50 The Hospital Requirements of Sydney. 



mittee of the governors of St. George's Hospital, appointed to con- 

 sider the question of founding a convalescent, or perhaps we ought 

 rather to say, a subsidiary hospital in the country, in connection 

 with that hospital. The committee recommend the foundation 

 of an institution that possesses all the requirements of an asylum 

 for the convalescent, whilst it embraces those of a convalescent 

 hospital to which patients whose cures have not been completed 

 can with safety and advantage be removed where their cures 

 would, by change of air, be accelerated, and where, in many 

 instances, cures might be effected of diseases and accidents, 

 which, when left in London, might terminate otherwise, and 

 where persons recovering from infectious diseases might remain 

 until all danger of carrying infection to their homes had passed 

 away. The advantage of such an institution would not be limited 

 alone to those patients more immediately benefited by it, but the 

 beds in the hospital would be much more rapidly emptied than 

 at present ; thus enabling a larger number of patients to be 

 treated without an increase of expenditure : in fact, such an esta- 

 blishment would in reality be a portion, so to speak, of the hos- 

 pital in the country. 



" It is quite unnecessary in the present day to put forward any 

 arguments as to the expediency of a certain class of cases, or 

 rather of diseases and accidents in certain stages, being treated in 

 the country rather than in London, however well a hospital 

 may be located. Even in Saint George's Hospital, unrivalled for 

 its situation in this or any other city, in a ward well placed for 

 air and ventilation, one of the scourges of surgical disease (phage- 

 dena, sloughing of sores and wounds) has been exceedingly pre- 

 valent during the past season. To be enabled to send patients 

 away for the further treatment they may require, when such a 

 disease makes its appearance, would certainly result in the saving 

 of many lives.' 



" It is quite possible that some such plan as this will be found 

 to be the best method of uniting the advantages of both town and 

 country situations, but the scheme is as yet untried." 



Since the foregoing paper was written, I have received the 

 following note from Dr. Eenwick : — 



My dear Sir, — I have just received your note, and hasten to 

 furnish you with the particulars you request. 



In the first place, you will find on blank page the statistics of 

 accouchement cases. I regret to inform you that it would take a 

 long time to discover the number of infants who died at or shortly 

 after delivery, and hence I cannot give you an accurate revurn 

 under that heading ; it could, however, be furnished if I had time 

 to go over the whole of the medical returns, from tables which 

 I drew up for another purpose last year, I know that the average 



