38 JOHN KOREN 



given, 1,611,651, is therefore lower than the actual number, 

 but gives a hint of the magnitude of the practically free medi- 

 cal service obtainable through the dispensaries. On the basis 

 of the above total the number of cases treated in them to 

 100,000 of population was, for the entire country, 1,982.3. 

 Nowhere has the system of medical dispensaries reached such 

 a development as in the state of New York, or more particu- 

 larly the city of New York. There the ratio of cases treated 

 to 100,000 inhabitants reached the remarkable figure of 10,- 

 848.5, a ratio nearly twice as large as that for any other state. 



Under the title permanent homes is comprehended a wide 

 variety of benevolent undertakings. There are homes for 

 aged dependents without means and for aged persons who can 

 pay a liberal entrance fee, for persons afflicted with various 

 incurable diseases or otherwise disabled, etc. Some of the 

 homes make few distinctions as to the nature of dependence; 

 others are devoted to a special class. To some only adults are 

 admitted; others receive both adults and children, and are, in 

 fact, permanent homes for adults, with orphanage annexes. 

 A detailed classification of these institutions was not attempt- 

 ed, in view of the incompleteness of the data at hand for this 

 purppse. 



Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah are 

 as yet without any permanent homes for dependents. The 

 753 whose existence could be traced are pretty evenly distrib- 

 uted among the states, allowing for the necessity of a propor- 

 tionately large number in the older communities. In propor- 

 tion to population Massachusetts leads in institutions of this 

 character. Sixty of the permanent homes are reported as 

 maintained by public authorities. Of those under private 

 management (constituting a large majority) some are endowed 

 establishments and a few owe their origin, as well as continued 

 existence, to the munificence of individuals. 



The permanent homes under church supervision are out- 

 numbered by those termed private almost two to one, 13 states 

 being without any. The states in which the ecclesiastical 

 institutions of this land form the majority are Connecticut, 

 Illinois, Minnesota, South Carolina, Washington, and Wiscon- 

 sin and the District of Columbia. 



