G. H. F. Nuttall 
265 
some years ago^ that there was every probability that it would be found 
to be transmitted hereditarily as in Ornithodorus mouhata. Hindle 
has recently confirmed this supposition. Coccoid bodies are found 
within the malpighian cells of the embryonic tick, as described by 
Leishman for S. duttoni in 0. mouhata. If the eggs are maintained at 
37° C., the coccoid bodies grow out and assume a form which suggests 
that they are on the way to forming spirochaetes. The spirochaete stage 
occurs in the coelomic fluid of the tick, but not within its body cells. 
I may add here that A. reflexus has been shown by Shellack (1908) to 
transmit the fowl spirochaete. 
Human Relapsing Fever in Tropical Africa. 
Although David Livingstone (1857) was the first to report upon 
pathogenic effects following upon the bite of the tick we know to-day 
as Ornithodorus mouhata, it was not until the year 1905 that Dutton 
and Todd, in the Congo, and shortly afterwards, Robert Koch, in German 
East Africa, demonstrated that this tick transmitted spirochaetosis 
to man. The British authors made the important observation that 
the S. duttoni is transmitted hereditarily to the offspring of the 
tick, a fact confirmed by Koch, who discovered that 5-15 “/o> and at 
times 50”/o> of the ticks harboured the parasite. Koch captured the 
ticks at resting places along caravan routes and in places outside the 
regular routes. Apparently, owing to German East Africa having been 
opened to trade for a much longer period than the Congo, the tick 
appears to be much more widely distributed in East Africa than in the 
Congo. Dutton and Todd state that in the Congo it only occurs along 
routes of travel. I have examined a large number of specimens of this 
tick from various parts of Africa, and would note that its geographical 
distribution is far wider than our present records show for the distribu¬ 
tion of relapsing fever in man. There is every reason to fear, therefore, 
that an extension of the disease will follow with time, unless the natives 
learn even better than they do to shun the “ tampan.” In fact, I have 
an interesting observation to note in this connection which bears out 
my contention. It emanates from the Rev. John Roscoe, of Cambridge, 
who gave me the information last year. This gentleman was a missionary 
in Uganda, where he lived for many years at Kampala in a native-built 
house having reed walls supported by the usual wooden pillars. To 
quote his words: “ Some of the pillars were in rooms, not in the walls. 
1 Harben Lectures, 1908. 
