1838.] CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. 307 and Mr. Oakes to answer the complaint of Mr. Thomas, the secretary to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, being charged with the following act of brutality : J. Willy, one of the Society's officers, stated that he saw the defendant driving two donkeys, on which were a man and a woman. The one on which was the man tottered under its heavy load, when the defendant gave it several violent blows on the legs. He beat it thus for some distance, and so severe were the blows, that the poor creature reeled from side to side, and witness expected that the rider would fall. Upon examining the donkey, he found that the flesh under the saddle was raw and bleeding. The defendant was fined 11s. 6d. ; but not being able to pay, he was sent for 14 days' hard labour to Maidstone gaol. G. Turner was also summoned by Mr. Thomas for a similar offence. One of the Society's officers swore that he saw the defendant strike a donkey (on which was a woman) while it was going quite freely. He went down Single wall-lane, where witness followed him, when he struck the poor beast in a very wanton and cruel manner. The donkey kicked whenever it was struck, and appeared in great pain. When the defendant saw witness, he discontinued beating it. Under the saddle there was a raw place. The poor animal ought not to have been worked. The defendant said that he beat the donkey because it kicked him. Willy replied that the donkey did not kick till it had been most severely beaten. The defendant was fined 11s. 6d., and not being able to pay, he was sent to Maidstone goal for 14 days' hard labour. J. Kirk, another donkey-driver, was the next charged. Mr. Robert Oakes stated that he was walking near the Prince of Orange, when he heard the sound of very heavy blows. On approaching the defendant, he found him striking a donkey very violently, first on one side and then on the other, so that the poor animal reeled to and fro. He discontinued striking it upon seeing witness: but, upon his turning a corner, he repeated the blows. Witness then obtained the name and address of the defendant. Defendant (crying); I was told to beat the donkey by the rider; but it shall never be so again if you will let me off. The Mayor said, that trusting he felt for the situation he was placed in, and hoping that he would not repeat the offence, the bench would be more lenient than they otherwise would have been. The defendant was fined 5s.; which he paid, and was discharged. VACCINE INSTITUTION. COPY of the last Report from the National Vaccine Establishment to her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department. To the Right Hon. Lord John Russell, Secretary of State for the Home Department. MY LORD, The amount of deaths by small-pox this year, within the bills of mortality, has been less than in any former one since vaccination was first promulgated; but we are sorry to say that the disease has prevailed with its usual mortality in several parts of the country. The apathy under which some thoughtless people wait until danger from the small-pox be at their very door; the unreasonable distrust of others of the protective power of vaccination (notwithstanding the satisfactory experience of more than forty years over millions of mankind), and the artful schemes of unworthy inoculators, who avail themselves of such ill-grounded fears-all these circumstances contribute to countenance and to keep up the practice of inoculation, by which a perpetual source of contagion is supplied, to the great danger of those who have not already had the disease, or have not been vaccinated properly. A notion has been entertained by not a few, that the vaccine matter has lost its influence by time; but this 1838.] VACCINE INSTITUTION. 309 is not supported by the analogy of any other poison. The virus of small-pox itself has lost nothing of its force in the course of two hundred years; and we are enabled to state a strong fact, with perfect confidence, in proof of the efficacy of the vaccine matter at present-viz., that of more than seventy thousand vaccinated in descent with successive portions of the matter originally collected by Dr. Jenner, thirty-eight years ago, vaccination has manifested its peculiar influence in all; though of this number some hundreds have been subjected to the severest trials by exposure to small-pox in its most fatal form. No; it has not worn out its protecting property. The rarity of an example of disfigurement by small-pox now to be found in the theatres, in churches, or any large assemblage of the people, affords some proof of this; but unfortunately, it was propounded by its original discoverer too broadly, in recommendation of the novelty of vaccination, that any person might perform the operation successfully, when, as we confess, and desire to have it made known, that, to do justice to the merit of vaccination, it ought to be performed by well-instructed and skilful