44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 63 



I am of the opinion that battleships are not suitable for floating sanatoria. 

 This opinion is based on the following reasons. 



The cost of maintaining a battleship in proper sanitary and structural 

 condition is very high. 



Battleships, particularly the older types, have very limited deck space, and 

 this is so cut up by hatches, turrets, davits, cranes and w^inches that there 

 are few spaces large enough for a cot. The cost of removing these obstruc- 

 tions would be equivalent to that of building more suitable floating hospitals. 



The ventilation in the enclosed spaces of these vessels is so poor that it 

 often has an unfavorable effect on those chosen especially for their health 

 and vigor. Its effect on those already diseased could not be favorable. 

 The openings are very small and admit but little sunlight ; it is necessary 

 to use artificial light for a large part of the day. To correct these conditions 

 would involve great expense, even if it were possible of accomplishment. 



The passages are narrow, the ladders steep and the hatches small, making 

 transportation of the sick very difficult. 



Very respectfully, 



JosEPHus Daniels, 



Secretary of the Navy. 



Under the title " Una nave-scula-sanatorio per fanciulli predis- 

 posti " Federico di Donate has urged this plan in Italy but up to the 

 present the Italian Government has not assented. 



The remark has been made that : " If the right sort of ship could 

 be sent to the right place in the right kind of weather with the 

 right sort of patients, a great deal of good might result." 



SEASIDE SANATORIA FOR CHILDREN 



In the United States notable attempts have been made to utilize 

 sea air in treating tubercular disease in children. Individual cases 

 have been treated by sea air, but on a larger scale we should mention 

 the experience of two institutions. 



In 1872, Dr. William H. Bennett, of Philadelphia, established the 

 Children's Seashore House at Atlantic City, New Jersey. This in- 

 stitution is open during the entire year, and in 19 12 more than 3,500 

 mothers and children were cared for. Among the first patients ad- 

 mitted to the Institution at its inception were the hospital children 

 suffering from tubercular diseases of the bones, glands, and joints. 

 The wonderful improvement wrought in such cases by the sea air 

 led to a steadily increasing demand for their admission, and now 

 throughout the year seventy beds are set apart for their care and 

 treatment. 



The most notable and most recent attempt in the United States 

 to treat cases of tuberculosis of the bones, joints and lymph nodes 

 is at the Sea Breeze Hospital at Coney Island on the Atlantic 



