232 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



Provinces are practically devoid of cattle on account ot the ravages of 

 Trypanosomiasis. Similar conditions obtain in almost every territory in 

 Africa (except the extreme south). The soil is fertile, grazing is plentiful, 

 the climatic conditions are favourable, but the presence of tsetse flies and 

 trypanosomes renders cattle farming impossible. 



Fortunately, we can record considerable progress in this field of work 

 during recent years. The problem has been attacked along two lines 

 mainly. A direct attack has been launched against the parasite by means 

 of drug treatment ; and an indirect attack on the disease has been made 

 through a campaign against the transmitter, the tsetse fly. It may be 

 stated at once that the third line of attack, namely, the immunisation of 

 animals against infection, has not yielded very promising results. 



In regard to drug treatment, a tribute should be paid to the early 

 pioneers, especially Livingstone, who found that Arsenic had a marked 

 effect on trypanosomes in the blood of animals. Untiring efforts on the 

 part of later investigators (Ehrlich and many others) have brought to 

 light a large number of active preparations, notably Arsenic and Antimony 

 compounds and various dyestuffs. Still more recently further drugs have 

 been added to the list, and these promise to give the stock farmer in 

 infected areas a practical means of combating the disease and keeping his 

 animals in good health and condition in spite of repeated infection. 

 Among these drugs special mention should be made of tryparsamide, 

 Bayer 205 (Germanin, Naganol) and Antimosan. Th-e two former have 

 also given excellent results in the treatment of human sleeping sickness, 

 and the last-named which has quite recently been tried on a fairly 

 extensive scale at Onderstepoort by Parkin, and in Tanganyika Territory 

 by Hornby, has proved to be more effective in the treatment of Trypanosoma 

 congolense infection than any drug previously used ; at the same time the 

 simple (subcutaneous) administration of this drug renders it more 

 practical than those preparations which have to be given intravenously. 



In all this work the veterinarian has kept in close touch with the 

 medical man, on the one hand, and the synthetic chemist on the other. 



In the campaign against the tsetse fly the basis of co-operation has had 

 to be broader still. Entomologists, botanists, ecologists, medical men and J 

 veterinarians have all combined to study this problem. Time and space 

 prevent me from discussing in detail the progress which has been made it 

 this work. But attention should be directed to the very valuable 

 investigations carried out in Tanganyika Territory by Swynnerton anc' 

 his co-workers. The volume of our knowledge of the life-history anc 

 habits of the various species of tsetse flies is being added to year by year^ 

 but the rate of progress is not commensurate with the importance of the 

 problem. Governments must realise that the tsetse fly is holding up the 

 advancement and civilisation of Africa. Money and men should be made 

 available for this work, however ' theoretical ' it may appear. It is the 

 study of precisely these * academic ' aspects of the bionomics of the tsetse 

 fly, which will probably ultimately lead to the solution of the trypanosome 

 problem. > ' ■' 



Only a few words need be added about those trypanosome infections 

 which are carried mechanically hy ordinary hiting flies. The most important 

 of these is ' Surra ' in India and other countries. Great advance has beeu 



