When in the spring of 1866 war broke out in Germany, my attention was directed naturally, and in a manner quite special, to the hospital and sanitary organizations of that country. It appeared to me that by studying these organizations in belligerent countries, and comparing them with similar institutions which I had investigated in America and elsewhere, some useful information might be obtained. By repairing to the theatre of events in order to better examine the questions which had occurred to me, I considered that I was fulfilling a duty, the more so because before the war their majesties the King and Queen of Prussia had repeatedly expressed to me their unqualified sympathy with the work accomplished by the United States Sanitary Commission, and had deigned to encourage me in the efforts I was making to propagate the idea of a sanitary enterprise similar to that which in America had rendered such great services to humanity. The following is the manner in which the King expresses himself in an autograph letter:

"BADEN, October 13, 1865.

"Accept the assurance of the great interest derived from the work which you have transmitted me through the agency of the Queen. She has conveyed to you in my name the token of esteem which I destined for you on account of your important medical researches; but I wish by these lines to state the purpose which honors them; the alleviation of suffering in general, and the amelioration of the sanitary conditions of armies.

WILLIAM.

"To THOMAS W. EVANS, M. D."

Would the principles adopted by the Genevese convention answer general expectation, now that they were put in practice upon a vast scale? How were the relief committees going to operate? Will they adopt some of the measures tried and found good during the great war in the United States. What improvements or modifications will they introduce in the American system to adapt it to the customs of Europe and to the exigencies of a war undertaken under different circumstances? Such were the questions which presented themselves to my consideration; such was the problem I proposed to investigate.

One of the first things that struck me when I entered upon the territory where important events were taking place, was the presence of a large number of volunteer hospital attendants at most of the railway stations. They wore upon the arm the badge of the international society, the red cross upon a white ground. They were there awaiting each convoy, and ready to render assistance to whatever wounded soldiers, friends or enemies, the train night bring. I was reminded of the volunteer hospital attendants of the American Sanitary Commission, who also prepared at the stations, "refreshment rooms, and "homes," for the sick and wounded returned from the fields of battle. But while recognising with an unfeigned satisfaction the similarity existing between the two organizations, I remarked immediately a difference which seemed to me important. In America female attendants were seen everywhere, even at the railway stations, rivalling in devotion the men, while here there were none. This deficiency struck me forcibly.

But before communicating the reflections which the operation of the new hospital and sanitary institutions in Germany may suggest, a brief account of the origin of these institutions in that country, and particularly in Prussia, may be advisable.

It is known that this power was one of the first to sign the Geneva convention; it was also destined to inaugurate the reform and make the first practical experience of it.

Although the King of Prussia signed the treaty on the 24th of August, 1864, as early as the month of February of the same year a relief society was formed at Berlin---the Central Prussian Society---which entered into active service the following month, the campaign of Schleswig-Holstein having commenced. This campaign, undertaken during the winter, had brought forth sufferings that forcibly invoked public attention. The Central Prussian Society, whose headquarters were at Berlin, made an appeal to the people, and in a few days had at its disposition 4,000 thalers. This certainly was not a very considerable sum; nevertheless the committee were prepared to make such, a judicious use of it that, from the commencement, the army felt the beneficent action of the institution, and shortly afterwards contributions in kind were received in sufficient abundance to relieve effectively the most urgent necessities. This committee found itself at the head of an institution without precedent in the military annals of Europe; consequently it became necessary for it to advance prudently and, if I may so speak, gropingly. It commenced by sending to the theatre of war one of its most distinguished members, Dr. Gurlt, professor in the faculty of Berlin. This delegate had more particularly for his mission the studying of the ways and means of transporting the wounded from the field of battle.

It was not long, however, before it was discovered that it was indispensable for the society to be represented in a permanent manner upon the field of operations. For this purpose Colonel de Malochowski and Major de Witje were sent as delegates of the committee, and, through the devoted activity of these intelligent men, a depot was immediately organized in the city of Flensburg, the very centre of military operations, so that lint, instruments of surgery, bedding, medicaments and alimentary supplies could be delivered to the surgeons of the army instantaneously and as they required them.

Although the number of wounded did not exceed the foresight of professional men, yet the military hospitals contained more sick and wounded than the space which they could dispose of admitted, and considerable mortality followed. In presence of this fact the relief society appealed to all the rural proprietors of Schleswig-Holstein to ascertain if they could be disposed to receive at their homes wounded soldiers. To this appeal the population responded with such eagerness that it was impossible to accept all the offers made. From that moment overcrowding ceased in the hospitals, wounds healed more regularly, and the proportionate rate of mortality decreased considerably. In addition, the central committee, with resources still restricted, found the means of delivering sums of from 20 to 100 francs to most of the invalids who left the hospitals.

Such were the acts which the Prussian Sanitary Commission was able to accomplish during the Schleswig-Holstein war. We do not see in this, it is true, brilliant and unexpected results like those which signalized the beginning of the United States Sanitary Commission; still it would be unjust to disparage the spirit which the people exhibited, from the commencement, in a work for which they were not prepared. The central committee of Berlin accomplished, in a sphere restricted in appearance, a very great and very considerable work considering the resources which it possessed, and the novelty of the enterprise which it was inaugurating before attentive Europe. I purposely say that Europe was attentive, for we must not forget that at the time when the central committee entered upon its work, the statutes of the Geneva conference were still untried, and the realization of the principles which they enunciated appeared scarcely probable, if not. impossible, to some of the persons who had assisted at the debates of the conference. Consequently great interest was attached to the enterprise attempted by the Prussian Relief Society, and the happy results obtained, have strongly contributed to the conclusion of the international treaty which was signed in the city of Geneva.

After the Schleswig campaign the central society, faithful to an article of that treaty, remained in active service with a view of preparing, during peace, the means of succoring the wounded when war should again break out.

The services rendered by the Prussian Sanitary Society were appreciated by the war department to such an extent that after the Schleswig-Holstein campaign, and in time of peace, the government not only resolved to protect this institution, but to give it a greater development. As early as the month of April, 1865, the central committee was advised that the King and Queen took the work under their immediate protection.

In April, 1866, when the political horizon was darkening with storm-clouds, and minds accustomed to sounding the future foresaw the possibility of a conflict with Austria, the Prussian Society received from the King the right of corporation. This was a great privilege, for from the moment it was recognized as a corporation by the state, its individuality was established, and it possessed thereafter the power of selling and buying, of building and endowing, of pleading and defending.

