PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF RIO DE JANEIRO. 



471 



out make even this part of the hospital attractive and cheer- 

 ful ; but one feels at once the difference between the high, 

 airy rooms and open corridors of the new building and 

 the more confined quarters of the old one. In both parts 

 of the hospital the mingling of color impresses the stranger. 

 Blacks and whites lie side by side, and the proportion of 

 negroes is considerable, both among the men and women. 



The charity of the Misericordia is a very comprehen- 

 sive one ; it includes not only maladies susceptible of 

 cure, but has also its ward for old and infirm persons, 

 who will never leave it except, for their last home. The day 

 before our visit a very aged woman had been buried thence, 

 who had livod under this roof for seventeen years. There 

 is also a provision for children whose parents die in the 

 hospital, and who have no natural protector. They remain 

 there, receive an elementary education, being taught to 

 read, write, and cipher ; and are not turned into the world 

 until they are of age to marry or to enter into service. 

 There is a chapel connected with the hospital, and many of 

 the wards are furnished with an altar at one end, above 

 which is placed a statue of the Virgin, a crucifix, or a pic- 

 ture of some saint. I could not help asking myself if regu- 

 lar religious services would not be a wise addition to all 

 charitable institutions of this kind, whether Protestant or 

 Catholic. To the respectable poor, their church is a great 

 deal. Many a convalescent would be glad to hear the 

 Sunday hymn, to join in the prayer put up for his re- 

 covery ; and would think himself the better, body and 

 soul, because he had listened to a sermon. To be sure, 

 in our country, where creeds are so various, and almost 

 every patient might have his own doctrinal speciality, there 

 might be some difficulties which do not exist where there 



