MEDICAL CONGRESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3804, 8 February 1927, Page 26

MEDICAL CONGRESS.

SECOND AUSTRALASIAN SESSION OPENED. DR L. E. BARNETT INSTALLED AS PRESIDENT. The second session of the Australasian Medical Congress of the British Medical Association was opened in Dunedin on Thurday morning. The ceremony, which was held in the Early Settlers’ Hall, followed on scenes of activity in the Medical School during the day, when the general secretary (Professor Gowland) and a large staff were busily engaged in the work of registration, and business of a formal nature was done. Sir George Syme, the retiring president, presided over a very large attendance in the evening. With him on the platform were the Hon. W. Downie Stewart (Acting Prime Minister), the Hon. J. A. Young (Minister of Health), Dr .L. E. Barnett, and a number of other eminent representatives of the medical profession and prominent citizens. The entrance to the hall was illuminated with a large “Welcome” sign in electric lights, and the interior was beautifully decorated for the * occasion. Sir George Syme, the retiring president, called on the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, Acting-Prime Minister, to declare the second session of the Australasian Medical Congress of the British Medical Association open. MR STEWART’S ADDRESS. Mr Stewart raid that, in welcoming, on behalf of the Government, those who were attending the congress in Dunedin, he desired to express his regret that Mr Coates, their Prime Minister, had not been able to return to New Zealand in time to open the congress. They might have noticed, however, that since Mr Coates had finished his attendances at the Imperial Conference he had been receiving on his own behalf ■ doctors’ degrees in the universities of the Old Country.— (Laughter.) He hoped that when Mr Coates arrived back in New Zealand he would be able to prescribe for and diagnose some of the political problems he had waiting for him. — (Laughter.) He had been pleased to hear from Dr Barnett that they had quite a number of overseas visitors with them that night who had been here at a congress over 30 years ago. — (“Hear, hear.”) This led him to believe that the class of practitioner who not only laid down rules of health for his patients, but followed them themselves, was larger than he had supposed.— (Laughter.) Dr Barnett had been present ' at the congress 30 years ago, and he thought that, looking at him, there was no reason why he should not be present at another congress in Dunedin held in another 30 years’ time. — (Laughter.) He considered it a fortunate circumstance that this congress was being held in Duendiri. They were a small and isolated community, and the more they came into contact with the representatives from Australia, Great Britain, and America, the more they would benefit. They were pleased to welcome their visitors, not only 'for their own sake, but because they were anxious to get more knowledge of their countries and their people. — (Applaus.e.) He was glad to know that they had appointed their old friend, Dr Bar*ctt, as their new president, _ because he was of the best type of medical prac- • titioner in New Zealand. —(Applause.) From his own observation he could say that both in Australia and New Zealand the medical profession was not only of a very high standard, but that the members of the profession also made excellent citizens—they interested themselves in public affairs, and particularly as patrons and supporters of the fine arts music, painting, and literature. In the latter respect Dr Barnett was also of the best type of New Zealand practitioner. _ Mr Stewart said that maybe the practitioners of New Zealand had not only their virtues, but their faults, and one of their faults was that they fell an easy prey to company promoters —(laughter)—and others. So far as he could see they were better at saving lives than saving money. —(Laughter.) He had noticed a good deal of discussion in the papers as to the justification for these congresses, and whether they were superfluous .or not. He supposed that if any congress justified itself, it was a medical congress, because, speaking as a layman, it was in the world of medicine and surgery that great advances .were being made, with more movement of thought and progress, than in any other profession.—(Applause.) As a consequence, co-operation and consultation became increasingly necessary, and the more the public health was improved as a result of the advances in medical science, the more quickly would the community reach the ideal state that they all looked for and hoped for.—(Applause.) He supposed that there was no country in which a medical congress could be held under such happy and hopeful circumstances as New Zealand. New Zealand enjoyed in the first place a climate which was extraordinarily beautiful and bracing, and good health was a national ideal.and not mere Utopian dream—(applause),— an ideal which was capable of approximate realisation. As they were aware, their towns, consequent on the geography of the country, were of moderate size, and they did not develop the dangers usually associated -with large cities, such as vice, crime, - and squalor.