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PEOCEEDINGS 
 
 DEDICATION OF THE CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 "WITH THE 
 
 ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE, ORDINANCES OF THE CITY COUNCIL, RULES 
 
 AND ORDERS OF THE TRUSTEES, RULES AND REGULATIONS OF 
 
 THE HOSPITAL, PLANS OF THE BUILDING, ETC. ETC. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 J. E. FAR WELL & COMPANY, PIirNTEKS TO THE CITY, 
 
 37 CONGKESS STKEET. 
 
 1 8 G 5 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE UBHaHI 
 CHESTNUT HILU MASS. 
 
1H5 
 
 B@Sf OK COLLEGE LIBBAK^f 
 
 5B850 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface 5 
 
 Act of the Legislature 19 
 
 Ordinance of the City of Boston 20 
 
 Dedication. 
 
 Remarks of Alderman Davis 29 
 
 Remarks of Mayor Lincoln 30 
 
 Response of Otis Norcross 37 
 
 Address by Thomas C. Amory, Jr 43 
 
 Rules and Regulations. 
 
 Rules and Orders of the Trustees 83 
 
 Rules and Regulations of the Hospital • 86 
 
 House Rules 95 
 
 First Annual Report. 
 
 Report of the Trustees 101 
 
 Report of the Superintendent 107 
 
 Bequests 128 
 
 Medical and Surgical Staff 130 
 
 Board of Trustees 131 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 As early as the year 1849, before the cholera, 
 then epidemic, had entirely disappeared, the expedi- 
 ency of establishing a City Hospital was mooted ; and 
 a Committee of the City Council reported favorably 
 upon a project of continuing the Fort Hill Hospital, as 
 a means of alleviating the pains of " those who suf- 
 fer in their uncomfortable and often miserable homes 
 when sick," but who could not enter the Massachu- 
 setts General Hospital, and who would not go to the 
 almshouse. The principal physicians of the city gave 
 their countenance to this project as a temporary expe- 
 dient, expressing the hope that some more adequate 
 and comprehensive plan might be speedily adopted ; 
 and one of their number suggested a reservation of 
 the city's land with a view to the erection of a Hospital 
 worthy of the city. Not even this temporary hospital 
 was established, however; for although the then Board 
 of Aldermen passed the necessary order, the Common 
 Council rejected it. 
 
6 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 No further steps were taken towards establishing a 
 City Hospital till the year 1856, when petitions were 
 signed generally by the medical faculty and officers of 
 the local charitable associations, urging the city to 
 establish a Hospital. These papers were communi- 
 cated to the Council of 1857, by Hon. Alexander H. 
 Rice, then Mayor, who strongly urged the " need of 
 a free Hospital within the limits of the city," for the 
 reception of those plunged into poverty by sickness 
 or sudden reverses, who ought not to be sent to the 
 almshouse, and for the destitute stranger and others 
 requiring temporary relief and care. The language 
 used by Mayor Rice would seem to convey the idea 
 of establishing a purely "free" Hospital, and as that 
 epithet was so often applied to the projected institu- 
 tion, and has been even to the one now in operation, 
 it may be well to quote from the able report made by 
 the special Committee on that portion of Mayor E-ice's 
 address relating to the Hospital, their suggestions as 
 to the character desirable for a City Hospital, 
 especially as they coincide with the present actual 
 regulati 3ns of the Institution : — 
 
 ******** With this explanation of the 
 course adopted by the Committee, we will first consider the 
 object of the proposed Hospital. This can only be stated in 
 general terms, because its arrangements, extent, and details 
 must necessarily be modified according to circumstances. It is, 
 however, proper to state that the term, *' City Hospital," would 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 probably better express the character and design of the pro- 
 posed institution than *' Free Hospital ; " since it appears from 
 the address of the Mayor, and from the general evidence in 
 favor of this establishment, that while its benefits are intended 
 to be free to those persons of temperate and industrious habits, 
 who by sickness or accident require that care and attention for 
 which they are unable to pay, yet where there is the ability, 
 there is no reason why a just and proper amount should not be 
 received, to aid in meeting the expenses of the Hospital. And 
 we have no doubt that many of the patients or their friends, 
 would prefer to pay something, in proportion to their means, to 
 prevent the feeling that they were the objects of public charity. 
 There is no class in the community in which this sentiment or 
 desire of independence is so strong as among that class for 
 whose special benefit this Hospital is intended : and it is one 
 which, as the great barrier to pauperism, cannot be too highly 
 commended and encourao^ed. 
 
 Hence we would not have this a Hospital for the reception of 
 the degraded victims of vice and intemperance, or a home for 
 the hopeless pauper ; but we would have it regarded as an asy- 
 lum for the industrious and honest mechanic and laborer, who 
 hy sudden injury or disease is temporarily prevented from labor- 
 ing for the support of himself and family ; and who, by proper 
 care and medical treatment, may have his sufferings alleviated, 
 and be sooner restored to his health and his family, and enabled 
 to resume his labor. We would have it a home, to which the 
 respectable domestic may be sent when struck down by sick- 
 ness, whose attic chambers cannot be made comfortable, and 
 who cannot receive the requisite attendance, however well dis- 
 posed may be the family in which she resides. We would open 
 its doors to the stranger overtaken by disease, when absent 
 from friends and home, and to all others among the various 
 classes of society who in sickness require that comfort and 
 medical advice which their means and homes cannot afford." 
 
8 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 In accordance with the recommendations of that 
 Committee, the City Council purchased the building in 
 Springfield Street known as the " Lying-in Hospital," 
 to be appropriated to the purposes of a City Hospital ; 
 but, before it could be occupied as such, certain 
 citizens, who were apprehensive that the Hospital 
 would spread disease in its immediate neighborhood, 
 procured from the Legislature the enactment of an 
 amendment to the law permitting the city to establish 
 a Hospital, which prohibited the establishment of a 
 Hospital within three hundred feet of any church or 
 schoolhouse then built. As the building in Spring- 
 field Street came within this restriction, the project of 
 a City Hospital w^as thus thwarted for a time. 
 
 With the growth of the city, there was, of course, 
 an increase of the persons requiring hospital treatment, 
 and the necessity for enlarged accommodations which 
 was apparent in 1849, was daily manifested more and 
 more painfully to those who were professionally cog- 
 nizant of the disease and suffering incident to our large 
 and compact population. To all who examined the 
 subject, it was clear, that there were needed in Boston 
 hospital accommodations more nearly in accordance with 
 its character for well-directed benevolence, and cor- 
 responding in a greater degree to those of other Amer- 
 ican cities. 
 
 In 1860, the Mavor. Hon. F. W. Lincoln, Jr., re- 
 
PREFACE. _ 9 
 
 newed the appeal of his predecessors in office, to the 
 City Council. A Committee soon reported in favor of 
 building a Hospital, and in obedience to an order rec- 
 ommended by them, and passed by the City Coun- 
 cil on the 2ith day of December, 1860, a lot of land 
 on the South Bay territory, owned by the city, was 
 appropriated for a City Hospital. 
 
 During the next year, another Committee of the 
 City Council selected plans for a building, which were 
 adopted, but subsequently, in the year 1861, upon the 
 suggestion of the Committee on City Hospital, they 
 were considerably modified, and the actual work of 
 erecting a building was begun. 
 
 A central building, two pavilions, and the necessary 
 auxiliary buildings were substantially completed in 
 May of 1864, and on the 24th of the month were 
 dedicated with appropriate services, an account of 
 which will be found in another part of this volume. 
 
 The lot of land upon which the Hospital stands, is 
 bounded northwesterly on Harrison Avenue, 454 feet ; 
 southwesterly on Springfield Street, 630 feet ; south- 
 easterly on Albany Street, 452 feet ; northeasterly on 
 Concord Street, 658 feet ; and contains in all about 
 292,000 square feet, or 6tV acres. In addition, there 
 has been recently set apart a lot of land containing- 
 69,318 square feet in the rear (southeasterly) of the 
 Hospital buildings on the easterly side of Albany Street 
 
 2 
 
10 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 upon wliich it is expected that coal sheds, a Foul- 
 ward, and other buildings in connection with the Hos- 
 pital, will be erected within the current year. 
 
 The present buildings are six in number : the cen- 
 tral building, two pavilions, the boiler house, gate 
 house, and horse sheds. The central building, which 
 is 80 feet by 60, is connected with the pavilions by 
 corridors open above and closed in below, and contains 
 in the basement story a store room, apothecary's shop, 
 laboratory, dining room for the employes, the kitchen 
 and other rooms necessary for the culinary operations 
 of the Hospital. Upon the first floor are the rooms 
 occupied by the Superintendent and his family, the 
 Superintendent's office, and the business room of the 
 Trustees, which is also used for the reception of visi- 
 tors. The second story consists of apartments for 
 pay-patients ; in the third story are rooms for the 
 temporary use of ophthalmic patients, and closets for 
 storage ; and above is a spacious operating room, octa- 
 gonal in form, suitably lighted, heated, and ventilated, 
 with seats for about 175 students. Patients are brought 
 to the operating room from all the lower stories by 
 means of a lift moved by machinery situated in the 
 basement story. 
 
 This building is surmounted by an iron dome with a 
 cupola, the apex of which is 148 feet above the level 
 of the street. 
 
PREFACE. 11 
 
 The two pavilions are substantially alike in their 
 construction. They are 148 feet in length and 48 in 
 width, three stories in height beside the basement. 
 In the basement of each are the nurses' kitchen and 
 store room for supplies, small wards for the temporary 
 accommodation of patients, and also a room appropri- 
 ated for the clothing of the patients in the pavilion, 
 which is arranged with stationary boxes, numbered to 
 correspond with the beds. In the first, second, and 
 third stories are large wards, with dining rooms for 
 convalescent patients, nurses' chambers, bath rooms, 
 water closets, and other conveniences, room for the 
 attendant resident graduates, and a consultation room 
 for the surgeons and physicians. These wards are 
 each 80 feet long and 27 feet 8 inches wide. The 
 two lower are 16 feet, and the upper 10 feet in 
 height. Each ward will accommodate comfortably 28 
 patients. The Hospital furnishes ample accommoda- 
 tions for 225 patients, and should occasion require 
 275 might be admitted. The Hospital is furnished 
 throughout with the Tucker patent iron bedsteads, 
 furnished with an attachment for raising the head of 
 the patient. As the bedsteads are constructed wdth 
 a wooden spring bottom, one hair mattress only is 
 required for each. 
 
 The boiler house and laundry, which is three hun- 
 dred feet from the central building, and connected 
 
12 
 
 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 therewith by means of a covered way, contains on the 
 first floor the boilers, the fan, engines for carrying the 
 fan and machinery for the washing and ironing rooms, 
 furnished with the most approved apparatus for labor- 
 saving and convenience, and furnishing the steam for 
 heating and ventilating purposes. In the second story 
 are the sleeping rooms for the female domestics. Con- 
 nected with the boiler-house is the autopsy room. At 
 the northwesterly corner of the lot, at the junction of 
 Harrison Avenue and Concord Street, is the Porter's 
 Lodge, a building twenty feet square two stories 
 high, containing rooms for the accommodation of the 
 gate-keeper and other porters employed upon the 
 premises. On the Concord Street side of the grounds 
 are eight horse sheds, for the accommodation of phy- 
 sicians and others visiting the Hospital. 
 
 The Hospital is warmed and ventilated by a system 
 recently introduced into this country, with some im- 
 portant novelties never before applied. Air forced 
 through ducts, by means of a large fan at the boiler- 
 house, and warmed by coils of steam-pipes placed in 
 these ducts, is carried to every part of the buildings, 
 thus affording the means of heating as well as ven- 
 tilation. Direct radiation is provided for in a por- 
 tion of the rooms, to be used in case of necessity. 
 The steam pipes over which the air passes for heating 
 the different apartments in the central building, are 
 
PREFACE. 13 
 
 placed in coils in chambers connected with the air 
 ducts. Those for heating the pavilions are located 
 in the air passage, beneath the floor under the cor- 
 ridors leading to the pavilions. The passage through 
 which the air passes after having left the main duct 
 on its way to the pavilions, is divided into two com- 
 partments, in one of which is located coils of one inch 
 wrought-iron pipe. The steam, after passing from the 
 boilers in a large iron pipe, is distributed through 
 these coils, being regulated by valves under charge 
 of the engineer. After passing through the coils it 
 enters a steam trap located at the foot of the coil, 
 which is so constructed that no steam can pass, where, 
 after being converted into water, it is conveyed 
 through a cast-iron pipe to a reservoir, located at the 
 head of the air duct ; from thence it is pumped into 
 the boilers at a temperature of from 180 to 190 de- 
 grees ; that this process saves fuel and water is prov- 
 ed from the fact that the boilers have been used 
 for several days without any but the water so 
 returned. Through the other compartment, cold air 
 passes. These two compartments are so arranged 
 that the cold and warm air are brought together in 
 the several wards where they come in contact, before 
 entering the room, by a simple apparatus which can 
 be controlled by the nurse or attendant. By this ar- 
 rangement the atmosphere in each ward can be changed 
 
u 
 
 CITY HOSriTAL. 
 
 every thirty minutes ; the temperature^ however, re- 
 maining the same, and without causing any percepti- 
 ble current in the ward. The foul air passes from the 
 wards through registers at the sides, which are also 
 under the control of the attendants. In each of the 
 two middle wards are four marble fire-places, which 
 are also arranged for ventilation. 
 
 During the short period which the Institution has 
 been in operation, the heating and ventilation have 
 been found agreeable and satisfactory. 
 
 In the office of the Superintendent is placed a 
 standard regulating clock, which, independent of its 
 electrical mechanism, presents some novel features ; 
 having two mercurial pendulums so connected and 
 controlled as to vibrate perfectly together, and to act 
 the one upon the other, mutually checking any ten- 
 dency of either toward irregularity of oscillation. 
 
 In the principal hall and in the distant wards are 
 placed the electric companion clocks (five in number), 
 which have a simple mechanism, consisting of a lever 
 which, when lifted and allowed to fall by its own grav- 
 ity, moves an " escapement," so constructed as to be 
 propulsive, and continuous in its hold upon a single 
 toothed wheel. This wheel and its arbors — which 
 communicate directly with the motion work controlling 
 the difi'ering action of the hour and minute hands — 
 is the substitute for " the train " of a common clock ; 
 
PREFACE. 15 
 
 therefore requires no pendulum, weights, springs, or 
 winding up ; and moves only when magnetism, gen- 
 erated by electricity, is induced in the electro-magnet 
 which acts upon the lever before mentioned. 
 
