not only able to say that the cause of the fever was a spirochete, but was able to prove by experiment that the spirochete was conveyed to the healthy subject by the bite of a tick, the Ornithodoros moubata, and that the larvae hatched from eggs laid by an infected tick, could convey the infection at their first feed.
Dutton's work in the Congo, on tick fever, was interrupted by the illness of both members of the expedition. This occurred at the time that Ross and Milne published the results of their discovery in Uganda. In February, 1905, three months later, Dutton died in Africa.
Further experiments were carried on in the laboratories at Runcorn, where it was found that the spirochete of African tick fever was a new parasite, quite different from a similar organism which causes the relapsing fever of Europe. By common consent this new parasite was called Spirochceta duttoni, in honor of the hero who gave his life in an effort to relieve suffering humanity.
Such have been the results gained by the school in a study of five parasitic diseases conveyed by mosquitoes, flies and ticks. There are many other investigations of importance to the physician and scientist, but of less general interest. How valuable the work of the school may be in lines not strictly medical was recently demonstrated in the West Indies by Mr. Newstead, the entomologist of the twenty-first expedition.
This institution, great as it is, has been supported chiefly by annual subscriptions, as the school has no endowment. Foremost among those who have contributed most liberally is Sir Alfred Jones, who founded it. Another benefactor, who has shown his appreciation of the work done in the Congo, is the King of Belgium; and recently the English government has given its support. Much of the work has been planned and the interest in it aroused by the Dean, Sir Rubert Boyce.
This school, in the short space of ten years, has accomplished more than many an older institution.