— (“Hear, hear.”) The speaker referred to the fact that the pioneers of New Zealand were -the very best Anglo-Saxon stock, capable and reliant, qnd they had striven to maintain the high standard of life of these . pioneers, and spoke of the happy rela- , tions of the -white New Zealanders with the Maori race. The Maori race was the only native race which had not declined > as a result of contact with Europeans—the Maoris, indeed, were increasing in • numbers and prospering.— (Applause.) - The speaker, in conclusion, said he hoped they would have a prosperous and successful session, and that every facility would be given in this community and throughout New Zealand for their visi- • tors to form an accurate and pleasing impression of the country.— (Applause.) •MR YOUNG’S FELICITATIONS The Hon. Mr Young said it was a great .compliment to New Zealand that this great gathering and congress was so

largely attended, not only by delegates from New Zealand and Australia, but by representatives from other parts of the world, including the United States. As Minister of Public Health, he desired to join, with their very able Acting-Prime Minister’ in extending a very hearty welcome to all the visitors. A gathering of this sort was conducive to the utmost good, not only for the medical profession, hut for the whole community throughout the world, because, after all, those attending the congress were in pursuit of scientific knowledge,which would be made available for the benefit of the people. Only last Monday he had had the honour of extending, on behalf of the Government, a hearty welcome at Auckland to Mr S. M. Bruce (Prime Minister of Australia). He had mentioned to Mr Bruce that this congress was to be held in Dunedin, and had asked him if he would send a message to it. He had received the- following radio message from Mr Bruce, who had asked that it should be read to the congress:—“On behalf of the Government and the people of the Commonwealth. I desire to extend to the Australasian Medical Congress best wishes for success. Thanks to the unremitting efforts of the public-spirited members of their great, profession, our citizens are gradually realising the part which health plays in every aspect of our national life and the enormous economic waste occasioned by the inefficiency of the partly unfit. I hope, and, indeed, feel sure, that the labours of the congress will advance us still further towards the accomplishable ideal of a happy, prosperous, and healthy community’—(Applause.) The progress, peace, and happiness of the people were built up on sound physical health. The Government recognised that, and every right-minded citizen with a proper sense of duty to the community recognised it also. The best assurance of health was the prevention of disease. The private practitioner was interested in promoting the health of the community, although he would not prosper very much if the community reached such a healthy state that it did not require the services of a doctor. He knew that the medical profession was co-operating with the civic authorities in endeavouring to bring about such a state of affairs and so add to the happiness of the people.. The specific function of the State was to enable things to be accomplished which would 'ensure the health of the people—in other words, the prevention of disease. There was a great opportunity for co-operation between the medical profession and the btate. The State had the great respons) bijity of teaching the people by legislation to pave the way so that they might do things which would save themselves from the pitfails of disease and do things which would not expose others to disease. The great object was to eradicate disease in the community. He joined with Mr Stewart, on behalf of the Government, in extending a most hearty welcome to everyone at the congress. He trusted that the deliberations would be a monument to science and make t congress a monument on the highway towards a solution of the many problems r®x- ° Profession. The .Governments of New Zealand and other countries would be .only too glad to do what thev could to assist the people to reach a better state of health ana to build up a happier and plause prOspcrous sta,e of society.—(ApADDRESS BY SIR GEORGE - _ SYME. , The next speaker was Sir George Syme. v Xa years ago,” Sir George began, the idea occurred to Dr Fulton, of Adelaide, that it would be a very good thing to have gatherings of the medical practitioners of Australia and New Zealand in congress. That idea was warmly supported, and it materialised in the first session of what was. then called the Intercolonial Medical Congress, under the presidency of Dr (now Sir) Joseph Vercoe. Since then a series of congresses have been held. Sir Joseph Vercoe, an eminent physician, was followed by an equally eminent surgeon, Dr Thomas FitzSerald. Since then there have been others, who have included university professors, and now I. have to congratulate Dr Barnett on being nominated by the ii® W Ti/® alan i bran ch and appointed by the Medical