At the same time the government made known that it would be desirable for the central committee, whose headquarters were at Berlin, to become for the future the central organ of public charity, in order to avoid the conflict and confusion which had marked the first efforts of the society at the commencement of the Schleswig campaign. After these different communications with the government, and especially after the proclamation in which King William called all Prussia under arms, the central committee modified its statutes and addressed to the nation an energetic appeal.

On all sides local relief societies were organized, which attached themselves to the mother society; and gifts in money and supplies were sent forward to Berlin from all parts of the monarchy.

When I visited the Prussian capital, (the war was then at its height,) the central depot of this institution was established in one of the most opulent quarters of the city; but the premises appeared to me a great deal too limited for the use to which they were destined. Offerings had arrived there in abundance; enormous boxes obstructed the passages; objects of every nature, mattresses, oil-cloths, instruments, bandages, were lying about without order on the stairways. In the same rooms persons were busy in receiving the supplies which arrived, and in shipping others to the theatre of war; the workmen who packed labored side by side with those who were unpacking. They were nailing and shouting; the noise of the hammers mingled with the voices of superior employers, who were replying to the comers and goers; orders and demands were addressed on all sides, and at times violent discussions arose. While contemplating the noisy and somewhat confused scene which presented itself to me at the central depot of Berlin, I could not dispel a sentiment of sadness in thinking how easy it was in the midst of such a tumult for an order to be misunderstood or an urgent expedition retarded. For in like occurrences, does not the least delay or the least error compromise hundreds, if not thousands of existences? I may add, however, that my apprehensions were not well founded, and that after having seen closely the difficulties in detail against which the central committee had to contend, I have been only the better able to appreciate the great things accomplished, and to recognize with what promptitude, with what order and precision it distributed the treasures of which it was the depository. It is proper also to remark that, to enlighten it upon the needs of the army and to aid it in producing the greatest amount of possible good, the central committee had at its side an essential organ; indeed, as soon as it was realized that war was inevitable, the central committee put itself in correspondence with Count de Stolberg, whom the government had just named commissary general ---and inspector of the volunteer hospital service of the Prussian army. The nature of the organization of the Prussian Society will be perhaps more clearly indicated by the following extracts from its constitution:

"The central committee has its headquarters at Berlin; provincial and parish societies are considered as subdivisions of the Prussian Society.

"The central committee maintains a constant and regular correspondence with the provincial and parish societies.

"The supreme direction of the corporation is intrusted to a central committee, charged at the same time with representing the Prussian Society abroad.

"This committee is composed of at least 24 members, 15 of whom must reside at Berlin.

"The government appoints three commissioners to the central committee, who have for mission to aid the committee by their counsels, to serve as mediums between the society and the war department, in order that the committee may distribute its succors according to the wants of the army, and connect its hospital and sanitary service with that of the ambulances and hospitals of the army. The commissioners of the government are considered members of the committee and take part therein."

Hardly had war been inaugurated before the central committee of the Prussian Society had the opportunity of demonstrating to all how powerful was the organization created by the corporation, and with what favor its appeal to patriotic and humane sentiments had been received by the entire nation.

A detachment of Prussian troops had marched to meet the Hanoverian army which was moving towards the south, in order to effect a junction with the Bavarian troops. The shock between the Prussian corps and the main body of the Hanoverians was very violent; both sides fought with extreme obstinacy, and the contest lasted for five hours. The Prussians, after displaying prodigies of valor, were obliged to fall back, which they did in good order. The Hanoverian army experienced enormous losses; and the day, although glorious for the flag of Hanover, proved dearly the inutility of a prolonged struggle against the Prussian forces. The Hanoverians retired upon the town of Langensalza, and the Prussians camped in the neighborhood. The bloody combat was not yet terminated when the insufficiency of the resources which the Prussian medical corps could dispose of was felt in a cruel manner; and as to the resources of the Hanoverians, they were nearly nothing.

Such was the situation when the royal commissioner to the central committee of the Prussian Relief Society, Count de Stolberg, received information at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon that there were 1,500 wounded at Langensalza who were absolutely in want of bread. Immediately the central committee, with a most commendable activity, responded to the call; after midnight three special convoys left the Berlin station, bearing the succors of the Sanitary Society to the field of battle. Among the supplies sent forward were 1,072 bandages, 150 plaster preparations, 4 bottles of chloroform, 124 mattresses, 150 compresses, 500 shirts, 102 towels, 100 pairs of socks, lint, slippers, wadding, drawers, surgical instruments, chocolate, and a host of other things destined to relieve or revive the wounded. We see that the committee had shown itself provident, and was ready at the first appeal to fulfil its duty, nobly and worthily.

One of its members accompanied the expedition, as also eight physicians, and several male and female volunteer nurses, among whom were six deaconesses of the Institution of Protestant Sisters. At Magdebourg several other physicians and nurses united themselves with the members of the Relief Society. The central committee had taken care to telegraph to the local committee of Gotha an order to prepare vehicles for receiving the supplies shipped, so that no delay was encountered, and the convoy reached the little town of Langensalza early in the morning.

No one was prepared for so terrible a carnage; the hospital service was wanting not only in nurses, but, strange to say, it did not even possess the necessary material for arranging a single ambulance hospital; so the wounded Hanoverians and Prussians were placed upon such straw as could be hastily procured; some were lying upon the ground, few were they to whom a bed, furnished with a straw matting, had been given. The army surgeons, exhausted by fatigue, were distressed at the sight of so much suffering which they were powerless to alleviate. We may judge then of the satisfaction experienced when they saw the arrival of a long train of wagons which brought them all those different things so munch needed: bedding, lint, bandages, compresses and provisions. We may fancy their gratification when they saw coming to their aid the male and female nurses, and the physicians the Relief Society had sent. Every thing was soon transformed, and a better aspect of affairs followed. All the wounded Prussians and Hanoverians were installed in good beds, order was established and anxieties ceased.

It has been shown with what intelligence and energy the central committee of the Prussian Society gave aid and assistance to the medical department of the army at the first conflict between the hostile forces. Yet that was, so to speak, only the first trial made by the institution of its forces. From that moment it became conscious of what it could realize, and when graver and more decisive events occurred to astonish Germany and Europe, almost immediately after the combat of Langensalza, the Prussian Society proved in a splendid manner the great services a work based upon the free co-operation of a united people can render in such solemn moments.

The Prussian troops had penetrated into Bohemia by the narrow defiles of Saxony and Riesengebirge. A series of bloody battles had conducted them to the banks of the Elbe before the fortress of Königgratz. Here upon the hills and in the vast plain which are near that city the grand and memorable battle took place, which will remain in the annals of history as one of the greatest events of the 19th century.

