Place of meeting-Erie. The report was unanimously adopted. Dr. GEORGE C. BENNETT, of Erie, on the part of the Erie County Medical Society, thanked the Society sincerely for their selection of the city of Erie as the place for the next meeting. They would endeavor to extend to the members of the State Society a cordial welcome, and make their visit pleasant and profitable. The Auditing Committee to whom was referred the Treasurer's accounts made the following report : This is to certify that we have duly examined the accounts of WM. MAYBURRY, M.D., Treasurer of the State Medical Society, and find them to be correct, and that there is in his hands a balance due the Society of two hundred and thirty-two dollars and fifty-six cents. HARRISBURG, June 11, 1868. JOHN L. ATLEE, On motion, the report was received and ordered to be entered on the minutes, and the auditors were discharged. Dr. EDWARD WALLACE, of Berks, from the Committee on an alleged error in the minutes of the last meeting, submitted the following majority report, which was accepted and ordered to be entered on the minutes, and the Committee were discharged :— The Committee appointed to inquire into the correctness of the minutes of this Society held at Pittsburg in June, 1867, and published in the proceedings of that year (p. 169), in reference to the vote on Dr. MoWRY's resolution [on female physicians], beg leave respectfully to report that the minute on page 170, which reads, "Eight societies reported against Dr. MowRY's resolution, five in favor of it, one left discretionary, and twelve took no action," should read thus: "Six in favor, eight against, one discretionary, eleven no action." A. H. FISH, Dr. Loop, of Erie, said: E. WALLACE. Mr. President, I beg leave to offer, for reference to the proper committee, an essay on the cause and cure of prolapsus uteri, by Dr. C. F. PERKINS, of Erie County. Dr. PERKINS is one of the oldest, if not the very oldest, practitioners of medicine in the State of Pennsylvania; a man of high scientific attainments, who has a warm affection for his profession; a man venerable in appearance, having retained his faculties in fair preservation to a great age. He is a fine specimen of a physical organization kept by temperance, literary pursuits, and cheerfulness in good health. He is now sinking under the pressure of time, and we can only hope he will live to meet us once more when we meet again in Erie. I know I express the feeling of the members of our county society when I express a hope that some slight notice will be taken of this paper in the proceedings, if the Committee of Publication think it admissible. After some debate, it was, on motion, referred to the Standing Committee. Dr. PARRISH, of Delaware, offered the following, which was adopted : Resolved, That Dr. KIRKBRIDE, of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane, Dr. WORTHINGTON, of the Frankford Asylum, Dr. GIVEN, of Clifton Hall, Dr. CURWEN, of Harrisburg, and Dr. REID, of Dixmont, be requested to prepare an address on the legal and medicolegal definitions of insanity, with counsel to physicians as to how to diagnosticate it in private practice, and how to proceed wisely in procuring admission of patients to the several institutions over which they preside so successfully, and to publish the address in the medical journals and in the public papers, if they deem it proper to do so, at as early a day as may be convenient. Resolved, That the Secretary be instructed to transmit a copy of this resolution to each of the gentlemen named. Dr. WM. M. WALLACE, of Erie, offered the following, which was unanimously adopted : Resolved, That the thanks of this Society are hereby tendered to the Medical Society of Dauphin County, for their handsome and liberal entertainment of last evening, and for their kindness and courtesy so agreeably shown to the members of the State Society during our stay in Harrisburg. On motion of Dr. T. J. GALLAHER, of Alleghany, a vote of thanks was tendered to the Pennsylvania Central, Reading, Lehigh Valley, and Lackawanna and Bloomsburg railroad companies, which granted special favors and facilities to the delegates in attendance On motion of Dr. C. S. BOKER, of Philadelphia, a vote of thanks was tendered to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and the clerks of the House, for courtesies extended by them to the Society. On motion of Dr. J. L. STEWART, of Erie, a vote of thanks was tendered to the State Librarian, WIEN FORNEY, Esq., for the cour tesies which he extended to the delegates. Dr. T. J. GALLAHER, of Alleghany, offered the following, which was unanimously adopted : Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be and they are hereby cordially and respectfully tendered to the Governor of Pennsylvania and his estimable lady, for their kind reception of the Society at the Executive Mansion. Dr. DALE moved a vote of thanks to the retiring officers, which was adopted. On motion of Dr. J. L. STEWART, a vote of thanks was tendered to Dr. JOHN CURWEN, for his polite invitation to the delegates to visit the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane