HOSTAGE 



2847 



HOTEL 



Historical. The germ of the modern hos- 

 pital may be found in a well-known custom of 

 the ancients. Centuries before the birth of 

 Christ the Egyptians and Greeks brought their 

 sick into the temples of the gods for medical 

 treatment. Yet the hospital as it exists to-day 

 is essentially a product of Christianity. Rec- 

 ords show that the first organized establish- 

 ment for the care of the sick was founded by 

 Saint Basil at Caesarea, in Cappadocia, A.D. 

 369. The hospital, therefore, antedates the uni- 

 versity (which see) by many centuries. Hos- 

 pitals multiplied in Europe during the Middle 

 Ages, largely because of the development of 

 monasticism, the care of the sick being one 

 of the most important functions of the reli- 

 gious orders of medieval Europe. The preva- 

 lence of contagious diseases, brought into Eu- 

 rope from the East by the returning Crusaders 

 (see CRUSADES), also stimulated the erection of 

 hospitals. 



The oldest hospital in the world still exist- 

 ing is the famous Hotel Dieu, in Paris, an 

 institution dating from the seventh century. 

 The first erected on American soil was estab- 

 lished in the City of Mexico, by Cortez, in 

 1524. Under the name "Hospital Jesus Naz- 

 erino," it is still maintained. The history of the 

 Canadian hospital begins with the year 1639, 

 when the Hotel Dieu was founded at Sillery. 

 This was later transferred to Quebec. In the 

 same city is the great General Hospital, estab- 

 lished in 1693. The Hotel Dieu of Montreal 

 also dates from the seventeenth century. 



In 1663 a hospital was erected on Manhattan 

 Island for the treatment of sick soldiers and 

 negroes in the employ of the East India Com- 

 pany. This was the first institution of its kind 

 in what is now United States territory. Benja- 

 min Franklin was one of the petitioners for 

 the incorporation of the , Pennsylvania Hos- 

 pital, the corner stone of which was laid in 

 1755. Since that early period hospitals have 

 multiplied both in the United States and Can- 

 ada. In the former country there are over 

 2,500, containing over 153,000 beds. Among 

 the Canadian provinces Ontario leads, with 

 over fifty hospitals; the province of Quebec 

 has about half that number. J.H.K. 



Consult Hornsby and Schmidt's Modern Hospi- 

 tals; Stevens' Modern Hospitals; Hodson's How 

 to Become a Trained Nurse. 



HOSTAGE, hahs'tayj, a person taken as a 

 pledge of security or for the performance of 

 conditions of a treaty or contract. The cus- 

 tom of taking or giving hostage, which was 



formerly almost universal, has been practically 

 obsolete among modern communities, but with 

 the outbreak of the War of the Nations it 

 experienced a revival. Many cases (notably 

 in Belgium) were recorded in which the Ger- 

 man forces exacted obedience from conquered 

 cities, threatening to take the lives of certain 

 of their inhabitants, whom they held, if con- 

 ditions of peace were not maintained. The 

 ethics governing the rights and treatment of 

 hostages form an important branch of interna- 

 tional law. 



HOT 'BED, a device for germinating seeds 

 and forcing the growth of young plants by 

 raising the temperature above that of the air' 

 in the open. A hotbed is made by removing 

 the soil to the depth of six or eight inches 

 from the patch of ground selected, then plac- 

 ing a layer of horse manure and litter in the 

 excavation and covering it with the soil, tak- 

 ing care to make the layer of uniform thick- 

 ness. The bed is then enclosed in a frame 

 made of boards eight or ten inches wide. It 

 is then covered with windows. These may be 

 made especially for the purpose, or storm sash 

 may be used. The bed should slope gently 

 toward the south, to get all possible sunshine, 

 and be so placed that buildings or trees will 

 not cast a shadow upon it. The sash should 

 be opened daily for ventilation. Plants started 

 in a hotbed are usually transplanted as soon 

 as the season is far enough advanced. Near 

 large cities extensive hotbeds are used by truck 

 gardeners. 



A cold frame is similar to a hotbed, except 

 that no manure or other fermenting substance 

 is used to increase the temperature. The sun 

 warms the air under the glass. 



HOTCH'KISS GUN. See MACHINE GUN, 

 subhead The Hotchkiss. 



HOTEL, hotel', "He who has not been at 

 a tavern knows not what a paradise it is," 

 quotes Longfellow from Pietro Aretino. If 

 the poet from Arezzo could visit a "tavern" 

 built four centuries after his own times he 

 would repeat his exclamation with a new mean- 

 ing in the words. In his day each tavern and 

 inn had only a few rooms for the accommoda- 

 tion of travelers, and if more than a half dozen 

 guests arrived on the same evening some of 

 them probably had to sleep in a stable loft. 

 It was only as a gathering place for a jolly 

 company of care-free townsmen that the me- 

 dieval hostelry could be likened to a para- 

 dise, but in many a hotel of to-day may be 

 found material comfort, luxury and splendor 