Committee to the position of president.” He added that Dr Barnett’s reputation was world-wide, and it needed no words from him to add any eulogy to his work. Sir George remarked that there were some who were present now Uom overseas who were also present on the occasion of the meeting of congress m Dunedin 30 years ago, and those who were present then had a most extraordinary appreciation of the warmth of the welcome and the abundance of the hospitality of the Dunedin citizens. That remained as a record among the congresses that had been held since, and he was confident that this conference would exceed the success of the previous one here in its happy circumstances. “I now have very much pleasure,” he concluded, “in inducting Dr Barnett to the position of president of the second session of the Australasian Medical Congress.”— (Prolonged applause.) ° PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. Dr Barnett* who was received with proapplause, said he was deeply sensible of the honour that had been conferred on him in electing him president of that S|’ ea t congress, which was representative of the medical profession of the whole of Australia, New Zealand, and the outly nl g islands—the British Empire in the Pacific Ocean,—and he thanked Sir George Syme for his kind and enu°l ,l a m nS w i°. r^ s , in , Passing on to him the office which he had so conspicuously adorned.—(Applause.) He would find it difficult to bye up to the high standard of presidential duty and performance that he had set him. The speaker read a message from the Governor-General (Sir Charles Fergusson) who apologised for his inability to open the congress owing to the impending visit of. the Duke a-nd Duchess of York, and said 'it was the custom in the past for congresses of- that nature to be opened by the Governor of the country in which the congress was held. He also read messages from the B.M.A. of the British Isles and the .Dental Association of New Zealand wishing them everv success. He welcomed them all to Dunedin, which -was to be the scene of their labours and of some of their recreations. Those of them who were Dunedin folk were proud of their home town, with its hills and bush, its gardens, and seas. It had the makings of an attractive resi-

dential and university city, and they hoped their visitors would enjoy their stay here. He wished to express on behalf of'the congress their gratification at seeing with them the Hon. Downie Stewart, the Acting-Prime Minister, and Ti e Pi? 11 ' Young, Minister of Public Health. It gave him great pleasure also to have with them the accredited representative of the British Medical Association. in the British Isles, Dr Cooper Pattm. of Norwich—(applause)—whose distinction in the field of public health rendered his visit to a congress of this kind particularly appropriate. They were pleased and honoured also at having with them Dr George Piness, of Los Angeles—(applause)—the medical representative of the United States of America, a country whose magnificent scientific achievements and generous hospitality /were known to "most of them. Very special welcome was due to those of their Australian visitors who were with them in Dunedin in February, 1896, exactly 31 years ago, at the very first Australasian Medical Congress ever held in Dimedin, and who had again crossed the Tasman Sea to take part in their proceedings. He referred to Sir George Syme, Dr A. L. Kenny, Dr Donaldson and Dr Long. Dr Long was at present coming by the overland route from Milford Sound. The New Zealand survivors of that congress of long ago remembered the valuable help that these men had rendered to their meeting. It was sad to reflect that more than half of the members of the 1896 congress had passed over to the Great Beyond. They deplored the deaths particularly of many of their distinguished officials, including the president (Dr F. C. Batchelor), the secretary (Dr John H. Scott), and also Sir Harry Brookes Allen and Sir Charles Ryan. MEDICAL IDEALS AND LAY CRITICISM. At the time he spoke of, and for long after, the Australasian Medical Congress had been held every three years, independently of any other organisation, but, beginning -with the Medical Congress held in Melbourne a little over three years ago, it had merged itself voluntarily, and he thought wisely, in the British Medical Association. It had thus become part of a great imperialistic, scientific institution, of which his Majesty King George V was patron. Hear the words of the King when, in company with Queen Mary, he honoured the whole medical profession and demonstrated his goodwill towards the B.M.A. by opening their new spacious and dignified home in Tavistock square, London, on July 18, 1925: “I am pleased to come here to-day, accompanied by the Queen, to open the new and admirably designed house of the British Medical Association. We have always taken a sincere interest in the science and practice of medicine and surgery, and I am proud to have succeeded my father, King Edward, as patron of your association. Since, its foundation nearly a century ago by Sir Charles Hastings your association has shown a