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is boarded by one or two vaccination officere. Theypass from one to another explaining that they are there tocarry out vaccination of all who cannot show that owing tosmall-pox or recent vaccination they do not require it.

Everything goes smoothly till they come to some professorof the cult of anti-vaccination. I I understood that vacoi-nation was voluntary here." "So it is," replies the officer,"quite voluntary." " Then I won’t be vaccinated." 11 That’sall right," is the reply, " you do just as you please. We’ll

stop the train and let you out when we get to the boundaryof our State. At present we don’t want anybody cominginto it who is not protected against small- pox." " What isthe town at which we will have to get out then ?

" is the next

question. "Oh, there ain’t any town ; it’s a hundred milesfrom anywhere." " Well, I suppose I must get vaccinated." "Not at all," replies the officer; "we always respect theliberty of the subject in the United States. Vaccination is

quite voluntary. Ah, that’s the part of your arm you wishme to do it on ; thank you. Next, please."So it was with the Leicester Hospital scarlet fever cases.

Their parents were to be told of the danger of small-pox andthen they were to do as they pleased. Three weeks later wehave an indication of the result. On Dec. 21st we read :" Resolved that the three scarlet fever wards be recommendedto be utilised for the reception of small-pox cases."As regards small-pox this sauve qui made the best of i

a bad job. But how was it as regards scarlet fever ? Dr.Priestley states in his report for 1893 that within the nexttwo months after the hospital was closed against scarletfever the cases in the town doubled in number. It appearsin that year, if unnotined cases are included, the total ranup probably to 4000. Confining ourselves to notifications,however, Dr. Coupland shows that in 1888 the scarlet fevercases amounted to 132 ; in 1889 to 409; in 1890 to 516 ; in1891 to 794; but in 1892 to 1331; and in 1893 to no less than2308. Further commentary is not required either on ex-

Mayor Hart’s statement to the Commission that as regardsfever under Leicester management there was no fear of anepidemic" or on Mr. Biggs’s assertion that "we find small-pox very easy to deal with and the same hospital and staffof officials deal with small - pox as with other infectiousdiseases." As before the Leicester system was one thingsmall-pox being absent and a very different thing small-poxbeing prevalent. But we do insist that these severalthousand cases of scarlet fever be taken into account in

considering the results of Leicester’s procedure with regardto small-pox in 1892-93.

THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

ANNIVERSARY DINNER.

who were fortunate enough to hear the presidentialaddress delivered by Lord Lister on the occasion of the

anniversary meeting of the Royal Society on the 30th ult.must have been convinced that the society does importantpublic work apart altogether from the stimulus which it givesto scientific workers to wrest from nature her secrets. It isa fitting occasion, too, to pay tribute to those who have gonefrom their labours during the year.The past year in the history of the Royal Society has been

a memorable one to which the fact of it being Jubilee yearhas contributed not a little. The Royal Society in the

persons of the officers, vice-presidents, and three formerpresidents and Lord Lister formed a deputation to the Queenat Windsor to present in person(i the congratula-tions of the society. These and other incidents, suchas the memorial to the Prime Minister urging upon him theimportance of establishing in this country a nationallaboratory in which the testing and verification ofinstruments of various kinds should be undertaken in aregular and systematic way, afforded Lord Lister abundantmaterial for the annual address. And it was but natural thathe should linger upon the close bearing of much ofthe work done by Fellows of the societv to the healing art.The most important reference of this kind was to the work ofDr. Monckton Copeman, whose valuable researches on variolaand vaccinia are well known to our readers. Althoughcomparatively little advantage has yet been taken of thesystem suggested by the lines of this research in this

’ country it has been adopted abroad and the Local Govern-)mei3t Board have recently requested their medical officer,)Sir Richard Thorne, to inspect the operation of this system

abroad with the result that Mr. Chaplin is likely soon

to propose legislation for the purpose of giving the full bene-. fits of this valuable process to the country of its discoverer.

The advance to which Dr. Copeman’s researches have led: consisted in the newly found fact that an admixtureof glycerine in certain proportions with vaccine lymph

derived from the calf had the effect of causing in no longtime the disappearance of what were termed the "adven-titious microbes" invariably present in that material at theoutset without diminibhing the efficacy of the lymph forthe purpose of vaccination. Lord Lister also announcedthat his old friend, that distinguished medical officer andgallant soldier, Sir William Mackinnon, the late Director-General of the Army Medical Department, had made a veryimportant bequest to the Royal Society in furtherance oforiginal scientific investigation and research. By his willand codicils dated 1896 and 1897 Sir William Mackinnon.after making certain specific legacies including one ofE2000 to the University of Glasgow, bequeathed the wholeresidue of his property to the Royal Society subject tocertain life annuities. The proceeds of the fund are to beapplied by the Royal Society for the foundation of suchprizes and scholarships for the special purpose of furtheringnatural and physical science, including geology aLd astro-nomy, and for furthering original research and investigationin pathology as the society may think best and most con-ducive to the promotion of those sciences and of originaldiscoveries therein, such prizes and scholarships to be calledafter the name of the testator. At the conclusion of LordLister’s address the society’s medals were presented to thoserecipients whose names have already been announced inthis journal.

In the evening the annual dinner was held in the White-hall Rooms of the Hutel Metropole, when there was presenta very distinguished company including the leaders of all

departments of science besides Ambassadors of variouscountries and representatives of the Houses of Lordsand Commons. To the Duke of Devonshire had beenallotted the duty .of replying to the toast of "Her

Majesty’s Ministers and the Members of the Legisla-ture." Though his Grace confessed to little scientificattainment his speech proved of the deepest interest to scien-tific men and to those interested in the progress of sciencein this country. Touching upon the question as to whetherthe State can with advantage more directly interest itself inthe direction or assistance of scientific inquiry he confessedhe was not prepared to express much, but he was led ratherto consider the less ambitious object as he termed it-namely, that of making some of the main principles ofscience more accessible to the main body of the people. Heexpressed the hope and trust that at no distant time HerMajesty’s Government may be able to make proposals andsubmit measures bearing in some degree upon the subjectsjust referred to. Amongst these the Duke of Devonshireincluded such subjects as the creation of a teachinguniversity for London and for the whole country somereorganisation of its secondary education "which is the indis-pensable foundation of any progress towards higher scientificstudy." It is needless to add that these pronouncementsmet with considerable applause.The proceedings terminated in the usual way, the

American Ambassador proposing the " Health of the RoyalSociety," to which toast the President responded, and hein turn proposed the "Health of the Medalists," to whichProfessor Forsyth replied with great self-possession and

felicity. The final toast, that of "The Guests," was

proposed by Lord Kelvin, and Professor Campbell replied.The company then dispersed.

THE CAMPAIGN ON THE INDIANFRONTIER.

THERE is not much news to be chronicled regardingthe progress of the campaign against the frontier tribes.The operations have, as far as the Afridis are concerned,assumed the character of a harassing guerilla warfare. SirWilliam Lockhart has penetrated to the heart of their

country and Tirah and has to the