u 



*' Breach of Promise " has do longer any terrors for hhn, 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 tlie impression left on tbe lead, and the copper 

 plate prepared from this mould can then be used in the press. 



The illustration of books, newspapers, etc., 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 blocks " has almost entirely superseded the old method of wood 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 pamting 

 obsolete. So largely is this branch of the photographic 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 lioch has thought fit to announce his discovery to the 

 scientific world, together with the secrecy whicli 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 fiom the treatment, yet 

 the final issue cannot be known for many months or even years. 

 As a diagnostic agent the lymph appears to be of great value, its 

 electrivG aifiuity 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 in 

 a healthy subject. 



