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of the Select Committee on the Calcutta Municipal Bill. Some friends who had come up to Darjeeling had seen, as they passed up the raшway line, the terrible havoc that had been caused, and they pressed me to visit the affected area. Here again I was confron- ted with the same difficulty as at Chandpur, the department dealing with the matter not being within my jurisdiction. I felt the strongest inclination to visit the affected area and see if I could do anything. The medical needs, so far as 1 could ascertain, had already been supplied, but I felt that my presence would encourage our men and perhaps give me useful information. Having made up my mind I waited upon His Excellency, in order to obtain his permission, which was readily granted.

I went down on the following day, accompanied by some friends, three of whom were members of the Legislative Council. We trollied twenty miles under a burning sun, the land on both sides of the railway line being submerged, with carcases of dead animals floating here and there on the water. The area was infected, and it was a dismal and painful sight. The Magistrate, Mr. Reid, was good enough to accompany me and give me such information as I wanted.

I returned on the following day to Darjeeling, and immediately hurried to attend a meeting of the Select Committee on the Calcutta Municipal Bill. The strain was too much for me. I had an attack of fever followed by broncho-pneumonia, which at one time caused grave apprehension to my medical friends, whose kindness and care I can never forget. Sir Nilratan Sircar, foremost among our Indian medical practitioners, hurried up from Calcutta to Darjee- ling. Col. Wilson, then acting as Surgeon-General, Major Hussain Surahwardy and Major K. K. Chatterjee were among those who were untiring in their care and attention of me.

Here let me say a word about Sir Nilratan Sircar, whose many- sided activities bear testimony to the ardour of his public spirit. He is not merely a doctor. An educationist, a public man, a social reformer, a pioneer in the domain of the industries, the range of his work extends far beyond the limits of the great profession of which he is an ornament. And his life, too, is an object-lesson to his countrymen. From the Campbell Medical School he passed on to the Calcutta Medical College, and it would be no exaggeration to say that he is one of the most brilliant products of his 'Alma Mater'. My case was a bad one but fortunately I recovered, my sound constitution helping the doctors, for broncho-pneumonia is