14 
‘* Breach of Promise ” has no longer any terrors for him, as in the 
brief space of one week, all his effusions will have vanished, leaving 
no trace behind! A simple and ingenious device for obtaining 
a copy of leaves insects, etc., is now adopted by Her Awer, in the 
Government Office at Vienna. The object is placed between 
sheets of blotting paper, pressed and dried; it is then placed in 
water and again left to dry ; it is then laid on a smooth lead plate 
covered with a steel plate, and exposed to presssure. A mould is 
thus obtained from the impression left on the lead, and the copper 
plate prepared from this mould can then be used in the press. 
The illustration of books, newspapers, ctc., by means of‘‘ process 
blocks”’ has almost entirely superseded the old method of wood 
engraving. The practical method of producing these blocks for 
press by photography, was described by the inventor in 1865, and 
as early as 1869, Mr. Davenport declared that at no remote period 
this process of photo-galvanography would as inevitably supersede 
wood engraving, as photography has rendered miniature painting 
obsolete. So largely is this branch of the photographie art 
practised, that several large workshops are open for this purpose 
in the City, day and night; by means of the electric light, 
photography is now practicable at any time, and a block can be 
prepared from the first to the last stage in the incredibly short 
space of one hour ! 
Time warns me that I must close, but I cannot conclude this 
address without some reference to the most sensational event of 
the year, namely the discovery by Professor Koch of his alleged 
remedy for tubercolosis. The very unusual method in which 
Professor Koch has thought fit to announce his discovery to the 
scientific world, together with the secrecy which still enshrouds the 
preparation of the lymph, and the fact that the treatment savours 
slightly of a commercial speculation, are all alike somewhat repug- 
nant to the majority of scientific men, and to professional feeling in 
this country. All, however, who are interested in the welfare of 
humanity and the diminution of disease, cannot fail to regard with 
keenest interest an experiment which may possibly materially 
lesson the number of victims to the dire malady of phthisis. The 
discovery is, of course, as yet in its infancy, and must for the pre- 
sent be regarded simply as in the experimental stage, and although 
immediate benefit may apparently result from the treatment, yet 
the final issue cannot be known for many months or even years. 
As adiagnostic agent the lymph appears to be of great value, its 
electrive affinity for tuberculous matter being so marked, that an 
injection of 0.1 centimetre usually produces a severe re-action in a 
tuberculous patient, whereas a similar dose hardly re-acts at all m 
a healthy subject, 
