HUMANA The Royal Hu mane Society presented this to --, his life having been exposed to danger.' The clasp for the silver and bronze medals is the same in shape. It is usually awarded to those who are already in possession of the medal, for a second act of bravery in saving life.
In 1882, the society added to its objects the encouragement of swimming exercises at public schools and training-ship; with reference to saving life from drowning. Since that year a medal has been awarded annually to each of a selected number of leading schools and training-ships, for the purposes of competition.
Each competitor is allowed one trial under each of the following conditions : First Trial.—A dummy or block of wood, to represent a body, is to be floated at some distance from the place where the com petitor has to enter the water. He is to swim to it and bring it back to the starting place.
N.B.—In running water, this rule may be modified.
A certain number of marks is to be awarded to every com petitor in each of the above trials, the minimum of time being an important consideration.
Competitors are to be partially clothed.
In addition to this work the society has a model receiving• house in Hyde Park, with boats for use on the Serpentine when bathing is in progress, and during the skating season sends ice men to various waters about London.
Numerous stations are furnished with life-saving apparatus, and papers respecting the best methods of resuscitation are extensively circulated.
To the founders of the Royal Humane Society belongs a distinguished honour. Their work has proved of incalculable benefit to the world at large, and may yet be multiplied to an indefinite extent The Royal Humane Society of Australasia, which is prac tically an imitation of the English society, was founded in the year 1874, and incorporated in 1885. Its formation was first
suggested by Mr. John Wilks, in a letter published in the Melbourne Argus ' of July 22, 1873. The initial meetings were held at the instance of the Hon. George S. Coppin, and finally, at a public meeting held in the Town Hall, Melbourne, under the presidency of the Mayor, Alderman J. Mcllwraith, on September 28, 1874, one hundred years after the formation of the Royal Humane Society of England, the Australasian organisation was formally inaugurated as the Victorian Humane Society. Four years later the directors considered it advisable to extend the scope of the society's work so as to embrace the other colonies, and this resulted in the directors obtaining, in 1882, through his Excellency the Marquis of Normanby, then Governor of Victoria, the consent of Her Majesty the Queen to assume the present title. After that the directors gained the patronage of the leading men in all the Australasian colonies, and in 1886 the society was completely federated throughout the whole of Australia and Fiji.
In accordance with a resolution passed in 1883 the Royal Humane Society of England, although it is still prepared to receive and record information respecting acts of courage and devotion in saving life from drowning in the colonies—where humane societies, with rules and regulations, having similar objects to its own, have been founded—now remits any applica cations for reward to the said societies, provided they are officially recognised by the governors of their respective colonies. The applications for reward from residents in New South Wales and New Zealand are therefore passed on by the Royal Humane Society to the Australasian society. This rule does not, however, apply to officers and men of the Royal Navy or the Army on active service who, as heretofore, where ever they may be quartered or stationed, are recognised as having claims on the Royal Humane Society when they save life from drowning at the risk of their own.