DR. KOCH'S DISCOVERY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 309, 4 January 1908, Page 3

DR. KOCH'S DISCOVERY.

A special comvipoiidcnt nf the l-oka-lanzcigcr hsid mi interview recently with Professor Koch on board the I'rinz lie gent, en route from Kast Africa. The professor. who was in tin* best nf health, told the interviewer tliat he had been living fur the past eighteen months on a desolate island belonging to, the Sesse «roup in the middle of l/ike Victoria Xvanza. with an army medical sergeant as his sole white companion. They dvelt in a Mraw lull similar to those occupied by flic natives, and saw only three Europeans throughout their slaytwo of them being Viennese doctors and the third a German (iiivcrumcut otliciul. Tbeir i.ii y means of communication Willi (lie world was a primeval native bout fa-hioned out of a tree trunk, which conneycd llhi-in to (lie mainland. Sleeping sickne.-s is particularly prevalent in the Scssc Islands, the inh iliitanls of which are gradmlly dying otV through the ravages of th.' <1 i•-(■. I l ™- fcfriOr Koch regards slcep'ii'i sickness aan enormous danger to the whole of East Africa. unle>s cxtcin'v incisures are taken to combat it. lleirii'ly tic iliseiwe lias been advancing from l."k Tanganyika towards Tabora. Whenever i't appear-, practically the entiri native population falls victims. If til" sufferers are left to themselves they are donated. The Professor discovered that the in seel known as the glossina pnlpalis which conveys lh« germs of the disea-e (liypanc'-omae). breeds not only on th banks of the 1 ikes, hut also along tie streams in the interior right np tothi i' source. The disease can, therefore, bf spread along tin 1 whole length of th. 1 rivei'i-i. It take- a long time to develop ami the patients often feel no effects although a microscopical examination may have revealed tY> existence of trypannsomae in the, blood. The principal outcome of Professor Knell's investigations is, says the interviewer. that there is a possibility now of making a certain diagnosis of the disease and of adopting methods to combat it. 'Professor Koch's Tcn>"dy. con sisting of salxmtnneoii? injoptirn* of arsenic," Ims proved efficacious. "and_ Ih<" chief means of lightim.' the lie in conslant medical attendance, and in pre venting patients from going into hitherto uninfected districts. To carry thiout specially trained doctors are neccs sarv. anil clearings must he made on rivers and lakes free from mosquitoes. ' Profesisor Koch has ascertained that there is a distinct connection between -roroililes and sleeping sickness, as a result of .searching and most in'cresting investigations. Wherever crocodiles are found the disease may be discovered, hut Duly in places near iiie banks. Ihe ilood of crocodiles forma the chijf hoursliNK'iit of the glossina, which sucks the jlood between the plates of the animal's lide. The extermination of the glossina s impossible, .but the end may be reached iv destroying the crocodiles, or by the •emoval of the bushes and undergrowth A'liere the animals lurk. I'rofessor Kiick mule attempts to poison crocodiles "with irepared meat, but had great difficulty n preventing the natives from seizing md eating it. The professor intends to mblinli the result of his investigations nto the habits of crocodiles.