remarkable increase both in membership and usefulness, and the wellinformed and constructive criticism that it bripgs to bear upon the evolution of your profession is of great value. The British Medical Acts wisely restrict admission to the Medical Register to those who have been trained in accordance with prescribed regulations and have passed the necessary qualifying examinations. At the same time vigilance must always be exercised in order that your profession may keep abreast with the advance in science and also preserve a high standard of professional practice and ethics. The noble purpose, the character, and the skill of those engaged in the art of healing are your most precious traditions, and you do well jealously to watch over such attributes.”' It was a comforting reflection to those of the British Medical Association to feel that the majority of the people were of the same opinion as their sovereign in regard to the maintenance of the high ideals and traditions of medical practice. Nevertheless, they lad repeated and very obvious indications that there were quite a number of people who did not see eye to eye with them, and they had to face at times very bitter antagonism towards a policy that had been devised conscientiously and with infinite pains to safeguard the interests of the general public equally with those of themselves. There were many who mocked and derided them for their subservience to what they called a ridiculous code of medical etiquette. Funny stories about doctors were' even more popular than Aberdonian anecdotes, and helped to fill many an odd space in magazines and newspapers.—(Laughter.) They sometimes got amusement out of them themselves, and they, at any rate,' did them no harm. There were some who criticised them in frank and fearless fashion, but withal reasonably and often usefully. Hostile criticism, if it was reasonable, had a more purifying and stimulating effect than friendly adulation. ‘ A friendly eye does never see such faults,” and the medical profession made no claim to be faultless. Far from it. They were made of common clay, just like other iolk. they sometimes stood in need of correction. Their little medical parliaments were as liable as the greater parliaments of the people to make blunders—(laughter)—and that was cera f a ? r . admission of human frailty. Criticism by an opposition party was a good thing in the peoples parliament, just as it was a good thing in the parliament that dealt with the doings of doctors. They must give consideration to the honest and reasonable criticism of the opponents of their policy, 'whether that criticism came from lay or medical sources. But they CO 'uv n ” t llelp feelin S resentment at the" publication of gross and unwarranted statements that heaped indignities upon them—that accused them of/ rank dishonesty—allegations, for instance, that they were a great trades union, whose chief aim was to keep the wages of its doctor members at the highest possible level; that they strangled, competition by keeping out of this union the numerous and wonderful unorthodox healers who had not conformed to their requirements of a thorough medical education; that they advocated vaccinations, operations, inoculations, animal experiments, and so on not for the sake of suffering humanity, but for the benefit of their sordid selves; that they only gave gratuitous service to the hospitals and the sick poor because' it gave them prestige and a free advertise-

ment ; that was to eay, they climbed over the backs of the poor into the pockets of the rich.—(Laughter.) He had j the impression that these intensely . bitter and ■ vociferous critics of their views were not only mentally perversely active, but also abnormally healthy in body, and that consequently they had not had their crude conclusions confounded by any dangerous and harmful malady, accompanied by the soothing ministrations of a capable doctor. He felt certain, for instance, that if Mr George Bernard Shaw, who, though undoubtedly a dramatic genius, was always vituperative where doctors were concerned, had at any time suffered from a perforated duodenal ulcer, or a gangrenous appendicitis—laughter),—or a pleurisy with effusion, he would not have written so mordantly and cynically about medical- practice. They judged it wise to refrain from responding in the lay P^ 3 to calumnation of this kind. The piquant controversies that otherwise would arise could produce nothing but confusion. They were quite prepared to be judged by the majority. Let their lives and their actions suffice to discredit their detractors. It had been said that human destiny was largely ™ P*° l ,an ds of the medical man. Whether this was so or not, they must not fail to realise the sacred duty that devolved upon them, namely, the medical care of the most wonderfully beautiful and intricate living thing on earth—the human body, and with it the human mind, and even the human soul. They knew that Nature, if unhindered by harmful customs, imposed by a two luxurious civilisation, could cure most illnesses and heal most wounds in human beings, just as was the rule in lower animals. They