this afternoon. Dr. STEWART also moved a special vote of thanks to the efficient Permanent Secretary of the Society, Dr. Wm. B. ATKINSON, for his devoted labors in the interests of the Society, which was unanimously adopted. Dr. S. S. SCHULTZ, of Harrisburg, moved a special vote of thanks to the Treasurer, Dr. WILLIAM MAYBURRY, for the faithful discharge of duty, which was unanimously adopted. On motion of Dr. G. W. LANGFITT, of Beaver, the following was adopted : Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be tendered to the editors of the various daily papers in Harrisburg for publishing, and to the reporters for correctly reporting, the transactions of the Society. On motion of Dr. KING, of Pittsburg, the Society proceeded to install the officers elect. The President appointed Drs. KING and JOHN L. ATLEE as a committee to conduct Dr. CURWEN, the President elect, to the chair. The newly-elected Vice-Presidents then took their places. Dr. CURWEN, on taking the chair, said: GENTLEMEN OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA: Accept my most sincere and heartfelt thanks for the honor conferred upon me in placing me in the distinguished position to which I have been now called. Unaccustomed as I am to parliamentary usage, I must ask your indulgence, as did my honored predecessor, in the performance of my duties. I would only promise that, in assuming and in endeavoring to discharge the duties of this chair, I will do all in my power to aid the interests of the Society and promote the welfare of sound and rational medicine. The retiring President, Dr. GREEN, said: I hope you will allow me, Mr. President, to say that we have had a real good time of it. We have acted with the greatest harmony that could be desired. I have attended many meetings of the Society, and I must say that no gentleman has ever had the pleasure of presiding over a body that has conducted its business in a more harmonious and courteous manner than has this body, or with more pleasure to its officers and members. I am especially thankful to the Permanent Secretary (Dr. ATKINSON) and to the Recording Secretary (Dr. SCHULTZ), for their devotion and for their courtesy towards me. I shall always carry with me a most cheerful recollection of the meeting of 1868 in our State capital. Dr. J. L. STEWART made a brief but happy speech, tendering the hospitalities of the city of Erie to the delegates at the next meeting. That city afforded many facilities for convenience and enjoyment. On motion of Dr. GALLAHER, the Society adjourned, to meet in Erie on the second Wednesday in June, 1869, at 4 P.M. WM. B. ATKINSON, MEMORIAL OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. The Committee of the Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania, appointed to prepare a memorial to the Legislature "setting forth the number and condition of the insane of this Commonwealth, and the urgent necessity for more extended means for their proper care and treatment," would respectfully present the following facts and statements, drawn from the observation and experience of those who have specially devoted their time and attention to this unfortunate class of our fellow-citizens. The exact number of the insane in this State cannot be definitely stated, as no effort has yet been made to provide a full and careful enumeration of them, and it is therefore requisite to make an approximate estimate, founded on the known relation of the number of insane to the whole population. This number will vary with the length of time which has elapsed since the settlement of any particular community, the character of the inhabitants, and their occupation in the various trades and professions, and with various other causes, which tend to produce an artificial state of life in that community, with all its unnatural excitements and depressions. In older settlements the number will of course be greater than in newly-settled regions, and the average of the whole will enable a reasonably correct statement to be made. If, in the older portions of the State, the average be one insane person to every eight hundred of the population, and in the more recently settled parts, one in every twelve hundred persons-an average of these numbers will give one in every thousand of the whole population, and this will be found to be very nearly the correct number. The total population of the State will be very nearly, if not quite, 3,500,000. This number may be obtained by taking the number of taxables and multiplying by five; but, in addition to this, there will always be in our cities and in the mining districts a large number who are not taxables, but who require a large amount of care, and from whom come a very large number of those who are dependent upon the community for proper treatment in sickness from ordinary diseases, or in insanity. With this population, on the average before given, there will be 3500 insane in the State of Pennsylvania. But this number will not remain a constant quantity, nor will the restorations and the number of deaths be such as to give rea |