542 Proceedings. 



tuition, but he might say that arrangements were now in contemplation by which lectures 

 would be carried on in connection with the College. Collegians who desired to study 

 these subjects would, under the arrangements he contemplated being given effect to, be 

 able to attend classes at the Museum and Library, which would be conducted by competent 

 persons. He hoped these classes might be open to members of the Society, and to such of 

 the general public as desired such a course of study. With reference to the work of the 

 past year, it had been chiefly the reading of papers. This kind of work required the 

 co-operation of members residing in different parts of the colony in order that the results 

 might be useful. As an instance of this he might particularly refer to the paper by Mr, 

 Buchanan on " Some diseases of sheep and cattle in New Zealand." These diseases were 

 propagated by the development of certain minute forms of animal life, and the symptoms 

 ought to be studied by the different flock-owners in the colony, and the observations com- 

 municated to the Society, or to some person engaged in these investigations, for the pur- 

 pose of comparing results. The progress of these diseases had been studied to a remark- 

 able degree of late. As had been stated by Mr. Travers during the discussion on one of 

 these papers, there were already signs of our acquiring the means of warding off these 

 diseases and protecting animals from their inroads in the same way as we now — though 

 very imperfectly here — protect the community from the attacks of smallpox. This im- 

 portant matter was well worth the attention of all members of the Society who took an 

 interest in scientific researches which had a direct bearing upon the welfare of the human 

 race. With reference to smallpox, the apathy displayed as to the best means of protect- 

 ing ourselves from the scourge appeared to him to be almost criminal. We were natnrally 

 protected against the incursion of a vast number of diseases, but an outbreak of smallpox 

 here would be disastrous. In the first place, comparatively few of the people of New 

 Zealand realised the horrible nature of this disease, and vaccination is a matter in which 

 only partial interest is taken. If the matter were brought more prominently before the 

 public by proper means, aided by compulsory vaccination, he thought it quite possible 

 that we might get rid of the necessity for the quarantine system. We might then take 

 our chance of the small number of cases which might occur in the community. There 

 had been a great cry raised of late in favour of what was called animal vaccination, that 

 was vaccination with lymph taken direct from the calf, instead of with lymph taken from 

 the arm of an infant. In his opinion there was a good deal of misapprehension in this 

 matter. Vaccination was really sowing the seed of smallpox in the system in the same 

 way that carrots or turnips were sown in a garden. These germs of disease lost power by 

 passing through a certain diluting process ; and some time ago a proposition was even 

 made to dilute the virus with milk. There was no doubt that lymph could be passed 

 through a calf and then used ; but in any case everything depended on having pure 

 seed. Those who advocated animal vaccination must take care that the body of the 

 animal selected did not contain the seeds of other diseases ; and those who were in favour 

 of human vaccination said that the dread of other diseases arose from careless vaccina- 

 tion, and the taking of lymph from the arms of unhealthy children. In both cases it was 

 necessary to take great care that the seeds of any other form of disease were not introduced 

 by vaccination ; and for his part he did not see any greater risk attending arm-to-arm 

 vaccination than in what was termed animal vaccination. The Government had been put 

 to great expense in providing the means of vaccination, and it was to be hoped that an 

 unreasonable prejudice against it would not exist much longer. He had been led to make 

 these observations because he had been thinking over the subject a great deal of late. It 

 was a subject ojpen to much discussion and calm thought for the purpose of getting rid 



