bulances and permanent hospitals of the Red Cross; such instructions to be of a character that will qualify them effectively to assist physicians and surgeons, intelligently administer prescriptions, and execute directions concerning the hygiene of hospital wards and the treatment of invalids.

No. 23. The necessity of establishing between central committees an exchange of drawings, designs, and descriptions of ambulance material. The Conference voted upon this topic as follows:

Referring to the resolutions passed at Berlin in 1869, the Conference expresses the wish that each central committee make a collection of drawings, designs, engravings, or photographs, put up in the form of an album of suitable size, conveying a complete idea of its own entire ambulance material, and also that of the military service of its country, one copy of such album to be exchanged with or forwarded to each central national committee and one to each Government that is a party to the treaty of Geneva. An exchange of this kind would have the effect of making generally known what at present is only local, and would tend eventually, it is hoped, to bring about a uniformity of ambulance materials. The Conference furthermore suggests the appointment of an international commission charged with the study of models of ambulance material.

The Conference suggests also that the dimensions of litters be made uniform in all armies, and postpones for consideration at its next meeting the question whether it is advisable to establish international museums of ambulance material.

In addition to the action taken by the Conference upon the various topics presented for consideration in its regular programme as above briefly recited, the following resolutions were passed and duly inscribed upon its record:

I.

The Conference, before entering upon its deliberations, expresses to the International Committee of Geneva its warmest thanks and most sincere appreciation for the admirable judgment and activity displayed by it as the head of the Red Cross during the last fifteen years, and the grand results achieved, which in its able report it has only too modestly referred to. The Conference reposes full confidence in the future action of the International Committee, which in effect now extends over two hemispheres. The Conference assures the International Committee of its undivided support, and will receive favorably any wishes it may desire to express in its own behalf. (Presented by the representatives of Germany.)

II.

The results witnessed in October, 1883, at Vienna, in May, 1884, at Paris, in July, 1884, at Aldershott, the 30th of August and 2d of September, 1884, at Geneva, with a portable electric illuminating apparatus on wheels, have established the practicability of illuminating an extended battlefield at night so as to effect the removal of the wounded, the burial of the dead, and the establishment of their identity. The utility of such an apparatus being incontestable, the Conference manifests the desire that in future wars the electric light be employed in all cases where its use will be permitted by the military authorities.

(Presented by the representative of Austria-Hungary.)

III.

The Conference expresses the desire that antiseptic dressing be introduced generally into all armies in the field and adopted by all societies of the Red Cross. It is desirable that in time of peace the corps of nurses be instructed in its application. (Presented by the representatives of Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, and Switzerland.)

IV.

The Conference declares that, in securing the adhesion of the United States of America to the Convention of Geneva, Miss Clara Barton deserves well of humanity. (Presented by the representative of Italy.)

V.

The Conference directs that the sum of 5,000 francs and the gold medal which Her Majesty the Empress of Germany, Queen of Prussia, has deigned to place at its disposal shall be awarded as a prize in a competition to be invited for the best construction of a model portable field-hospital (ambulance barracks). The designation of members to form a special Commission to prepare the programme for such competition, and to act as judges in the premises, is referred to the International Committee. The programme to be published previous to December, 1884.

(Presented by the commission of members of central committee.)

VI.

The Conference refers to the commission of members of central committees the duty of determining the date and place of the next International Conference of Societies of the Red Cross.

(Presented by the representatives of the United States and Switzerland.)

The Commission decided upon Carlsruhe as the place of meeting, and upon the year 1886, or at the latest 1887, as the date of the meeting of the next Conference.

VII.

The Third International Conference meeting on the twentieth anniversary of the Convention of Geneva, in the city where the work of the Red Cross was first conceived and sanctioned by international compact, heartily approves of the idea of erecting a commemorative monument at Geneva, and expresses the desire that the central committees of all nations co-operate in the erection of such monument according to the design of the model presented by Mr. Richard Kissling, a member of the Conference.

(Presented by the representatives of Great Britain and Germany, and seconded by those of France, Russia, United States, Italy, Austria, and others.)

Various highly interesting and instructive exhibits of material and practical illustrations of the character of Red Cross work occurred during the week's session of the Conference, of which that of SurgeonGeneral Porte, of Bavaria, illustrating the art of improvising, in emergencies, from the simplest and most inexpensive materials, appliances of relief and comfort for the sick and wounded of an army, deserves, on account of its pre-eminently practical bearing, special mention.

