— 138 — 
of the Committee, an attraction too rare in our days at Mau- 
ritius, to allow them to withhold their heartfelt applause.” 
Dr. Ayres has communicated a most valuable memoir 
“ Comparative observations on diseases, as occurring among 
Europeans and Indians in Mauritius,” without however re- 
commending any particular mode of treatment for the several 
cases. His aim was rather to present a table of medical sta- 
tistics, a return of the diseases which fell under his notice at 
the Civil Hospital, than the treatment and cure of those di- 
seases. 
At all events this work for which the thanks of the Society 
are due to Dr. Ayres, may be presented to other medical men 
as an example to be followed. The substance of their obser- 
vations would form a mass of facts which would be highly va- 
luable to the Medical Statistics of the Island. 
Mr. Channell, on the part of Mr. Joachim Diore, has pre- 
sented observations on the cultivation of the New Zealand 
Flax together with some seeds of the plant and several arti- 
cles prepared from its fibres. Mr. Diore would wish some 
experiments to be tried at Mauritius with this plant of which 
one or two individuals are growing in the Pamplemousses 
Gardens. 
Rather considerable alarm prevailed in September last 
among the growers of Vanilla. It had reference to a disease 
prevailing in Reunion on this precious plant, giving rise to 
the most fatal effects. 
The Society hastened to give notice to the parties interest- 
ed, inviting them to abstain from the use of cuttings of Va- 
nilla imported from Reunion. These precautionary measures 
were afterwards abandoned when it was ascertained that no 
malady existed in the Vanilia plantations, and the accidents 
which had happened to one of them had been caused by the 
imprudent destruction of the trees which protected them. 
Then exposed to the direct rays of the sun the leaves had be- 
come yellow and the stalks had withered up. 
The Society has published the second Part of the first vo- 
lume of its Transactions “New series” embodying theprinci- 
pal articles communicated last year. Several numbers have 
