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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII, No. 558. 



ous ways; for example, as below, where 

 they are divided into two main divisions: 

 A division, in which the parasite is known ; 

 and B division, in which the parasite is 

 unknown, 



A. PARASITE KNOWN. 



I, Diseases caused by parasites belonging to the 

 •genus Piroplasma : (1) East coast fever (Koch), 



P. parvum; (2) Redwater or Texas fever, P. 

 Ugeminum (Theiler) ; (3) Biliary fever of horses, 

 mules and donkeys, P. equi; (4) Malignant jaun- 

 dice of dogs, P. canis. 



II. Diseases caused by parasites belonging to 

 the genus Trypanosome: (I) Nagana or tsetse-fly 

 disease, T. brucei (Bradford and Plimmer) ; (2) 

 Trypanosomiasis of cattle, T. theileri (Bruce). 



B. PARASITE UNKNOWN. 



I. Rinderpest. 



II. Horse-sickness. Catarrhal fever of sheep; 

 heart-water of sheep, goats and cattle. 



I, DISEASES CAUSED BY PARASITES BELONGING 

 TO THE GENUS PIROPLASMA. 



1. East Coast Fever. 

 The first important stock disease I would 

 draw your attention to, then, is east coast 

 fever. This name was given to it by Pro- 

 fessor Robert Koch, of Berlin. In the 

 Transvaal the disease is usually called 

 Rhodesian redwater. This term is not a 

 good one, since the disease is not restricted 

 to Rhodesia, nor did it arise there, nor is 

 this a disease similar to the ordinary red- 

 water. Ten years ago, when I first came 

 to South Africa, east coast fever was un- 

 known in the Transvaal. The first known 

 outbreak occurred only some three and a 

 half years ago, when it broke out at Koo- 

 mati and Neilspruit, in the Barberton dis- 

 . trict, and in the east of the colony. The 

 disease had broken out some time previ- 

 ously in Rhodesia, and the outbreaks in 

 both colonies were due to infection from 

 Portuguese territory. Although this dis- 

 ease has only been introduced to the coun- 

 try during the last few years, it has already 

 produced an enormous amount of damage 



among stock, and is probably the most 

 dangerous disease that the people of the 

 Transvaal have to cope with at the present 

 time, and for some years to come. 



In the Annual Report of the Transvaal 

 Department of Agriculture there is a most 

 excellent report by Mr. Stockman, the then 

 principal veterinary surgeon, on the work 

 of the veterinary division for the year 

 1903-1904, A large part of this report is 

 given up to east coast fever, and I must 

 here express my indebtedness to Mr. Stock- 

 man for much of the following account of 

 this disease. In the same annual report 

 there is also an account by Dr, Theiler, 

 the veterinary bacteriologist, of the ex- 

 perimental work. Messrs, Stockman and 

 Theiler evidently worked together, and I 

 must congratulate them on the immense 

 amount of good, useful work done by them, 

 and I would also congratulate the govern- 

 ment on having had the services of two 

 such accomplished and energetic gentlemen 

 during the late troublesome times. Unfor- 

 tunately for the Transvaal, Mr, Stockman 

 has accepted the post of veterinary adviser 

 to the board of agriculture in England, 

 but I have no doubt his successor, Mr, Gray, 

 from Rhodesia, will continue the good work 

 begun by him. 



East coast fever was first studied by 

 Professor Koch at Dar-el-Salaam, in Ger- 

 man East Africa, and he at first mistook it 

 for ordinary redwater. It seems to occur 

 as an endemic disease along a great part of 

 the east coast of Africa, but appears to be 

 restricted to a narrow belt along this coast- 

 line. The cattle inhabiting this region have 

 become immune to the disease, and are, 

 therefore, not affected by it. Cattle pass- 

 ing through the coast district to the in- 

 terior, or brought to the coast district from 

 the interior, are apt to take the disease and 

 die. It was by the importation of cattle, 

 therefore, which had passed through the 



