8 Report S.A.A. Advancement of Science, 



These leucocytes do not wait for the invading germs to enter the 

 blood vessels, but make their way out of these channels to meet the 

 invaders in the open. They also have the power of multiplication, 

 and in the field are joined by comrades of the same kind. There 

 now takes place a battle the like of which no pen has ever attempted 

 to describe. Millions are opposed to millions, and the fighting is to 

 the death. The hosts of Armageddon would be a mere handful to 

 the uncountable hordes which fill the battle-field about the confines 

 of a wound. The leucocytes destroy the germs by eating them — 

 they also, by sacrificing their living bodies to the poison of the 

 enemy, save the country they defend. The mortality of this conflict 

 is beyond the limits of reasonable computation. The arena is piled 

 up with the dead, until at last, the living, the dead, the poisoners 

 and the poisoned, are thrown out in the form of what is known as 

 ' matter ' or ' pus,' and the trouble probably ends." 



The terrible carnage so graphically described by Treves is 

 Nature's way of dealing with a hostile intruder in her territory. It 

 is the province of antisepticism to prevent, so to speak, the landing 

 of the enemy, in which case the country will remain at peace, and 

 the encounters in defence of it, as described by Sir Frederick Treves, 

 will be uncalled for ; but, in the event of a landing being effected, 

 the fight put up in defence of the territory will, in a certain number 

 of cases, be successful. In many instances, however, it will not, 

 and in not a few the inhabitants will either be annihilated or the 

 country left in a crippled condition. All this loss and disturbance 

 it is the province of antisepticism to avoid. 



While we have noted what vast strides have been made in the 

 domain of antiseptic surgery, there are still not a few ailments 

 which, although it is hoped they may yet be successfully dealt with, 

 have up to the present completely baffled the resources of science ; 

 among the most dreaded of these is perhaps cancer, investigations as 

 to the nature and cause of which are, thanks in a large measure to 

 the interest taken in the matter by His Majesty the King, being 

 prosecuted in a manner never attempted heretofore. The principal 

 investigations, in so far as the British Empire is concerned, are being 

 conducted under the auspices of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund 

 in the Central Laboratory, placed at the disposal of the Fund by 

 the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons ; and the various 

 Colonies and Dependencies are contributing their quota towards the 

 work, in the way of general information, reports on cases, and the 

 supply of specimens of diseased tissue ; and are otherwise rendering 

 as much assistance as possible through the Colonial and Indian 

 OflSces. When, if ever, a remedy will be found, it is impossible to 

 say, but the prospects, I believe, are at present far from hopeless. 



The National Association for the Prevention of Consumption 

 and other forms of Tuberculosis is actively engaged in its campaign 

 against that fell disease, which, despite Professor Koch's pronounce- 

 ment at Berlin some 17 years ago, to which I was privileged to 

 listen, unfortunately still continues its ravages, although, as you are 



