o11 
Experiments to Ascertain if Antelope may Act as a Reservoir of 
the Virus of Sleeping Sickness (Trypanosoma gambiense). 
By Colonel Sir Davip Brucsz, C.B., F.R.S., A.M.S.; and Captains A. E. 
HAMERTON, D.S.O., and H. R. Bateman, R.A.M.C. (Sleeping Sickness 
Commission of the Royal Society, Uganda, 1908-10). 
(Received November 9, 1910,—Read January 19, 1911.) 
Introduction. 
The question of a reservoir of the virus of Sleeping Sickness, other than 
man and his domestic animals, is of the utmost importance. 
Now man and the domestic animals have been removed from the Lake- 
shore of the mainland for some two and a half years, and from the islands 
since September, 1909. The effect of this depopulation has been to make 
a two mile area along the northern shores of the Lake virtually a game 
reserve, in which water-buck, bush-buck, reed-buck, Speke’s Zragelaphus, 
hippopotami, wild pig, and other large game abound. The game water freely 
at the Lake-shore, and small herds of antelope may frequently be seen 
grazing on the grassy hillsides overlooking the Lake. 
Notwithstanding the removal of man and his domestic animals, the Lake- 
~~ shore Glossina palpalis continued to infect susceptible animals with Sleeping 
Sickness up to the end of March, 1910. The Commission, therefore, 
endeavoured to find answers to the following questions — 
1. Can antelope be infected with Sleeping Sickness by the bites of 
laboratory-bred and laboratory-infected Glossina palpalis ? 
2. If antelope can be infected with the virus of Sleeping Sickness, can 
they transmit the infection to laboratory-bred Glossina palpalis when these 
flies are allowed to feed upon them? Further, if these Glossina palpalis 
become infected, can they transmit the virus to susceptible animals ? 
3. If these Glossina palpalis become infected with the virus of Sleeping 
Sickness, what percentage are so infected ? 
4, How does Sleeping Sickness affect the health of the antelope ? 
5. Lastly, are antelope living in the fly-area naturally infected with 
Sleeping Sickness ? 
Should all these questions be answered in the affirmative, the importance 
of the observation is patent. The continued infectivity of the flies on the 
Lake-shore would be explained. Whilst the movements of man and the 
domestic animals can, to some extent, be controlled by administrative 
measures, the movements of antelope in search of new grazing grounds 
