"XX. That the Members of each separate Section elect annually the Council of that Section; and that such Council consist of a President, two Secretaries, and such number of other Councillors as shall hereafter be arranged. The President of each Section and the representative Member of the Section to the General Council must be Fellows of the Academy.

"XXI.

That the Council of each Section have the entire control of the internal business of their own Section, subject to such general arrangements as shall be made by the General Council of the Academy; and that they publish annually, or at such periods as shall hereafter be arranged, the Transactions of their own Section, provided the expenditure of each Section, for Transactions and other special purposes, do not exceed one half of the income derived from the annual Subscriptions of its Members.

"XXII. That the General Council of the Academy may, under special circumstances, make special grants in aid of the publication of Transactions, or other expenses, of any Section.

"XXIII. That the proposed Academy comprise a grade of Honorary Fellows, consisting of the Honorary Fellows or Honorary Members of any of the enumerated Societies which shall join in the amalgamation, and others to be elected for life from British subjects who have eminently distinguished themselves in Medicine or Surgery, or in the Sciences connected therewith, but who do not practise the medical profession; and from Foreigners who have eminently distinguished themselves in Medicine or Surgery, or in the Sciences connected therewith. That such Honorary Fellows be elected by the Academy at a General Meeting, on the recommendation of the Council.

"Should the scheme embodied in the above Resolutions be approved, the Council recommend that it be submitted to each of the Societies mentioned in Resolution XII, and that they be requested to nominate three Members each to form a General Committee, which shall draw up, with legal advice, a code of Laws and Regulations to be submitted to each Society for its approval.

66

Signed on behalf of the Council,

"April 19th, 1869.”

"GEORGE BURRows,

"Chairman.

The President then called upon the Secretary, Dr. William Ogle, to read the Preamble of the proposed Resolutions. This having been read as follows:

"The Council of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society beg leave to recommend to the Fellows that steps be taken to secure the union of various Societies now existing in London for the cultivation of special branches of Medicine and of the allied Sciences, and they submit the following Resolutions for adoption as the basis of a scheme for effecting such union."

It was moved by Mr. Solly, and seconded by Dr. Pitman in a speech explanatory of the condition and prospects of this Society, and as to the manner in which it has been affected by the formation of other Societies, &c. :

"That steps be taken to secure the union of various Societies now existing in London for the cultivation of special branches of Medicine and of the allied Sciences."

After a discussion, in which Mr. Charles Hawkins, Dr. O'Connor, Mr. T. Holmes, and Mr. Macilwain took part, and during which the President ruled that the details of the scheme could not then be entered upon, as they were not before the Meeting, the Resolution was carried unanimously.

The adoption of the second part of the Preamble, together with the whole scheme embodied in the twenty-three Resolutions, was moved by Mr. Moore, and seconded by Mr. Brodhurst; to which an amendment was moved by Dr. Greenhow, and seconded by Mr. T. Holmes, that the 21st Resolution should be first considered. After a short discussion, during which objections by Mr. Curling, Dr. Wilson Fox, and others, were raised to these methods of procedure, they were withdrawn, and the first Resolution in the Council's Report having been read, Mr. Solly moved, and Dr. Stewart seconded, that the Resolutions should be taken in detail, and that the first Resolution be adopted:

"I. That a new Society be formed, and incorporated by Royal Charter, under the title of the Royal Academy of Medicine; and that this Academy comprise Sections for the main branches of Medicine and the collateral Sciences."

A discussion ensued, in which Mr. Curling, Dr. Dobell, Dr. Althaus, and Dr. Drysdale, made objection to the use of the title of Academy; whilst Mr. Charles Hawkins questioned the power or legality of the Council or Society to take any steps to change the name, or give up the Charter, of the old Society without the concurrence of every individual Fellow, and especially of those who had paid their Life Composition Fees. After remarks by Mr. Spencer Smith, Dr. West, Mr. T. Holmes, and others, on this point, an amendment was proposed by Dr. Dobell, and seconded by Mr. Curling:

"That the words 'under the title of the Royal Academy of Medicine,' be omitted; and the word 'Society' be inserted instead of 'Academy' before the word 'comprise.''

This amendment was lost on a show of hands, by 37 against 35. Another amendment was then moved by Dr. Murchison, and seconded by Dr. O'Connor:

"That instead of the words 'the title of the Royal Academy of Medicine,' be substituted the title of the Royal Society of Medicine," "

which was carried on a show of hands by 42 against 21. This amendment having been put by the President as a substantive motion, a further amendment was moved by Dr. Greenhow, and seconded by Dr. Sankey, to substitute for it the following words :

"That the several Societies mentioned in Clause XII be invited to become incorporated with the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society, so as to form one Society, to be called the Royal Society of Medicine."

After remarks by Dr. Fuller, Mr. H. Lee, Mr. Hulke, &c., this amendment was lost by 34 to 12.

A motion for the adjournment of the Meeting, made by Mr. H. Lee, and seconded by Dr. Wynn Williams, was lost by 38 to 20; and on the main motion, embracing Dr. Murchison's amendment, being put from the Chair, it was carried by a majority of 50 to 2.

It was then moved by Dr. Drysdale, seconded by Dr. Chambers, and carried:

"That this Meeting do adjourn to this day fortnight" [Monday, May 17th].

May 11, 1869.

GEORGE BURROWS, M.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

Present-40 Fellows and 4 visitors.

Books were presented from Dr. Sibson, Sir G. D. Gibb, Mr. Curgenven, Deputy Inspector-General Longmore, the Governors of Bethlem Hospital, and the Odontological Society.

Dr. Wickham Legg was admitted a Fellow of the Society.

Mr. Pearson R. Creswell was proposed for election as a Fellow of the Society.

The following communication was read:

On the Treatment of Phthisis by prolonged residence in Elevated Regions. By HERMANN WEBER, M.D. (Received February 15, 1869.)

(Abstract.)

Dr. Hermann Weber premises that he uses the term "phthisis" to signify, not only "tubercular phthisis," but all the different subacute and chronic inflammatory processes of the lungs usually leading to consumption, especially catarrhal pneumonia and its products; regarding, with Thomas Addison, "inflammation as the great instrument of destruction in every form of phthisis," and sharing, with some modification, the view of Buhl and other authors, that true tuberculosis is not a primary, but a secondary disease, the result, though not the necessary one, of preceding inflammation, and especially of the cheesy transformation of the products of inflammation.

He understands by "elevated regions" those localities where, owing principally to their elevation, phthisis either does not, or only rarely, occur amongst its inhabitants, and points out that the elevation necessary for producing a certain degree of immunity is not an absolute one, but varies in different latitudes, and seems to decrease with the removal from the equator towards the poles. He does not believe, however, that there is any fixed elevation of immunity for every degree of latitude, and, further, is not of opinion that the elevation in itself is the sole cause of immunity; but that it is materially assisted or counteracted by other climatic elements, as the situation of a place on a tableland, or on the top, or on the slope, of a hill, or at the bottom of a valley; the aspect to the north or south; the configuration of the surrounding ground; the nearness of standing waters or marshy districts, and the elevation of the place above them; the habitual degree of clearness or mistiness of the atmosphere, and its purity, or its amount of admixture with foreign elements, mechanical and organic; the geological structure of the soil, and all the circumstances influencing its degree of dampness or dryness, regarding which subject he specially points to the important results of Bowditch's and Buchanan's researches.