The exterior signs are lacking, and the interior, also."

These quotations will suffice to show how peculiarly severe Mme. Marholm is toward the masculine apostles of Feminism. They strike her as nothing more nor less than physical and moral bankrupts. As to the women whom they have converted to their unnatural doctrines, the whole force of her pen is directed against these refugees who attempt to escape from the bonds of their sex, but who are brought back sooner or later by avenging nature, to their happiness if they recover from their illusions in time, to their eternal misery if they persevere to the end in their self-conceited error. . . The woman who seeks emancipation by modern methods is a base deserter who abandons her past that she may escape the trials incident to her true destiny. She always wants to escape from the tutelage of man, often from the burdens of maternity, and, in the vast majority of cases, from the dependence and impersonality of her sex. But she commits an unconscious outrage against her own womanhood by so desiring, and "henceforth she must linger before the closed door of that innermost sanctuary which she has abandoned, listening in vain for the echoes of the divine rite, the sacred mysteries that are celebrated within. . . . Some few Revue des Deux Mondes.

force the door, enter, and surrender to their true masters. Others remain forever outside."

What women need is not to read, but to live, and to derive their subsistence not from the brain, but from the great feminine heart. We must return to our original instincts. An era of thought which has lasted for four centuries is now coming to an end, and there are many signs of a new era of feeling which will involve the supremacy of woman. Her mission is purely and simply the building of future generations. Let her glory in that mission which Mme. Marholm has certainly expressed by a noble formula, and all other things will be added unto her. Conjugal duties, maternal rightsthese, according to Mme. Marholm, are the sole ends toward which the activity of women can properly be directed, at least in principle. It remains for us to consider how far in her writings she has followed out the al conclusions of these patriarchal premises-whether she is not, unconsciously to herself, somewhat tainted by the spirit of the age in which she lives; finally, whether her writings, as a whole, leave the impression which she intended to produce, and are likely to effect the conversions which she so ardently desires.

Ernest Saillière.

Pall Mall Magazine.

Rosamund Marriott Watson.

Our army, as a whole, and in each of its branches, has been severely tested for several months. There have been many details of command and administration which apparently deserve to be criticised, though it is possible that, when the whole truth is eventually published, it may be found that the present weight of criticism may have to be readjusted or even removed altogether. Circumstances are sometimes stronger than organization, however perfect, or plans of action, however wellconceived. But there is one military department which has proved itself quite equal to the work that it has undertaken, in whose operations it has been impossible to detect the slightest flaw, and in which there has never been any friction or shortcoming. The medical service of the army has attracted the cordial admiration of Continental, and particularly Russian, military surgeons by its performance of duty in the field and the completeness of its arrangements, and this means a great deal, as almost every other branch of the army is, whether rightly or not, judged unfavorably. It is a good thing when others see us as we would wish to be seen, and "Maga" most cordially joins in the chorus of foreign approval, and wishes to direct attention to noble work nobly done. It is in the highest degree satisfactory to see a perfect organization perfectly successful in the ends for which it has been framed, and those who are responsible for it ought not to lack their meed of public appreciation.

There is no question but that the Royal Army Medical Corps (the department of which we speak) is animated just now by a very special desire to deserve well of England. Some years ago, and for a long time previous

ly, the Army Medical Department, admirable and deserving as it had always proved itself, had been left by the country's government in a most anomalous condition, both as regards rank and privilege. It had been systematically snubbed, and its professional and military pride had been gravely injured. Its officers were justifiably disheartened, and the service had lost its attraction for the best young men from the medical schools. In December, 1896, "Maga" took up the cudgels in its behalf and summed up the subject in a manner which, she is proud to believe, gained the gratitude of the department, and had some influence in moving the authorities to make necessary reforms. A due military rank was subsequently granted to the medical officers, and they, with their men, were formed into a special corps bearing the proud distinction of "Royal." Although it is certain that this concession should be by no means final, and that, in many details, there yet remains much to be done, it has given the highest satisfaction to our army surgeons, and, in order to show themselves worthy of honor, they are, if it were possible, more anxious than ever before to strain every nerve in the performance of duty. They can never have to submit to a higher trial than that which is being given to them by the present

war.

