publicly made known the objections which are forcibly urged against it. There can be no doubt that the idea of removing the sick, temporarily, under canvas, is a good one, with reference to the thorough purification of the Hospital ; but it will be, after all, but a temporary improvement?and more radical measures are needed. Tlwj Medical College Hospital was long considered by high authorities to be a typical specimen of Hospital architecture. We have heard it spoken of as a rival of the Riboisicre" in Paris, in all that was good and sound in construction and design. This delusion should surely now bo dispelled ; for if no reason could be found in the utter violation of all rules of Hospital construction that it exhibits, a good one is forthcoming in the class of diseases that prevails, and in the high rate of mortality of its statistical returns. We may be accused of fastidiousness, and it may be urged that the building thus decried is really a noble work of architecture. We admit that it is a model of a Greek Temple, and, as such, it deserves all praise, though what Mr. Euskin might say of it we do not feel quite so certain. Excellent for a'Public Ilall, Library, College, or University, it is simply execrable as an Hospital, for in it meet, not all that is good, but all that is bad in Hospital construction. The subject has been carefully studied by the Medical Officers of the Institution, and we know that no pains have been spared to improve it by the energetic and talented Officers who have succeeded each other as Principals. To all it has been the source of anxiety and disappointment ; and the fact can no longer be disputed, that, as an Hospital,'Jt is most defective. After long observation, careful efforts to improve, and watchful attention over the discipline and conservancy of the premises and the Hospital itself, the insalubrious condition of the building has bccome so notorious, that a firm and decided and have so
"
protest has at length been submitted by the Medical Officers to Government, stating its unfitness for the purpose for which
THE CALCUTTA COLLEGE HOSPITAL. The open space of ground in front of the Medical College Hospital is covered with tents, into which the sick will in a few
days be removed ; but for the late extraordinary inclemency of weather, this move would have taken place some time ago. Its object, we are informed, is to give the Hospital authorities an opportunity of thoroughly cleansing the building, not merely of sweeping out dust and dirt, but of white-washing and fumigating, in the hope that by this sanitary proceeding some improvement may be made in the unhealthy condition of its atmosphere. The idea is a good one, and in accordance with the conventional notions of hygiene ; but we fear that, at the best, it can only prove an alleviation of a great, evil, which must find its radical cure at last, net in white-washing and temporary removal of the sick, but in the construction of a new Hospital, and the permanent closing, as such, of the present Institution. We learn, on the best authoi'ity, that the actual cause of this new effort to improve the sanitary condition of the Hospital, is the extraordinary prevalence of that group of pathological conditions which is classed under the comprehensive, but vague generic term, Pyannia. Osteo-myelitis, we are told, has assumed almost the condition of an endemic in the wards, and a large proportion of patients, who have undergone operations involving section ef bone, suffer from this formidable variety of Surgical Fever. Cholera, too, has lately made its appcaranceamong the
the patients under treatment for other diseases, and the general Hospital is in consequence most unsatisfactory.
condition of the The
Hospital staff have long
been
aware
of the
defects,
intended, and soliciting permission to build a new Hospiproper principle, with the money which has actually been assigned for a University building; the Government making over the present College and Hospital for a University, a purpose for which, both from position and construction, it is admirably suited. We can only say that we trust a subject of so much importance will not be allowed to rest, and that we hope it will meet with the early attention of Government.
it, was
tal,
on a
"
protest has at length been submitted by the Medical Officers to Government, stating its unfitness for the purpose for which
THE CALCUTTA COLLEGE HOSPITAL. The open space of ground in front of the Medical College Hospital is covered with tents, into which the sick will in a few
days be removed ; but for the late extraordinary inclemency of weather, this move would have taken place some time ago. Its object, we are informed, is to give the Hospital authorities an opportunity of thoroughly cleansing the building, not merely of sweeping out dust and dirt, but of white-washing and fumigating, in the hope that by this sanitary proceeding some improvement may be made in the unhealthy condition of its atmosphere. The idea is a good one, and in accordance with the conventional notions of hygiene ; but we fear that, at the best, it can only prove an alleviation of a great, evil, which must find its radical cure at last, net in white-washing and temporary removal of the sick, but in the construction of a new Hospital, and the permanent closing, as such, of the present Institution. We learn, on the best authoi'ity, that the actual cause of this new effort to improve the sanitary condition of the Hospital, is the extraordinary prevalence of that group of pathological conditions which is classed under the comprehensive, but vague generic term, Pyannia. Osteo-myelitis, we are told, has assumed almost the condition of an endemic in the wards, and a large proportion of patients, who have undergone operations involving section ef bone, suffer from this formidable variety of Surgical Fever. Cholera, too, has lately made its appcaranceamong the
the patients under treatment for other diseases, and the general Hospital is in consequence most unsatisfactory.
condition of the The
Hospital staff have long
been
aware
of the
defects,
intended, and soliciting permission to build a new Hospiproper principle, with the money which has actually been assigned for a University building; the Government making over the present College and Hospital for a University, a purpose for which, both from position and construction, it is admirably suited. We can only say that we trust a subject of so much importance will not be allowed to rest, and that we hope it will meet with the early attention of Government.
it, was
tal,
on a
