1909.] Experimental Treatment of Trypanosomiasis. 361 





Blood 



was taken 



and showed the following : 



\ 



hour after iujection... 



Trypanosomes showed slight increase of motility. 



1 



33 



33 • • • 



Ditto. 



2 



llUUIb 



33 • ■ • 



Ditto, but more marked. 



3 



33 



33 ■ ' • 



Trypanosomes not quite so active and fewer in 









number. 



4 



33 



33 



Trypanosomes now very few in number. 



f* 



33 



33 • • • 



Only one or two trypanosomes to be seen in a 









preparation. 



5 



33 





."No trypanosomes seen. 



In these specimens no swollen, breaking up, or " battledore " forms were 

 seen : the trypanosomes simply disappeared. 



On the Effects of the Drugs used upon the Trypanosomes in the Living Body. 



In studying the therapeutic effect of the various drugs tried, including 

 metallic antimony in a state of finest division, repeated observations of the 

 peripheral blood were made in order to observe the effect of the drug upon 

 the trypanosomes, and to ascertain when the trypanosomes entirely dis- 

 appeared from the blood. The first stage noticed of the effect of the drug 

 was a great increase in the motility of the trypanosomes, followed by a gradual 

 slowing down to movements slower than normal. At this stage there is a 

 tendency for the whole trypanosome to swell, and to become bloated in 

 appearance. The swelling of the trypanosome continues until it becomes 

 -almost spherical in form, or oftener "battledore" shaped; the protoplasm 

 becomes indistinct, and the flagellum appears to be attached to only one side 

 •of the periphery ; the macro-nucleus is fairly distinct, but it eventually breaks 

 up, and then the swollen mass disintegrates. The spleen at this time is full 

 of these broken up masses of trypanosomes, and as the nuclei will still stain, 

 a plasmodial appearance is seen in films of bits of nuclei dotted about in a 

 granular ground. These stages can be observed after treatment with all the 

 salts of antimony used, and are well marked after the administration of the 

 metal, in which case, however, the stages are slower. The soluble salts, 

 lithium and sodium antimonyl tartrates, effect the total disappearance of the 

 trypanosomes in about one hour. Metallic antimony, when given in the 

 various media tried (Lambkin's medium, olive oil, cod liver oil, heavy paraffin 

 oil, egg-yolk), brings about this disappearance in from two-and-a-half to four 

 hours, according to the medium used : the first noticeable effects being 

 produced in about half an hour. In the case of egg-yolk and olive oil the 

 blood is free from trypanosomes in two-and-a-half hours. This would seem 