More than 500,000 combatants confronted each other on the morning of the third of July. The shock was terrible; from eight o'clock in the morning until five in the evening the roar of camion was incessant; and when towards evening the King of Prussia, who had directed the battle, put himself in pursuit of the formidable Austrian army that he had just conquered, more than 40,000 wounded strewed the immense space which stretches front the village of Sadowa to Cilium, and from Nechanitz to the fortress of Königgratz. We may easily fancy the work which the Austrian and Prussian surgeons had to do on this bloody day; the Prussian surgeons particularly, for we must remember that the Austrian army in its retreat left almost all its wounded upon the field of battle, abandoning to the generosity of the enemy the task of picking up and providing for them. The surgeons of the Prussian army did not fail in this duty; they took care of Prussian and Austrian with equal solicitude; in acting thus Prussia was not obeying a natural sentiment of generosity and humanity alone, but was fulfilling the engagements to which she had subscribed in signing the treaty of Geneva. I shall never forget a scene which I witnessed in the little village of Milowitz. In a wooden house, with about 20 other wounded, a young Hungarian soldier was lying, his leg badly swollen. There was evidently a bone fractured near the ankle, and the ball had remained in the wound; still there existed some doubt on this subject. Nothing could be more touching than the solicitude with which the surgeon-in-chief and the other physicians examined the patient. Mr. de Langenbeck, while probing the wound, addressed words fall of kindness to the sufferer; he encouraged him to support patiently a pain which he could not spare him. I followed with undisguised admiration the skilful hands of the surgeon, when suddenly turning towards us he said, "the ball is here." Then addressing himself to the patient, he added, "now, be at rest my boy, you shall soon return home to those who love you."

This fact is cited not simply to exhibit a trait of goodness and humanity, but because I believe that in a large number of cases an encouraging word renders less cruel the sufferings of time wounded in foreign countries, far from those who are interested in and attached to them. In hospitals where the sick are nursed by women, they will often find opportunities to speak of their homes and those they have left there; but in the military hospitals that I visited in the villages of Bohemia, there were none of these women by the bedside of the wounded. To see the gentleness and the goodness of the nurses and physicians, one would say that they wished to give their patients the same care and attentions that Sisters of Charity would have shown for them.

At the very moment when the first battles took place in the defiles of Saxony and Bohemia, the committee sent forward to these countries a shipment of medical and sanitary supplies having a total weight of more than 50 tons, together with 440 casks of wine. The convoy arrived at Gitschin the day before the battle of Sadowa, and the King of Prussia, after having personally conferred with the members of the committee that followed it, ordered that the material should be distributed in the field hospitals which had been established in the different places where the Prussians had been victorious, from Nachod to the town of Gitschin. A part of the goods, nevertheless, was reserved for the wounded that were constantly brought back from the different battle fields. The convoys of wounded formed a long line of carriages advancing slowly and with difficulty. When the delegates of the society met these wounded a sad sight was offered them: in heavy wagons men were lying upon straw, who, after having received a first dressing of their wounds, had remained from 30 to 48 hours without food. All the resources of the country had been exhausted, and one cannot think without shuddering of the fate which would have inevitably befallen a portion of these men if the commissioners of the Relief Society had not arrived there at the decisive moment to offer provisions to the sufferers and recall them, as it were, to life.

A few days after, a more considerable train started out from Berlin. The battle of Sadowa had been fought, and the Prussian army was moving rapidly upon Vienna. Another battle not less bloody was anticipated, and it was necessary at the same time to face the double exigencies of the moment. One of the convoys, forwarded by the society on receiving the news of the great battle, had an approximate value of $60,000, and among the things were four tons of ice, destined for the service of the hospitals. The committee sent forward every day, during a fortnight, a train of supplies for Bohemia. To introduce order in an enterprise so great and so difficult, the necessity was felt of establishing grand depots upon the very theatre of operations, from these the field hospitals could be aided according to their wants, and relief carried promptly to the wounded wherever a serious engagement should demand the solicitude of the society's delegates. Such depots were speedily organized at Turnau, Gitschin, and especially at Koeniginhof, Trautenau, Brunn, Pardubitz, Wurzburg, and Wertheim. But in spite of the precautions and wise measures which the central committee had taken, the supplies destined for the army of Bohemia often experienced unfortunate delays on account of the incumbrances which existed on the railways. I could not resist a feeling of sadness at the sight of the numerous wagons which remained whole days in the railway stations from Dresden to Prague. These delays were the more lamentable from the fact that, while considerable shipments of provisions were spoiling in the stations, pressing wants were felt in the hospitals of Brunn and the vicinity, where the cholera was raging with violence.

The states allied to Prussia also placed at the disposition of the central committee the products of public benevolence. The free city of Bremen, for instance, despatched to Berlin at one time $8,000 in specie, 400 casks and 1,300 bottles of wine, 380 bottles of port, 900 pounds of tobacco, 47,000 cigars, 2,000 pounds of sugar and 1,000 pounds of rice; the days following, shipments as considerable arrived from this same city and the Grand Duchy of Oldenbourg, while the city of Hamburg sent immense quantities of ice.

The central committee distributed with intelligence and without parsimony the resources it possessed. After the battle of Sadowa, and shortly after the treaty of Nickolsbourg, it made a shipment to Prague which, by its proportions, reminded me of those forwarded at times by the United States Sanitary Commission to the federal army. This train or convoy was composed of 22 wagons, and I noticed among the supplies then sent 50,000 pounds of meat, 34,000 bottles of red wine, 1,500 bottles of cognac, 20,000 pairs of slippers, 5,000 flannel belts, 62,000 cigars, and a host of other things as useful as varied.

Independently of the depots where it stored its supplies, the Relief Society had organized at the principal railway stations, particularly at the branch line or junction stations, grand buffets, where its agents were busied in distributing succor to he wounded who were passing, as well as to the field hospitals established in the vicinity of these stations.

