a locality to the suburbs, but there are no funds to build a new one. The Sisters receive a trifling pension of $200 a month. There are 200 beds, the average number of patients admitted being 800 per annum, of which 27 per cent. die. The officials include a chaplain, three physicians, one student, an apothecary, and seven nurses. The total annual expenditure is about $500,000me. It is very usual with wealthy citizens or estancieros to leave donations to this and to the Men's Hospital.

The British Hospital is a fine, airy, commodious structure, standing at the southern extremity of the city, on a high ground, known as Horn's hill, with a pleasant prospect. It was built in 1859 at a cost of £3,000, the British Government contributing one-half. A bazaar was held at Colon theatre in October 1859, which almost redeemed all the debt, and in 1862 the American Circus of Spalding and Rogers gave a benefit which realized £500: a marble slab has been put up in one of the corridors in gratitude for the same. For the last few years an amateur English Dramatic Club has given annual performances with signal success, at the Victoria theatre, ⚫ in aid of the hospital. The local subscriptions also amount to about £600 per annum. There are two wards, one for opulent patients at $50, the other for humbler classes at $20 per diem. Patients are admitted gratis when certified to be distressed British subjects. The resident surgeon, Robert Reid, Esq., M.D., is a gentleman of acknowledged talent and success, and the returns of patients, operations, &c., are most favorable. In 1867 a shed was erected in front of the hospital, west view, for the reception of fever patients. During the cholera of the following year the institute did good service, no fewer than 72 cases having been admitted, of which more than one-half were discharged cured. The matron, Mrs. Blues, died of the epidemic. The expenses of the hospital are about $250,000 per annum: the receipts for the years 1865-67 (not ineluding $97,361 from the Amateur Dramatic benefits) were as follows :—

Comparative expenditure in meat, groceries, bread, milk, &c. :—

Number of patients,

Cost of each,

$133,747

$121,454 .... $133,340

....

A large proportion of the patients is made up of sailors and distressed British subjects, which causes a considerable deficit, that has to be defrayed by local subscription. Before 1859 the British Hospital was situate in very confined premises in Calle Independencia. The committee is composed of H. B. M. Consul, the English and Scotch chaplains, and five subscribers annually elected.

The French Hospital is in Calle Libertad, half a cuadra from the plaza of that name. It was established in 1862, and placed in charge of four Sisters of Charity brought out from France for the institution. A bazaar was held at the Club del Plata in 1864, which produced a handsome amount for the hospital. There is a very neat chapel, consecrated in 1863, and a compounding department, besides accommodation fer thirty-five sick people. During the cholera these pious daughters of St. Vincent de Paul rendered great assistance to the poor, and the Superioress fell a victim to the epidemic. During the Paraguayan war they have also attended the military hospitals, both in this city and at Corrientes. The French Hospital is supported by subscription.

The Italian Hospital was begun by Count Cerutti, Italian Minister, in 1858: owing to lack of subscriptions the works were suspended for a time, but resumed by Count La Ville, Italian Consul, in 1862. The situation is good, being quite close to the British Hospital, at the corner of Calles. Bolivar and Caseros. The edifice is large and airy, with a handsome façade in the hall is a fine statue of Charity, in Carrara marble, and the staircase is the best in the city. The blessing of the chapel took place on the 27th December, 1863, the Bishop officiating, and the sponsors including the Pope's Nuncio, the Italian Minister, the President of the Republic, and the Governor. In 1865 it was converted into a military hospital for wounded Brazilians from the seat-of-war; in 1867 it was used as a cholera hospital for the city, and subsequently there was a project to buy it for the Municipality, and transport the Women's Hospital hither. At present it is closed up, but will, probably, ere long be devoted to its real purpose, the reception of sick Italians. The committee consist of the Italian Consul, the Vice-Consul, and 100 subscribers.

The Irish Hospital, in Calle Rio Bamba, was established by the Sisters of Mercy in 1862, a wing being built to the convent for the purpose, and the expense defrayed by the Irish sheepfarmers. The wards are spacious and well-ventilated, but generally empty; in fact, the number of sick among the Irish residents bears no proportion whatever to their population. The nuns have a House of Refuge attached, where fifteen orphan girls are brought up at the expense of the convent. During the cholera the hospital

THE SANITARY INSTITUTE.

45

was full, and the Sisters were untiring in their attendance on the sick. One of the Irish priests acts as chaplain both to the convent and the hospital.

The Sanitary Institute, on Calle Buen Orden hill, is one of the finest establishments in the country, built with an utter disregard to expense, and supplied with every comfort and luxury in the way of sanitary arrangements. It was opened in June 1868. The grand entrance faces on Calle Buen Orden, and is back from the street about twenty yards; on either side in the garden in front there is a handsome jet d'eau; ascending the steps the stranger enters a stately portico, with Corinthian pillars, and, on entering the hall, finds on one side the apothecary's department, and on the other the telegraph office, which connects with the central office at 31 Calle Tacuari. The outward hall or passage, which runs around the building, leads to the various chambers of sickness and convalescence; the space intervening between this hall and the round room in the centre, which is the chapel beneath the dome, is occupied by various saloon dormitories for the patients, each and all opening on the chapel in the centre, the altar of which revolves, so as to be seen by all the patients; and the beautiful stained-glass windows of the various departments open on the chapel in question. Ascending to the second flight we find the rooms, the hall, and the dormitories precisely in the same order as on the first floor, with the exception that the hall opens upon a charming terrace, which commands the finest view in the city. Aloft is the dome, which is an immense iron cistern, containing several hundred pipes of water, pumped up by steam from the premises in the rear; each room is supplied with hot and cold water baths, patent ventilator, gas, and electric bells, with windows looking out on the gardens. The institute receives subscribers on payment of $30 me monthly, or $300 m a year, in advance, by which they are qualified, when sick, to enter and remain until cured; a clean airy apartment, with suitable food, medical adviser, physic, and attendance, are supplied. For the use of sailors the proprietor, M. Lassance, has made the following regulations:-1st. Every vessel, on entering port, can have her crew insured, provided always that she can show a clean bill of health. 2nd. Each member of the crew shall pay $50 me. 3rd. Any individual taken ill eight days after will be admitted. 4th. The $50 above-mentioned only pays the mariner for three months. 5th. If the vessel brings sick, the doctors attached to the establishment shall classify them into «Positive short cure» and «Doubtful long cure.»> The former will only be treated as externs, paying so much a day, the latter will be admitted on chance, that is to say, for the sum of $500ne they are cared and attended until quite

