He has told you that prior to vaccination, the annual death-rate of small-pox per million of population was 3,000. This was a rough estimate made by Sir Gilbert Blane and Dr. Lettsom. The value of this “estimate” may be judged of, when I tell you that prior to 1838, there were no complete statistics of mortality. Mr. Simon in his “Papers on Vaccination” at page lxviii says, “Till after 1837, _there could be no authentic knowledge of deaths by small-pox_.” Dr. Farr in the 30th annual report of the Registrar General says, quoting Dr. Watt, of Glasgow, a child had a better chance of reaching its tenth year in the last eighteen years of the last century when small-pox formed 20 per cent. of the whole mortality than it has now, when small-pox mortality is only two per cent. No one disputes that small-pox is less prevalent now than it was a century ago, but what gain is there? Dr. Farr says, “it is useless to bar the door against one form of zymotic disease, as small-pox by vaccination, while the _causes_ of zymotic disease are suffered to remain.” In 1863 scarlatina destroyed 30,000 in England, a mortality of 1,800 to each million persons living. In 1869 and 1870 the probability is that the mortality from scarlatina will reach 40,000 annually, shewing a death rate per million of 2,000, while small-pox will probably not exceed 70 to a million. Small-pox was a scourge in Europe a century ago. Now, scarlatina is the scourge, and this will continue. One or other form of zymotic disease will continue to exist while the causes which develope them remain. You gentlemen, who advocate vaccination as a preventive measure are in error—you begin at the wrong end—you aim not at taking away the cause, but prefer to contaminate the body with one disease, to prevent the subject from taking another, which is the result of filthy habitations, unclean towns, and bad sanitary arrangements.