116 



humboldt's cuba. 



There are two hospitals in Havana, the public hos- 

 pital (San Felipe y Santiago), a charitable institution, 

 and the military hospital (San Ambrosio), in both of 

 which the number of patients is quite large. The 

 following table shows their operations : 



San Ambrosio. San Felipe y Santiago. 



1814. 182L 1824. ' 1814. 1821. 1824? 



No. on 1st Jan'y. 226 307 264 153 251 127 

 Admitted during 



the year, 4,352 4,829 4,160 1,484 2,596 2,196 



Total, 4,578 5,136 4,424 1,637 2,847 2,323 



Deaths, 164 225 194 283 743 533 



Cured, 4,208 4,623 3,966 1,224 1,948 1,651 



Remaining, 206 283 264 130 156 139 



The mean of annual deaths in the public hospital 

 is more than 24 per cent., while in the military hos- 

 pital it is barely 4 per cent. This great difference 

 must not be attributed to the method of treatment 

 employed by the friars of San Juan de Dios, who 

 control the first-named establishment, for though 

 doubtless more yellow fever patients are admitted to 

 the hospital of San Ambrosio, the greater part of the 

 patients received there have slight, and indeed insig- 

 nificant disorders ; while the public hospital on the 

 contrary, admits the aged, the incurable, and blacks 

 who having but a few months to live, are placed 

 there by their owners to rid themselves of care. 