Pardubitz, for example, is a railway station on the line leading from Dresden to Vienna, and forms a point of junction for several branch roads. From eight to ten thousand men were in garrison there, and toward the end of July the military hospitals of the place were crowded with cholera patients. At this important point the society had established a principal depot, which was able to supply the hospitals with every thing necessary for their sick and wounded, and with all the food suitable for convalescents. In addition, it had fixed in the railway station one of these buffets of which I speak, in order to be better able to distribute its help to the troops that passed, or were temporarily stationed there. It gave daily to each soldier, convalescent or suffering, beef soup, meat, a large glass of wine, a small glass of cognac with sugar or fresh water, bread, cigars, and in the morning a cup of coffee and sweetened bread. From the month of May to July, the number of soldiers passing through Pardubitz and assisted by the society amounted, on an average, to 300 daily. Another branch of this kind, established at Bodenback, an important station on the railway from Dresden to Vienna, distributed in the same manner and in the same time, refreshments to 5,500 convalescents, and to 5,000 well men, fatigued from long travel. This branch establishment, intrusted to the direction of Mr. Auerback, a distinguished professor of Berlin, who had voluntarily offered his services to the society---this establishment, I say, placed each day 500 rations at the disposal of the troops who passed, and each ration consisted of a half pound of meat, a loaf of white bread, a goblet of wine, a small glass of brandy and a glass of sugared water, for the soldier in health; if the soldier was unwell or convalescent, he was offered another of soup or broth. It is to be regretted that in such cases these branch establishments did not have at their disposition the excellent beef extract of Borden, which makes one of the best broths that can be offered to convalescents.

At the end of the war the Prussian Society of Relief to the wounded had expended in specie a sum of about 2,000,000 of francs for completing its supplies of provisions and in relieving the wounded; on the other hand, it had received in kind and distributed articles of a value estimated at 6,000,000 of francs. Certainly these are considerable sums; but the intelligent manner in which these treasures have been distributed has, so to speak, doubled the value of them. It is proper to add, moreover, that if the society has been able to obtain so great results, it has been specially due to the energy and self-sacrifice of its agents, who have fulfilled everywhere, voluntarily and without remuneration, their noble and difficult mission with a perseverance as admirable as it was unfaltering. In justice we must also observe that the Prussian government seconded powerfully the efforts of the society in authorizing it to use gratuitously the railways, post and telegraph.

Besides the Prussian Society of Relief; there were other relief societies, such as the Society of Koenig Wilhelm, and the Society of Relief to the Army, which had likewise for their mission the succoring of the wounded. Endeavors were made, without success, to effect a coalition between these and the Prussian society; the Society Koenig Wilhelm nevertheless charged the central committee of Berlin with the distribution of relief in kind, which it forwarded to the army.

An institution that rendered great services in the hospitals during the whole war was the Order of the Knights of Saint John. This order, restored in Prussia in 1812, had until latterly been only honorary. It is still necessary to be descended from noble parents in order to become a member of it. Already at the time of the Schleswig-Holstein campaign the members of this order, recollecting the elevated mission of the ancient knights of Saint John, of whom they considered themselves the perpetuators, wished to be useful by consecrating themselves to nursing the sick and wounded. During the campaign against Denmark, the Order of Saint John had organized a sanitary service and had sent several of its members to the hospitals and to the battle-fields.

When the war broke out between Prussia and Austria, the former government conferred on the grand master of the Order of Saint John, Count Stolberg-Wernigerode, the title and powers of commissary general and military inspector of the volunteer hospital service. He was also appointed government commissioner to the central committee of the Society of Relief to the wounded. This society, through the earnest and cordial concurrence of Count Stolberg, contracted an intimate alliance with the Order of Saint John. A member of the order received the special mission of maintaining relations of fraternization between the society and the order of knights. By this union the Relief Society was enabled to extend its operations greatly, for everywhere upon the wide field of events the Knights of the Order of Saint John were present as delegates of their grand master. By a special combination these knights were almost always delegates at the same time of the Relief Society. It was these knights who were most frequently placed at the head of the numerous depots which the society had established in Austria; it was they who, in their quality of hospital volunteers, acquainted the Relief Society with the wants of the different hospitals in which they were serving.

The Order of Saint John is an evangelical Protestant institution. Throughout the whole war it did not cease to render eminent services; it generously accepted for its line of conduct the principles of the international convention of Geneva, and lavished its attentions without distinction upon friends and enemies.

Rivaling in zeal the Knights of the Order of Saint John were the knights of the Catholic Order of Malta. Associating themselves in the arduous efforts of the sanitary companies, the members of these two orders have courageously done their duty upon the battle-fields, and in the field hospitals, as well as in their quality of commissioners intrusted with conducting the trains sent by the Relief Society, and with distributing the supplies forwarded. I have remarked that the Prussian Relief Society had not succeeded in centralizing in its own hands the resources of the other analogous societies which were in operation at Berlin. It is proper to add, however, that there did not exist between these societies any antagonism, amid that all carried into the accomplishment of their task the same earnestness and the same ardor.

In Saxony, at the first news of the engagements that had taken place in Bohemia, several relief societies were voluntarily organized at Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Zittau. The women especially distinguished themselves by their eagerness in preparing lint, and placing at the disposal of the different committees which they had instituted, linen, refreshments, and provisions.

When the trains of wounded arrived at Dresden, such a number of women presented themselves at the hospitals that the medical officers had to intervene and refuse them access; they brought their offerings pell-mell, moved by a noble sentiment of compassion, but without order and without discernment. And then they demanded at times that the refreshments which they came in person to offer to the wounded should be given in preference either to the Saxons or the Austrians. Little by little order was established, the service of voluntary relief centralized, and, through the judicious efforts of the president of the Saxon society, the excellent and indefatigable General de Reitzenstein, they were enabled to distribute advantageously to all the wounded the relief in money and in kind which arrived abundantly from all the districts of Saxony. The regular hospital of Dresden having become insufficient, the military school and several other establishments, particularly a large public school, were converted into hospitals. Thus transformed, the latter building seemed to me to satisfy all exigencies as a well-aired and well-ventilated hospital.

The civil physicians of Dresden rivalled in zeal the military physicians of Prussia, and I doubt whether wounded soldiers ever received more intelligent and kinder attentions than those in the hospitals of Dresden. As much could be said of those in the hospital of Zittau, when the ablest physicians of the district came by turn to give their assistance to the military surgeons.

If we now direct our attention to Southern Germany, we there see also energetic endeavors to organize and centralize the sanitary service upon the principles of the Geneva convention, and even a certain tendency to profit from the example given by the United States Sanitary Commission. This tendency was manifested particularly in Wurtemberg, where several local relief societies were organized in the different towns of the kingdom as soon as the conflict appeared inevitable. The service of all these societies was centralized at Stuttgard under the direction of the Sanitaets Verein, an international society that was placed under the direct patronage of the Queen. There was, besides, a great enthusiasm in all classes of the population, on account of the energetic impulse given to the movement by both the King and Queen; indeed it could hardly be otherwise, since Wurtemberg had been one of the first powers to sign the Geneva convention.