knew that if people lived a more natural hie -if they took more advantage of those priceless tonics, sunshine and clean, dustfree air—if feeding was more rational as regarded quality, quantity, temperature and periodicity—if the drinking of alcohol was not abused—if teeth were looked after and food well masticated—and if they earned their meals by a fair measure of exercise, there would then be much less necessity to resort to the ministrations ot the physician or surgeon, to the nostrums and cure-alls of the proprietary drug vendors, or. to the hocus-pocus of quackery. But doctors knew that there remained a considerable and serious proportion of cases of illness, virulent microbic infections, tumours and cancers, grievous injuries and mechanical disabilities which Nature unaided could not cope with — troubles which might at first seem slight mid . unimportant, but which had tragic possibilities; troubles which might, on the other hand, be overwhelming from the very outset, Not individuals alone, but whole communities, suffered disaster if troubles of this degree of gravity were allowed to progress unchecked. Disease and degeneration injuries and ill habits, and other health-destroying agencies were I \V2? er ® us an d often complex, obscure, and. difficult to control. To prevent and conquer these malign influences and to repair the ravages of illness and injury a defending army of selected, educated, and trained doctors had been organised—an army which had for its headquarters staff its Board of Control, its disciplinary body edical Council, and the B.M.A. These assemblies had alwavs included medical representatives "of eminence and special fitness for their duties. • AJuite recently, in deference to public opinion, a lay member had been added to the General Medical Council — Commander Hilton Young, a distinguished English politician, and one of the heroes of the Zeebrugge naval attack.—(Applause.) Lay representation on the council was, ho thought, a wise provision, calculated to allay publio distrust in the pronouncements of that important body. They had in the course of long years evolved a scheme of medical education and training, of efficiency examinations, of ethical regulations, of safeguards against injustice, of post-graduate study and research, of preventive measures for the lessening of disease, and the control of epidemics. They benefited in many ways by such a scheme, but the public benefited still more. The profession had the public welfare at heart just as much as, if not more than, its own, and that was a point that. deserved reiteration. Moreover, the medical men did not try to interfere with public liberty. A sick man, or a man who thought he was sick, was not bound to go to one of them for treatment. He could choose a layman if he wanted to. He could have the drains of his own precious body—his stomach, bowels, kidneys, and what not—tinkered with bv an ilLeducated, self-styled healer, who had not the haziest idea of the intricate mechanism of these essential organs; yet, if lie wanted the pipes, drains, or sewers of his house looked to, the law insisted that he must employ a man specially trained and certified for the job.— (Laughter and applause.) There were a lot of peculiar people in the world who did not believe in doctors. Peculiar people had peculiar reactions, and they sometimes got more benefit from an unorthodox practitioner, an unqualified disciple of some weird cult, or even f rom a rank impostor, then they would from an educated and highly-qualified doctor. That was a fact with a psychological basis, and so they let patients please themselves. If they did things that were too ridiculous to be tolerated they might be censured or punished, but not by the medical men. A lay magistrate usually attended to that. —(Laughter). Community service in the domain of preventive medicine, whereby the incidence of disease might be lessened and many doctors thereby rendered superfluous, had been rightly placed in the forefront of the recommendations of the General Medical Council and the B.M.A. At this and every B.M.A. conference public health questions would be given the greatest prominence. They anticipated that their discussions on goitre and hydatid cysts would result in a very decided lessening in the frequency of these troublesome and yet largely preventable maladies. They would endeavour to stimulate and correlate cancer research in the various Australian and New Zealand centres. Although far more eases of cancer were cured now by operative and radiological ■means than • in former years, chiefly because the patients were learning the wisdom of seeking treatment when the disease was in its early stage, yet, owing