 The system not only secures uniformity of time in 
 the different parts of the Institution, but relieves the 
 Superintendent of the care of many clocks, and the 
 wards of the ticking which marks the seconds of pass- 
 ing time ; generally so annoying to the sick or the 
 suffering patients. 
 
 Attached to the standard clock is also the patent 
 mechanism which constitutes it an Electro-Magnetic 
 Watch- Clock''' By this the perambulations of the 
 night watchman over the premises are legibly re- 
 corded, in such manner that the Superintendent may 
 ' know not only whether the watchman has been vigi- 
 lant, but also the precise time of his passing through 
 the different parts of the buildings. The apparatus, 
 like the time system, is operated on the same principle 
 as that of the Electric Telegraph, the watchman in 
 this case being the operator, simply by turning a key, 
 in different parts of the premises, which act momen- 
 tarily establishes and again breaks the electric circuit 
 and causes the instrument to record from time to time 
 the presence of the watchman at the different points 
 which his instructions require him to visit. 
 
 In concluding this brief history of the City 
 
16 - CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Hospital, we cannot fail to remember with satisfaction 
 two citizens of Boston, Elisha Goodnow and Lawrence 
 Nichols, whose names will always be associated with 
 the Hospital, as its earliest benefactors ; nor can we 
 forbear to express the hope, that an institution with so 
 beneficent a mission, may not depend upon the public 
 purse alone for its maintenance ; but that a portion 
 of its endowment may come from those who have 
 no occasion in time of suffering and disease to seek 
 relief beyond their own homes. 
 
ACT AND ORDINANCES. 
 
AN ACT or THE LEGISLATURE, 
 
 AUTHORIZING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Section L The City of Boston is hereby authorized 
 to erect estabhsh, and maintain a Hospital for the re- 
 ception of persons who by misfortune or poverty may 
 require relief during temporary sickness. 
 
 Sect. 2. The City Council of said city shall have 
 power to make such ordinances, rules, and regulations 
 as they may deem expedient for the appointment of 
 trustees and all other necessary officers, agents, and 
 servants, for managing the said Hospital. 
 
 Sect. 3. Said Hospital shall not be erected or lo- 
 cated within three hundred feet of any schoolhouse or 
 church now built. 
 
 Sect. 4. This act shall take effect from and after 
 its passage. 
 
 [Acts of 1858, Ch. 113.] 
 
AN ORDINANCE 
 
 RELATING TO THE CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Be it ordained hy the Board of Aldermen and Common 
 Council of the City of Boston, in City Council assembled, 
 as follows : — 
 
 Section 1. In the month of January, 1863, the City 
 Council shall proceed to elect by concurrent vote eight 
 suitable persons to be a Board of Trustees of the City 
 Hospital, of whom three shall be chosen from the citi- 
 zens at large, two shall be members of the Board of Al- 
 dermen, and three members of the Common Council. 
 The persons elected at large shall hold their offices 
 one for one year, one for two years, and the third 
 for three years, and the members chosen from the 
 City Council for one year, from the first day of said 
 January and until others are chosen respectively in 
 their places. And after the first election annually in 
 the month of January, or as soon thereafter as may be, 
 there shall be elected in the same manner to be Trus- 
 tees of said City Hospital, two members of the Board 
 of Aldermen and three members of the Common Coun- 
 cil, to hold their offices for one year, and one citizen 
 at large, to hold his office for three years, and until 
 others are chosen respectively in their places. But 
 each of said Trustees shall at all times be subject to 
 
ORDINANCE. 21 
 
 removal from office by the City Council for cause. 
 Whenever any vacancy shall occur in said Board of 
 Trustees by death, resignation, or otherwise, such va- 
 cancy shall be reported by the said Board to the City 
 Council, and they shall proceed to fill the same by 
 the choice of another Trustee, in the manner aforesaid, 
 who shall hold his office for the residue of the term 
 for which such member so deceased, resigned, or re- 
 moved would have held the same. The said Board of 
 Trustees, constituted as aforesaid after each annual 
 election, shall choose a President and a Secretary from 
 their own number, and a majority shall constitute a 
 quorum for business. 
 
 Sect. 2. The said Board of Trustees may appoint 
 such consulting and visiting physicians and surgeons as 
 they shall deem expedient ; and they may also appoint 
 such subordinate agents, assistants, and domestics as 
 they may consider necessary. They shall prepare all 
 needful rules and regulations for the government and 
 management of said Hospital, and submit the same to 
 the City Council for adoption, and with the approval 
 of said City Council, fix the compensation of the per- 
 sons employed by them. 
 
 Sect. 3. The said Board of Trustees shall elect, an- 
 nually, in the month of February, and whenever a va- 
 cancy may occur, some suitable person as Superinten.- 
 dent of the said Hospital, who shall constantly reside 
 at the Institution. He shall be removable at their 
 pleasure, and shall receive such compensation as the 
 City Council may from time to time determine. 
 
 Sect. 4. The Superintendent, under the direction 
 of the Board of Trustees, shall have the control of all 
 
22 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 departments of the Hospital, of all subordinate officers, 
 attendants, and domestics, of the patients, and the 
 charge of the grounds, buildings, and appurtenances. 
 
 Sect. 5. The said Trustees shall also have charge 
 of any building which is or may be established within 
 the city limits, by the City Council, for the admission 
 of patients having the smallpox, or any other infectious 
 disease. And they shall make such rules and regula- 
 tions for its management and government as they shall 
 deem proper and necessary, subject, however, to the 
 approval of the City Council. And the said Trustees 
 shall carefully guard against the introduction of any 
 cases of infectious disease into any other building 
 under their charge than the one appropriated for the 
 purpose by the City Council. 
 
 Sect. 6. The said Board may make all necessary 
 repairs and alterations in the several buildings under their 
 charge, and improvements in the land and grounds con- 
 nected with the Institution, provided that the expense 
 thereof shall not exceed the amount previously appro- 
 priated therefor by the City Council. But they shall 
 not make any change in the occupancy of said build- 
 ings, without first obtaining the approval of the City 
 Council. 
 
 Sect. 7. The City Hospital is established for the 
 reception of those only who require temporary relief 
 during sickness. The Trustees may, however, admit 
 other persons to the Institution, temporarily, when 
 necessity requires ; but such persons shall be removed 
 to other appropriate public institutions, as soon as 
 their condition will permit. They may, when com- 
 pensation therefor is made, afford separate apartments 
 
ORDINANCE. 23 
 
 and more accommodations than those which are cus- 
 tomary. Such extra compensation shall be credited 
 to the appropriation for the Hospital. 
 
 Sect. 8, Annually, in the month of January, the 
 said Board shall submit to the City Auditor an esti- 
 mate, in detail, of the expenses of maintaining and 
 conducting the Hospital under their charge, for the 
 year next ensuing ; and the said Board shall expend no 
 greater sum than shall be appropriated or authorized 
 by the City Council. And the said estimate shall be 
 accompanied by a report from the Superintendent 
 upon such matters as they may direct, in reference to 
 the general state of the Institution, the number of its 
 inmates, the number of admissions thereto, discharges 
 therefrom, deaths and births therein, during the year, 
 and such other information pertaining to the said Insti- 
 tution as they shall judge to be of public interest. 
 
 Se&t. 9. All moneys which have been or shall here- 
 after be received, directly or indirectly, by gift or be- 
 quest, for the benefit of the City Hospital, shall, unless 
 conditions are connected with the gift or bequest incon- 
 sistent therewith, be received by the Board of Trustees 
 of the said Hospital, and be by them deposited in the 
 city treasury ; and city scrip shall be issued therefor, 
 bearing interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, 
 payable semi-annually, which said scrip shall be de- 
 posited with the Auditor, who shall receive the interest 
 as the same shall become due thereon, and add it to the 
 moneys which shall have been appropriated for the use 
 of the Hospital. And all real estate and other property 
 not converted into money by sale, and all evidences of 
 title thereto, shall be received by the said Board ; and 
 
24 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 all such real estate and other property shall be leased, 
 let, or otherwise improved by the said Board of Trus- 
 tees, and the rent and income thereof added in like 
 manner to the moneys appropriated as aforesaid to the 
 use of the Hospital. All evidences of title thereto shall 
 be deposited with the Auditor. 
 
 Sect. 10. All moneys, property, and estate, given 
 or bequeathed to the city, for the use of the Hospital, 
 unless the donors thereof shall have otherwise directed, 
 shall constitute a permanent fund, the principal of 
 which shall not be diminished, and the income of which 
 shall be devoted to the uses of the Hospital. 
 
 Sect. 11. It shall be the duty of the Board of Trus- 
 tees of the City Hospital to exercise a careful super- 
 vision of all property, funds, and estate given or be- 
 queathed for the use of the Hospital, so as to prevent 
 any loss or diminution of the value thereof ; and in the 
 expenditure of the interest and income thereof, they 
 shall in all cases in which conditions or directions have 
 been attached to the gift or bequest, strictly observe and 
 conform to such conditions or directions. 
 
 [Ordinance passed December 23, 1862, amended June 24, 1863, 
 and further amended April 5, 1864. 
 
PTIOCEEDINGS 
 
 AT THE 
 
 DEDICATION OF THE CITY HOSPITAL, 
 
 MAY 24, 1864. 
 
ORDER OF EXERCISES. 
 
 I. — Introductory by the Choir. 
 
 II. — Delivery of the Keys by the Committee on Public Buildings to 
 
 His Honor the Mayor. 
 
 III.— Delivery of the Keys by His Honor the Mayor to the Board of 
 
 Trustees. 
 
 IV. — Response of Otis Norcross, Esq., President of the Board of 
 
 Trustees. 
 
 V. — Prayer by Rev. William S. Studley. 
 VI.— Address by Thomas C. Amory, Jr., Esq. 
 
 VII.— Hymn. 
 
 Father of mercies, send thy grace, 
 
 All-powerful, from above, 
 To form in our obedient souls 
 
 The image of thy love. 
 
 Oh 1 may our sympathizing breasts 
 
 That generous pleasure know, 
 Kindly to share in others' joy, 
 
 And weep for others' woe. 
 
 When poor and helpless sons of grief 
 
 In deep distress are laid, 
 Soft be our hearts their pains to feel, 
 
 And swift our hands to aid. 
 
 On wings of love the Saviour flew, 
 
 To bless a ruined race; 
 We would, O Lord, thy steps pursue. 
 
 Thy bright example trace. 
 
 Benediction. 
 
PEOCEEDINGS. 
 
 REMARKS OF ALDERMAN DAYIES, CHAIRMAN OF THE COM- 
 MITTEE ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 
 
 Mr. Mayor : It becomes my duty, as Chairman of the 
 Committee on Public Buildings, to surrender to you, the 
 chief executive officer of this city, these buildings, 
 which have been built by the direction of the City 
 Council for the purpose of a City Hospital. In July, 
 1861, it was ordered by the City Council, that the Com- 
 mittee on Public Buildings, in concurrence with the 
 Committee on the City Hospital, be directed to build 
 suitable buildings for a City Hospital, in general ac- 
 cordance with the plans of Mr. Bryant, with such 
 modifications as the Hospital Committee shall deem 
 expedient. 
 
 The plans were made \^ith the principal front and 
 entrance on Springfield Street ; but it was recommend- 
 ed in the Report of the Hospital Committee that it 
 should be changed, and have its front on Harrison 
 Avenue. A considerable time was therefore necessary 
 to make the change in the plans. 
 
30 CITY HOSriTAL. 
 
 The excavation was commenced on the 9th day of 
 September, 1861. All that was done that year was to 
 excavate the ground, drive the piles, and lay a part of 
 the foundations. The work was commenced early the 
 next Spring, and has been constantly prosecuted to the 
 present time. 
 
 As a full description and plans of the buildings and 
 grounds, with the names of all the committees who have 
 had charge of them from the commencement, and all 
 the contractors, and the parts of the work performed 
 by each of them, is to be published, it is not necessary 
 for me to give them at this time. 
 
 Although there is a considerable work to be done to 
 the grounds and fences, it was thought best by the 
 Trustees to open the buildings at this time. 
 
 In behalf of the Committee on Public Buildings, 
 I surrender to you these buildings which have been 
 erected for a City Hospital, and deliver to you the keys 
 which control their entrance. 
 
 REMARKS OF MAYOR LINCOLN. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : In conformity with the proprieties of 
 this occasion, it is my duty, as the official representa- 
 tive of the city, to receive from you the keys of this 
 edifice, and to place them in the hands of those who 
 will hereafter have it in charge, and who will organize 
 within its walls an institution for the relief and bodily 
 comfort of our suffering fellow-men. 
 
 The several Committees on Public Buildings under 
 
REMARKS OF MAYOR LINCOLN. 31 
 
 whose superintendence these walls have been raised, 
 and who have erected from the rough materials which 
 nature has furnished these complete and elegant build- 
 ings, have earned by their faithful exertions the grati- 
 tude of our whole community, and have reason to be 
 proud of the consummation of their labors. 
 
 The character of a community is apt to be judged by 
 the taste and skill displayed in its public buildings ; and 
 the objects to which they are devoted is a sure index of 
 the spirit of the people, and the degree of civilization 
 to which they have attained. The church and the 
 schoolhouse of our rural districts are the symbols of 
 that influence which New England has exercised upon 
 the destinies of this Republic. In larger communities, 
 with a congregated population, new wants are de- 
 veloped, and new necessities are to be met ; and accord- 
 ing to the fidelity in meeting these requisitions a 
 municipality is to be honored. 
 
 Temples to the heathen gods, with their low and 
 sensual rites, and their bloody sacrifices, — amphithea- 
 tres, where wild beasts tore and mangled human beings 
 amid the shouts and exultant cries of an infuriated and 
 gratified populace, — huge structures, like the pyra- 
 mids of Egypt, built by the unrequited labor of 
 thousands, to immortalize the memory of kings long 
 since forgotten, — such as these are the public build- 
 ings of the ancient world. In modern times on the 
 continent of Europe, stately edifices have been raised 
 to excite the admiration of refined taste and culture. 
 In the erection and adornment of cathedrals and 
 churches, genius has exerted itself in the highest de- 
 partments of art; but the vast majority of the buildings 
 
32 CITY HOSriTAL. 
 
 which attract the attention of the stranger are built 
 for and enjoyed by the titled few, making the contrast 
 still more visible between the palaces of the nobles and 
 the dwellings of the great mass of the people. 
 