.

restored. Non-subscribers can be accommodated, whilst ill, with private rooms and all requisites, at from $50 to $100 per day. Subscribers desirous of extra privileges can obtain them at half-price. Medical Staff— Dr. Luis Drago, President of the Board of Health, one apothecary, and two assistants. Consulting Physicians-Drs. William Rawson, Ventura Bosch, Nicanor Albarellos, Teodoro Alvarez, Toribio Ayerza. Free visits for the poor on Mondays and Fridays. Hours-From 8 to 9 A.M., and from 4.30 to 5.30 P.M. The drugs for the poor, ordered by the physicians of the establishment on the above days, will be compounded in the dispensary for half the regular prices. Patients are at perfect liberty to bring in any member of the faculty they choose for their own account, and the resident physicians will always assist without fees at a consultation called by the patient's particular doctor. The town office is at 31 Calle Tacuari. The site of the hospital was formerly included in Balcarce's quinta. The edifice was begun in 1866 it has the appearance of a rotunda, and can be seen from the city. There is a fine kitchen garden attached, to raise vegetables for the house. Subscribers or patients are admitted without any distinction.

CONVALECENCIA, POOR AND FOUNDLING ASYLUMS.

The Convalecencia, or Lunatic Asylum, is about half a mile from the Plaza Constitucion, on a hill overlooking. Barracas. It takes its name from a hospital founded by the Bethlemite monks. The present new building was erected in 1859, at a cost of $2,000,000, the Legislature providing onehalf the architects were Messrs. Hunt and Schroeder. The edifice is spacious, being the only asylum for male and female patients in the country they were formerly confined in narrow and unwholesome quarters at the Residencia. It is related by Pillado that in 1785 there were but seven lunatics in Buenos Ayres. The average number of patients is about 400, of whom 28 per cent. are cured. The Men's quarter is under the charge of a manager, a physician, and fourteen keepers: that of the Women is managed by nine Italian «religieuses» called «Daughters of Mary.» who receive a pension of $200 a month, having been brought out expressly at the request of the Municipality; there are also a chaplain, a doctor, and seven servants. The expenses of the Women's asylum are paid out of the Provincial revenues of Buenos Ayres, and administered by the ladies of the Sociedad de Beneficencia, amounting to $320,000 per annum. The Men's asylum is supported by the Municipality, at a cost of $370,000 per annum.

FOUNDLING AND ORPHAN HOMES.

47

The Cuna, or Foundling Asylum, is situate at the back of San Francisco, facing the Debtors' prison, with the touching inscription «My father and mother have cast me out, God's pity has sheltered me here.» The innocent victims of shame or distress are kindly brought up, and not unfrequently attain a good position in society. Infanticide is unknown, thanks to this institution. There is a staff of seventeen nurses, under the direction of six Italian nuns; also a physician and a chaplain. A new asylum has been erected near the Convalecencia, where forty weaned children are cared for. The parents may claim a child up to two years, but after this term it becomes the property of the institute: at a certain age the children are given out, with consent of the Juez de Menores, to respectable families who engage to rear and educate them, making them also useful in domestic service, giving account of them when required by the Sociedad de Beneficencia, and not taking them out of the country without a special permission. Notwithstanding every care given to the poor foundlings from the first moment, about one-third of them die, and 4 per cent. are claimed by their parents, who in this case have to pay a small retribution to the institute. The Cuna was established by Don José Riglos and the Vice-roy Vertis, in 1779, from which time it remained under charge of the civil authorities till 1823, when the Sociedad de Beneficencia was formed. It was suppressed by Rosas in 1838, and re-established in 1852, since which latter date over 300 children have been received. The annual expenditure is $600,000.

Female Orphan School. This institute was begun at San Miguel church, in 1755, by the Confraternity of Charity, which being suppressed in 1822, the asylum then passed into the hands of Government. Rosas did not suppress the institute, but merely obliged the orphans to dress in red, the color of his party. The orphanage now exists in the suppressed convent áttached to the Merced church, under the direction of the Sociedad de Beneficencia. Previous to the cholera of 1867 the number of orphans was limited to thirty-two, but the sad effects of the epidemic caused Governor Alsina to increase the number permanently to seventy-five. There are also 100 externs educated in the school. There are two mistresses, seven assistants, a chaplain, three visiting masters, and a staff of servants. The annual expenditure is $400,000.

The Asilo de Mendigos, or Poor Asylum, is situate in the extinct convent of the Recoleta, adjoining the cemetery. Buenos Ayres has always been almost free from mendicity, although Parish represents a few beggars in his time who used to go about on horseback. A few lame or blind men still make their rounds on Saturdays, afoot. The asylum was established