to the increasing prevalence of this mysterious malady, the total death' rate from cancer kept mounting higher and higher. The cancer problem was still with them, but ever nearing solution as a result of intensive labour in a hundred fields. He took this opportunity of congratulating Sydney University on the generous response of the people of New South. Wales to its appeal for a cancer campaign fund.—(Applause.) With a sum of well over £IOO,OOO a splendid plan ■ of research could be instituted, and he only hoped that other scientific centres in Australia and New Zealand, including Dunedin, might have the same good fortune. Cancer was one only of many devastating diseases that called’ for intensive study. The governments in every civilised country now regarded it as their bounden duty to encourage research .that had for its object the betterment of the public health. The Royal Commission on Health for Australia, so ably presided over by Sir George Syme, had recently reported the conclusions of one of the most valuable investigations into public health matters that had ever been made, and one of the recommendations—and a very significant one —was that a health research council should ze established and provided with an endowment of £30.000 per annum. They would, at their meetings, give detailed attention to the important subjects of maternal infantile mortality, of tuberculosis, and of certain tropical diseases of great public concern in Northern Australia and the Pacific Islands to questions concerning diet in health and sickness, and to many other matters of special interest from the preventive medicine point of view. He must refer also—and he did it in optimistic vein—to the proposed inauguration during the currency of this congress of the Australasian College of Surgeons, because he believed that such a college was likely to have a valuable influence on the public welfare, and because he had for some years been trying to mould professional feeling in New Zealand towards something of this kind. The promoters would endeavour to combine the good points of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of the British Isles with those of the more recently founded American college. The aims were to raise the standard surgical efficiency, surgical endeavour, and surgical ethics in both hospital and private practice, and to encourage the provision of facilities in hospitals whereby a sufficient number of suitable men could be specially trained to undertake the responsible duties of a surgean. In Great Britain it was quite exceptional for anyone without special training and experience to do major operations, but in the newer countries like America, Australia, and New Zealand there was not the same restriction. In these countries major operative work was quite commonly undertaken by men who, though adequately equipped with what was popularly called “nerve,” lacked in varying degree that knowledge and experience which were requisite in deciding such questions as: —(1) Was an operation really necessary? (2) When should the operation be performed? (3) How were the unanticipated difficulties and complications to be handled? (4) How should the scope of the operation be limited or extended according to circumstances? He did not insinuate that the only competent surgeons would be those who were fellows of a college. For various reasons a man who really was a good surgeon might not wish, or might not be in a position to obtain, a hall-mark of this kind. The patient’s choice would be unfettered. If he selected an operator who was not a fellow of a college he might or might not get a properly trained man, but if he chose a fellow of a college he could rest assured that he had the services of a fully trained surgeon. The greatest care should be exercised in the selection of the junior and senior staffs of their hospitals for many reasons, and one of them had to do with the supply of trained surgeons to the community. The recognised recipe for the making of a surgeon was to take a young man who. showed both intellectual ability and manual dexterity, and place him in an approved hospital, first as a house surgeon, and then as assistant surgeon for several years. The passing of a high-grade academic examination was desirable, but was not essential to the performance of high-grade surgery. The main thing was good hospital work, at first under supervision, and later independently. It was often alleged that doctors gave their gratuitous services to the sick poor in hospitals for purely selfish motives—that it paid them indirectly, that the experience and prestige they gained were splendid advertisements for a lucrative practice, and that consequently these honorary positions were eagerly competed for. There was a measure of truth in all this, but it was not the whole truth. Painstaking, skilful, and kindly hospital work materially helped in the building up of the very best class of private practice. But the kind of advertisement a hospital gave was similar to that of a shop window, exhibited, however, not to the public generally, but to those only who knew the worth of the articles displayed. When a surgeon or a physician habitually showed work of a good quality within a hospital it was appraised accordingly by competent observers—that was to say, by his colleagues, his students, and his nurses. If, on the other hand, his work was habitually faulty, then instead of a good advertisement he got a bad one. A hospital appointment might place a man in consultant tank, but only if he was worthy of it. The public benefited enormously by this automatic method of grading medical practitioners through the medium of their gratuitous hospital service. Modifications in their hospital systems were now receiving serious consideration, largely stimulated by the investigations and reports of Dr MacEachern, the American expert on hospital standardisation. He hoped that many of his valuable suggestions would be adopted, and in particular he would like to see their public hospitals made available to all classes, but with the proviso that the sick poor should continue to have the gratuitous services of an honorary staff in accordances with the honourable traditions of tjie profession.