Walsh. — On a New Steamcr-hrahe. 641 



occasioned amongst women was one cause of the great and 

 rapid spread of vaccination. There is not a woman in existence 

 who would not risk any possible damage to her health or con- 

 stitution if it would save her from the disfigurement produced 

 by confluent small-pox. There is another point too : the dread 

 of the disease often causes people to take it, and makes it fatal 

 when taken. The protective influence of vaccination, there- 

 fore, has a double action, physical and mental. 



For these reasons I cannot, in the present state of sanitary 

 science, or rather ignorance, see how vaccination, voluntary of 

 course, can be given up in Europe, or in thickly-peopled 

 countries like North America. 



Art. LXIV. Brake-Fins : A Proposed A^ypliance for the 

 Better Handling of Ocean Steamers. 



By the Eev. Philip Walsh, Waimate North. 



[Read before the Auckland Institute, 24th August, 1891., 



When we contrast the modern ocean liner with the old sailing- 

 packet that many of us are able to remember, we cannot 

 but be amazed at the giant strides that have been made 

 within a very few years in the numerous arts and sciences 

 upon the correct application of which a safe and prosperous 

 voyage depends. The confined space on deck, the stuffy 

 cabins, the rough-and-tumble of slippery planks and flying 

 tackle, the salt diet, and the hazardous cookery — all these 

 have given way to a new order of things, and a sea-voyage is 

 now looked forward to as a prolonged picnic in a floating 

 palace furnished with all the conveniences of a tirst-class 

 hotel, instead of a tedious imprisonuient, during which every 

 element contributed its share of discomfort. But the improve- 

 ment, astounding as it is, has not been uniform ; the advance 

 has not taken place along the whole line : indeed, in some 

 departments there has been a positive standstill, if not actual 

 retrogression. 



The most noticeable instance of this deficiency is that 

 which regards the handling of vessels under certain important 

 and inevitable conditions. Given plenty of sea-room, when 

 the only question is how to get over the ground — or, rather, the 

 water — in the shortest possible time, there is no comparison 

 between the modern ship and all those that have preceded 

 her, whether impelled by sail or steam ; but when it is 

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