 It must be confessed, however, that the most signal 
 architectural triumphs are dependent in a great degree 
 on opulence and wealth. A new community, without 
 the accumulations of capital, has few opportunities to 
 distinguish itself in this department of art ; private 
 fortunes cannot afford it, and the only means for its 
 exercise, are in those buildings of a public character, 
 where, as the expense is to be shared by the many, the 
 burden of their cost is comparatively light. As a com- 
 munity increases in wealth and prosperity, its outward 
 sign is manifest in the splendor and elegance of its 
 buildings devoted to the public service. The Capitol 
 at Washington, it is universally admitted, when com- 
 pleted, will be one of the most magnificent buildings 
 in the world, and amply symbolizes the gigantic pro- 
 portions and boundless resources of our peerless 
 liepublic. 
 
 Every State of the Union seeks to embody in the 
 edifice where its Legislature meets a representative 
 building, corresponding to the position of its common- 
 wealth and common weal. In a city the parallel holds 
 good ; and in harmony with its growth and progress 
 stately edifices and temples rise from the ground and 
 become tangible proofs of its commercial success, and 
 the opulence of its citizens. 
 
 Boston has kept pace with its own prosperity in this 
 respect. Hardly a year elapses that does not witness 
 the erection of some new edifice to accommodate the 
 
REMARKS OF MAYOR LINCOLN. 33 
 
 public wants. And to-day — and appropriately in our 
 time-honored anniversary-week — we are engaged in 
 the dedication of another group of buildings, to be- 
 come, from the symmetry of their proportions, and the 
 useful purposes to which they are to be devoted, a 
 constant source of pride to our own citizens, and a new 
 object of interest to the stranger. 
 
 Allow me, then, Mr. Chairman, to present to you and 
 your colleagues of the Committee on Public Buildings, 
 the thanks of the City Council for your gratuitous la- 
 bors. Aided by your exertions, our city is graced with 
 another object of municipal concern. It is an addi- 
 tional monument of honor to the architect who desisrned 
 it, and the Boston mechanics who have labored in its 
 erection. That assiduous care with which some mem- 
 bers of your Committee have watched over every por- 
 tion of the work, from the foundation to its noble dome, 
 should be gratefully remembered by your fellow-citi- 
 zens, and must be a source of unalloyed satisfaction 
 as long as you feel any sympathy in those objects which 
 have occupied your time and called for the exercise of 
 your talents, while you were in the public service. 
 Permit me to congratulate you on the successful con- 
 summation of your labors. 
 
 And now, Mr. President of the Board of Trustees of 
 the City Hospital, it is my pleasant duty to present 
 these keys to you, as an emblem of the important trust 
 which is to be placed in your hands, and to be trans- 
 mitted, we trust, to many generations of successors. 
 The poor, the suffering, the dying are to be solaced by 
 your ministrations. You are to represent, in behalf 
 
34 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 of this community, the Good Samaritan, who poured 
 out oil and wine for the bruised and afflicted. But it 
 is in no wayside inn, where you are compelled to leave 
 your unhappy fellow-creature, but a comfortable home, 
 where everything which can ameliorate human suffer- 
 ing, or soothe the couch of pain, is at your disposal. 
 The City Government, with a liberality almost border- 
 ing on prodigality, have furnished you with every means 
 which modern science can suggest to assist you in your 
 labors. A situation having all the advantages of sun- 
 light and air, large and well ventilated apartments, 
 furnished with taste and even elegance, and wards and 
 beds filled with every, comfort which human sympathy 
 and tender interest can devise. You will be assisted by 
 the advice and counsel of some of the most skilful 
 physicians and surgeons which the world can produce : 
 noble men of a noble profession, many of whom we 
 welcome to our own homes in those seasons of severest 
 trials, when we are solicitous for the safety of our loved 
 ones, — Apostolic successors, I might almost say, of 
 that beloved physician who shared in the companion- 
 ship of the early disciples of our Saviour, and whose 
 record of the Master's life and teaching will endure as 
 long as the world shall stand. 
 
 It is your privilege as well as your great and peculiar 
 responsibility, at the outset, to give a character and 
 position to this Hospital. The system you inaugurate, 
 and the plans you lay out at the start, will have no in- 
 considerable influence in the success or failure of the 
 Institution. It Avill be your duty to draw the line 
 between the virtuous poor who have a claim on 
 your sympathy, and the vicious who are suffering the 
 
REMARKS OF MAYOR LINCOLN. 35 
 
 penalties of their vices. While the wealthy and the 
 middling interest will share in the benefits of the insti- 
 tution, and contribute, we trust, in a good measure to 
 its support, its principal object is the relief and nourish- 
 ment of the unfortunate in the humbler walks of life, 
 who, confined in sickness in the narrow apartments of 
 their homes, need better accommodations and more 
 skilful medical attendance than their straightened cir- 
 cumstances will permit them to obtain for themselves. 
 It is not to be a pauper establishment, where the patient 
 will lose his self- respect and self-reliance when admitted 
 as an inmate, but a temporary home, where the worthy 
 can receive that aid which we all, at some time, may 
 require. It will be your duty to give it a name and 
 character among the kindred institutions of its class. 
 Boston has. already an enviable position in regard to the 
 standard of its public institutions devoted to education, 
 science, art, literature, and religion; see to it that this 
 new institution, devoted to the cause of humanity, shall 
 take an elevated rank by the side of its noble compeers. 
 The City Government have a right to expect economy 
 in its management, and a watchful care and guardian- 
 ship over all its interests. The task is before you, and 
 the blessings of many that were ready to perish will be 
 your exceeding rich reward. 
 
 The growth and prosperity of our city cannot be 
 better illustrated than by recalling to mind the partic- 
 ular geographical position where we are now assem- 
 bled. To minister to our accommodation, old Ocean 
 has had to give up her empire, and the fresh and virgin 
 soil of the country has been transferred to our metrop- 
 olis, to give a standing to our footsteps, and to furnish 
 
36 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 homes for our people. Within the memory of some 
 who hear me, Boston was connected with the adjoining 
 country on the south by a single highway, which at 
 some times at high tides was covered with water. Now, 
 from the shores of the South Bay, whereon this build- 
 ing stands, across to Charles Kiver on the west, is a 
 distance of one and a half miles. A thrifty, happy, 
 and contented population will soon occupy the entire 
 territory. The old parts of the town must be given up 
 to business purposes, and appropriately we dedicate 
 this institution as one of the glories of the new. 
 
 But I must not trespass upon those topics which, with 
 more propriety, belong to my accomplished friend who 
 is to deliver the address on this occasion. His long 
 and valuable services in our municipal councils, and 
 his devoted interests in the success of this institution, 
 have earned him a claim to speak in its behalf. 
 
 Take then these keys, Mr. President, in behalf of the 
 Board of Trustees. May their office be the admission 
 of all who have any claims upon your sympathy ; and 
 may they forever bar all who would unworthily enjoy 
 the privileges of the institution, or who would bring 
 disgrace upon its name and fame. 
 
REMARKS OF OTIS NORCROSS. 37 
 
 RESPONSE OF OTIS NORCEOSS, ESQ. PRESIDENT OF THE 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 Mr. Mayor : As President of the Board of Trustees, 
 I receive from you in their behalf these keys, and with 
 them the custody and supervision of the City Hospital. 
 
 In behalf of the Trustees I assure you that there 
 shall be no want of attention to our duties. We shall 
 endeavor so to conduct the affairs of the institution as 
 to carry out the purposes for which it was erected, and 
 to merit the approbation not only of yourself, but of 
 the City Council and the citizens at large. 
 
 The City Ordinance of 1862, relating to the Hospital, 
 required the election, during the month of January, 
 1863, of a Board of eight Trustees. Although the 
 buildings were far from completion, and the Trustees if 
 elected would have no direct voice in their construction, 
 yet the City Council, in accordance with the Ordinance, 
 made the election at the required time. 
 
 The Trustees, upon being assured by the Building 
 Committee that the furnishing of the Hospital would 
 be entrusted to them, immediately appointed a commit- 
 tee to visit the institutions of a similar kind in this and 
 other States, for the purpose of obtaining information 
 in regard to the best method of conducting hospitals, 
 as well as the modern improvements in furniture and 
 appointments. 
 
 The result of these inquiries was very satisfactory, 
 and enabled the Trustees to make many valuable sug- 
 gestions to the committee on construction, concerning 
 the internal arrangements of the institution, which will 
 add much to the comfort and convenience of the in- 
 
38 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 mates, as well as to its economical administration. I 
 desire here, in the name of the Trustees, to thank the 
 gentlemen of the Building Committee and of the Hos- 
 pital Committee for the promptness with which they 
 have responded to our wishes. 
 
 In the selection of furniture, the Trustees have en- 
 deavored to be as economical as was consistent with 
 the magnitude of the building and the credit of the 
 city. 
 
 They were early aware of the importance of select- 
 ing a competent Superintendent, who could devote his 
 whole time to the arrangement of the various details 
 under their supervision ; and they were fortunate in 
 finding, among their own number, a gentleman who 
 had taken a great interest in the Hospital, and who, 
 being at leisure, upon the request of the Trustees, ex- 
 pressed a willingness to accept the position. Accord- 
 ingly, a temporary arrangement was made having that 
 end in view. The Trustees are under great obligations 
 to him for many important suggestions and improve- 
 ments. 
 
 They were also impressed with the importance of 
 creating an interest in the Hospital among the medical 
 faculty of the city, and they entrusted to a committee the 
 nomination of a suitable number of Consulting and 
 Visiting Physicians and Surgeons, to form a permanent 
 Board. We are gratified in being able to state that 
 our appointments appear to have given universal satis- 
 faction. We learn with pleasure that these gentlemen 
 have organized themselves under the style of " The 
 Association of Physicians and Surgeons of the City 
 Hospital," and are ready to commence their labors as 
 
REMARKS OF OTIS NORCROSS. 39 
 
 soon as the Hospital has patients needing tlieir atten- 
 tions. The interest so far manifested promises a suc- 
 cessful future. 
 
 The Trustees were early called upon to deplore the 
 loss of one of the Board of Visiting Physicians. By 
 the death of Doctor John C. Dalton, we were deprived 
 of the counsel and experience of one of the most emi- 
 nent of his profession. His intention, as expressed to 
 his family and friends, to devote the most of his time 
 and talents to this Hospital, renders his decease a seri- 
 ous misfortune, not only to this institution, but to the 
 citizens of Boston. 
 
 Within a few weeks we have again been called upon 
 to mourn the decease of one of our Board of Consult- 
 ing Physicians. By the decease of Doctor John Ware, 
 we have been deprived of the advice of another of the 
 most practical friends of the Hospital. 
 
 The rules and regulations of the principal hospitals 
 of the country have been carefully examined, and a 
 code adapted to our own has been prepared and sub- 
 mitted to the City Council for approval. 
 
 It will not be inappropriate here to say a few words 
 in regard to the future of the Hospital, and to give the 
 views of the Trustees as to the purposes for which it 
 has been erected, in order that the public may not be 
 misled by the erroneous title of Free City Hospital, 
 which is sometimes given to it. That it will be free to 
 a certain extent is very true, but not to the extent such 
 a title would imply. 
 
 The act of the Legislature of 1858 reads as fol- 
 lows: — 
 
 " The city is hereby authorized to erect and maintain 
 
40 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 a Hospital, for the reception of persons who, by mis- 
 fortune or poverty, may require relief during temporary 
 sickness." ._ 
 
 The Report of the Committee of the City Council for 
 1857 says : " It is proper to state that the terra City 
 Hospital would probably express better the character 
 and design of the proposed institution than Free City 
 Hospital. We would not have this a hospital for the 
 degraded victims of vice and intemperance, or as the 
 home for the hopeless pauper ; but we would have it 
 regarded as an asylum for the industrious and honest 
 mechanic and laborer who, by sudden injury or disease, 
 is temporarily prevented from laboring for his own or 
 his family's support, and who, by proper care and 
 medical advice, may have his suffering alleviated, and 
 be sooner restored to his health and his family, and be 
 enabled to resume his labors." 
 
 In the will of Mr. Elisha Goodriow, who was the 
 first and as yet its most liberal donor, we find written, 
 " and by such hospital, I mean an institution similar to 
 the Massachusetts General Hospital ; not such public 
 hospital as may be established or maintained in connec- 
 tion with the City Almshouse, or House of Correction, 
 or other municipal establishment for the care and relief 
 of paupers supported by the city." 
 
 We find that the City Ordinance relating to this 
 Hospital says, " The City Hospital is established for 
 the reception of those only who require temporary 
 relief, and who upon their restoration wdll be able to 
 support themselves." 
 
 It has never been the intention of the City Council 
 to make this a pauper hospital. The citizens should 
 
REMARKS OF OTIS NORCROSS. 41 
 
 realize this fact ; and before they make application for 
 the admission of patients, be very sure of the right of 
 the party to be admitted. Jt will often be difficult to 
 draw the line which separates temporary necessity and 
 pauperism ; such cases must be left to the judgment of 
 the Trustees, after they have considered all the circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Infectious and contagious diseases cannot for the 
 present be admitted ; we have no provision for such 
 cases, beyond the requirements of this Hospital, should 
 suchsdiseases make their appearance within its wards. 
 At no distant day separate buildings will dotibtless be 
 erected, upon the premises, for the treatment of such 
 patients. 
 
 Incurable and chronic cases cannot be received, ex- 
 cepting when the Trustees and Physicians are of opin- 
 ion that temporary medical treatment will be of essential 
 benefit to the applicant, — otherwise our buildings 
 would soon be permanently full. 
 
 The grounds set apart for the use of the Hospital, 
 comprise about seven acres, which will allow ample 
 space for the erection of any additional buildings, which 
 may hereafter be required. 
 
 We trust this noble charity, designed to assist the 
 honest, temperate and industrious poor, will attract the 
 attention of many of the men of wealth, in our city 
 and vicinity, and that we may be enabled to add their 
 names to those of Goodnow and Nichols, upon our 
 record of Benefactors. 
 
