Light should fall from behind and above: it should be equal for both eyes. An Argand lamp is best. Reading out-of-doors is harmful. The range of the eye should not be too short. Frequent rests do good. Light should be strong enough. The easiest reading should be saved for the evening. Reading during convalescence is hurtful. How to remove foreign substances from the eye. Cleanliness essential. 155 BILLINGS, J. S., M.D. PROGRESS OF MEDICINE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY More medical progress in the nineteenth century than in the two thousand years preceding. The surgeon does more and better work than ever: he can locate a tumour of the brain. Deformities ameliorated. Perils of maternity reduced. Blindness in many cases prevented. Human life lengthening. The prevention of disease has made great strides. Pure water-supply, proper drainage and sewerage. Diphtheria, typhoid and consumption are largely preventable. Scientific nursing introduced. Improvements in hospital construction and management. 161 HEALTH AND HEALING ESCAPE FROM PAIN: THE HISTORY OF A DISCOVERY SIR JAMES PAGET, M.D. [Sir James Paget was one of the most eminent English surgeons of the last century: his writings on surgical themes are of the first authority. The essay, the chief portions of which follow, appeared in the _Nineteenth Century Magazine_, December, 1879. The editor's permission to reprint is thankfully acknowledged. The essay is contained in "Selected Essays and Addresses," by Sir James Paget, published by Longmans, Green & Co., 1902. The same firm publishes "Memoirs and Letters of Sir James Paget," edited by Stephen Paget, one of his sons.] The history of the discovery of methods for the prevention of pain in surgical operations deserves to be considered by all who study either the means by which knowledge is advanced or the lives of those by whom beneficial discoveries are made. And this history may best be traced in the events which led to and followed the use of nitrous oxide gas, of sulphuric ether, and of chloroform as anæsthetics--that is, as means by which complete insensibility may be safely produced and so long maintained that a surgical operation, of whatever severity and however prolonged, may be absolutely painless.