Few people realize completely what is the work that the Royal Army Medical Corps has to do, how vast are the responsibilities committed to it. Let it then be understood that from the time when a severe campaign is in full swing, the most moderate estimate of the number of the sick and wounded to be dealt with is ten per

cent. of the total forces employed. If we have 100,000 men in the field, there will, at any given time, be about 10,000 in the care of the R. A. M. C. While soldiers are effective for fighting purposes, they are distributed in regiments, battalions and batteries; in brigades, divisions and armies. The moment that they are stricken by disease or become victims to the enemy's weapons, they pass into another organization. They become medical or surgical cases, and are on the strength of one or other of the established posts over which floats the red-cross flag. Every one of these posts has its special object, from the hurried relief on the battlefield itself, the careful examination and treatment at some neighboring spot, more or less sheltered from the enemy's bullets, up to the completelyfitted field hospital and the still more elaborate hospital at the base of operations. It is worth while to examine all of these, and to see what share each takes in the saving of life, the mitigation of suffering, and the possible restoration of a soldier to his place in the fighting line.

First, for the battlefield every unit (regiment, battalion, or brigade division of artillery) has attached to it an officer of the R. A. M. C., who accompanies it wherever it goes, and is ever at hand to give instant attention when casualties occur. These gallant gentlemen are as much exposed to the enemy's fire as any of the combatants, and they practise their profession coolly and deliberately under circumstances the most trying to nerve and mental equilibrium that can well be conceived. To their valor is often due the preservation of a life that is ebbing away or the saving of a limb that would otherwise be lost. Even if the case is beyond the aid of science, who can gauge the great reduction of mortal agony that may be the work of their tender and skilful hands? After the first attention has

been paid to the wounded, they are removed by the regimental stretcherbearers to the "collecting station," a spot as near the fighting line as possible, but to a certain extent sheltered from the enemy's fire. NO surgical work is done here; but the first line of ambulances is in waiting, and receives the victims of war for carriage to the "dressing station." And now we come to the work of another item of the system, the "bearer companies," one of which is attached to each brigade of cavalry or infantry. In a great battle it would be obviously impossible for the surgeons attached to units to attend to all the men who are injured-the regimental stretcher-bearers could not carry all from the field. More assistance is necessary, and this is given by a bearer-company, consisting of three officers, nearly sixty non-commissioned officers and men of the R. A. M. C., and thirty-eight men, under a warrant officer, of the Army Service Corps. The major of the company and another medical officer remain at the dressing station with the sergeant-major, three non-commissioned officers, four privates, and a cook, while the remainder of the company moves after the fighting-line to help in tending and removing the wounded as they fall. The dressing station is established beyond the zone of fire, and, if possible, near a road and a good water supply. Buildings are utilized when available, but if not tents are pitched; fires are lighted for heating water and preparing restoratives; everything that surgery requires is ready for use, and medical comforts are provided. It is here that there is the first opportunity of minutely examining the condition of a wounded man. Here he is carefully attended to. Here immediately necessary operations are performed, and here his strength is sustained by food and stimulants. Mr. Treves, one of the consulting surgeons with the forces in Africa, gives a most

vivid account of what he saw at such a place:

The scene presented at this spot was beyond description. The men were coming in as fast as ambulances and bearers could bring them. Some were dead, some were dying, all were parched with thirst and baked and blistered with heat. The men were lying on all sides on stretchers-amidst tents, piles of rifles, accoutrements, battered helmets, and blood-stained tunics. It was a sight no one would wish to see again, and the blazing sun added to the miseries of all.

But the dressing station is only a halting-place. There it is impossible to keep any cases for prolonged treatment and all are at once placed in the second line of ambulances for conveyance to the "field hospital." This is a large establishment consisting of a hundred beds, and is under the charge of four officers and a quartermaster, with thirty-five non-commisioned officers and privates R. A. M. C., and, in addition, twenty non-commissioned officers and privates Army Service Corps for transport duty. A field hospital is attached to every brigade or equivalent body of troops, and it can, if required by circumstances, be subdivided into sections of twenty-five beds. As it must accompany its brigade on the march, it is to the fullest extent mobile; but it is so equipped and provided that it can remain in one place for a considerable period and give to its patients every facility for repose and comfort as long as they remain in its shelter. This is no long time, however. Being liable to marching orders at any moment, every case that can possibly be removed must be transferred at once to a "stationary hospital." As its name implies, this is a hospital which does not accompany the movements of the army, and is a fixture until there is a great change in the scheme of operations. It is placed on the line of communications, and all