 The Trustees take great pleasure in stating that, in 
 their opinion, this Hospital will compare favorably with 
 
42 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 any similar institution in the country, and that the citi- 
 zens of Boston have reason to be proud of it. 
 
 Its support will add considerably to the expense of 
 the city; but the Trustees will endeavor to be as 
 economical in the expenditure as is consistent with 
 humanity and the welfare of the Institution. 
 
ADDRESS, 
 
 BY THOMAS C. AMORY, Jr 
 
 In consecrating this Hospital to the Great Being who 
 has given us the means and disposition to erect it, to 
 serve its purpose as we trust for centuries, we should 
 do injustice to our better nature, did we not pause upon 
 their threshold, to express our gratitude. We have 
 indeed cause to be thankful in having this added to the 
 golden circle of charities for which Boston has been 
 long and honorably distinguished. I congratulate you, 
 Sir, as its chief magistrate, and also the members of 
 its City Council, that it is your privilege, as almoners 
 and stewards of your constituents, to transmit to their 
 coming generations so goodly an heritage. 
 
 Kather more than three years have elapsed since the 
 superintendence of this Institution, then only in contem- 
 plation, was entrusted to a Committee, of which, dur- 
 ing my connection with the City Council, I was the 
 appointed Chairman ; and having had since the honor 
 to preside over the Board of Trustees, will explain my 
 being permitted, now that its buildings are approaching 
 completion, to participate in their dedication. Far be 
 it from me to claim any credit for their construction, or 
 for the organization of that admirable system of gov- 
 
44 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 ernment which promises to prove a model one in its ad- 
 ministration. The gentlemen with whom I have been 
 so long and so intimately associated, will admit that my 
 heart has been in the work, and that my best efforts 
 have co-operated with their own in endeavoring to bring 
 it to perfection. But to them be the honor of success. 
 
 If in this consummation of a hope long cherished, and 
 now happily realized, we cannot be unmindful of the 
 zeal and public spirit, which have contributed so largely 
 to the result, it would be idle with this noble edifice ex- 
 tending up into the heavens above us, and with their 
 services fresh upon our minds, to attempt to discrimi- 
 nate in praise. This belongs to no exclusive few ; but 
 should be generously shared by all who have given us 
 their aid. What has been accomplished is their all- 
 sufhcient monument ; but permit me, having had favor- 
 able opportunities for observation, to bear witness to the 
 fidelity and untiring self-devotion of one and all. 
 
 When the corner-stone was laid, no masonic rites, 
 no religious exercises sanctified our labors. Circum- 
 stances not to be controlled compelled these accustomed 
 and appropiiate ceremonials to be deferred. But to-day 
 we have made amends in invoking the blessing of God 
 upon the future usefulness of this Institution. Our 
 people, our whole people, all that especially constitutes 
 us an enlightened, charitable, religious community, 
 having through their constituted authorities constructed 
 this Hospital, now consecrate it upon the altar of Chris- 
 tian humanity. If in gloom and despondency we laid its 
 foundations ; if in uncertainty and tribulation we have 
 erected its walls ; what more suitable oblation can we 
 now offer, with grateful hearts, when we are again per- 
 
ADDRESS. 45 
 
 mitted the hope of possessing our country undimmished, 
 — our liberties unimpaired ? 
 
 If comparatively few generations of men have passed 
 since our puritan fathers first planted themselves on 
 these then sterile coasts, we have every reason to be 
 proud of the record they have left us. When we re- 
 call the various vicissitudes, the peculiar hardships of 
 their lot, their many perils by land and sea, we under- 
 stand how their principal strength was in that trust, and 
 which they constantly exhibited in praise and prayer. 
 What period of their eventful history but brought ex- 
 periences to improve and to elevate? When we re- 
 member their wise and virtuous magistrates, the noble 
 men and women whose names come down to us in 
 every household embalmed in deeds of charity, the 
 long succession of pure and pious clergymen, who, if 
 intolerant of opinion, encouraged their people to every 
 good work, we recognize the seed that was sown in the 
 fruit ripening around us, in institutions for the supply 
 of every want, for the relief of suifering, for the moral 
 training as well as physical comfort of their inmates. 
 Each successive year but strengthens the assurance 
 that we are not degenerate, that we are still true to our 
 traditions, that Boston is pre-eminently a Christian city ; 
 and that the event which we this day celebrate, in no 
 Pharisaical spirit, occupies a most appropriate place in 
 her annals. 
 
 It is worthy of note that, before the Christian era, 
 such foundations as this, or indeed any other for chari- 
 table purposes, were wholly unknown. The Jew drove 
 the leper into the wilderness to perish. Consideration 
 for human weakness formed no part of heathen morality. 
 
46 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 It was from our Saviour's teachings, inculcated by 
 precept and example, that sprang the universal sense of 
 obligation to minister to the necessities of the poor and 
 feeble. Lazarettos and hospitals, with other kindred 
 charities, clustered under the shelter of the Church, and 
 before the Keformation their charge was the special duty 
 of the priests. In Protestant countries, while private 
 benevolence is ever on the alert, it has become the 
 settled policy and adopted law, that the public shall 
 accord a reasonable measure of relief to all that need. 
 Wherever the cross is recognized as the emblem of 
 life and hope of immortality, spacious edifices, raised 
 at public expense or by private contribution, throw open 
 their doors to all who will receive their benefits. What- 
 ever the form in which humanity is afflicted, whether or- 
 phan helplessness or the infirmities of age, whether it be 
 the mind, the conscience, or appetite that is disordered, 
 for all there is a refuge or a cure. And for such as 
 those, for whose alleviation we have erected these walls, 
 how infinitely and variously has beneficence provided. 
 In the old world and in the new, wherever an enlight- 
 ened philanthropy has fostered a sense of this sacred 
 duty, liberal endowments, scientific care and angel 
 ministrations have smoothed the pillow of disease. In 
 London, where the hospitals are almost exclusively pri- 
 vate foundations, monuments of individual munificence, 
 and under private administration; in Paris, where they 
 derive a support from the public, and are under gov- 
 ernment control, beds in proportion far more numerous 
 than in any of our own cities, are at the disposal of the 
 sick. A century ago our own Franklin aided to found 
 a hospital in the home of his adoption, and later the 
 
ADDRESS. 47 
 
 great commercial metropolis of the Continent established 
 another ; but a long period was destined to elapse be- 
 fore either could compare in completeness with those 
 everywhere to be found in the great capitals of Europe. 
 There alone, sixty years ago, could an aspirant for 
 proficiency in medical science, acquire experience to 
 accomplish himself for his honored career. There the 
 present head, by universal suffrage, of our faculty,* laid 
 the deep and broad foundations of that professional 
 knowledge, which have made him so pre-eminently use- 
 ful to our community, of which, in a ripe old age, with 
 a mind in pristine vigor, he still remains one of the 
 most distinguished ornaments. In returning to his na- 
 tive land, his earnest desire was to secure for his own 
 countrymen similar advantages for instruction, and for 
 the relief of unnecessary sufi'ering. He estimated aright 
 the cost, but still had faith in the generosity of the 
 affluent. His professional associates, and prominently 
 among them Dr. Warren, a name in three generations 
 distinguished for surgical skill and for private worth, 
 lent their cordial co-operation. The Embargo, and the 
 war, compelled delay, but, when returning peace again 
 encouraged eff'ort, the needed means were supplied with 
 the utmost promptitude. The State gave the Province 
 House, and established the Life Office ; near eighty 
 thousand dollars were contributed in three days through 
 ward organizations ; and it is said that, at a meeting of 
 wealthy citizens round a convivial board in Bowdoin 
 Square, more than twenty thousand dollars were sub- 
 scribed. 
 
 * Dr. James Jackson. 
 
48 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 It was not alone the cure of the sick, but the care of 
 the insane for which they were providing ; and in little 
 more than ten years from the date of the charter in 
 1811, both institutions, that in Boston and that in Som- 
 erville, were in successful operation.* Ever since, these 
 foundations have been cherished objects for the bounty 
 of the opulent, more than a million and a half of dol- 
 lars having been given or bequeathed for their support. 
 Many an interesting anecdote might be gleaned in con- 
 nection with their early history, did our time permit. 
 In one instance where a favorite servant fell ill of a 
 fatal disease. Dr. Jackson, the family physician, advised 
 her removal to the Hospital, where she could receive 
 attentions which her situation demanded more eifec- 
 tively and economically than in a private house. Here 
 she was frequently visited by her employer, who was so 
 well satisfied with the management, and convinced of 
 the good it was eff'ecting, that, soon after, he left one 
 hundred and twenty thousand dollars to the Institution, 
 one branch of which still bears his name. 
 
 If physicians, familiar with the want of proper med- 
 ical care in the dwellings of the poor, can best appre- 
 ciate the value of ample hospital accommodation, if all 
 of us have had occasion to provide for persons having 
 such claims upon our compassion, individuals relieved 
 often feel an especial sense of obligation for the bene- 
 fits conferred. This was conspicuously illustrated in a 
 memorable incident in our annals, forming a golden 
 
 * It is recorded, and may serve for encouragement, if our beds are not im- 
 mediately in requisition, that the first patient was received at the Hospital on 
 the third day of September, 1821, and that there was no other application be- 
 fore the twentieth. 
 
ADDRESS. 49 
 
 link between us and the parent institution, the augury, 
 as we hope, of continued good fellowship in the promo- 
 tion of their common objects. Our earliest benefactor, 
 after wandering over many seas, and enduring beyond 
 the reach of professional aid the most cruel sufferings, 
 w^as the first to be operated upon in the Massachusetts 
 General Hospital. Grateful for the tender assiduities 
 of the eminent surgeon in charge, and for his subse- 
 quent immunity from pain, a quarter of a century later 
 he gave the larger part of his estate towards the foun- 
 dation of this City Hospital. 
 
 When the Massachusetts Hospital was established, 
 our population consisted of about forty-five thousand 
 souls ; when it doubled, the dimensions of the building 
 were enlarged in the same proportion, and now that we 
 number as many again, it is reasonable that as much 
 additional accommodation shall be provided. 
 
 Our extended limits, as well as a growing impression 
 that small hospitals, if of sufficient capacity for classifi- 
 cation and efficient control, are more convenient to the 
 public, probably induced Mr. Goodnow, instead of add- 
 ing to the funds of the elder foundation, to provide for 
 another ; and his bequest was conditional on its location 
 in the Eleventh Ward or at South Boston, where, when 
 he made his will, he was residing. This instrument 
 bears date the twelfth of July, 1849, a few weeks after 
 the opening of the temporary w^ooden building on the 
 Fort Hill Mall for the reception of cholera patients. 
 At the time, this mysterious malady was again sweep- 
 ing through the cities of our land, and of six thousand 
 that experienced here its infectious influence, more 
 than six hundred perished. This fearful visitation, 
 
 7 
 
50 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 and the obvious necessity of more adequate prepara- 
 tion against its possible recurrence, no doubt influ- 
 enced in some measure the testator in this disposition 
 of his property. 
 
 The physicians, under whose efficient direction and 
 care the Fort Hill Hospital had been erected and con- 
 ducted, and among them with paramount claim to grate- 
 ful acknowledgment Dr. Clark and Dr. Buckingham, 
 made an appeal, in the autumn of that year, to the City 
 Council for the erection of a more permanent structure. 
 The views of Dr. Clark, submitted later, as city physi- 
 cian, to the government, for its information, were many 
 of them substantially incorporated in the plan eventu- 
 ally adopted. In 1856, a memorial forcibly represent- 
 ing the urgent want of more ample provision for the 
 sick poor, prepared by one of our trustees, Dr. William 
 E-. Lawrence, was presented to the Mayor, Hon. Alex- 
 ander H. Kice, who recommended the subject to public 
 attention in his annual address in 1857. Other medical 
 gentlemen of the highest rank in their profession, peti- 
 tioned in aid. The Committee appointed for its con- 
 sideration, of which Hon. Joseph M. Wightman was 
 chairman, reported in favor of vigorous measures. The 
 building originally constructed and used for a Lying-in- 
 Hospital on Springfield Street, afterwards occupied by 
 the Female Medical College, and now as a Discharged 
 Soldiers Home, was purchased ; and an act 1858, ch. 
 115, authorizing the city to establish a hospital procur- 
 ed from the General Court. A clause, inserted at the 
 instance of neighbors needlessly alarmed, that the insti- 
 tution should not be within three hundred feet of any 
 church or schoolhouse then built, prevented the use of 
 
ADDRESS. 51 
 
 the estate purchased for the purpose iutended. Xot 
 discouraged by this disappointment, the project was con- 
 tinued in charge of able committees, and although prior 
 to 1861 nothing had been accomplished but the selec- 
 tion of the present location, it ceased not to form in 
 some of its relations a prominent topic for deliberation 
 and discussion. 
 
 When the charge devolved upon our Committee, we 
 had every reason to believe, from the prevailing senti- 
 ments of the City Council, that we were expected to 
 proceed, without delay, to the erection of the buildings. 
 Still, prudence as well as propriety, suggested that our 
 Board of legally constituted medical advisers should be 
 consulted as to the actual need. Assembled together, 
 each in turn, without hesitation, and with a full and 
 unreserved expression of opinion, encouraged immediate 
 action. Later, when the dark clouds of civil discord, 
 which had so long lowered over our political horizon, 
 had broken, and the fall of Sumter, the disaster of 
 Bull Run, filled with dismay every breast for the future 
 of our country, one at least of their number thought we 
 should reserve our resources for the more pressing exi- 
 gences of the war. These considerations were respect- 
 fully weighed by the Committee, who concluded that 
 if the war were protracted, the proposed institution 
 would be useful, if not for the reception of the wounded, 
 for the numerous cases of chronic disease produced by 
 exposure in the field. Steps, moreover, had already 
 been taken, from which it was not easy to recede. 
 