The Queen manifested in this undertaking a continued and commendable activity. It was she, so to speak, who initiated the country into this humane work. By her efforts meetings were inaugurated at Stuttgard and in the principal towns of the country, in which all classes of society were made acquainted with the aim and utility of relief societies. And when the conflict had commenced, and hospitals were established to receive the wounded, the Queen did not fail in the duty which she had voluntarily imposed upon herself, but went frequently to stimulate by her presence the courage of the patients as well as the zeal of those who had spontaneously offered themselves to nurse them.

I have seldom heard more elevated and just views as to the part that sanitary institutions were destined to perform in time of peace and war than those which the Queen was pleased to communicate to me when I had the honor of conversing with her about the results accomplished by the United States Sanitary Commission. Never, she said, had she experienced a sentiment of greater satisfaction than when, having recognized how many services women could render to humanity, by taking part in the sanitary movement, she had consecrated herself to the mission of actively propagating the sanitary reform in her kingdom.

Through the concurrence of all those who, by their position or knowledge, could influence the population, the resources of the sanitary society rapidly augmented, and during the short campaign in which the troops of Wurtemberg were engaged, it was enabled to render important services in sending relief of every kind, as well as male and female nurses, to the field hospitals established at Fauberbischofsheim and the neighboring villages, after the bloody battles which had taken place upon the banks of the Mein. It even sent assistance to the wounded in Bohemia and to the hospitals of Vienna, of Berlin, and of Munich. In the Grand Duchy I noticed an activity not less intelligent, and an excellent organization of the international society of relief for wounded soldiers. But what is truly curious and specially to be observed is, that in the Grand Duchy it was, as in the United States, women who first had the generous thought of founding societies of relief to the wounded.

As early as 1859, the Badischer Frauenverein, an association of ladies of the country of Baden, was organized at Carlsruhe, through the initiative of the Grand Duchess Louise, with the object of succoring the wounded during a war which seemed imminent at that period. Although the threatened scourge was diverted, the association, which had spread throughout the country, continued in activity by adapting itself to the exigencies of peace, without, however, abandoning its primary object. The central committee, sitting at Carlsruhe under the presidency of the grand duchess, and having under its direction seventy-four collateral committees in the country, instituted, in 1861, a work which we cannot sufficiently recommend to the attention of other sanitary societies: it founded schools for nurses, in view of the attentions to be given to sick and wounded soldiers.

These female nurses are instructed in the hospitals of Carlsruhe, Pforzheim, and Mannheim. I see, in an interesting work which her royal highness has forwarded me, that these devoted women, after an apprenticeship of three months under the vigilant eye of physicians who give them daily theoretical and practical teaching, undergo an examination, and the central committee gives them a certificate according to their capacities. When they have terminated their instruction, those who return to their homes in the city or country remain, nevertheless, under the direction of the local sanitary committee. A part of the nurses stay in the hospitals, where they perfect themselves. Lastly, some occupy an establishment at Carlsruhe founded by the society, and nurse the sick at their homes gratuitously, in time of peace.

Such was the situation of this relief society when the international convention of Geneva took place, and to which the Grand Duchy of Baden was one of the first adherents. The end proposed to be accomplished had already been foreseen by the society of the ladies of Baden; it had even already organized one of the branches of service most strongly recommended at the congress of Geneva. So that there was no necessity of creating in the Grand Duchy a new association especially charged to represent the international convention.

But when, in the month of July, 1866, the hope of preserving peace had disappeared, the Grand Duchess Louise proposed to the Minister of War to intrust to the society, over which she presided, the functions of the international society. This demand having been accorded without hesitation by the grand ducal government, the Badischer Frauenverein became from that time a member of the international society of relief to the wounded, and it must be admitted that, during the war, it constant constantly proved itself equal to its mission, and has worthily fulfilled the noble duties intrusted to it.

From the time when the Baden troops first began to experience the fatigues of forced marches, even before they had engaged in the combats of the Mein and Tattler, the international society, under the presidency of the grand duchess, ably seconded by the Princess Wilhelm, displayed a continued activity.

To stimulate the zeal of all, the grand duchess, accompanied by the princess, was seen to labor with the other ladies of the committee, in overlooking with extreme attention and solicitude the operations of the society. From the commencement of the campaign relief in abundance reached the army---cigars, eatables, and refreshments of all kinds; but after the engagements of the 25th and 28th July, in which the Baden division had taken part, the central committee of Carlsruhe forwarded to Wertheim and Tauberbischofsheim a number of its female nurses, who rendered eminent services in the temporary hospitals, where wounded Prussians, Bavarians, Wurtembergians, and Badners were lying side by side. "They fulfilled," says the work we have cited, "their arduous duties to the full satisfaction of the physicians and the wounded, and succeeded in conquering the distrust which they encountered at their arrival. Some of them belonged to the highest classes of society. Besides the services which they rendered, their excellent influence, full of gentleness, the order which they knew how to organize in the small hospitals committed to their care, and the consolation which they infused into the hearts of the suffering, bear evidence how important it is that women of education and refinement should consecrate themselves to the care of the hospitals. The assistant surgeons, whose work in attending the wounded was too laborious for women, gained much by association with the lady nurses, and fulfilled their difficult duties with more zeal and consideration."

The resources which the association possessed, by reason of the emulation which the central committee had inspired in the country, were so considerable, that at the end of the campaign it had forwarded assistance to Bohemia, to Vienna and Bavaria, to be distributed there in the military hospitals.

In Bavaria, also, the sanitary movement was extensive; and there, too, were associations, of women especially, which organized the service of relief to the wounded; and, by the active intervention of these associations, the surgeons of the Bavarian army, after the affair of Kissingen, had at their disposal a large quantity of lint, linen, bandages, and instruments, at the same time that refreshments and provisions of every kind were sent to the hospitals.

After the battle of Sadowa, most of the wounded who had not been abandoned to the care of the Prussian army were transported to Prague and Vienna; the former having been left in the hands of Prussian physicians, public solicitude was directed principally to the multitudes of wounded in the capital.

From the beginning of hostilities, an association which had already been in operation during the campaign of Holstein, re-entered upon active service with increased vigor and under a new form. It was called the Patriotischer Damenverein---patriotic society of ladies. As soon as war was determined upon, it placed itself under the presidency of Princess Schwarzenberg, and appealed to all persons in the empire known for interesting themselves especially in works of benevolence, in order to engage their participation in the association, and accord to it their earnest co-operation. The first reunion of the associated ladies took place at the princess's residence, and numbered only twenty-seven persons. A few days later, however, a second meeting assembled forty, who undertook to procure a thousand florins each for the society. They exerted themselves with so much zeal and devotion that, shortly after this second reunion, the society had at its command a sum of 110,000 florins instead of the 48,000 which it had asked for. When the trains of wounded arrived, the Emperor placed at the disposition of the Patriotischer Damenverein two physicians, one of his palaces in Hungary to be used as a hospital, and surgical instruments; while the Sisters of Charity, ever present where there are sick to be cared for, offered their services to the association.

