetin or aspirin to 

 bring down temperature and relieve headache. 



Of other insect-borne diseases, sleeping sick- 

 ness may be contracted in the areas where 670.?- 

 sina palpalis is found. Up to the present there 

 has unfortunately been no reliable cure for the 

 disease, though hope is raised anew by a new 

 drug, "205," and a new serum treatment. In- 

 fection may be prevented by moving quickly 

 through fly areas, and protecting the body, hands, 

 and face while doing so. 



Relapsing fever due to the tick (Ornithodorus 

 moubata) exists, but is uncommon. It can be 

 avoided by sleeping away from villages or old 

 camping-grounds, where the tick takes up its 

 quarters ; and the same precautions will save one 

 from the chigoe, or burrowing flea. 



Of other diseases, diarrhoea and dysentery, 

 present in the lowlands but rare in the highlands, 

 can be prevented by boiling drinking water, 

 which usually conveys it. Epidemics of small- 

 pox have swept the country from time to time, 

 and I found the right bank of the Coanza, once a 

 populous district, deserted from this cause. 



To the hunter an important minor ailment is 

 sore feet, which can be avoided by hardening 

 them by practice before going on the trip, by 

 exercise, salt or permanganate baths, and by 

 regulating the earlier marches of the expedi- 

 tion and wearing well-fitting socks and boots. 

 Blisters should be treated by soaking in per- 

 manganate solution to harden the new skin ; they 