 The responsibility of selecting a location had been 
 assumed by our predecessors, but doubts had arisen if 
 this were of all others the one to be preferred. A site 
 
52 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 on solid ground, more central, more elevated, and nearer 
 to the sea, seemed more eligible, if to be obtained. 
 But to each and every spot were found objections, out- 
 weighing any advantage it possessed. Finally discour- 
 aged, we returned to our earlier choice. Here we had 
 ample space. The public domain of seventy acres 
 could well spare one tenth of its area for so sacred a 
 purpose. Indeed, this consecration of a part to be 
 covered with handsome edifices, and adorned with 
 flowers and shrubs, would enhance the value of the 
 rest. Representations were made to the Land Commis- 
 sion, that the size of the lot might not meet the future 
 requirements of the Hospital, and the location was en- 
 larged to double the extent originally appropriated.* 
 
 Meanwhile, many of our most eminent architects, 
 after devoting several weeks to the elaboration of de- 
 signs for the building, submitted them in competition 
 for the premium and for adoption. With so much for 
 encomium, in their elegance of form, graceful decora- 
 tion, and convenience of arrangement, selection was 
 difficult. Others than that finally adopted, had strong 
 claims upon our preference. After long study and re- 
 flection, and successively rejecting those least suited to 
 
 * Should the South Bay he used to any extent as a receptacle for sewage, 
 like the Back Bay it will soon become a nuisance, and find its way into the 
 State coffers for the advantage of every part of the Commonwealth hut Bos- 
 ton. But if enlarged and excavated throughout, as it has been in part, six feet 
 below low-tide level, and retained as a tidal reservoir for the preservation of 
 Fort Point Channel and its wharves, this ornamental basin will add to the at- 
 tractiveness and salubrity of the whole neighborhood ; its margin devoted to 
 the useful arts, and kept free from all that are offensive, will be of value for 
 trade and industry; and its breezes freshened by the tides, bring health and 
 cure to our patients. Let neither State nor City Government permit its de- 
 struction. 
 
ADDRESS. 53 
 
 our purpose, the Committee and their advisers coin- 
 cided with remarkable unanimity upon the plan of Mr. 
 Bryant. In its preparation, he had extensively availed 
 himself of the suggestions of Dr. Clark as to the ele- 
 vation and general disposition of the pavilions and sev- 
 eral apartments. What especially recommended this 
 to our choice, was, that all parts of the wards were 
 abundantly exposed to sun and air. 
 
 Upon our representation, the City Council gave the 
 requisite authority in concurrence to the committees on 
 the Hospital and Public Buildings. After the settlement 
 of conflicting opinions, the accepted plan was carefully 
 rearranged, so that the group of buildings should front 
 towards Harrison Avenue ; and, before the close of the 
 year, the piles were driven and the contracts signed. 
 The low price of labor and materials, and high pre- 
 miums on Citv Stock when sold, both told in favor of 
 the city. 
 
 In the original estimates, no allowance had been 
 made for that massive stone- work beneath the surface, 
 indispensable in raising the basement to a safe grade 
 above the tide, or for that system of heating and ven- 
 tilation, now becoming more and more generally 
 adopted, wherever large numbers of persons are con- 
 gregated under the same roof. Nor did we include 
 our beautiful dome, one of the noblest architectural 
 ornaments of the city, which, while suited to the dig- 
 nity of a public edifice of this nature, is a constant 
 source of delight to every beholder. Large as has 
 been the cost, there has been little profit to any, and 
 loss to a few ; and the annual expenditure of one hun- 
 
54 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 dred thousand dollars has imposed no heavy burden on 
 the public treasury. 
 
 Were we permitted, with our present experience, to 
 recommence our task, the control would be left with 
 a single committee, and to fewer minds. Frequently 
 differences of opinion and misapprehension of our re- 
 spective rights and powers, threatened serious inter- 
 ruption. This was an unavoidable consequence of the 
 adopted plan, which still had the important recommen- 
 dation of securing for its succesful accomplishment a 
 great variety of information and ability, and of enlist- 
 ing the vigilant supervision of a large number of the 
 City Council. With so many to be considered and 
 consulted, it is remarkable that so great a degree of 
 harmony prevailed. But one generous spirit seemed 
 to animate all in perfecting the plans, expediting the 
 construction, and securing the best material and work- 
 manship at a moderate cost. Time and toil were 
 cheerfully yielded, at the sacrifice of private interests 
 and personal ease, by members of the committees, 
 whose counsels were valuable beyond price. 
 
 If the progress made has ever disappointed expec- 
 tation, it must be borne in mind that with the excep- 
 tion of the piles under the walls, driven about thirty 
 feet in depth, and placing in position some portion of 
 the rough stone foundation, no part of the building 
 was commenced before the spring of 1862. Conse- 
 quently but little more than two years have been con- 
 sumed in construction. The rally of the North to sus- 
 tain the Government in its efforts to suppress the 
 E^ebellion, only more general and enthusiastic with 
 every discouragement, the increasing demand for skilled 
 
ADDRESS. 55 
 
 workmen to provide our navy and army with vessels 
 and munitions of war, enhanced wages and diminished 
 the supply of mechanical labor. Notwithstanding 
 these embarrassments, the despatch has rarely been 
 equalled in any structure, of the like magnitude ; and 
 delays which at the moment provoked impatience, 
 proved of advantage in hardening and maturing the 
 work as it advanced, and affording opportunity for 
 many improvements. 
 
 Much remains to be accomplished. Years must 
 elapse before all parts of the design will be brought 
 to the degree of perfection originally contemplated. 
 Whatever is absolutely indispensable to efficient disci- 
 pline, or exacted by good taste or decorum, will not be 
 delayed. Preliminary measures have already been 
 taken for a substantial enclosure, for isolated apart- 
 ments for offensive diseases, for grading and decorating 
 the grounds. Gardens in due season will be laid out 
 and planted for the recreation of convalescents. Roses 
 and lilachs, the plash of fountains and the warble of 
 birds, will make that exercise agreeable which is es- 
 sential to speedy cure, and for which our ample space 
 will admit of walks of sufficient length. Should the 
 open corridors connecting the buildings be closed with 
 glass, and made comfortable in the cooler weather with 
 steam, patients whose frames are not sufficiently rein- 
 vigorated to brave the open air, surrounded by plants 
 and objects of art, and for a while removed from the 
 confinement and monotony of the wards, will then be 
 cheered and amused. 
 
 Since our municipal organization, the construction 
 of buildings for educational, charitable, and economical 
 
56 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 purposes, has kept pace with our growth, the govern- 
 ment havmg been exceedingly liberal for every need, 
 except for its own accommodation. Even this exception 
 will soon be removed by the magnificent structure now 
 in process of erection. These buildings are adapted to 
 our wants, and their cost should not be regretted. Our 
 debt, independent of the expenditure for water works, 
 on which the revenue more than pays the interest, but 
 little exceeds three millions of dollars, about equal to 
 one year's city expenditure, not far from one per cent 
 upon our valuation. Indeed, had provision been sea- 
 sonably made in central positions, for military, market, 
 and other similar uses, more respect would have been 
 paid to this wise policy. We trust that a liberal pro- 
 portion of our municipal outlay will ever be for per- 
 manent works of utility, for pubhc buildings, not only 
 substantial but ornamental ; that our modern Athens 
 may have its apples of gold in pictures of silver, and be 
 as distinguished for its material beauty as for its achieve- 
 ments in art, literature, and science, for its religious cul- 
 ture and charitable contributions. Be it ever remem- 
 bered, in connection with our history, that there has 
 not been a single vote in opposition, or objection made 
 to any appropriation for the Hospital. But it has been 
 from the beginning, and no doubt will continue, an 
 object of affectionate regard with the City Council. 
 
 If not yet complete, our buildings and arrangements 
 conform very generally to the hygienic and sanitary 
 rules laid down by the highest authorities in Europe 
 upon Hospital construction ; they have been pronounced 
 by some of our own most competent judges to be the 
 best upon this continent ; and we may well flatter 
 
ADDRESS. 57 
 
 ourselves that we possess an institution of no ordinary 
 excellence. Under our experienced Board of Control, 
 with our well-selected medical attendants, our admi- 
 rably qualified Superintendent, with a system of Eules 
 and Kegulations, elaborated after long deliberation 
 with the utmost care, I congratulate you, gentlemen, 
 upon the favorable auspices under which, by the bless- 
 ing of Providence, we open these halls. 
 
 Let us hope that by a generous use of them we shall 
 continue to deserve that blessing. The Statute author- 
 izes the establishment of a hospital for the reception of 
 " persons who, by misfortune or poverty, may require 
 relief during temporary sickness." The bequest of Mr. 
 Goodnow is limited to an Institution similar to the 
 Massachusetts, to be suitably endowed, but not for the 
 relief of paupers supported by the city. These pro- 
 visions are sufficiently explicit, and, by a reasonable 
 construction, should embrace all of our inhabitants 
 whose complaints are not of a permanent character 
 We have no paupers supported by the city outside of 
 the Institutions. All who prefer toil to dependence, or 
 who when well subsist upon their own resources, should 
 be suffered, under proper limitations, to use these 
 wards. 
 
 But the respectable poor, virtuous, neat and well- 
 conducted, should not be subjected to daily intercourse 
 with the profligate, who, by intemperance and vicious 
 indulgence, have degraded themselves to the level of 
 the brute ; whose unseemly habits, profane and rude 
 conversation, would soon drive all others away. For 
 their convenience these apartments were never intended, 
 but both City and State have made other provision. 
 
58 CITY HOSriTAL. 
 
 The government should be firm in declining to receive 
 them, in compelling their removal when inadvertently 
 admitted. Its duty to the public, from whose treasury 
 these buildings have been erected, imposes the obliga- 
 tion that they shall be used for their legal purpose, and 
 that the children's bread shall not be misapplied. Its 
 decrees may often involve considerations not to be ex- 
 plained or communicated, and should be final without 
 question or appeal. 
 
 Should the benefits of the Institution be confined to 
 such alone as have acquired or inherited a legal settle- 
 ment, it would remain much of the time untenanted. 
 Whoever are familiar with Boston and its people, 
 know well that there are but few of this class who do 
 not prefer the privacy of their own dwellings, and the 
 attendance of their own kindred, to any advantage to 
 be gained from the best scientific care in a hospital. 
 This feeling is deeply seated, and prevailed extensively 
 in Massachusetts in the early days of hospital experience. 
 One of our former governors, who had held the highest 
 federal offices at home and abroad, who gave to the 
 University its largest bequest, meeting with an accident 
 in the street from which he narrowdy escaped with his 
 life, insisted, in order to remove this prejudice, upon 
 being carried to the Hospital. His example may have 
 had its eff'ect. But we doubt if many of our own peo- 
 ple, born in Boston, when tolerably comfortable at 
 home, will go, when ill, among strangers to be cured. 
 
 This great emporium of commercial and social ac- 
 tivity to the Commonwealth and surrounding States, 
 has expanded with the national life far beyond any 
 natural laws of development. Its wealth and position 
 
ADDRESS. ^ 59 
 
 have attracted from sea and shore, as from distant 
 lands, not the magnates of our exchange alone, or our 
 professional celebrities, but the great mass of our in- 
 dustry, enterprise, and thrift. Our own youth, as they 
 reach maturity, seek more encouraging theatres of 
 action abroad, or where the days lengthen in the West ; 
 and strangers in lineament and language swarm to our 
 busy hive, where there is work for all. Whoever 
 dwells within our limits should share our privileges, 
 as w^ell as bear our burdens, and this noble charity 
 will fail of its intent should it not, while considerate of 
 every prejudice, treat with the same impartial tender- 
 ness all sects, colors, and nationalities. 
 
 It was the often expressed opinion of the early ad- 
 vocates for the establishment of this Institution, that 
 young men and women from other towns or States, 
 engaged here in earning their livelihood, would derive 
 from it the principal advantage. Their meagre recom- 
 pense furnishes no supplies for illness. They reside 
 in crowded dwellings, Avhose proprietors, by rigid econ- 
 omy, just meeting their own obligations, cannot afford 
 to be generous. In cold rooms, with unsuitable nour- 
 ishment, they are often driven to distant homes to 
 perish. Their toil contributes to our prosperity ; they 
 form an important part of our population ; many 
 among them, in the future, will be the most useful 
 members of our society. They Avould seem, of all 
 others, entitled, by a liberal interpretation of the stat- 
 ute, to enjoy its benefits, — care of course being taken 
 to secure a just reimbursement when authorized by 
 law. Travellers at public houses, when overtaken by 
 disease, away from family and friends, are also objects 
 
60 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 of compassion ; and for them are arranged in the cen- 
 tral building, coQimodious apartments, where every com- 
 fort and luxury, within their means to purchase, will 
 be supplied. 
 
 Were the roofs of a great city once removed, and we 
 w^ere permitted to witness all the aches and agonies 
 that rack our fellow-mortals ; could we realize, as we 
 walk the crowded thoroughfares, how few of those we 
 meet are free from corporal infirmities, life would lose 
 half its charm. Yet how much of this suffering might 
 be prevented or relieved. If no good caliph wanders 
 under our stars, with succor or bezants for those who 
 need, Christian charity should never rest, so long as it 
 may at least alleviate the ill it cannot cure. How 
 many are condemned to bear, through long and pain- 
 ful years, bodily afflictions, without hope this side the 
 tomb. Could such as these be welcomed, for a while, 
 wdthin these walls, and learn how, Avhen again at 
 home, to mitigate their pains, much useless sorrow 
 might be saved. 
 
 For years over all our land will be left the footprints 
 of this insane Rebellion, its desolating mark throughout 
 our habitations. The poignancy of recent bereave- 
 ment, the wail of woe refusing to be comforted, may 
 give place to chastened, hallowed pride in the heroic 
 dead. The veteran will glory in his scars, in the na- 
 tional emblem retrieved from dishonor, by his valor and 
 his blood. Yet if since Eden, strife has been the pen- 
 alty of man, if a great people must have a great and 
 eventful history, if warfare be the appointed discipline 
 of nations, its consequences are still to be deplored. 
 Already more than a million cases have thronged our 
 
ADDRESS. 61 
 
 army wards. The maimed and crippled haunt our 
 daily paths. Shattered constitutions will long plead 
 and not in vain for our softest couch, our choicest oint- 
 ments, and even now, should no place be elsewhere 
 left for that vast host that forms war's latest harvest, 
 many may find it here and not exclude those for whose 
 especial use these buildings were erected. 
 
