"We meet in this Assembly a voluntar y Parliament of men and women to study together and to exchange knowledge and thought on works of ever y-day life and usefulness. Our object to make the present existence better and happier; to inquire in this particular section of our Congress: What are the conditions which lead to the pain and penalty of disease; what the means for the removal of those conditions when they are discovered? What are the most ready and convincing methods of making known to the uninformed the facts: that many of the conditions are under our control; that neither mental serenity nor mental development can exist with an unhealthy animal organisation; that poverty is the shadow of disease and wealth the shadow of health?"