of its arrangements have a more or less permanent character. There are several stationary hospitals now in South Africa, and each contains a hundred beds; but it can be broken up into sections of fifty beds, complete in every respect. The personnel of each is nearly the same as that of a field hospital, with the exception that there is no transport equipment. No man is, however, placed in a stationary hospital if he is fit to undergo the journey to a "general hospital" at the base of operations. General hospitals have been established at the great South African seaport towns, and they are the ne plus ultra of medical science and administration, hardly yielding in any single point to the great organizations at home. Each accommodates 500 rank and file and 20 officers, and is worked by a large staff, comprising a colonel, seven officers, and about 140 non-commissioned officers with men of the R. A. M. C., with eleven civilian surgeons, a lady superintendent and eight nursing sisters. From the general hospital there are only two moves possible for the patient-one back to his native land when he is, alas! permanently disabled or not likely to be fit for war for a considerable time; the other, and happily it is one that can often be made, when he is entirely restored to health and strength and is able to return to his duty in the ranks, very likely again to qualify for hospital treatment.

The long list of posts where sick and wounded are treated by no means exhausts the rôle of beneficent establishments under the direct charge and administration of the officers R. A. M. C. Besides the base depots and advanced depots of stores, medical comforts, etc., for which they are directly responsible, they have entirely in their hands the equipment and control of all the transport of patients by land and sea. No methods long prepared and framed in accordance with

any practicable peace establishment could ever cope satisfactorily with the dire immediate necessities of a great battlefield, and the wise foresight of Colonel Gallwey, C. B., the principal medical officer with Sir Redvers Buller's army, made one of the most admirable provisions ever heard of in war's history. He organized a volunteer ambulance corps of 2000 men, who were told off in the proportion of 12 men to a stretcher. These stretchercarriers bore all the more-seriously wounded from the field in the Colenso fight, and thus spared them the suffering and danger which would have been inevitable from the jolting of the ambulance wagons over the uneven ground. Not only did they do this all day, but during the following night and day they carried all the worst cases on to the stationary hospital. It was due principally to Colonel Gallwey's bold initiative and thoroughness of previous organization that not a single wounded man was left on the field after dark. This is only one instance out of many that might be cited showing what a practical grasp the officers R. A. M. C. have of everything that bears on their responsibilities, and how perfectly prepared they are to foresee and meet necessities that may arise.

Then for the long railway journeys from the front to the base, hospital trains of the most elaborate completeness in equipment were prepared before the necessity for their use actually arose, and have been found admirably adapted for their purpose. Each train is a self-contained hospital, with stores, means of cooking, comfortable rangements for patients, and room for a medical staff. African railways are generally a single line of rails, so frequent shunting onto a siding must take place to allow other trains to pass; but from this there follows no inconvenience except the delay, and every pre

ar

caution is taken that in passing from the battlefield to the general hospital there is no increase of hurt or suffering. Again, the work on the Natal side may be quoted as an example of what has been done, but certainly only as a case of ex uno disce omnes. Major Brazier Creagh has made his hospital trains the object of unlimited labor and thought. In them, as soon as a patient has been put into his berth, he has been able to command iced soda-water and whisky, iced milk, hot soup, or even champagne and seltzer water. In relation to hospital trains it should be noted that Major Creagh brought his train actually under fire on to the battlefield at Colenso, and that the wounded were lifted into it from the place where they fell. Truly, if war is a brutal and illogical business, at any rate some of its worst evils have been palliated by philanthropic science.

In African waters there are now six hospital ships-the Trojan and the Spartan, which were provided by government; the Princess of Wales, prepared by the Red Cross Society, assisted by funds given by the kind Princess whose name it bears, from moneys remaining in her hands after the occupation of Egypt; the Maine, chartered and fitted out by the generous exertions of American ladies, under the personal care and supervision of Lady Randolph Churchill; and the Lismore and Nubia, lately fitted out in the colony. These magnificently arranged and provided ships are under the direct control of the R. A. M. C., though it has been, of course, impossible to find, from its too-limited numbers, all the professional personnel, and this has been formed from the cream of the medical faculty in England and the United States.

The normal requirements of an army in the way of medical attendance differ so enormously from the tremendous pressure of a great war, that it would