Segment 1 An illustration of an African man is shown alongside the title, with drum music playing. The narrator begins to tell the story of African Sleeping Sickness, and a map of Africa and a drawing of a sufferer are seen. Photographs of various researchers into the illness are shown: David Bruce, Surgeon-Major A.M.S., J. Everett Dutton, M.B., and Aldo Castellani, M.D. The first section of the film is entitled 'Death of a Mali Emperor 1374/5 AD'. The narrator tells the history of 14th century north Africa, which was populated by many Arabs as well as Africans. An anecdote has been recorded, of a sultan at the time who was smitten by sleeping sickness and eventually dies. A character actor reads the anecdote over images of Arabic text. Time start:00:00:00:00 Time end: 00:04:42:08 Length: 00:04:42:08
Segment 2 The second section of the film is entitled 'The Sleepy Distemper 1734 AD', and describes the second written account of the disease by an English naval officer, John Atkins. He was stationed on the coast of Guinea and wrote a book, 'The Navy Surgeon', the appendix of which mentions sleeping sickness, which he calls 'the sleepy distemper'. An excerpt is read out over images of the text. His guesses at the cause of the disease include an abundance of phlegm, and a belief in the inherent laziness of Africans' minds. The third section of the film is entitled 'The Negro Lethargy 1803 AD', and describes the third written account of trypanosomiasis. It is from a book called 'An Account of the Native Africans in the Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone' by Thomas Masterman Winterbottom, and was the first account to gain the attention of medical practitioners in the west. His account was the first to reference the large gland in the neck, thought to be a symptom at the early stages of the sickness. An image of a sufferer's neck is shown. Time start:00:04:42:08 Time end: 00:09:48:17 Length: 00:05:06:08
Segment 3 A photograph of Thomas Winterbottom is shown, plus images from his book. A character actor reads out the paragraph describing the lethargy. He lists the African dialect words for the illness, and images of various African tribes are shown. The symptoms are described, and illustrations of these shown, including eating ravenously and a strong disposition to sleep. All treatments by both western and African doctors have been unsuccessful. Time start: 00:09:48:17 Time end: 00:14:20:19 Length: 00:04:32:01