 To the wan mother, who has wasted what remained 
 to her of strength in tears for the lost objects of her 
 love ; for once vigorous manhood, now prostrate in its 
 prime, to whose impoverishment, perhaps embittered 
 by exile, death would be but a too welcome guest ; for 
 the noble boy, doubly endeared by parental solicitude, 
 w^ho may yet, perhaps, be snatched from an untimely 
 doom, when they lie down here on their sick-beds, to 
 live or die, as Heaven in its mercy may decree, there 
 should be kindly yielded every solace of a home. For 
 those fearful casualties, to which we are all of us at any 
 time exposed, these wards should open their doors both 
 day and night. The workman fearlessly exposing him- 
 self to the perils of his craft, any individual sustaining 
 bodily harm amidst the turmoil and confusion of our 
 busy life, is entitled to the kindest care. Homeless 
 wanderers about our streets, whose misfortunes are ag- 
 gravated by disease, should be provided with temporary 
 shelter. Indeed, we trust wherever removal to the 
 islands or the almshouses would be a hardship, our 
 sterner policy will bow to the gentler instincts of hu- 
 manity. 
 
 Dread of contagion, demoralizing all sense of con- 
 sanguinity or obligation, has yielded to the advance of 
 science. Still, it is generally admitted that miasmata 
 
62 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 or exhalations from infected bodies taint the atmos- 
 phere, and where there exists susceptibility, communi- 
 cate disease. Measles, mumps, and similar affections, 
 universal heirlooms of our nature, hid in its bud and 
 thrown off with its expansion, and working it free from 
 liability to their recurrence, will rarely have occasion 
 to cross our threshold. But the great scourges of our 
 race, variola, scarlatina, typhus, and various cutaneous 
 afflictions, treated abroad promiscuously in public 
 wards, should neither be left in crowded dwellings to 
 fester and corrupt, nor permitted to strike consternation 
 here, or in families near by. Gathered into separate 
 buildings, everywhere and at all times permeated by 
 fresh currents of air, to be drawn off and divested of 
 impurities by passing through burning flames, they will 
 be rendered harmless, and every reasonable apprehen- 
 sion of their spreading be removed. 
 
 Consumption, paralysis, spinal maladies, and others 
 usually pronounced incurable, may be rapid in their 
 work or painfully protracted. Professional experience 
 may conjecture probabilities, but not determine. If 
 there is possibility of substantial relief from temporary 
 care, they fall within the statute, but the Board must 
 decide each case upon its merits. The general average 
 of hospital treatment is about thirty days, and pro- 
 longed and helpless suffering would occupy space in- 
 tended for a different purpose. We undoubtedly need, 
 and ' eventually may hope, to possess distinct establish- 
 ments for paralysis and chest diseases, for those who 
 are bedridden or decrepid from other bodily infirmities. 
 Let us hope, that that wisdom, which presides over our 
 numerous public and private institutions, will soon see 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 63 
 
 the importance of acting in unison, and of appoitioning 
 their respective fields of nsefuhiess, so as to secure to 
 every grief its suitable asylum. 
 
 There are others to whom it is to be wished that 
 these gates may not be forever closed. One objection 
 to many against recourse to hospital treatment is that 
 tiiey must be deprived of the attendance of their own 
 physicians. If this indulgence could be permitted at 
 the discretion of the Board, and at once withdrawn 
 when tending to evil, the usefulness of the Institution 
 might be enlarged. 
 
 A numerous and intelligent portion of our people 
 believe in the views of Hahnneman, that what produces 
 disease will cure it, and that there are specifics of 
 which infinitesimal doses will restore the health, how- 
 ever much disturbed. They have requested part of 
 our buildings for their patients and practice, under 
 charge of their own physicians. The petitioners are 
 men of character, tax-payers, entitled to consideration ; 
 but such radical difi'erences of professional opinion exist 
 between their practitioners and the regular faculty, 
 that any attempt to combine both methods of cure 
 under the same roof, must inevitably lead to conten- 
 tion. Far better for the city treasury to contribute 
 at som.e future day in aid of a separate establish- 
 ment. 
 
 Electricity, hydropathy, hot and cold, mild and he- 
 roic, Thompsonianism, Indian herbs ard simples, all 
 have their advocates as sovereign remedies, as univer- 
 sal panaceas. Some even have faith, as modes of cure, 
 in clairvoyance, mesmerism, spiritualism, and manifold 
 other popular fallacies. The proposed practice here. 
 
64 
 
 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 while sanctioned by the government, will be that 
 taught in our University, followed by the larger num- 
 ber of our faculty, and by the leaders of professional 
 science in all civilized countries. Our medical board 
 are competent to determine the efficacy of new meth- 
 ods, and sufficiently independent to put them to practi- 
 cal use when approved. If in a popular institution 
 all opinions are to be treated with respect, the authori- 
 ties as constituted are responsible and must decide what 
 can be safely adopted. When, in their judgment, baths, 
 electric currents, or patent medicines, will soothe pain, 
 or drive away peccant humors from the blood, no bias 
 or preconceived notion will be permitted to stand in 
 the way of their application. Patients requiring other 
 treatment than that provided here must seek it some- 
 where else. 
 
 We need feel but little apprehension that our wards 
 will remain idle. We trust that no calamity will ever 
 crowd them as were those of the Hotel Dieu, of Paris, 
 the oldest hospital of Europe, now being demolished, 
 which a century ago contained, with its twelve hun- 
 dred beds, sometimes more than four thousand patients. 
 But should we be spared the scourge of war near 
 home, cholera or other epidemics may again revisit us. 
 If, in our temperate zone, and with our present sani- 
 tary precautions, the smallpox, and the plague, or pes- 
 tilence in shapes as malignant and appalling, which in 
 other climes and ages have depopulated cities, are no 
 longer to be dreaded. Pandora's box is not yet ex- 
 hausted. Disorders numberless will still defy preven- 
 tion, and harass our poor bodies from the cradle to the 
 grave. Within a few }ears, six hospitals have been es- 
 
ADDRESS. 65 
 
 tablished here, or greatly enlarged, and all their beds 
 are in request. A city so affluent as Boston may well 
 be provided in advance of present wants, and prepared 
 for exigencies that may come when least expected. 
 
 These buildings now at the extreme limits of our 
 population, will soon be in the midst of a crowded 
 neighborhood. Ascend our cupola when the sun is 
 bright and the tide full, the pleasant scene around and 
 beneath wins^s the imao^ination into a future, not far 
 remote. Easy communication with Dorchester Bay for 
 drainage and perhaps for navigation, long blocks of 
 houses approaching completion, numerous works de- 
 voted to the useful arts, remind us of our rapid growth. 
 All this territory converging to one centre, and bound 
 by common interests, must become compact, homoge- 
 neous, one municipality. No natural barrier prevents 
 consolidation, and as our commercial consequence in 
 the view of distant merchants, when they seek a mar- 
 ket for their merchandise, depends in some measure 
 on our reputed wealth and numbers, the liberal use of 
 these halls may become another argument with our 
 sister city, as well as with ourselves, in favor of annex- 
 ation. But whether united or separated, it would be 
 churlish to refuse to neighboring places, or to other 
 parts of the Commonwealth, space within our walls 
 not needed for our own inhabitants. 
 
 Should their reception involve the construction of 
 additional buildings, with due equivalents, this will be 
 no disadvantage. Pavilions corresponding to our pres- 
 ent wings would give opportunity for better classifica- 
 tion, for separating sexes, ages, and conditions, mal- 
 adies that may annoy or be offensive. Persons who are 
 
66 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 sensitive should be spared from the ravings of deliri- 
 um, the susceptible and timid saved from the terrors of 
 contagion, the innocence of childhood from contamina- 
 tion even more to be dreaded. Humanity casts a veil 
 round life trembling at its fountain, lulls to the repose 
 which renews its vigor, shrouds with solemn stillness 
 the couch on which it is ebbing away forever. The 
 quiet pervading these chambers of the sick is ever im- 
 pressive, but the restlessness of fever, the moan of pain, 
 even the gliding form and muffled tread may at times 
 disturb. Rooms sufficiently numerous for all forms and 
 stages of disease, afford facilities for cure, desirable 
 when prudence justifies the cost. 
 
 Any considerable increase of numbers, rendering 
 imperative such an extension, will warrant the contin- 
 ued residence on the premises of a physician, familiar 
 with practice, who without interfering with the treat- 
 ment prescribed by the regular medical attendants can 
 decide questions of detail, constantly occurring in crit- 
 ical cases, to the great comfort and safety of the pa- 
 tients, Recovery often depends upon the instant appli- 
 cation of powerful remedies, a responsibility not to be 
 assumed without experience, and for three fourths of 
 each day no other physician will be within call but the 
 resident graduates. In the night season in a large 
 city, the victims of violence from vice or intemperance, 
 are more numerous than by day, and frequently must 
 be operated upon forthwith for the preservation of life. 
 Moreover, in ascertaining the propriety of admitting 
 applicants, a duty is to be performed demanding a 
 thorough knowledge of the symptoms of numberless 
 complaints, and which does not properly fall within 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 67 
 
 the province either of the graduates or attending phy- 
 sicians. 
 
 The disorder of the applicant may be contagious, 
 chronic, or incurable, better cared for at home or in 
 some other hospital ; perhaps with some simple rem- 
 edy, some slight operation, employments may be re- 
 sumed on which the family bread is dependent. Dis- 
 pensary may serve as well as hospital treatment, and 
 will be extended here, at stated times, to the needy. 
 Provision is made for this in other sections of the city, 
 but to be very useful to busy toil, should be close at 
 hand. When we reflect how often the households of 
 the poor are thrown into confusion by pain or other 
 bodily disability, what sacrifices of personal comfort 
 and usefulness, what heavy burdens on society from pau- 
 perism and mendicancy are prevented by the timely 
 check of disease, we know how to value our good Sa- 
 maritans. But shame to him who has abundant means 
 and does not pay his physician. The supply of science 
 and skill are proportionate to their reward, and he 
 wrongs the public who withholds the recompense in 
 his power to pay, either for medical counsel or hospi- 
 tal care. Practical wisdom, professional experience, 
 incessant vigilance, must be the three-headed Cer- 
 berus at our gates to protect us from imposition, 
 and to keep out of our beds those who ought not to be 
 here. 
 
 Established precedent, immemorial usage cannot be 
 easily should not be lightly disturbed, and yet if relig- 
 ious exercises are appropriate in halls of instruction or 
 legislation, they surely cannot be out of place among 
 the sick and the dying. The wards of St. Luke's com- 
 
68 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 municate with the chapel, and the sacred language of 
 praise and supplication, mingled with choral harmo- 
 nies, are daily wafted to the bedside of those inclined 
 to devotion. Catholic rites, where requested, have 
 been always administered in our other hospitals, and 
 will be here ; but the institution recently endowed by 
 the pious benevolence of the late Mr. Carney, was 
 founded for the express purpose of securing to his own 
 persuasion the consolations of religion. With our en- 
 tire liberty and toleration, and numerous differences 
 of conviction and faith, no form would escape cavil ; 
 but as we all worship the same Supreme Being, and 
 believe in the Divine mission and revelation of the 
 Saviour as our guide and comforter, passages can un- 
 doubtedly be selected from the Scriptures, and modes 
 of expression devised, not justly objectionable to any 
 reasonable Christian. May we not hope that m some 
 future extension of our buildings a chapel will be con- 
 structed, connected with wards for such as take plea- 
 sure in stated and social devotional observances ] 
 
 Attached to some of the more recent English and 
 French hospitals are retreats for convalescence in 
 the country or by the sea. Neither our climate nor 
 circumstances render necessary for us any such ap- 
 pendage: But removal from ward routine when no 
 longer required, would in many cases lead to more 
 rapid restoration. In the event of enlargement, apart- 
 ments should be arranged for this use, and suitable 
 regulations established. Possibly, when the march of 
 improvement reaches our public institutions, separating 
 poverty and vice, within the precincts appropriated to 
 the worthy poor, may be found change of air, diet, and 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 exercise for convalescents, when recommended by tlieir 
 physicians. 
 
 Pathological cabinets, wax preparations of the dif- 
 ferent parts of the human organization, a library of 
 medical works for reference are of daily use for the 
 treatment of the sick, and should be collected as ex- 
 peditiously as may be found practicable. These wants 
 can only be in part supplied by purchase ; but we may 
 safely rely upon the freewill offerings of individuals and 
 kindred charities possessed of duplicates for much val- 
 uable aid. 
 
 But we must not be impatient. Defects as discover- 
 ed will be remedied, and improvements not now within 
 our foresight to anticipate will be suggested as time 
 develops their need. Our six large wards, with the 
 smaller apartments attached, will in all probability an- 
 swer every purpose for years. While they are made 
 useful to their utmost capacity, for the reception of 
 every case that can with propriety be admitted, we may 
 feel assured that the Institution is administered in that 
 spirit of charity on which it should rest as a foundation. 
 
 With the best of intentions, this spirit of charity may 
 be often at fault. Patients at times should be diverted 
 from their bodily ailments. Occupation in preventing 
 fever or insuring sleep is of more avail than drugs. 
 Books and work and means for recreation should be 
 liberally supplied, and the visits of their friends and 
 relatives, of the clergy, where they are religiously dis- 
 posed, should be encouraged. 
 
 All the hours of hospital life are not necessarily 
 tedious or without their enjoyments. The beams of 
 the morning bring to it their cheer, the gathering dusks 
 
70 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 of twilight, a serene repose. Periodical seasons of re- 
 freshment, daily news and correspondence, the pro- 
 fessional round, the official inspection vary its monotony. 
 Friends drop in to gossip, some good soul lends vocal 
 charm to lyric or romance. Sympathy Avith others dulls 
 the consciousness of pain, dispels despondency. Com- 
 panionship, mutual interchange of courtesy and kind- 
 ness, incidents of arrival and departure, events which 
 in that little world rise almost to historical importance, 
 occupy attention, and the day flits by on wings of gos- 
 samer. When the night shuts in, and light subdued 
 flings phantom shadows round these murky halls, sleep 
 comes with dreams, or to the vigil reveries of home, of 
 past experience, or of future hope. 
 
