MALARIA EXPEDITION TO NIGERIA 203 
The objects of the present expedition were as follows : — 
( 1 ) To further explore West Africa to ascertain under what varied conditions 
mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles lived and propagated, with a view 
of ascertaining the most feasible and practical methods of preventing 
malarial fever. 
(2) To investigate the conditions under which malarial fever is conveyed 
to Europeans. 
(3) To corroborate and extend recent discoveries and researches on the 
subject. 
It was not intended to limit observations to malarial fever alone, but to study also 
other tropical diseases as opportunity arose, and to note in addition the general 
sanitary condition of the places visited. 
History of the Expedition. — Nigeria, Northern and Southern, were chosen for 
the field of operations. 
The expedition consisted of : — 
H. E. Annett, M.D., D.P.H. (Vict.), Demonstrator in Tropical 
Pathology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. 
J. Everett Button, M.B., B.Ch. (Vict.) 
J. H. Elliott, M.D. (Toronto). 
The proceedings of the members of the expedition during the seven months 
in West Africa are given in the diary of the expedition's movements. The first five 
weeks were spent at Old Calabar, but the work of the expedition here was almost 
fruitless^ because of the condition of the natives, who are a dull, unintelligent 
people, understanding almost no English. For the next three months, Bonny, a 
very old and well-known trading station, was made headquarters, and here most of 
the work of the expedition was done. Accommodation was spacious, and intercourse 
with the natives was easy ; English is spoken, and civilisation fairly advanced. 
Numerous experiments and researches were carried on here, and in view of what the 
later experience of the expedition proved, it was unfortunate that a longer stay was 
not made. From the time of leaving Bonny, the work of the expedition became 
more or less exploratory only. The Niger district of Southern Nigeria having only 
recently been taken over by the Government, the expedition found at all the places 
on the Niger and its delta which were visited, accommodation so scanty as to render 
scientific investigation impossible, in fact, in some places actual living was rough and 
uncomfortable. In Northern Nigeria, Lokoja alone was visited, and here, again, the 
accommodation which was available rendered a longer stay than a few days impossible. 
