INTRODUCTION gl 
H. Linder; a few others were taken by Dr. G. C. Shattuck, Mr. Harold J. 
Coolidge, Jr., Dr. Glover M. Allen, Mr. Dinklage, and myself. 
The excellent microscopical drawings have been made by Mrs. Etta Piotti 
Ramsdell, and the photomicrographs by Dr. Henry Pinkerton and Mr. Ernest 
EK. Fewkes. 

Since the return of this Expedition to the United States, considerable atten- 
tion has been attracted to the African Republic of Liberia from several different 
standpoints. The unsanitary conditions which have prevailed in Monrovia and 
the vicinity, particularly with reference to the occurrence during the past year 
of malaria and yellow fever in American and European citizens (which are re- 
ferred to in Chapters XIV and XVI of this Report), have led to steps being taken 
in the United States to improve these unfavorable conditions. 
Also, there has been much publicity and interest taken, in connection with the 
opportunities offered by Mr. Firestone, for the development of the country and 
for the welfare of its people. 
In addition, the terms of the new loan to Liberia have given our State De- 
partment further opportunity to demonstrate the friendly American interest in 
the welfare of both the Americo-Liberian people and the indigenous inhabitants. 
Moreover, the League of Nations has very recently interested itself in certain 
conditions that exist in the country, and since the pages of this Report have be- 
gun to pass through the press, an International Commission has been appointed 
by the League to investigate in Liberia certain conditions regarding enforced 
labor and slavery among the indigenous inhabitants. The conditions under 
which these people live in the interior of Liberia are described particularly in 
Chapters IV to IX. 
It is trusted that these and other activities related elsewhere in the present 
Report, and the medical and biological knowledge recorded herein, will lead to a 
new era of prosperity in the development of the country and the welfare of its 
people as a whole. 
