262 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 294. 



surgical practice and the scope of surgical 

 aspirations. An immense development has 

 been efiTected in the operative surgery of 

 every region of the body, and the victories 

 of the surgeon over disease and death are 

 without end. 



John Hunter, and many of the older 

 surgeons, regarded operations as somewhat 

 of an opprobrium to surgery, and as a con- 

 fession of failure. How far otherwise it 

 is now ! Intracranial, intrathoracic, and 

 intra-abdominal operations are successfully 

 carried out, many of them by proceedings 

 which had never previously been imagined, 

 even by the boldest amongst us. A great 

 impetus has been given to conservative 

 methods in surgerj^, and the preservation 

 of life and limb is now attainable in cases 

 innumerable, and of the most different de- 

 scription, where conservation was previ- 

 ously regarded as impossible. 



How largely also have physicians and 

 surgeons alike developed and cultivated that 

 highest form of conservation, the conser- 

 vation of the race in the happiness and 

 vigor which are associated with physical 

 health ! 



Plastic methods have been perfected in an 

 extraordinary degree. I would only men- 

 tion as a striking, although common ex- 

 ample, the union of the ends of an accident- 

 ally divided nerve and the re- establishment 

 of its function. 



Although the number and variety of 

 operations have multiplied a hundredfold, 

 the skill and fertility of resource exhibited 

 in their performance have equally increased 

 and the measure of success which has been 

 realized, whilst it rewards and gratifies the 

 surgeon, will appear even to the educated 

 layman as little short of miraculous. In 

 the early part of the century the surgeon 

 knew of but a limited number of opera- 

 tions, and for the most part those only were 

 performed which appeared to be inevitable. 

 He knew by sad experience how generally 



fatal important operations and cases of 

 severe injury were when treated in hospital 

 wards. His patients were more then de- 

 cimated by infective diseases — pytemia, 

 septicaemia, erysipelas, tetanus, and by 

 suppuration, hectic and gangrene. He rec- 

 ognized and could to some extent control 

 these scourges, but of any effective manner 

 of dealing with them he knew nothing. 

 Now we possess an intimate knowledge of 

 the essential causes of manj' of these 

 diseases, and if we cannot always cure 

 them we can do much to prevent them. 

 Some things have hitherto baffled our efforts. 

 The cause and the cure of cancer are as yet 

 unknown. We possess some crude ideas 

 about the exciting causes of the disease, 

 and attempt with indifferent success to cure 

 it by timely extirpation. Let us hope that 

 the new century will still be young when 

 some surer means of dealing with this ter- 

 rible and increasing malady is discovered. 



A notable feature of our time is the de- 

 velopment of the museums which are now 

 attached to most of our public institutions. 

 Those which more immediately concern 

 ourselves illustrate everything within the 

 range of biological science, and foremost 

 amongst them all is our own great collec- 

 tion. 



Much more might one say — and much 

 certainly there is to say — but I will only 

 repeat that our welcome to you all is sin- 

 cere and heartfelt, and most especially so 

 to our foreign colleagues. Our science 

 knows no narrow national boundary. It is 

 the common property of us all. We de- 

 sire to sympathize with our fellow- workers 

 abroad, and to appreciate their work, as we 

 trust and believe that they appreciate ours. 



In this address I have ventured to urge 

 that we are much beholden to those who 

 have gone before. In but a few years all 

 who are now present will also belong to the 

 past. Let us hope that, as we have not 

 altogether forgotten those who preceded us, 



