"Very few. Most of them do not want to return to the ordinary life of Meccania, but occasionally the desire to be with some member of their family proves too strong for them. They are nearly all old people here now. None of the younger generation are attacked by the disease, and the authorities hope"--he smiled sardonically--"that in a few years the disease will have disappeared entirely." We first went to call upon Hospital-Governor Canting. He was in his office, which was comfortably furnished in very characteristic Meccanian taste. The chairs were all adjustable, and covered with 'Art' tapestry. The large table had huge legs like swollen pillars--they were really made of thin cast-iron. There were the usual large portraits of the Emperor and Empress, and busts of Prince Mechow and Prince Bludiron. There was the usual large bookcase, full of volumes of reports bound in leather-substitute, and stamped with the arms of Meccania. Governor Canting wore the green uniform of the Fourth Class, with various silver facings and buttons, and a collar of the special kind worn by all the clergy of the Meccanian Church. He was writing at his table when we were shown in. He greeted Kwang almost effusively and bowed to me, with the usual Meccanian attitudes, as I was introduced. "So you have brought your friend to see our system of treatment," he said, smiling. "It is very unusual for us to receive visits at all,"--here he turned to me,--"but Mr. Kwang is quite a privileged person in Meccania. If only there were more people like Mr. Kwang we should not be so much misunderstood, and the victims of so much envy, malice and uncharitableness. Still, it is a sad experience for you." "Do many of the patients suffer acutely?" I asked, hardly knowing what was the right cue. "Oh, I did not mean that. No, no, _they_ don't suffer much. But it is sad to think that men who might have been worthy citizens, some of them as writers, some as teachers, some even as doctors--men who might have served the State in a hundred ways--are wasting their talents and hindering the spread of our Culture." "It must be a terrible affliction," I said. "Do they not sometimes feel it themselves in their moments of clearness of mind?"