When, towards the end of August, your Secretary wrote and asked me to give you a paper to-day on villa asylums, I was just arranging to start on my holidays, and I hesitated at first to accept his invitation, as I saw little or no prospect of being able to give the time necessary for the preparation of a paper worthy of the occasion. But, on the other hand, feeling more or less the responsibilities of a parent, seeing that this institution was in a great measure the outcome of my advocacy of the villa system, I felt compelled to make a special effort and try and give you something which would at any rate form a basis for what I hope may form a useful and interesting discussion.