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to draw very precise conclusions ; albeit it is not mere guess- 

 work when I assert that in the United Kingdom several hun- 

 dred human deaths occur annually from this cause. In some 

 other countries the proportion is far greater ; the oft-quoted 

 case of Iceland, where the disorder is fatally endemic, still 

 standing at the head of the afflicted territories. 



Our Australian colonies are probably entitled to the next 

 place of distinction in this respect. We have strong and 

 recent evidence of the truth of this statement. Thus a writer 

 in the ' Australian Med. and Surg. Review ' says : " This dis- 

 ease is becoming unpleasantly frequent, and at present we have 

 no reliable mode of treatment, either theoretical or empirical." 

 Another writer observes (' Melbourne Argus/ May 18th, 1874), 

 " Hydatid disease is endemic in this colony ; and, though not 

 so constantly met with as in Iceland, we may probably claim 

 the doubtful honor of holding the second place in the list of 

 countries so affected." In the ' Argus ' for June 20th of the 

 same year, another writer refers to the frequent notices of 

 cases of hydatids published in the various local newspapers. A 

 retired medical man, the late Mr J. P. Rowe, writing in the ' Mel- 

 bourne Leader ' (Sept. 7th, 1872), incidentally remarked on the 

 " notable increase of hydatid disease in the human subject/' 

 Again, still more satisfactory evidence is afforded by a reviewer 

 in the ' Leader' of the 31st January, 1874. Commenting on 

 my manual, he not only takes occasion to speak of the preva- 

 lence of hydatids generally, but also supplies that kind of 

 accurate statistical evidence of which we so much stand in need. 

 He gives the following table, showing the number of deaths 

 from hydatids in Victoria for eleven years. It is instructive in 

 many ways. 



