126 



I N F I R M A R'Y. 



Infirmary. 



Dipcn- 

 rio. 



Infirmaries 

 for chil- 

 dren. 



Institution 

 in fluladcl 

 phia. 



nomestic 

 Uits. 



to renounce part of its usual earnings in attending on 

 this pi-rson. For these Cases, infirmaries furnish a most 



'ill' relief. 



There are, however, cases of a different description, 

 for which they are not suitable. Poor persons are of- 

 ten afflicted with slight complaints, which require me- 

 dical care to prevent them from becoming dangerous, 

 but to whom removal from their own houses is not 

 necessary, and would even prove injurious by prevent- 

 ing them from following their usual occupations. This 

 is frequently the case with the fathers and mothers of 

 families, whose domestic duties, as well as their other 

 exertions, are of great importance to society. For such 

 persons, dispensaries are formed, at which advice and 

 medicine are given to patients who attend on stated 

 days. Many of these are too .poor to purchase medical 

 attendance, though able to Vnake a scanty provision of 

 the necessaries of life; There are % oth*er patients whose 

 complaints are so tedious, that 'they could not be re- 

 tained in infirmaries without occupying the place of 

 others who are capable of receiving greater benefit. 

 There are some diseases for which infirmaries are posi- 

 tively improper, as they require the free air, the va- 

 ried scenery and exercise of the country, and may re- 

 ceive all the direction and all the medicine they need, 

 by occasionally repairing to a dispensary. The case is 

 similar with the aged poor, labouring under complaints 

 which admit of no radical cure. 



Poor children, when they fall sick, require such a 

 degree of care as an infirmary does not afford, and their 

 parents usually object to the removal of them from their 

 own immediate superintendence. The necessities of this 

 description of patients are not yet in most places suffi- 

 ciently provided for. In Philadelphia, there is a socie- 

 ty of benevolent females, who provide attendance in a 

 separate place for the children of the poor, even when 

 in health, in such a manner as to enable the mothers to 

 follow some species of industry. One of their expedients 

 for the abridgment of labour is, to have large cradles, 

 consisting of fourteen or sixteen subdivisions, each of 

 which admits a child, so that the attention of rocking 

 them can be paid by one, while the opportunities of in- 

 dustry are afforded to the mothers in the same house in 

 which theirchildren arethus provided for. Similar apart- 

 ments might be assigned to the nursing and the medical 

 attendance of sick children. With regard to children 

 who are able to walk, the suggestions of Mr. Owen of 

 Lanark Mills, for consulting their comfort and good 

 behaviour, in a systematic and abridged manner, might 

 be advantageously applied to the formation of an insti- 

 tution for the cure of their diseases. All the institu- 

 tions now mentioned, will, like infirmaries, be liable, 

 in the first instance, to abuses ; and the means of obvi- 

 ating these will gradually occur, in proportion as the 

 facts become known. 



But many, even of adult patients, can neither be re- 

 lieved by infirmaries nor dispensaries. For this reason 

 schemes of more extended charity have been attempt- 

 ed, amounting to a regular gratuitous attendance of the 

 sick poor at their own houses. This would have ap- 

 peared at one time a plan of impracticable magnitude ; 

 and, it must be confessed, that the enterprise of those 

 who undertake to execute it, is some times in danger 

 of being defeated by the inadequacy of the means which 

 can be provided, especially as many apply besides those 

 who are unable to provide for themselves. It is scarce- 

 ly possible in any place to find well-educated men, who 

 are supported by medical practice, in sufficient number 

 for so much labour ; and the characters of those who 

 are connected with public charities will not allow them 



to admit into their body any who are in this respect of a Infirmary. 

 decidedly inferior rank. By efforts of this nature, how- v """ ~Y~ m * 

 ever, much good has undoubtedly been done. .It still re- 

 mains a desideratum in medical charitie^ to provide for 

 this object, consistently with the interests of the medical 

 attendants, and with the limitation of their duties to such 

 a scale of moderation as is compatible with cheerful' 

 perseverance. After the funds are provided for fur- 

 nishing medicines for such institutions, it would be de- 

 sirable to provide salaries for the medical attendants, 

 not indeed adequate to their trouble, but serving as an 

 acknowledgement for their labour, and a partial pre- 

 servative against ultimate disgust in the execution of 

 their duty. This object would be well worthy of the se- 

 parate consideration of those prosperous individuals who 

 have it in contemplation to devote part of their riches 

 to charitable purposes, either in the form of donations 

 or bequests. It is most likely to be duly appreciated 

 by medical men who have acquired a fortune in the ex- 

 ercise of their profession, which they are disposed to 

 dedicate to public uses. 



Some of the miseries accompanying the sickness for Alleviation 

 which the poor are admitted into infirmaries, do not ot ' her dis " 

 come within the limits of these charities, and the relief advanta 8 

 of them might be too burdensome, both for the atten- fngl^ckneis! 

 tion and the funds which they would require. To these, 

 in some instances, the attention of the humane has been 

 directed, and the task of affording relief has been made 

 a separate object. An association was formed in Lon- 

 don in 1791, under the designation of the Samaritan So- Samaritan 

 ciety, which attached itself to the London Hospital. Society. 

 The singular utility of this laudable institution will be 

 best shown, by describing the views of its founders, as 

 exhibited in their first address to the public. 



" Observations prove, that there is distress in hospitals 

 calling on humanity for consideration, that cannot be 

 brought within the provisions of those valuable institu- 

 tions. 



I. Poor servants who have been obliged to quit their 

 places and go into hospitals, when dismissed cured, but 

 yet in a weak state, have frequently no friend to receive 

 them, or place wherein to lay their heads securely, till 

 they are reinstated in service. 



II. Many young females, who, through distress, have 

 panned or sold their clothing, when raised from the bed 

 of sickness, might be saved from ruin by proper assist- 

 ance. 



III. Many within the walls of an hospital suffer the 

 greatest anguish, on account of their families at home 

 starving for want of the wages of their labour. 



IV. Patients from remote parts of this kingdom, 

 when discharged from hospitals in a low, lame, or in- 

 curable condition, frequently know not whither to 

 go, or what course to take, for avoiding worse evils 

 than have befallen them. And foreigners, under si- 

 milar circumstances, experience at least as great hard- 

 ships. 



V. Many a languishing fellow creature, it is reason- 

 ably supposed, might be saved by the opportune benefit 

 of fresh air for only a few days. 



VI. The efficacy of the waters of Bath, where there 

 is an hospital for paupers, and of the sea, would proba- 

 bly preserve the lives of many, who are unable to de- 

 fray the little expenceof a journey. 



VII. In cases of mu'ilation, various services might be 

 rendered the sufferers towards gaining a livelihood. 



VIII Patients are frequently without change of li- 

 nen, so essential to cleanliness, and consequently both 

 to their own continued health, an4 the safety of those 

 with whom they may live. 



