It is stated in the Times of October 20th, 1888, that "in the last ten years several of the Companies, in conjunction with the City Corporation, have together given something like a quarter of a million to the City Guilds of London Institute—the amount including gifts of £46,000 from the Goldsmiths, of £43,000 from the Drapers, of £37,000 from the Clothworkers, of £34,000 from the Fishmongers, of £22,000 from the Mercers, of £10,000 from the Grocers, and of £11,000 from the City Corporation. Besides this, to mention the more salient examples, the Drapers have given some £60,000 to the People's Palace, the Goldsmiths have promised an annuity of £2,500, equivalent to a capital sum of £85,000, to the New Cross Technical Institute, the Mercers propose to devote £60,000 to the establishment of an agricultural college in Wiltshire, and the Shipwrights' Company is taking the lead in a movement for the formation of a college of shipbuilding in connection with a Technical Institute at the East-end."
Besides all this, the people of South London are preparing to establish three Technical Institutes, with the help of the Charity Commissioners; and, if possible, to secure the Albert Palace for a Battersea Institute. A similar movement has begun in North London. These local Technical Schools are independent of the City Guilds of London Institute at Kensington, but the impulse was given by its establishment.
THE INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CONGRESS.
August 3rd, 1881.
THE seventh meeting of the International Medical Congress was formally opened by the Prince of Wales, on the 3rd of August, 1881. It was the first time the Congress had been held in England. The great room of St. James's Hall was nearly filled, 3000 members being present. No lady practitioners were admitted, although at least 25 women, practising medicine, were then on the English Medical Register, and a protest against the decision of the Council had been signed by 43 duly qualified medical women. At previous meetings of the Congress in foreign countries women were not excluded.
The Prince of Wales, on his arrival, was received by Sir W. Jenner, Sir William Gull, Sir James Paget, Sir J. Risdon Bennett, and other members of the Committee. The Honorary Secretary having read the report of the Executive Committee, the Prince of Wales, who was accompanied by the Crown Prince of Prussia, the late Emperor "Frederick the Noble," rose and said:—
"Your Imperial Highness and Gentlemen,—I gladly complied with the request that I should be patron of the International Medical Congress of 1881, and among many reasons for so doing was my conviction that few things can tend more to the welfare of mankind than that educated men of all nations should from time to time meet together for the promotion of the branches of knowledge to which they devote themselves. The intercourse and the mutual esteem of nations have often been advanced by great international exhibitions, and I look back with pleasure to those with which I have been connected; but when conferences are held among those who in all parts of the world apply themselves to the study of science, even greater international benefits may, I think, be confidently anticipated, more especially in the study of medicine and surgery, for in these the effects of climate and of national habits must give to the practitioners of each nation opportunities, not only of acquiring knowledge, but of imparting knowledge to those of their confrères whom they meet in Congress.
"I venture to think, gentlemen, that the Executive Committee have acted wisely in instituting sections for the discussion of a very wide range of subjects, including not only the sciences on which medical knowledge is founded, but many of its most practical applications, and I am very happy to see that so great scope will be granted for the discussion of important questions relating to the public health, to the cure of the sick in hospitals and in the houses of the poor, and to the welfare of the Army and Navy. The devotion with which many members of the medical profession readily share the dangers of climate and the fatigues and dangers of war, and the many risks which must be encountered in the study of means, not only for the remedy, but for the prevention of disease, deserves the warmest acknowledgment from the public.
"I have great satisfaction in believing, in seeing this crowded hall, that I may already regard the Congress as successful in having attracted a number never hitherto equalled of medical men from all parts of this kingdom, as well as from every country in Europe, from the United States, and from other parts of the world. The list of officers of the Congress, including as it does the names of those distinguished in every branch of medical science, shows how heartily the proposal to hold the meeting in London has been received. I think it speaks well for the good feeling of the profession that there should have been so warm a response to the invitations. How cordially the proposal has been received may be seen not only in the large number of visitors, but in the fact that they include a large proportion of those who enjoy a high reputation not only in their own countries, but throughout the world. I sincerely congratulate the reception committee on this good promise of complete success, and I trust that at the close of the Congress they will feel rewarded for the labour they have bestowed upon it. The report which the secretary-general, Mr. MacCormack, has read will have explained how great have been his labours. He will hereafter he well repaid, and I am sure Mr. MacCormack is sensible that he will be recompensed even for his great exertions by the assurance that the progress of the important science of medicine has been materially promoted, for any addition to the knowledge of medicine must always be followed by an increase in the happiness of mankind."
There was general cheering at the close of the speech, and Sir James Paget, as President of the Congress, then read the inaugural address; after which the meeting resolved itself into sections for special subjects. Professor Virchow, of Berlin, delivered an address in German at one of the sections.