rable
mystery. The cure is as enigmatical.

The late Father Damian, who gave his life to ministration and
alleviation of the sufferings of the 2,000 Lepers of Hawaii, in the
island of Molakai, no doubt caught the disease of which he died, owing
to the fact, that Lepers only handled and cooked the food, kneaded and
baked the bread, washed the clothes, etc. The whole surroundings being
Leprous, it is difficult to see how the good Father could well have
avoided contamination. Still, the disease is not contagious if
reasonable precautions are taken.

Two remarkable meetings were held in London in 1889, under the
presidency of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. At the first
one, held in Marlborough House, June 17th, the Prince of Wales made
the startling and unwelcome announcement of the case of Edward Yoxall,
aged 64, who was carrying on his trade as butcher, in the Metropolitan
Meat Market, from whence he was subsequently removed.

At the second meeting held in the rooms of the Medical Society,
Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, two Lepers were exhibited. The
verdict of the medical men present was, "There is no curative
treatment of Leprosy." Dr. Thornton, of the Leper Hospital of Madras,
said:--That his experience showed him that Leprosy was contagious,
and that it was likely to spread to this country; that the disease,
however, could rarely, if ever, be communicated, except in the case of
a healthy person by an abraded skin, coming in contact with a Leper.
"The sufferings of the afflicted can be alleviated by (1) a liberal
diet; (2) oleaginous anointings, by which the loss of sleep, one of
the most distressing symptoms of the disease, can be prevented."

The Rev. Father Ignatius Grant called my attention to the use of
"simples" in England, as elsewhere, for the alleviation of the
suffering. He says, "_Les Capitulaires, Legislatio domestica_, of
Charlemagne, contains the enumeration of the sorts of fruit trees and
plants to be grown in the Imperial gardens, as a guide to monastic
establishments throughout his empire. The list is entirely of culinary
and medicinal herbs, simples and vegetables. As to flowers, only the
lily and the rose are permitted for _agrement_; whilst all the rest
are for food or medicinal remedies. All the common simples are
specified.

"Herein is a mine of information, which I only allude to, but it was
doubtless the plan followed by most religious houses. For one thing is
clear, that as t