Thanks to the military department of the Genoese Government the spacious building of its riding and training schools had been placed at the disposal of Surgeon-General Porte, and within its walls the exhibit had been arranged. At the time appointed for the Conference to witness in a body the display of material and its practical application to purposes of relief and comfort, Surgeon-General Porte, introductory to his personal illustration of how means of relief were to be improvised upon battle-fields, in substance remarked: That desultory efforts at improvising means of relief had preceded all the varied and perfected ambulance material and relief appliances which every well organized army now possessed that it was by no means intended that the exhibit of improvising relief material should supplant the present admirable sanitary appliances of armies or enter into any kind of competition with the existing provisions made by the military authorities for the purpose, but simply that it should supplement the same in the emergencies constantly occurring during war; to do which effectively, improvising relief appliances and comforts from material common to all battle-fields must be made a science. This utilizing of material usually cast away and considered worthless might be likened to a wild plant hitherto looked down upon and despised as useless, but which upon closer study would develop extraordinary healing qualities. He felt assured that upon investigation

of the subject, the art of improvising sanitary appliances would before long assume a legitimate place in the curriculum of instructions imparted to military surgeons and to army nurses.

And so it is, for Surgeon General Porte has conclusively proved that improvised appliances of the kind are not necessarily imperfect makeshifts for the service they are intended to perform, but that in many instances they are the full equivalent of far more expensive contrivances, and that their inferiority, if any, lies rather in the temporary character necessarily given to their construction, than in any inherent unfitness for their purpose, which is generally of brief duration.

It is certainly highly creditable to the Conference that it had made provision for an exhibit so eminently practical, which, although very modest in extent and unpretentious in the articles displayed, constituted one of the most interesting and instructive features of the Conference. So impressed with the utility of Surgeon General Porte's exhibit were your delegates, that one of them (Judge Sheldon) took occasion during the proceedings of the Conference to refer to the exhibit in a complimentary manner and state that particularly to the people of the United States, so ready in their adaptation to circumstances, would the ideas and methods of Surgeon General Porte recommend themselves. That the manner in which the eminent medical scientist solved the problems of improvising into articles of utility the waste material of a battlefield displayed a wonderful degree of inventive talent and scientific adaptation, and that he trusted the distinguished surgeon-general of Bavaria would find it convenient to visit the United States and there illustrate the practical bearing of his systematized and highly scientific art of improvising. These remarks of your delegate were received by the Conference with marked approbation.

The first object to which Surgeon-General Porte, upon entering into a more detailed explanation, directed attention, consisted of two improvised cabins or barracks, containing four beds each, and located in the center of the inclosure, the one built over an excavation in the soil some 3 feet in depth, the other on a level with the surface of the ground. The frame-work consisted of ordinary wooden poles set or driven into the soil completely covered over with thick sheets ingeniously adjusted to one another without solder. These sheets of tin were obtained by unsoldering a pile of the ordinary tin cans used for preserved articles of food, by building a brush fire over and around them. Such cans, as is well known, are found in the greatest number upon every camping ground, and it takes but a very short time to gather a sufficient number and cement them into tin sheets which can then, by clamping, be readily attached to one another and made to afford a perfectly water-proof protection. Ordinary cotton cloth, dipped in linseed oil, mixed with siccative, was made to serve for windows, which, though they do not permit a "view" from within, serve to admit light from without. The cabin partly excavated, of course, is more sheltered and warmer than the one merely erected on the surface. The ground around these cabins was gently sloped away from the sides and entrance; a small ditch under the threshold of the door gathers the drip during the rains and conveys the water into an excavation at a distance from the cabins. In and on the roof a simple and ingenious double cistern of ventilators for incoming and outflowing currents of air, made of varnished card-board and wire, is introduced. The doors are made to swing back and forth in the socket of an ordinary bottle inverted and stuck in the ground.

A simple, inexpensive, and effective heating arrangement for tents and cabins was shown, and consisted of a shallow excavation in the

ground, several feet away from the cabin or tent, which was made to serve as a hearth; from this a small trench in the ground, covered over with tin-can plates of the kind already referred to, led obliquely up into and across the interior of the cabin or tent, and then extended out on the opposite side some two or more feet, at the end of which an old stovepipe, some spouting, or several tin cans, telescoped and inserted erect, were made to serve as chimney. Upon making fire in the excavated hearth a current of warm air was generated, which, seeking an outlet through the covered trench, heated the interior of the cabin or tent, and kept the ground warm for several hours. This same covered trench, enlarged in certain sections, served to heat and even boil water in cans covered with improvised clay covers, and was also utilized for cooking various dishes, which by this arrangement needed little or no watching. Another extremely simple and inexpensive mode of heating consisted of a medium-sized square stove set flat on the ground, the frame-work of which was constructed of hoop-iron and small interlaced branches or twigs, which had been plastered all over with a thick coat of clay. Upon making fire in this stove the wood is consumed and the clay becoming hardened it serves in the future as an excellent heater. This system was successfully tried during the war of Herzegovina. Other stove constructions were also exhibited, as also a variety of improvised cooking utensils, such as a piece of stove-pipe skillfully transformed into a chafing dish, which also served as a pan to heat water.

