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Institute must be worthy of attention, more especially one from a gentle- 
man of such authority in the scientific and medical world as Sir Joseph 
Fayrer. Those who know the high position he has occupied in India, the 
great services he has rendered, and the opportunities of observation he has 
had, must admit that a more trustworthy and competent witness could not 
appear upon the scene. He has given us a great deal of very valuable 
information as to the effect of the rainfall not only on the famines 
of India, but also the health of the people, — on such diseases as cholera, 
fever, and other matters connected with Asia. I was glad to hear what 
he said with regard to the forests, which may in time to come be of so 
much importance in that country. He has told us that the rain is produced 
by the monsoons breaking on the mountain ranges during certain months in 
the year. I remember some years since reading in Alison a statement that 
during six months of the year the rainfall of India was designed by Provi- 
dence to produce fertility in that country, while during the other six the 
melting snows swelled the rivers and produced a similar effect. I would, 
with all respect, ask Sir Joseph Fayrer whether this is a fact. Of course, I 
merely quote the statement on the authority of that eminent historian ; 
but the authority of a witness who has lived so long in India would be 
valuable, as tending to enlighten us upon that point, because some seem 
to think we can have no exact science on the question of rainfall. The 
interesting map exhibited illustrates with considerable accuracy, the results 
of Sir Joseph Fayrer’s observations, showing that in Scinde the rainfall 
does not exceed 10 inches, while in various parts of the country it is 
over 100 inches. In a country with such an opportunity for the Govern- 
ment to exercise its powers to remedy the want of water, and to produce 
fertility among the arid districts, any postponement of irrigation works 
is to be deprecated. Of course, India is so extensive a theme that those 
only who have the best acquaintance with its history and its present 
condition can dilate upon these subjects to our satisfaction. It is very 
interesting to consider the history of the past military achievements of 
England in that part of the world, and the results of our statesmanship in 
consolidating that mighty empire, and to remember the great results 
achieved by a few British merchants. One cannot but contemplate with 
some satisfaction the benefits of our rule in that country ; there is no 
doubt that we have been the means of producing peace and improving 
the administration of justice, and it is satisfactory to find that we 
are doing much to promote the prosperity of the natives ; that we are 
considering the education of the people, and the means of averting any 
of the calamities that are likely to befall them, while we are promoting 
the productiveness of the soil by those great works of irrigation to which Sir 
Joseph Fayrer has referred. I was surprised to hear that those works had 
been extended to thousands of miles of canals. It is also to be remarked, 
and it is perhaps an argument why these works should be demanded 
of and carried out by us, that we are the landlords of the country, and that 
