The secretary read a statement, from which it appeared the receipts of the Society for the year 1872 amounted to £3460, out of which a sum of X340 had been funded according to the laws; the grants amounted to .82601 10s., and the expenses of the Society to .8299.At the end of the year there were receiving grants from the funds fifty-five widows and thirty-four children, showing a decrease of nine children on the numbers of the previous year. Through the deaths of recipients and other causes, annual grants to the value of E336 had lapsed, and fresh grants amounting to X349 per annum had been made to eight widows and three children, increasing the liabilities of the Society by .813 per annum.Legacies to the value of X785 were announced. The number of members continued much the same-viz., 9 honorary, 165 life members, and 231 annual subscribers. During the past year the Society had lost the valuable services of Mr. R. B. Upton, honorary member and solicitor, and those of Mr. Hammerton, V.P., Mr. Eyles, treasurer, and Mr. Martin Ware, formerly president. A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to the editors of the medical journals for their advocacy of the Society, and kindness in inserting notices of the general meetings and courts of directors.The proceedings were terminated by votes of thanks to the court of directors and to the president, Dr. Burrows, for taking the chair at the meeting.Correspondence. HOSPITAL ABUSES. " Audi alteram partem."To the Editor of THE LANCET. B SIR,—From time to time some remarks are made with I reference to "Hospital Abuses," "Hospital Reform," &c. I send the following short notes for insertion amongst others upon this subject in THE LANCET, if you can find space for them.With reference to hospital, infirmary, and dispensary practice: this kind of practice has been much abusedfirstly, by those of the public using such institutions who can well afford to remunerate the members of the medical profession for their time, labour, and knowledge ; secondly, by favouring the false conclusion on the part of the publicfor the profession know otherwise-that in proportion to the numbers seen at such institutions, so are those holding the official medical and surgical appointments to such institutions better informed than others with respect to the nature and treatment of disease. Now, on the contrary, an increase in the numbers seen, without a proportionate increase in the medical and surgical staff, leads to superficial work and care in every way; and, with reference to the use of experience gained by such practice, the value of it is in the inverse ratio to the number of patients seen within a few hours beyond a rational limit-e.g., take the value of half a minute given to a case compared with from five to ten minutes; hence at the smaller institutions, where fewer patients are seen, there is frequently more careful work done and more useful experience gained than at the larger institutions where multitudes are seen.In any proposed reform or regulation of this great social matter o...