Reports of the Sleeping Sickness Commission. No. I.

  • Royal Society (Great Britain). Sleeping Sickness Commission.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Reports of the Sleeping Sickness Commission. No. I. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    PRESENCE OF TRYPANOSOMA IN SLEEPING SICKNESS. By ALDO CASTCl.LANI, M.L). [Dated EutebBe, Uganda, April 5, 1903.—Received May 8, 1903.*] On the 12th November, 1902, when examining a specimen of cerebro-spinal Hnid taken by lumbar punctnre dnring life from a well- marked case of sJrrpiiKj dckne>>.'<, I was sni-prised to observe a living Trypanosoma. Since that date I have made as many observations in this direction as possible, and the results are to my mind sufficiently surprising to excuse me for presenting this preliminary note. These trypanosomes are not in large numbers, so that to find them it is necessary to draw off at least 15 c.cs. of the cerebro-spinal fluid. It is better to reject the first few c.cs. as they are apt to contain blood. M'hen the fluid comes away clear, 10 c.cs. are collected and centrifuged for 15 minutes. *\Lt the end of this time there is found at the bottom of the tube a slight deposit of whitish sediment, and in some cases also a minute trace of blood. The liquid above the sediment is poured off and the sediment e.xamined under a moderately low power of the microscope. As the trypanosomes are at first fairly active they are easily detected. The following tallies represent the results of this investigation :— * Tins lias alroaclj' been p^iblished in the ‘ Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. 71, 1903, p. 501. h 2