XXU PEOCEEDINGS, MAY. 



of women in matters of health and sanitation was of great importance, 

 and in this group I may say it is paramount. I would commend to Mr. 

 Johnston a careful analysis of the causes of death at this period, and 

 would ask our medical friends to consider this subject most carefully. 

 (Hear, hear). I now come to the question of typhoid, and about this I 

 speak with sadness, not only because of its general prevalence at the 

 present time, but also because my dear son is now suffering from it. 

 Whatever obscurity may prevail regarding this disease all must admit 

 that it is largely preventible by sanitary arrangements. As I pointed 

 out in one of my first public utterances in this island, one of the imperative 

 duties of the State, whether central or local, is to safeguard the health 

 of the communit}-. This society, ia its corporate capacity, can force 

 upon the proper authorities the paramount importance disclosed by 

 statistics for energetic action in the matter, and I hope it will do so. 

 But, individually, they can do much to urge on action on the part of 

 those directly charged with the duty. In a self-governing community 

 no one is relieved of his responsibility in such a matter. The 

 representatives of the rate and taxpayers a'-e bound to carry out the 

 views of their constituencies on such matters, and the constibuencies are 

 bound to let them be known. No one is justified in sitting with his 

 hands folded and saying, "It is not my business." (Applause.) As I 

 said at the last meeting, ?o far from relaxing our efforts in the direction 

 of prevention of disease, all Mr. Johnston's figures point to further and 

 energetic action, and so long as the country is more healthy than towns 

 we are bound to go on doing everything in our power to improve the 

 sanitary conditions of life in cities. (Applause.) As regards the very 

 curious and highly interesting waves of disease which appear to pass over 

 countries often far apart, with something approaching to regularity, 

 there is much to learn. They require to be most carefully analysed, 

 with the view of determining how far they are general throughout the 

 world, what the nature of the deaths is, and at what ages they mainly 

 occur. We know but little of this at present, but I think everything 

 points to these waves being due to climatic influence, although their 

 causes are obscure. It is undoubtedly man's business to counteract as 

 far as possible climatic iniiuences which are painful to human existence, 

 whether these may be local, as is possibly the case to some extent with 

 typhoid, or general, as would appear to be the case with these waves of 

 disease. Before calling upon Mr. Johnston to reply upon the whole 

 subject, I would again desire to impress upon you how much we owe, 

 first to the persons who carefully record the facts on which vital 

 statistics are based ; and secondly, to able statisticians like Mr. 

 Johnston, who tell us what these records disclose. It is interesting and 

 useful for us of the general public to discuss these matters, and sometimes 

 at discussions of this sort persons who are not in themselves accustomed 

 to scientific investigations, may hit upon great truths, or find out blots 

 in statistics, but it is to the men who spend their lives in scientific 

 investigation that we have to look for any real and sound progress in the 

 knowledge of such subjects ; men who with conscience pursue their 

 laborious investigations for the sake of science itself, and who seldom 

 receive the credit and honour which the benefits they confer upon 

 humanity merit. (Applause.) It may be interesting to this Society to 

 know that the two gentlemen Mr, Johnston refers to in this paper as 

 authorities on vital statistics, viz., Mr. N. A. Humphries and Mr, T. 

 A. Welton, are personal friends of mine, and that I have written to each 

 of them, sending copies of Mr, Johnston's paper, (Loud applause,) 



Mr. Johnston, in the course of his reply, said some of Mr. Mault's 

 criticisms were not justified. The subjects he had been charged with 

 omitting or insufficiently dealing with did not come legitimately within 

 the scope of his paper. Mr. Mault in extolling human effort in matters 