—(Applause.) For in this, as in all things, they must jealously; guard the great prestige of publics esteem and publio confidence that they; owed to ; - their predecessors: In conclusion let him quote what had been said

about them by the Hon. Neville Chamberlain, the Minister of Public Health, speaking at the London Hospital, a few months ago: “No one could doubt the fundamental seriousness of mind of any practising surgeon or. physician. I do not mean that doctors have no - sense of humour. God . forbid. Their worst enemies have not accused them of that, but inevitably there must be in them a serious vein. They must feel that their calling is something beyond a mere means of ' earning one’s livelihood; that they have a purpose in life which is neither selfish nor superficial, and that they concern themselves not only with the cure of the individual, but. with the much wider task of trying to improve the general health of the people.” That was the kind of criticism that was sweet to their ears. Let them show that they of to-day were worthy of it.—(Loud applause.) - - • - ... This’concluded the official- ceremony. At the conclusion of the ceremony a reception was held by Dr and Mrs Barnett in the Art Gallery Hall, adjoining the Early Settlers’ Hall.

PRESIDENT’S RECEPTION.

A BRILLIANT FUNCTION. The most brilliant and important function held in Dunedin for many years took place on Thursday evening, when the opening ceremony of the Australasian Medical Congress was attended by some 700 members, and a representative gathering of the city’s prominent citizens. The Early Settlers’ Hall, where the speeches and presidential address were made, was dignified in its draped flags, and its massed foliage and flowers on the platform, while the entrance halls were embowered in New Zealand ferns and flax. After the business of the evening Dr Barnett, president of the Congress, and Mrs Barnett held a reception in the Art Gallery. The hall looked most impressive, beautifully arranged as it was, with its walls covered in a trellis of leaves and flowers, striking : against the grey.'" Hot-house flowers and palms concealed the stage, : where an orchestra played selections, and accompanied the dancing that was enjoyed Later. Mrs Barnett, who, with the r president, received their guests, was smartly gowned in a ■ black frock embroidered in iridescent beads, and carried a bouquet of exquisite mauve flowers which matched the colour of her shoulderflower. Miss Barnett’s dainty frock was of gold tissue and metallic lace. Supper was served in the adjoining room, where the tables were gaily arranged with sweetpeas and roses, in shades of pink and mauve. From there the guest? could pass, if they wished, into the further gallery, which had -been set aside as a lounge, with comfortable chairs and sofas, placed among palms under the shaded lights. Dancing -was continued until the close of the affair, and many of those present took part.The appearance of the function was most gorgeous, for the frocking of the women was beautiful and striking. In such a gathering it was impossible to detail, but the general impression was one of magnificent fabrics and rich colouring. Many frocks were of heavy brocade, in silver and gold, which was folded or draped in glittering folds. This style, modified on one of the younger girls, appeared as gold tissue, cut with a low and tight bodice, and a skirt smartly gathered into a simulated bustle, with a large gold and crimson bow. The fringe was seen, . used in various ways, either as a skirt : to a gown of wine chenille georgette, or as composing a. unique white frock, in which it fell from shoulder to waist, and waist to hem, and was combined with pearls. Many of the smartest dresses were beaded in shaded tones of every colour, or in reflecting crystal. Beads were. combined with velvet or lace in an entirely new way—in fact, a characteristic of the whole frocking was the*'joining of two . contrasting materials in the most . effective manner. It is not possible to particularise further, when so many re- . markable gowns were seen. But one of the most novel and most chic of fashions was that of a young visitor from Australia, who wore over her pretty frock a little tight coat of blue and silver shot tissue, tailored severely in the approved mode, with collar and cuffs of blue metallic fabric. . In its stateliness and fineness the function was a fit beginning to the first Australasian Medical Conference held in our city for 31 years.