Litters, in such an exhibit, necessarily occupied a prominent place. Surgeon-General Porte gave preference to the triclinium, which offers the advantage of placing the patient in a position very favorable to sores and fractures of the lower extremities. The triclinium is easy to improvise with pieces of board, staves, branches, and cords. This kind of litter, the name of which indicates its form, can be placed upon the saddle of a horse lengthwise, and securely fastened in position by means of straps or ropes running from both ends to each side of the girth. The trials made prove, it would seem, this arrangement to be preferable in many respects to others, although possibly, owing to the rocking motion imparted by the gait of the horse or mule, not as agreeable as might be to the invalid. It has, however, rendered satisfactory service, it is claimed, on the mountain roads of Mexico. The saddle arm-chair, easily improvised with boards, staves, and cord or metal bands for the back, is in this respect more comfortable to the wounded. A similar means of transportation, but more simple, is advantageously resorted to for carrying invalids having fractures of the extremities upon the backs of men, in which case wide shoulder straps are made use of, similar to those attached to a dosser. Another form of litter was made simply of two rude poles, the forward ends of which were harnessed to a horse, the same as shafts would be, with the other ends fastened to another horse in the rear in like manner. The irregular motion produced by the gait of two horses thus attached to the poles, although the latter were of exceptional length, nevertheless must prove fatiguing to invalids. A much preferable system consists in thus harnessing only one horse to the front ends of the poles and allowing the other end to trail on the ground. A drag or sled of this kind in the form of a triclinium, for two wounded, has been experimented with by different members of the Conference, and these pronounced the motion produced by the elasticity of the pole highly satisfactory. The fact is, this system of transportation, but not in the triclinium form, has, as is well known, long been in vogue among certain tribes of Indians in the United States. Although dragged over the roughest part of the arena in the building, S. Ex. 59-2

no objectionable jolting was experienced. A similar sled or drag, but smaller, for a single invalid, and arranged to be dragged by one man, was also exhibited. In like manner the elasticity of long poles has been availed of to lessen the shaking of berths in railway cars when in motion. It is asserted that no spring can rival the elasticity of a good pole, readily made of material obtainable everywhere.

Metallic bands, such as are found around baled hay or dry goods, telegraph wire, straw twists, pieces of leather cord, linen, and even portions of spouting, converted into splints, and material for bandaging of all kinds, were displayed in great variety. Surgeon General Porte gave preference in the main to metallic bands as an improvised means of dressing fractures, on account of the double advantage of solidity and flexibility which they offered.

Bottles were utilized for a variety of purposes. By means of friction produced by the rapid motion of a cord backwards and forwards a bottle was quickly cut in two parts, one half becoming serviceable as a tumbler, and the other half as a funnel or a lantern, if a candle be inserted between the extremities of a small stick split at one end into four parts and passed through the inverted neck. A bottle can also be made to serve as a syringe by attaching a bit of rubber tubing to the neck and with a sharp stone piercing a hole in the bottom.

A very serviceable cushion was made of an ordinary cotton cloth bag steeped in oil, and made completely impermeable by adding a coating of a concentrated solution of starch rendered antiseptic with boracic acid or some similar disinfectant, the bag after such treatment being partially filled with water and securely tied.

Several of these devices are familiar to those in the United States who participated in the late war, and are mentioned in the able and valuable "Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion."

Believing it would meet with your approbation, at an opportune moment on the closing day of the Conference I took occasion, at the instance of the director-general of the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition at New Orleans, to extend a cordial invitation to the delegates present, and through them to the Governments they represented, to participate in said exposition by a display of material incidental to Red Cross work.

It affords me pleasure to state that this invitation was received with evident satisfaction, and that the representative of France promptly arose and signified the intention on the part of his country to have the Central Committee of their nation forward an exhibit of sanitary ambulance hospital and relief material; while the representatives of Germany indicated to your delegate the probability of the Red Cross of that country also taking part in the exhibit, which I have recently been duly notified the head of the Red Cross in Germany, Her Majesty the Empress, has made arrangements to carry into effect.

Finally, while I beg to invite, for reference to the proper authorities, special attention to those objects in regard to which the International Conference urges legislative and departmental action, permit me also, Mr. President, to commend to your continued interest the great humanitarian cause of the Red Cross espoused by the United States under your administration.