 The tempers of men are as various as the leaves of 
 the forest. In health, and under social restraints, they 
 betray many a trait that is displeasing. In serious ill- 
 ness, the well-regulated, sustained by an unfaltering 
 trust, are but the more gentle and tractable, and submit 
 with resignation to what is not to be avoided. Others, 
 when fretted by twinges of pain, or excited by fever, 
 become querulous, unreasonable, exacting. Tact and 
 firmness, united with an imperturbable amiability, are 
 requisite to tolerate their caprices when harmless, to 
 quiet and control ebullitions of feeling which are preju- 
 dicial to themselves and disagreeable to their neighbors. 
 Nurses, as accomplished as Mary and Kebecca Taylor, 
 at the Massachusetts, as the excellent women who for 
 years have devoted their gratuitous services at St. 
 Luke's, — " who possess the essential qualifications of 
 obedience, presence of mind, cheerfulness, sobriety, pa- 
 tience, forbearance, judgment, kindness of heart, a light 
 
ADDRESS. 71 
 
 delicate hand, a gentle voice and quick eye," and others 
 that might be indefinitely added, — may not be easily 
 procured ; but where there is sense and religious prin- 
 ciple there will soon be little to learn. 
 
 Deviations from usual modes of management, where 
 experience elsewhere warrants, may well be tested. 
 If there be no immediate hope of our wards being under 
 other charge than that of paid nurses, time will deter- 
 mine what can be achieved by our medical staff and en- 
 lighened Board. One principal duty of woman is tend- 
 ing the sick, the wounded soldier has especial claim 
 upon her sympathy, and she is ever prompt to meet 
 these sacred obligations. When the three great powers 
 of Europe settled down in the trenches of Sebastopol, 
 for a sanguinary and exhausting strife, the spirit of 
 holiness in Florence Nightingale and her companions 
 hovered about the pillows of the victims, anticipating 
 every want, assuaging the anguish from the battle-field 
 by the shadow on the wall. 
 
 In this, our vital struggle for national existence, 
 from the abodes of affluence as from the humble cot, 
 hundreds of generous-hearted women have cheerfully 
 braved perils and privations, proving by perseverance, 
 notwithstanding discouragement, that principle, as well 
 as inclination, were in their work. Should the Supreme 
 Disposer of events restore peace to the land, with our 
 Union and constitutional liberties preserved, there will 
 be many a one who has gone from amongst us willing 
 to lend an Institution like this the benefit of her expe- 
 rience. She will have learnt that there is something in 
 life better worth than ease. Without sacrificing the 
 social refinements and recreations, she will have earned 
 
72 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 a double right to enjoy, or losing that cheerfulness 
 which is the grace of womanhood, she will gladly pur- 
 sue a course of usefulness, in which she has found her 
 truest happiness. When we dwell upon some lovely 
 being who has deserted the halls of gayety to moisten 
 the parched lip, or soothe to rest the aching head, we 
 are irresistibly reminded, of the familiar lines in Mar- 
 mion : — 
 
 Oh, woman, in our hours of ease, 
 
 So fickle, coy, and hard to please ; 
 
 And variable as the shade 
 
 By the light quivering aspen made ; 
 
 When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
 
 A ministering angel thou ! 
 
 In Italy, as one of our former mayors, the founder 
 of the school at Westboro' informs us, in his interest- 
 ing work upon that country, persons of the highest 
 rank and condition employ themselves in these pious 
 offices. From the early dawn of Christianity, Avomen 
 under its inspiration have associated for the care of 
 the sick. In the fourth century the community at 
 Bethlehem of Paula daughter of the Gracchi ; in the 
 seventh, the Hospitallers of Paris and Beguines of 
 Flanders ; in the thirteenth, the Grey Sisters, enrolling 
 royalty on its throne with the lowliest of the lowly ; in 
 the fifteenth, the societies of Martha, sister of Lazarus, 
 and of Elizabeth, the saintly Queen of Hungary ; 
 in the seventeenth, the Sisters of Charity, reorganized 
 by Vincent de Paul and Louise Legras, now twelve 
 thousand in number, either with or without religious 
 vows or profession, have made this their vocation. 
 Nor Catholics alone, but many a Protestant Evangeline 
 
ADDRESS. 73 
 
 in sober garb, with aspect holy, recalls from death or 
 cheers the passmg spirit at its gates. In our own day, 
 a bright light from Kaiserswerth sheds far and wide 
 the wisdom of its teachings, and even here across the 
 broad Atlantic is felt its mild effulgence. I care not to 
 profane with praise our heavenly minded women, who 
 have consecrated their youth and all earthly joys to 
 this sacred calling. We have no calendar, but the 
 beauty of their lives, the daily incense of grateful 
 hearts below, their inscription in the book of life above, 
 will be their guerdon. Let us hope that their example 
 will be emulated for our benefit, that the art of nursing 
 may be made a study, and its blessings carried home 
 to every household. If the strict discipline, indispen- 
 sable in a public institution like this, prohibits so great 
 an innovation, unless by degrees and at a distant day, 
 if there exist present obstacles and prejudices in the 
 way of its adoption, we doubt not that in time these 
 will all be surmounted. 
 
 Disinterested zeal for the relief of human misery 
 inspires a sentiment for which admiration is but a cold 
 expression. How can we sufficiently commend the 
 generous devotion of our medical board, who, prompt- 
 ed by humanity, offer us their gratuitous attendance. 
 We must mourn over one of their number, the la- 
 mented Dalton, for us unseasonably summoned to the 
 reward of his well-spent life. May the survivors be 
 long spared to a community that knows how to value 
 their services and their example. The distinction 
 which they have honorably earned in their several 
 spheres of professional employment, will reflect lustre 
 upon the Hospital, be auspicious of its continuing 
 
74 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 hold on popular regard. But their labors here or in 
 accustomed paths will not win them their only laurels. 
 Various public interests, which they have promoted, 
 must long pay tribute to their indefatigable exertions. 
 
 In this unnatural warfare, the patriotic ardor and 
 active usefulness of the medical faculty have been con- 
 spicuous, wherever they could be made availing. Their 
 alacrity in hastening, regardless of personal safety, to 
 the fields reeking with slaughter, to succor the wounded 
 and the dying, the practical wisdom with with which 
 they have brought order out of confusion in the hospi- 
 tals of the army, their persevering efforts to comfort and 
 to save vast multitudes of the victims of battle and 
 disease, holocausts to Freedom, the Isaacs of a loyal peo- 
 ple, demand more fitting eulogy than mine. Their 
 country will keep them ever in remembrance ; they 
 will have their part in that imperishable renown, in that 
 wreath streaming with fraternal blood, but resplendent 
 with heroic action, that will crown this great historic 
 epoch. Happy should we be, that we have secured 
 for the administration of this charity a share in the skill 
 and experience gained in our sacred crusade for Na- 
 tional existence. 
 
 Let me also briefly allude, with respect, to the 
 younger followers of science, who, influenced by a laud- 
 able ambition, or a sense of duty, are willing to watch, 
 day and night, by the bedside of the sufl"ering. Their 
 reward will be the experience gained of disease, in its 
 symptoms, progress, and cure. But the eagerness with 
 which such appointments are solicited, although the 
 daily round is both wearisome and repulsive, is 
 highly creditable to the motives which actuate the 
 profession. 
 
ADDRESS. 75 
 
 One most valuable return to society for the liberal 
 endowment of charities like this, is the improvement 
 of medical science, — the efficient training of its pro- 
 fessors. This is an advantage reaped by all of us, for 
 it is only where the numerous complaints, which are 
 our inheritance in the flesh, are presented in their va- 
 rious forms, and in cases frequently recurring, that they 
 can be understood. Nor, indeed, could we have the 
 benefit of that surgical skill, by which many a precious 
 life is prolonged, were it not for hospital practice. The 
 surgeons permitted to operate are selected for their 
 ability; in Paris, we are told, the most distinguished 
 compete for this honor, through the most searching 
 ordeal ; and operations upon the poorest hospital pa- 
 tients are performed with as much skill, with as much 
 thoughtful tenderness, as can be procured by wealth or 
 the highest social position. 
 
 In the apartment appropriated for surgicial opera- 
 tions accommodation is provided for students. Their 
 most important knowledge is not obtained from the 
 study of books, thorough as that should be, but from 
 actual observation. The proximity of the Massachu- 
 setts to the College, will attract there, as heretofore, 
 the greater number of pupils. Should any prefer to 
 walk our wards, this will be allowed under reasonable 
 regulations, and the privilege perhaps also extended 
 for clinical instruction. It should never be forgotten 
 that the chief object is the cure and comfort of the 
 patients. Their situation ought not to expose them 
 to a painful sciutiny, or a publicity from which they 
 shrink. 
 
 This is not the place, nor is it my purpose to indulge 
 
76 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 in panegyric on either thought or deed which have 
 made this Hospital what it is ; but the practical sense 
 and mechanical ingenuity of the Superintendent, in its 
 arrangement for use, have proved invaluable, and can- 
 not be too highly extolled. The career on which he 
 is entering will afford scope for the exercise of all his 
 faculties and powers, and earn for him additional claims 
 to public esteem. But these earlier services should not 
 be permitted to pass into oblivion ; they should be 
 treasured up with all the other precious instrumen- 
 talities which form an important part of our early 
 history. 
 
 The supreme control, in due subordination always of 
 course to the City Government, is in the Board of Trus- 
 tees, consisting of two Aldermen and three members of 
 the Council, to be annually elected, and three citizens, 
 to be chosen, one each year, for triennial periods. 
 Theirs will be the enviable prerogative of watching over 
 the welfare of the unfortunate, of making provision for 
 their wants, of tranquillizing their anxieties, of cheering 
 their distress. On their judgment wdll be devolved 
 the responsibility of determining who shall be admitted, 
 of deciding questions, when epidemics are prevailing, 
 having an important bearing upon the health of the 
 city. It will be their incumbent duty to keep them- 
 selves informed of the character and conduct of all per- 
 sons employed, to correct abuses, to establish reasonable 
 rules of government, to enforce their observance and 
 the most rigid economy in every department. 
 
 So long as the novelty lasts, these duties will be at- 
 tractive, and with our present Superintendent, their dis- 
 charge will be of less importance. Should the members 
 
ADDRESS. ' n 
 
 of the City Council on the Board, find in process of 
 time their attention too much engrossed by other claims, 
 the remedy will be to increase the number of Trustees 
 chosen at large. This will insure greater permanence 
 of policy, and in the tenure of hospital offices, and also 
 preserve the management from disarrangement with 
 fluctuations of party, or changes in the City Council. 
 It will be more in accordance with the organization of 
 our other Boards of Control, which has been found to 
 work well. 
 
 Throughout our Institutions, pauper, penal and re- 
 formatory, reigns the strictest frugality. The treatment 
 of disease demands a more varied and expensive nour- 
 ishment. This is true economy, inasmuch as it acceler- 
 ates cure, and by restoring the industrious to their em- 
 ployments, relieves the public of their support. Yet, 
 without constant watchfulness, waste and extravagance, 
 if no greater evils, will creep in. Such abuses will not 
 escape the attention of the Board, but method and ac- 
 countability, firmly established from the outset, and 
 rigidly observed, will justify the government in ample 
 appropriations, inspire our fellow-citizens with confi- 
 dence in their judicious expenditure, and encourage 
 liberal endowments. 
 
 The name of Elisha Goodnow is the first engraved 
 upon our commemorative tablet. The son of a revolu- 
 tionary pensioner, lately living in Sudbury, of a family 
 who have given bountifully of their means to public ob- 
 jects, his memory will be gratefully perpetuated while 
 this edifice endures. What is known of his life vouches 
 for the philanthropy which actuated his donation, and 
 his example, as well as that of Lawrence Nichols, also 
 
78 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 on our roll of benefactors, will stir the hearts of other 
 men to like generosity. All who are familiar with the 
 history of charities here, or in other parts of the Chris- 
 tian world, cannot fail to have observed in their pro- 
 gress and prosperity an especial blessing. Vast sums, 
 in all countries, for nearly twenty centuries, have been 
 poured out like water for their foundation and support. 
 There is yet balm in Gilead ; the angel of pity wdll still 
 hover over us, with healing in its wings. We should 
 do injustice to our community did we doubt their read- 
 iness to respond, as heretofore, to every claim. Who- 
 ever is rich, with no family dependent on his means, 
 whoever w^ould secure for his children a blessing on 
 their inheritance, will remember the poor in disposing 
 of his substance. Whoever would lay up treasure in 
 heaven will give freely here to the sick and feeble. 
 Let them remember that famous epitaph of Old Eng- 
 land, on the tomb in the ancient church at Tiverton. 
 
 That wee spent wee had. 
 That wee lefte wee loste. 
 That wee gave wee have. 
 
 Instructive and entertaining works for the library, 
 pictures, engravings, and statuary, will be acceptable 
 offerings ; the purple clusters that load the vine or 
 adorn the banquet ^^'ill lose no flavor by being shared 
 with our less favored inmates ; funds at largest interest 
 and made safe by public obligation will prove for ages 
 a perennial source of thankfulness to the wretched, and 
 for descendants be a more enduring monument than 
 bronze or marble. Such pious gifts will soon furnish 
 a sufficient resource for the daily needs of the Hos- 
 
ADDRESS. 79 
 
 pital, and the comfort it dispenses will flow directly, 
 in copious and refreshing streams from the cup of 
 charity. 
 
 In health and strength, in the midst of a useful ca- 
 reer, with all our faculties in active vigor, it is difficult 
 to realize the fevered brow, the sleepless night, and the 
 aching limb ; but to these, for all future time, we dedi- 
 cate these halls. To you, gentlemen of the City Coun- 
 cil, to you, honored members of the medical profession, 
 will be confided the charge of our afilicted fellow-beings. 
 Yours is a solemn responsibility ; yours the blessed 
 privilege of working out, wdth the aid of science, with 
 nature, and with an overruling Providence, their res- 
 toration. We need not fear this sacred duty will be 
 neglected. That Great Being who permits no suffering 
 in His creation but in mercy, will be tender of His own; 
 and Boston, throughout her numberless generations, 
 will rejoice in the pride and the blessing of the Institu- 
 tion which we have this day consecrated. 
 
RULES AND REGULATIONS. 
 
 11 
 
RULES AND ORDERS OE THE TRUSTEES. 
 
 Stated meetings of the Trustees shall be held at the Hospital 
 each Tuesday, at four o'clock, p. M., unless otherwise ordered, 
 and special meetings shall be called by the President at the re- 
 quest of two of the Trustees. 
 
 At their first meeting after the annual election of Trustees by 
 the City Council, they shall elect a President and Secretary from 
 their own members. Three members of the Board shall con- 
 stitute a quorum, for all purposes except the passage of any 
 matter relating to finances, the approval of bills, the alteration 
 or amendment of the Rules and Regulations, or the removal or 
 election of any employe, when a majority shall be necessary. 
 