surgeons, who are able to discover whether there be any temporary ill prevailing in the habit of the patient to be submitted to it, in the form of a slight cutaneous eruption (for this will often render the body unsusceptible, for a time, of effectual vaccination); whether the prevalence of any epidemic disease may interfere with the success of the process; for it has been remarked by several experienced vaccinators, that the influenza of last year did make it necessary to repeat vaccination more than once or twice before it took its proper effect. Merely to have been vaccinated has satisfied multitudes of those who apply to our establishment for this protection against small-pox; and we cannot help lamenting that it is so difficult to prevail upon parents to bring back their children, at a proper distance of time, to ascertain whether the operation has been successful, or requiring to be repeated to ensure its efficiency. This board has been unremittingly occupied, and has supplied twenty thousand charges of lymph more this year than it has sent out in the course of any former one; and not only have our army and navy, and the colonies, been supplied, but most of the capitals of Europe have availed themselves occasionally of our resources, in which they express their entire confidence. We have, &c. (Signed) HENRY HALFord, President of the Royal College of Physicians. President of the Royal College of Surgeons. Senior Censor of Royal College of Physicians. SCHOOL GARDENS. Morning Herald. Ir might be advisable to attach to every parochial school, indeed to all schools, a small plot of garden ground, ornamented with flowers and most of the plants used for domestic purposes. It should be part of the master's duty to direct the attention of his scholars to the plants of the garden, teach them their history, describe their uses, and point out their culture. Any master could soon learn all that is useful to know of such plants, and this knowledge could be so imparted to his charge, as to cause little or no interruption to the other laborious exercises of the school. The instructions given as a recreation in the play-hours would be of great value, as knowledge is always more readily acquired by the young when it is possible to combine pleasure with mental exertion. As the parochial clergy are now so attentive to this taste for adorning their own dwellings, they would no doubt take an interest in such a plan, and encourage the love of it in the schoolmaster and his pupils. Such gardens, small in extent, might be laid out at little expense. They should be kept in order by the master, with the assistance of his scholars, who would soon take delight and interest in such occupations.-Horticultural Transactions. FRIENDLY SOCIETIES IN ANTIGUA. (Report of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.) As one mode of improving the condition of the labourers 1838.] SAVINGS' BANKS. 311 and mechanics on estates, the establishment of friendly societies, which has taken place to a considerable extent in this island, may reasonably be expected to produce very desirable results. The list of friendly societies in the different parishes, under the direction of the clergy, as returned in 1836, presents a total of no fewer than 4590 persons who had joined them, and whose punctuality in the payment of their contributions, even at a time when provisions were scarce and dear, affords a pleasing indication that the people are becoming steadily industrious. Every person must be aware of the connexion which subsists between frugality and other habits of still greater importance, among the humbler classes; and it is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to observe, that such institutions may become powerful auxiliaries in the advancement of Christian knowledge. SAVINGS' BANKS. MEN-SERVANTS are for the most part single; they are boarded, housed, and partly clothed; besides having wages. They are as liable to misfortune as a common labourer; and one thing is certain, that old age, if their lives are spared, will as surely come on them; they will then, it is more than probable, be obliged to quit their service: accustomed to a good house over their head, and I may say, also good living, poverty will be deeply felt by them. A workhouse would indeed embitter their remaining years. There is scarcely a maid-servant in any respectable service, who might not lay by something. Thus one shilling and sixpence a week in 20 years will amount to 110l. 12s. 6d. The interest is calculated at 31. 8s. 5d. per cent, the rate allowed by the act of parliament. No sums bear interest till they amount to 5s. There are many men-servants who, if they would but acquire the habit, would scarcely miss two shillings a week: this, in the same time, would produce rather more than 1477. A word of advice to such. Endeavour to have your money regularly-and pay it into the nearest savings' bank: there it will be safe, and will of itself go on increasing. |