SLEEFING SICKNESS. 327 



man, surely this is exactly what is desired. In such places it 

 would no longer be a menace to civilisation. 



Regarding the second alternative, that the hunted game 

 might scatter into small herds or in pairs and be followed by 

 the tsetse fly, thus spreading the infection over large districts, 

 the obvious rejoinder is that should this occur the game must be 

 destroyed in the new areas, provided these happen to be inhabited 

 regions. Such a contingency is, however, very unlikely, as it is 

 very questionable if small herds of hunted game scattering over 

 wide areas would cause the tsetse fly to migrate with them. 



The Colonial )Secretary pointed out that "To talk of the 

 extermination of the wild fauna of a subcontinent was to talk 

 wild nonsense." This is perfectly true, but it is no reason why 

 the game in the vicinity of human habitations should not be 

 destroyed. It was further stated by the Colonial Secretary that 

 an attempt made in Nyasaland to get the game in a certain 

 area killed off was, after twelve months, unsuccessful, though the 

 natives were encouraged to shoot. This, again, is no argument 

 against the policy suggested, but merely a confession that the 

 experiment was not efticiently performed. In this connection it 

 is of interest to note the remarks of Dr. J. B. Davey at a 

 recent meeting of the Society of Tropical Medicine. He said : — 



" I do not think thei^e would be much difficulty in doing this 

 (destroying the game) if the natives were employed. It is work 

 they would take up with some avidity. Having lately been a 

 member of the Commission in Nyasaland, I remember that con- 

 siderable anxiety was expressed lest we should not be able to get 

 sufficient material, because during the previous year fifty lifles 

 had been served out in that area, and the natives had been 

 encouraged to shoot game. If in that short time fifty rifles could 

 clear a large area like that, after a year or two they could make 

 a great impression. As a matter of fact, that permission was 

 only in force for about three months, and they made a con- 

 siderable impression on the amount of game." 



Such experiments as these are unsatisfactory, and do not yield 

 any definite results. For any reliable information to be obtained, 

 it is necessary that the work should be done in a scientific 

 manner, and on a sufficiently large scale in some particular 

 district. A locality which is fairly well populated and which 

 contains plenty of tsetse fly and game should be chosen. An 

 exact census of the population should be made, and the propor- 

 tion suffering from Sleeping Sicktiess determined. The same 

 must be done in the case of the domestic animals, if such exist. 

 An index of the percentage of infective tsetse fly must be ascer- 

 tained. This is most important, as it gives one a definite idea of 

 the potential danger of the distiict. Finally, the game must be 

 completely eradicated, and at the same time the percentage 

 infected with the human and cattle trypanosome determined, and 

 when once the game has been driven out, it must be kept back 

 by vigorous action and not allowed to return. After an interval 