Thus it was that the association of Austrian ladies became one of the principal sanitary societies of Austria, and rendered great services to the country, under the presidency of a distinguished woman, who had given imp to the society for hospital purposes her handsome palace, with its riding-house and stables. This lady undertook, besides, the lighting and warming of the establishment, so that the association was charged only with the expense of feeding the sick and wounded; it could consequently dispose of its funds more freely in favor of the sick and convalescent. The society gave to each convalescent on leaving the hospital Schwarzenberg---which contained 120 beds---10 florins; and to those who had suffered amputation of limbs, from 150 to 200 florins; to the officers, who left the château before they had entirely recovered, it gave, according to circumstances, 450 and even 650 florins. Notwithstanding these liberalities, it still possessed sufficient capital to assure to soldiers who had undergone grievous operations a life income of 60 florins.

But the solicitude of the ladies of this association was not confined alone to the Schwarzenberg hospital; even before the last sick of the temporary establishment were transferred to the hospital of the order of Saint François, one of the members, the Countess de Lowenthal, whose indefatigable exertion was the admiration of the population, had already called the attention of the society to this institution sustained by the liberality of the imperial family, and which the Emperor Maximilian had endowed with a sum of 21,000 florins. In this hospital of the order of Saint François, Madam de Lowenthal, by the attentions which she lavished upon the wounded, stimulated a laudable emulation among. the hospital employés, and is an additional example of the happy influence always exerted in such circumstances by the presence of ladies of refinement and position.

If this society of ladies rendered good services by the devotion of its members, the Patriotic Society, from which women were excluded, was the one, of all the Austrian institutions organized and in operation during the war, which most resembled, in its organization and manner of operating, the American society. It had its central committee at Vienna, and local associations in most of the cities of the empire. It selected its members among men of readiness and willingness in all classes of society; and, like the sanitary associations of Prussia and the United States, it had volunteer hospital corps organized, who were in waiting at the principal railway stations to give the first attentions to the wounded who arrived, and distribute refreshments -among them. Under the firm and able direction of its president, Prince Colloredo Mansfield, this association, having its origin in the free concurrence of the people, rendered such important services to the army, that one of the first measures of Archduke Albert, when he took command of the army of the north, was to make sure of its co-operation.

When, some time after the battle of Sadowa, I visited the Austrian sanitary establishments, the hospitals of Vienna were crowded with wounded, and in most of them, in consequence of insufficient light and ventilation, the mortality was very great. One hospital, however, contrasted advantageously with the others, by its cleanliness, the disposition of its halls, and its good ventilation. Yet it was an improvised hospital, called at Vienna the Holzhospital, because it had been established in a wooden edifice destined for an agricultural exhibition which took place at the Prater. This hospital was intrusted to a ladies' society under the presidency of Madam Ida von Schmerling. Founded the 20th of June, this society, called Damen Comite, had about fifty members. Some of these established themselves in the hospital confided to their care. They had a difficult task to discharge, for there were, in the large hall alone of the building, more than five hundred sick to provide for. This establishment, with a single story well aired and lighted, reminded us forcibly of the wooden hospitals such as were constructed in the United States.

The immense influence exercised by a proper ventilation in hospitals is demonstrated by the fact that in the establishment of the Prater there were but 12 cases of cholera, only two of which proved fatal, while the epidemic raged cruelly in the other hospitals. But a fact still more striking is, that out of 5,000 wounded, treated in that establishment, only 62 died. Besides, only two eases of mortification were observed, and cases of pyœmia were very rare. It is proper here to add that the director of this hospital, Doctor Abl, constantly gave proof of a zeal and intelligence beyond all eulogy.

At the conference of Geneva, the Italian members took an active part in the debates, and the King of Italy was one of the first to adopt the agreement emanating from these deliberations. As soon as the object of the convention had been determined, the medical society of Milan, under the inspiration of its president, Doctor Castiglioni, named a commission charged with preparing the statutes of a relief society. This commission engaged with spirit in the accomplishment of the task committed to it, and on the 15th June, 1864, the Milanese committee of the Italian Association of Relief for sick and wounded soldiers was constituted. This was not only the first Italian committee of the kind, but, in general, one of the first societies organized upon the principles of the Genevese convention. To justify its name of Milanese Committee of the Italian Society, a name which indicated that it was only a member of a society more vast and important, the committee of Milan made a spirited appeal to all the medical societies of Italy, urging them to follow its example and build up relief societies. At the same time that it communicated its statutes to the medical societies, it published them and invited citizens of all classes to give their co-operation in the projected work. This appeal was heard; relief societies were organized at Bergamo, Como, Cremona, Pavia, and Monza; these local associations adopted the statutes of the Milanese committee, and with unanimous consent recognized the Committee of Milan as central committee of the Italian Society of Relief for the wounded, which had the good fortune of inaugurating 'the international sanitary movement in Italy.

The entire work was placed under the patronage of King Victor Emmanuel, and under the presidency of Doctor Castiglioni, the efficient president of the Milanese committee, of which the prince royal was honorary president. From the outset, the society busied itself actively in completing its organization, and in obtaining materials and money in order to be ready to fulfil its duties should its services be needed.

The central committee, by reason of its foresight and prudence, found itself ready to accomplish worthily the duties incumbent upon it, when the events of 1866 happened to bring into play all the energies of Italy. At the approach of the danger several other relief associations were founded in localities where their organization had been neglected (luring peace; and all these societies, those of Ancona, Leghorn, Naples, Ferrara, Turin, and Florence, operated in conjunction with the Milanese committee, which they considered as the central committee of the association. Still, at the very period when the war broke out, an incident occurred which sensibly touched the friends of a work that, before the eyes of the whole nation, was about to test its power and decide a question strongly controverted then in Italy: namely, whether relief organized by the free concurrence of the citizens could really produce the grand results expected of it. The incident to which I make allusion was the proposition to give to the society two centres of operation, one of which would remain at Milan, and the other reside in the committee of Florence. The partisans of this duality supported it by considerations which were not wanting in strength. They alleged that, if the enemy crossed the Po, the communications of the Milanese committee with southern Italy would be destroyed; but that so long as this event was not realized, it was useful to have a centre of action at Milan, situated nearer the theatre of operations.

