attending the publication of this large work, amounting to several thousand pounds, was most liberally defrayed by the Honourable the East India Company, an incontestible evidence of the value attached by them to the researches of Mr. Annesley. By General Order, every regiment in India is furnished with a copy; it can therefore be consulted by the whole medical staff for minute particulars, whilst the possession of this smaller edition serves as a convenient manual, occupying but little space, a matter of no small moment as connected with military movements, and forms a guide to the Indian practitioner on the dissemination and treatment of those diseases which are brought under his notice, and demand his most serious attention.

Mr. Annesley returned to England in May, 1838, and entered largely into the society of those distinguished in Letters and in Science. In 1840, he was, upon my proposition, elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and in the same year also a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was likewise a Member of the Royal Institution, of the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the Statistical Society, and others of a similar character. He took an active part in the British Archæological Association, of which he was a Member of the Council until his decease. He attended the first Congress held in Canterbury, in 1844, and officiated as a Vice-President of the Section of Primæval Antiquities. He was ever foremost to promote any measure for the advancement of knowledge, and to relieve the necessities of his fellowcreatures, being a subscriber to various hospitals and other charitable institutions. In society, his demeanour never failed to command respect; his appearance was prepossessing, and his manners bland and courteous. He readily imparted

At my request, in 1832, he sat to the late Mr. Henry Room for his portrait, intended to accompany a short sketch I had written of him for "Medical Portrait Gallery." The faithfulness of this resemblance will be admitted by all who had the honour of his acquaintance.

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the information he possessed, and in a most happy manner detailed the various scenes with which he had been made familiar in India during the long period of his service.

Retirement from active duty did not in any degree diminish his zeal for his profession-on the contrary, his mind perpetually dwelt upon the means he could adopt to render himself still useful. Learning that it was the intention of the Statistical Society of London to collect materials relating to Vital Statistics, and to ascertain the amount of sickness and mortality among the native and European troops in the East Indies, he immediately placed at the service of that Society a variety of Returns he had prepared on that subject relating to the Madras Presidency. These Returns were formed upon his attentive observation of the prevalence of certain diseases in particular districts, and originally framed from a set of tables of medical returns, compiled by the Madras Medical Board from the public records contained in their office, and with which, by the kindness of Lieut.-General Sir Alexander Campbell, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army, he had been favoured. These embraced a period of seven years, extending from 1815 to 1821, and they formed the basis of what he published in 1825, in the work before alluded to, Sketches of the most Prevalent Diseases in the different Stations and Divisions of the Madras Army.

Appointed a member of the Medical Board upon his return to Madras, in 1829, he devoted himself to an examination of these records, and collected from them an amount of infor mation to be alone procured from the office of that Board. He continued these inquiries during the remainder of his residence in India, that is, up to 1838, contemplating the appropriation of this important matter as an addition to his already published large work, the Researches into the Causes, Nature, and Treatment of the most Prevalent Diseases of India. In the more portable edition of this publication now

presented to the public, the results of this inquiry are detailed (together with a variety of new matter, principally relating to the occurrence of different diseases in different localities); but in addition to the statements therein given, others will also be found, in a Report of a Committee of the Statistical Society of London, "appointed to collect and inquire into Vital Statistics, upon the Sickness and Mortality among European and Native Troops serving in the Madras Presidency, from the year 1793 to 1838." The labours of Mr. Annesley have herein formed the first part of this Society's Reports, and the value of such assistance has been duly acknowledged by the Council of that body. The first Report of the Committee will be found in the Journal of the Statistical Society, Vol. III., pp. 113-143. This subject was continued in a Second Report, Vol. IV. pp., 137-155, from a Committee who examined the documents collected and brought before them by Mr. Annesley, relating to the sickness and mortality of the European and native troops serving at Moulmein, on the Tenasserim coast; at Penang, Malacca, and Singapore.*

The distinguished services of Mr. Annesley were brought, as before mentioned, under the especial notice of the Directors of the Honourable East India Company as early as the year 1838. It was not, however, until the year 1844, that the Court of Directors proceeded to recognise and act upon this recommendation in an effective and honourable manner. This was done, and his merits duly acknowledged by the

A valuable paper on the Vital Statistics of the East India Company's Armies in India, European and Native, will be found in the "Journal of the Statistical Society," Vol. X., p. 100, drawn up by Lieut.-Colonel Sykes, F.R.S.; and, by a further paper from the same ingenious and active officer, Vol. XIV., p. 109, the Mortality and Chief Diseases of the Troops under the Madras Government, European and Native, from the years 1842 to 1846 inclusive. Compared with the mortality and chief diseases of 1847, it is shown that the mortality is materially lessened in modern times among the European troops, whilst that of the Native remains much the same.

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following letter from John Shepherd, Esq., the Chairman of the Board of Directors :

MY DEAR SIR,

East India House, 18th April, 1844.

It affords me much gratification to acquaint you that, in consequence of the communications made to the President of the Indian Board by my predecessors in the Chair, Major-General Sir J. L. Lushington and Mr. Cotton, representing your long and distinguished services as a member of the Medical Establishment of the Madras Army, Her Majesty has been pleased to signify her intention of conferring upon you the honour of Knighthood.

The Earl of Ripon, in announcing to me this gratifying result, upon which I beg to offer my sincere congratulations, has inquired whether, as there will probably not for a long time be an opportunity of conferring this honour at a levee, you would wish to be created a Knight by Patent. I have the honour to remain,

My dear Sir,

Yours very faithfully,

JOHN SHEPHERD.

James Annesley, Esq.

This is the first, and I believe the only instance, in which so honourable a distinction was ever proposed or conferred, and certainly no fitter person could have been selected from the whole Medical Service of India for so honourable a reward. The Knighthood was conferred by Patent, bearing date May 13, 1844.

Active as Sir James Annesley's labours continued to be, from the period of his return to this country, it is painful to add that they were pursued under circumstances of pain and suffering. The effects of a long residence in India, and of the arduous services in which he had been engaged, had much shattered a constitution, although originally strong

an affection of the heart-occasional attacks of congestionneuralgia in various forms—all disturbed his peace and threatened his safety. On more than one occasion I have been fearful of the sudden termination of his life, and so alarming were the attacks, that he was induced to take apartments in the Albany, that he might be near to me in case of necessity. Tic-doloureux, in an aggravated form (in some measure, perhaps, connected with an accident he had sustained by the running away of his horse in India), embittered his latter days, yet he maintained his good and cheerful spirits, and was loath to distress those around him by any complaint. It was clear, however, that his general strength was giving way, that his form was becoming emaciated, and the tic rendered his taking of nourishment oftentimes a very distressing operation. My friend Dr. Bright, with that kindness and solicitude which he so uniformly exercises towards all who consult him, laboured with me for his relief; and it is some consolation to me to know that we tended in some degree to the mitigation of his afflictions. The disease, however, gained ground, and he was induced to try the waters of Carlsbad. Thither he resorted in August, 1847, and under the advice, and by the direction of Dr. De Carro, commenced their use on the 25th. He continued this course until the 21st of September, when, having gained but little benefit, he quitted for Switzerland. He left Berne on the 9th of October, and reached Geneva on the 12th; but suspecting that being near the water occasioned more constant and severe attacks of the tic, he quitted it on the 16th for Aix-le-Bains, where he gave the Douche and Baths a fair trial, without producing any beneficial result. He afterwards travelled about, literally courting change with the hope of improvement. He arrived at Nice on the 5th of November, and remained there four days. Thence he proceeded to Genoa and Spezzia, where he took cold, and at Pisa his strength entirely broke down. He however reached