What I saw on the west coast of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands.: By H. Willis Baxley, M.D.

HOSPITALS.
mediate rooms; at the same time, by the devotion of each court
and its surrounding edifice to a different use, the various depart ments are sufficiently insulated to prevent undue interference
with the peculiar duties, discipline, and management of each
other. The medical and surgical wards are separate, large,
wvell-ventilated, and clean; the bedding ample and of good
quality; and the general administration under a corps of ex perienced, polite, and attentive Sisters of Charity, and pro fessional attendance by educated and skilful physicians and sur geons, are such as to deserve commendation. The botica
(pharmacy) is large, handsomely arranged, and abundantly
supplied with medicines, and all needful accessories of that de partment, and has an accomplished pharmaceutist in constant
attendance to compound prescriptions. Its arrangement of
appropriately-labelled jars for keeping a supply of the various
invalid beverages and most necessary decoctionis, without the
objectionable delay attendant on preparation when called for,
is deserving of imitation in corresponding institutions in the
Uniited States. Bath rooms are numerous, and well supplied
with hot and cold water; and the kitchen and laundry show a
studious regard for health and comfort. The hospital has at
this time more than five hundred patients,; the number is sometimes as high as six hundred. This, and all other charities
unider the control of Government, are managed by a Board of
Trustees named by the Executive authorities, composed of men
of wealth and respectability, who serve without compensation.
The Hospital of San Juan is the owner of certain estates, houses,
and investments, the income from which, together with contributions and occasional bequests, are ordinarily sufficient for its
support. If not, the public treasury is called on for assistance.
The hospital statistics shlow the most frequent diseases to be
those ordinarily classified as diseases of the chest; those of the
stomach and bowels, particularly gastric fever and dysentery;
and venereal affections: the latter, here as in Valparaiso, suLrprisingly significant by its very large proportion, of either a
remarklable immorality among the lower classes of the population, or of a lamentable neglect of curative means. And as I
am professionally informed, and believe also from my limited
239