On the other hand, the opponents of this proposition observed how dangerous it was to introduce a schism in the administration of the society at the very moment when it should exhibit the extent of its power; and to better demonstrate the propriety of having only one central committee, whatever might be the number of local societies and the importance of the work, they referred to the fact that the Sanitary Commission of the United States, which had counted 30,000 committees and had possessed riches to the amount of 125,000,000 of francs, had, notwithstanding, but one central committee, that established at Washington. These considerations they urged should necessarily present themselves forcibly to every mind ; but there was still an objection to the measure proposed, not less weighty, and that was, as remarked by Doctor Castiglioni, that the Milanese committee having already been recognized by all the other local societies as the only central committee, it would evidently create confusion in the society at the very moment of action to introduce the element of duality.

After lengthy discussions, and in spite of the opposition of several societies, it was finally arranged in such a manner that the committee of Milan remained the centre and representative of the Italian society in relation with the International Committee of Geneva. But in Italy it operated in reality, during the war, only as central committee of the local societies situated beyond the Po; while, by the very force of circumstances, those of central and southern Italy assembled around the Florentine committee. Yet, although forming two centres, the two committees of Milan and Florence remained united in close relations, and their actions were always concerted in such a manner that the relief service did not suffer by their common independence.

During the whole war the Italian Relief Society exhibited a remarkable activity and intelligence. In all the provinces of the kingdom, but particularly in those of the centre and north, there was an enthusiasm and an emulation which did not cease for a single day. The physicians distinguished themselves by their zeal and readiness to enlist under the glorious banner of the society. During the days of Custozza, they were seen upon the field of battle succouring the wounded, and, faithful to the mission of the society, attending Italians and Austrians indiscriminately. The ambulance service of the society also was well organized. The employés of each division of the service consisted of a superior sanitary officer, two assistant sanitary officers, an administrator chosen in preference from the clergy, a chief nurse and eight assistants. The material consisted of the flag of the international society, ambulance satchels, medicine chests, litters so arranged as to be used as tents when required, plain litters, sacks, bottles and goblets in wood to be used by the wounded for drinking, cases of surgical instruments, and several varieties of baskets, for carrying these objects in carriages or on horseback.

The ambulances of the society rendered great services to the regular army and to the volunteer corps; and the assistance in provisions and linen, which the committees of Florence and Milan distributed in the hospitals, prove in a striking manner that all classes of Italian society also understood the grand role reserved for individual initiative, when it became a question of succoring the wounded and cheering the victims of war. And here, as elsewhere, it was the women especially, who, by their courage, their energy and devotion aided the Relief Society to do all that it accomplished. At Milan, Florence, Turin, and Ferrara, they did not confine themselves to delivering lint, bandages, compresses and linen, but they were seen also, especially at Florence and Milan, constantly occupied in aiding the committees in the depots of those cities.

I have explained as minutely as possible at the present time the organization of the international relief societies which were in operation during the recent events in Germany and Italy, mentioning conspicuously the special services they have rendered. I have expressed unhesitatingly on more than one occasion the unfeigned admiration I felt at the sight of the devotion of volunteer physicians and nurses, the good will of sovereigns, and the intelligence and activity of the Committees placed at the head of these associations. But if I were now asked what improvements I have been able to observe in Germany and Italy, upon the work instituted as early as 1861 in America by the United States Sanitary Commission, I am compelled to acknowledge that I have nowhere seen a striking amelioration, or an improvement worthy of being signalized, either in the organization of the material of the ambulances, or in the personal composition of the sanitary societies. I will even say, and I certainly speak without partiality, that it is to be regretted that the experience acquired in the United States during four years of a murderous war was not turned to better profit; it is particularly lamentable that many of the excellent measures employed by the American Sanitary Commission were not adopted by the relief societies in Germany, and lastly that a good number of American inventions appropriate to the service of ambulances were not employed by the different committees.

A long study of the sanitary question, such as it appeared in America, having familiarized me with most of these inventions, I knew what services they had rendered the United States Sanitary Commission, and how much they had aided it to accomplish its glorious but laborious task; so that as soon as the idea of organizing analogous associations in Europe sprung up, and consequently long before the Austro-Prussian war, I had decided to assemble in a collection, as complete as possible, the numerous sanitary apparatus and objects whose utility had been acknowledged during the civil war by the American commission, in circumstances as serious if not more difficult than those produced by the late European conflict. Raving commenced, immediately after the close of the war in the United States, to gather the elements of this sanitary collection, I was already in possession of a large number of useful and interesting appliances when war broke out in Germany; so that when I went to the theatre of action, I made it my duty to call the attention of competent men to such of these inventions as, in my opinion, could be immediately introduced in the sanitary service of the relief societies. These communications, were everywhere favorably received; and I believe that if the war had continued much longer the associations of these belligerent countries would have been necessarily brought to make an application of a large number of these apparatus.

The war being ended, I could not choose a more favorable moment for inaugurating the American sanitary collection, of which I have spoken, than at the opening of the Universal Exhibition. It found there its natural place, in the international exhibition of the societies of relief to the wounded, since the collection was destined to offer to the consideration of the public the numerous and varied means by which the first and most extensive of relief societies had been able to realize the great object it had in view. In conclusion, I will mention that, since the last war which so agitated Europe, earnest and able efforts have been made to popularize in every country the idea of international societies of relief for the wounded. The benefits which these associations have spread broadcast during the war opened the eyes of a great power which up to that time had refused to sign the convention of Geneva: I speak of Austria.

To decide on the question, she had only to compare what had been one in Prussia. with what her own sanitary service had realized, notwithstanding the patriotism and good-will of the people.

As to Russia, it could not escape the penetration of the Emperor Alexander that, after a proof so decisive, most of the objections which had been raised against the expediency and efficacy of sanitary societies were dissipated. Russia has therefore officially adhered to the convention of Geneva. It may be said that the international sanitary work becomes now one of the most popular institutions of Europe, and I believe that in order to fortify, it, and furnish it with the means of accomplishing in a complete manner its noble mission, no more simple and ingenuous measure could have been taken than to invite to an international exhibition all the societies of relief for the wounded, organized upon the basis of the Genevese Convention.

Thanks to the initiative of the central committee of the French Society of Relief, which made a stirring appeal to the societies of other countries, this order, happy in every point of view, has been realized.

I repeat it, this reunion of all which, in different countries, has been devised for succoring the wounded soldiers, will be the most fruitful among the numerous measures adopted, up to this time, for propagating the international work of relief. Indeed, from the comparative study of the objects, apparatus, and hospitals which have been employed in different countries, the best types may be chosen among the different models presented, and useful inventions for sick or wounded soldiers will thus be adopted in countries where perhaps, without this exposition, they would have long remained unknown.

But this international exhibition will have still a result which, though less immediate, will not be less favorable to the progress of the work, whose success constitutes the object of my most ardent wishes. I allude to the good which must necessarily result for the work from the simultaneous presence at this exhibition of most of the eminent men who take all active part in the labors and operations of relief societies, both in America and in Europe. These men, by exchanging their ideas, hopes, and studies, will mutually enlighten each other upon the objects of their common solicitude, and, no doubt, will carry to their respective societies new and fertile ideas. As additional proof of the reasonableness of this hope, we see that from the intercourse of these men an excellent idea has already been developed, and one to which those who wish sincerely the development of the sanitary work will not refuse their concurrence. We allude to the international conferences of the societies of relief for the wounded, which took place during the Universal Exhibition.

In those international conferences of the relief societies of Europe and of the United States, scientific questions were discussed from a sanitary point of view, and long sittings were devoted to the study of serious improvements relating to the work. About 50 delegates, representing societies organized in different countries, took part in the interesting deliberations which characterized those international reunions, and obtained the following principal results:

A project for certain modifications in the text of the Geneva treaty of 1864 was unanimously adopted. This project could not fail to be favorably and unanimously accepted, since its principal aim was to make participators in the benefits of neutrality those relief societies which were not in existence when the convention in vigor established the principle of the neutrality of hospitals and their attendants.

Doubtless all the powers signing that treaty will readily and cheerfully give their assent to the modifications proposed by the late international assembly.

In order that the neutrality accorded may be better appreciated, and the result of the conferences fully understood, I give the complete text of the convention agreed upon:

ARTICLE 1. Ambulances, hospitals, and all material destined to aid the sick and wounded, upon land and sea will be recognized as neutral, and as such protected and respected by belligerents.

ART. 2. The attendants of the hospitals and ambulances of land and sea, including the services of health, of administration and transport, as well as the religious attendance, will participate in the benefit of the neutrality.

ART. 3. The persons designated in the preceding article will be allowed, if they fall into the hands of the enemy, to continue to fulfil their duties in the hospital, ambulance, or vessel where they are placed. Under the enemy's authority they will still preserve their wages, &c.

This sanitary assistance will not be detained beyond the time required for the attention of the wounded, but the commander-in-chief of the victorious army or naval forces will decide when it may withdraw.

The sanitary and administrative service, as well as the wagons, ships, and all material in use of the wounded, will continue to operate upon the field of battle or in the waters where the combat has taken place, even after those places shall have been occupied by the victorious army or the naval forces. However, the wounded removed shall remain in charge of the conqueror. If the sanitary and administrative service should fail in the duties imposed by its neutrality, it shall be submitted to the laws of war.

ART. 4. The members of the societies for the relief of wounded soldiers in the land and naval armies of every country, as also their auxiliary attendants and their material, are declared neutral.

The relief societies will put themselves in direct communication with the headquarters of the armies or with the commandants of the naval forces, by means of representatives.

The relief societies, in accord with their representatives at the headquarters of the laud or naval forces, may send delegates who shall follow the armies or the fleets upon the theatre of war, and second the sanitary and administrative services in their operations.

ART. 5. The inhabitants of the country, as well as volunteer hospital attendants or nurses, who shall aid the wounded, will be respected and protected.

The commandants in chief of the belligerent powers will invite, by a proclamation, the inhabitants of the country to succor the enemy's wounded, as if they belonged to a friendly army or marine.

Every wounded soldier received and cared for in a habitation will serve as a protection for it.

Every vessel charged with receiving the wounded or shipwrecked will be protected under the colors mentioned in article 7.

ART. 6. The sick or wounded soldiers will be received and nursed, regardless of their nationality. Every wounded person fallen into the hands of the enemy is declared neutral, and must be turned over to the civil or military authorities of his country, to be sent home when circumstances permit and the consent of the two parties is obtained.

The convoys of the health service, with the persons who direct them, will be protected by an absolute neutrality.

ART. 7. A distinct and uniform flag amid pavilion are adopted for the hospitals, ambulances, depots of supplies, and the convoys of the health service in the laud and marine armies. They must be, in every circumstance, accompanied with the national flag or pavilion.

A badge is likewise admitted for the neutral service.

This badge will be delivered exclusively by the military authorities, who will create for that purpose certain regulations.

Every person illegally carrying the badge will be subjected to the laws of war.

The flag-ship's colors and the badge shall bear a red cross upon a white background.

ART. 8. It is the duty of the victorious army to overlook, as much as circumstances permit, the soldiers fallen upon the field of battle, to protect them from pillage and bad treatment, and to bury the dead in strict conformity with sanitary prescriptions.

The contracting power will take care that in time of war every soldier is provided with a uniform and obligatory sign or mark suitable to establish his identity.

This sign shall indicate his name, place of birth, as well as the army corps, regiment and company to which lie belongs. In case of death, this document must be taken off before burial and sent to the civil or military authority of the deceased's place of birth.

The lists of dead, sick, wounded and prisoners, shall be communicated, as complete as possible, immediately after the engagement, to the commander of the enemy's army by a diplomatic medium.

In so far as the contents of this article are applicable to the marine, it will be observed by the victorious naval forces.

ART. 9. The high contracting powers obligate themselves to introduce in their military regulations the modifications become necessary by reason of their adhesion to the convention.

They will order them to be explained to the land and naval troops in time of peace, and will see that they are included in the order of the day in time of war. The commanders-in-chief of the belligerent armies or navies will see to the strict observance of the convention, and will regulate for this purpose the details of its execution. The inviolability of the neutrality set forth in this convention must be guaranteed by uniform declarations, published in the military codes of the different nations.

Another question, equally important, was discussed and resolved by the conference. It became necessary to determine upon what basis should be founded the international centre of relief societies. It was decided, in principle, that a superior international committee, formed of the delegates of different societies, should sit at Geneva, and that a sub-committee, (international,) having its headquarters at Paris, should operate under the authority of the superior committee.

To give to the work at once a progressive and regular movement, a special commission was appointed to examine the propositions of the international committee of Geneva.

The international conference having decided that it would award prizes and medals, these honors were accordingly distributed to the promoters, protectors and co-operators of the international work.

From the preceding pages it will be observed that much has been accomplished. Much, however, still remains to be done through earnest effort and wise counsel, and I most sincerely trust that, as an effective means of realizing our hopes, these international conferences may be continued regularly after the Exhibition, both in France and other countries. May they, multiplying, call to the entire work the sympathy of every nation! Then, and then only, the relief societies will succeed in fulfilling completely their mission: that of mitigating the horrors of war, awaiting the arrival of a more advanced civilization to extirpate the terrible scourge.