 They shall be governed in their action as a Board by the fol- 
 lowing rules and orders : — 
 
 The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board, and 
 in his absence the Board shall elect a President pro tem. 
 
 All motions shall be made in writing when requested by the 
 President or a majority of those present. 
 
 On all questions and motions whatsoever, the sense of the 
 Board shall be taken by yeas and nays, if any member require 
 it. 
 
 Questions of order shall be decided by the presiding officer, 
 subject to appeal to the Board. 
 
 When a vote has passed it shall be in order for any member 
 to move a reconsideration thereof at the same or the succeedino; 
 meetino-. 
 
84 , CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 The order of business shall be as follows : — 
 
 1. Reading of the records. 
 
 2. Reports of committees. 
 
 3. Examinations of admissions and discharges, purchases 
 and expenditures, books of the superintendent, physician, nurses, 
 apothecary, and engineer. 
 
 4. Approval of bills. 
 
 5. Choice of officers and employes. 
 
 6. Unfinished business. 
 
 7. Motions and resolutions. 
 
 There shall be appointed by the President, after the first 
 organization of the Board, the following standing committees, 
 to consist of two members each : — 
 
 1. On Rules and Regulations. 
 
 2. On supplies and furniture. 
 
 3. On finance and auditing accounts. 
 
 4. On Medical and Pathological departments. 
 
 5. On service. 
 
 6. On grounds and buildings, heating and ventilation. 
 
 7. On Library. 
 
 8. On admissions and discharofes. 
 
 The Trustees shall be arranoed in visitino; committees of 
 two members, one going out and one being added each month, 
 to advise with the physicians, superintendent, and medical at- 
 tendants, determine all matters of minor administration, see that 
 all duties are properly performed, and report to the Board at 
 its weekly meeting ; and members visiting shall record their 
 names in books kept for that purpose, with the date of each 
 visit, and any remarks they may desire to add. 
 
 Committees shall be appointed by the President. 
 
 All bills contracted by any committee of the Board of Trus- 
 tees or by persons connected with the Hospital, shall be ap-; 
 proved by the Board. 
 
RULES AND REGULATIONS. 85 
 
 Reports of committees shall be in writing. 
 
 These Rules may be suspended by a vote of five members of 
 the Board of Trustees. 
 
 Any alteration or amendment of these Rules may be made by 
 a vote of three fourths of the members of the Board, notice of 
 the same having been given one week before action- on the 
 same. 
 
RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 The Board of Trustees, under the Statutes, Ordinances, and 
 these Eules and Eegulations, shall have the charge, manage- 
 ment, and custody of the Hospital, as well as the control and 
 dh'ection of its employes and inmates. 
 
 A meetino: of the Board shall be held at least once In each 
 month at the Hospital, and records of their proceedings shall 
 be kept, which shall always be open to the inspection of the 
 City Council. 
 
 Annually, as soon after the organization of the Board as shall 
 be convenient, there shall be chosen by ballot three consulting 
 physicians, three consulting surgeons, six visiting physicians, six 
 visiting surgeons, one ophthalmic surgeon, four resident grad- 
 uates, an apothecary, librarian, matron, and such other officers 
 as they may think necessary, whose term of service shall expire 
 in one year from the first Monday of the following April, or as 
 soon after as their successors shall be chosen. A Superintend- 
 ent shall be elected annually in the month of February, and 
 whenever a vacancy may occur. 
 
 They may remove any officer so chosen at their pleasure ; 
 and shall fill vacancies, from whatever cause, for the residue of 
 the term. 
 
 They shall appoint and discharge all subordinate officers, 
 attendants, and domestics, and shall fix the compensation of all 
 persons employed, excepting that of the Superintendent. 
 
RULES AND REGULATIONS. 87 
 
 Annually In the month of January, the Board shall make a 
 report of their proceedings to the City Council, and shall fur- 
 nish statistics of the Hospital, embodying In such blanks as may 
 be adopted details concerning the operations of the year. They 
 shall also furnish a statement of the various Items of expense, 
 with estimates of the amount of appropriations necessary for the 
 coming year. 
 
 The Board of Trustees shall keep a book containing an ac- 
 count of all donations and bequests to the Hospital, and shall 
 manage such property In accordance with sections 1,2, and 3 
 of the City Ordinance relating to that subject. 
 
 The Trustees shall be authorized to establish from time to 
 time such minor rules for the government of persons on the 
 premises, for the regulation of the Internal police of the wards, 
 and other parts of the Hospital, the appointment of hours, and 
 the arrangement of diet tables, as may to them seem expedient. 
 
 They shall designate each ward in the Hospital by a letter, or 
 by the name of some benefactor, and shall number the beds In 
 order. 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 The Superintendent, under the direction of the Board of 
 Trustees, shall have the general control of all departments of 
 the Hospital ; of all subordinate officers, attendants, and do- 
 mestics ; of the patients, and the charge of the grounds, build- 
 ings, and appurtenances. 
 
 He shall see that there Is no waste or carelessness in any 
 department, and shall report to the Trustees omissions of duty, 
 or disorderly conduct on the part of employes. 
 
 He shall, under the direction of the Trustees, purchase the 
 provisions, stores, and fuel, shall have the charge thereof, and 
 shall be responsible for their proper and economical use. He 
 shall make monthly returns of the consumption of fuel and gas. 
 
 He shall keep regular accounts of all moneys received and 
 disbursed by him, on behalf of the Hospital, in books provided 
 
88 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 by the Trustees, with a record of all contracts, and shall submit 
 the same to the Board at their monthly meetings. 
 
 He shall, when required, collect all sums due to the Hospital, 
 and shall take charge of money or other property not in use 
 belonging to patients, and keep a record of the same. 
 
 He shall keep an inventory of all furniture, and other prop- 
 erty belonging to the Hospital, and shall make a quarterly 
 report of articles injured, destroyed, or missing. 
 
 He shall provide the diet of patients, as may be directed by 
 the physicians and surgeons, and for the persons employed shall 
 furnish such provisions as the Trustees may direct. 
 
 He shall examine all articles purchased as to their quality, 
 quantity, and price. 
 
 He shall make no purchase exceeding one hundred dollars, 
 or of an unusual nature, without the sanction of the Trustees or 
 of the Committee on Supplies. 
 
 All bills, together with the pay-rolls, shall be submitted to 
 the Board on the third Tuesday of each month. 
 
 Pie shall daily visit and inspect the wards, kitchen, laundry, 
 engine room, and all other departments of the Institution. 
 
 It shall be his duty to ascertain the settlement or residence of 
 patients, and when belonging to other places than Boston, to 
 correspond with the authorities of such places, and make the 
 necessary arrangements for the reimbursement of expenses in- 
 curred. He shall have charge of the correspondence of pa- 
 tients, and shall communicate to their friends information of 
 their condition or decease. He shall see that autopsies are de- 
 cently made, but shall allow no such autopsy, if objected to by 
 the Immediate relatives of the deceased. He shall cause the 
 bodies of the deceased to be delivered to their friends, or, if not 
 claimed by them, to the proper authorities. 
 
 He shall keep for the Inspection of the Trustees a record of 
 the names of all patients, with their age, residence, employ- 
 ment, date of admission, discharge, elopement, or death, and 
 result of treatment. 
 
RULES AND REGULATIONS. 89 
 
 He shall assign a bed to each patient on admission, subject 
 to the approval of the physician or surgeon in attendance. 
 
 PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 
 
 As soon after their election as possible, the Physicians and 
 Surgeons shall be notified by the Trustees to meet for the pur- 
 pose of arranging their term and order of service, which 
 arrangement shall be made subject to the approval of the 
 Trustees. 
 
 They shall weekly, or oftener, report the names of such 
 patients as they think should be discharged, and shall make any 
 suggestions or remarks which may tend to promote the interests 
 of the Hospital or its inmates. 
 
 They shall keep or shall cause to be kept by the resident 
 graduates in permanent volumes, in such form as may be pro- 
 vided by the Trustees, full records of the cases and treatment 
 of all patients in both medical and surgical departments. No 
 volume of such records shall be taken from the premises, and 
 no extracts shall be made from them by persons not connected 
 with the Hospital. 
 
 If any Physician or Surgeon shall be prevented from attend- 
 ing in his term, he shall procure one of the other Physicians 
 or Surgeons to attend in his stead. The regular morning visit 
 to patients shall be made between the hours of eight and eleven. 
 
 Except in case of emergency, no capital or important opera- 
 tion shall be performed without a previous consultation, of 
 which all the Surgeons shall have due notice. 
 
 STUDENTS. 
 
 I 
 
 Students and other persons shall be admitted to the wards 
 and the amphitheatre of the Hospital, in such numbers and 
 with such restrictions as the Trustees may from time to time 
 deem expedient. 
 
90 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 RESIDENT GRADUATES. 
 
 The Eesklent Graduates shall be chosen on the nomination 
 of the Board of Visiting Physicians and Surgeons, whose duty 
 it shall be to report such nomination to the Trustees on or 
 before the first day of April in each year. The names thus 
 reported shall be those of the four persons who, in the opinion 
 of the said Board, after a rigid examination in the various 
 branches of medicine and surgery, shall seem most competent 
 to fulfil the duties required of them. 
 
 Two of the Eesident Graduates shall reside constantly at the 
 Hospital, and shall not absent themselves without the consent 
 of the Superintendent, and in no case shall both be absent from 
 their post at the same time. The year shall be divided among 
 them as shall be agreed upon by themselves, subject to the 
 approval of the Trustees. 
 
 Their duties shall be assigned them by the visiting physicians 
 and surgeons, who shall, in the case of absence of either of 
 them by sickness or other causes, appoint a temporary substi- 
 tute, subject to the approval of the Visiting Committee. 
 
 If more than four Resident Graduates be required, the Trus- 
 tees may appoint the same and permit them to reside on the 
 premises or elsewhere. 
 
 They shall in no case make an exchange of their respective 
 departments without the consent of the visiting physician or 
 surgeon under whom they serve, and the sanction of the Visit- 
 ino; Committee. 
 
 They shall accompany their superiors in their daily visits, 
 shall make the necessary record of treatment and diet of patients, 
 and shall see that their directions are complied with. They 
 shall, when requested by the physician or surgeon, make autop- 
 sies and other pathological examinations ; and the Resident 
 Graduate in the Surgical Department shall take charge of the 
 instruments and apparatus, none of which shall be taken from 
 the Hospital without the consent of tlie Superintendent. 
 
RULES AND REGULATIONS. 91 
 
 The Kesldent Graduates shall not engage in private practice 
 during their term of service. 
 
 They shall, when requested by the Superintendent or Visiting 
 Committee, investigate the claims of applicants for admission, 
 w^hether made at the Hospital or from the city. 
 
 They shall attend to patients on their admission, and give the 
 necessary directions for their comfort, before they are seen by 
 their reo^ular medical attendant, and shall make a dailv evenincr 
 visit to each patient. 
 
 LIBRARIAN. 
 
 The Librarian shall have the charoe of all books belono-in": 
 to the Hospital, and of the casts, models, anatomical prepara- 
 tions, and prints, under such regulations as may be prescribed 
 by the Trustees. 
 
 APOTHECARY. 
 
 The Apothecary shall reside on the premises, and shall not 
 absent himself except at such hours as may be authorized by 
 the Superintendent. He shall purchase all medicines under 
 the direction of the Committee on the Medical Department, 
 and shall keep exact accounts of quantities, qualities, and prices. 
 He shall compound medicines, prepare prescriptions, perform 
 chemical analyses, and such other duties as may be prescribed 
 by the Trustees or the Superintendent. 
 
 DISPENSARY. 
 
 The Trustees may establish a dispensary department for out- 
 door patients who are unable to pay fees for medical attendance 
 at their houses, with such restrictions and under such regula- 
 tions as they may from time to time deem expedient. 
 
92 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 MATRON. 
 
 The Matron shall have the general direction of all female 
 nurses and servants, see that they perform their several duties, 
 and report all instances of inattention and neglect of duty. She 
 shall be responsible for the neatness and order of every part of 
 the establishment ; shall superintend the kitchen and laundry, 
 and cause to be kept an accurate account of bedding, clothing, 
 table, and other furniture. She shall perform such other duties 
 as may be required. 
 
 NURSES. 
 
 The Chief Nurse of each ward, under the direction of the 
 Matron, shall have charge of the same, with the convalescents 
 room attached thereto. She shall keep a ward book containing 
 a list of patients, and an inventory of furniture, bedding, and 
 other articles, and on each Tuesday shall make a return to the 
 matron of all occupants of the ward during the week. She 
 shall keep, in a suitable book, a list of all parcels or property 
 belonging to patients in her ward not in use, which property 
 shall be deposited in a suitable room, under the charge of the 
 Superintendent. She shall also keep a list of all articles sent to 
 the laundry, and if not returned in good condition report the 
 same to the matron. She shall perform such other duties as 
 may be required. 
 
 GATE KEEPER. 
 
 The Gate Keeper shall allow no one to enter or leave the 
 premises, unless duly authorized. 
 
 lie shall examine all permits, and, when so instructed, re- 
 cord the names of persons passing the gate. He shall keep 
 in good order the grounds, walks, and borders surrounding the 
 Hospital, shall take care of horses and vehicles in the sheds, 
 and shall perform such other duties as may be required of him. 
 
RULES AND REGULATIONS. 
 
 93 
 
 ADMISSION AND DISCHARGES. 
 
 Applications for admission of patients shall be made at the 
 Hospital on each day of the week, at such hours as the Trus- 
 tees may appoint. 
 
 Whenever able, the patient shall apply in person. When 
 not able to appear in person, application may be made by a 
 friend, and the patient shall be visited by one of the resident 
 graduates, or by some physician designated by the Trustees. 
 
 Any Trustee or either of the physicians or surgeons in attend- 
 ance may, in case of emergency, send a patient in the first 
 instance to the Hospital by written permit, and the Visiting 
 Committee shall, on the certificate of one of the medical officers 
 designated for the purpose, decide as soon as may be afterwards 
 whether such patient shall remain. 
 
 Persons accidentally wounded or otherwise disabled or in- 
 jured, shall be received at all hours, subject to such rules as the 
 Trustees may from time to time enact. 
 
 Permits for admission shall be subject to the approval of the 
 Visiting Committee for the time being, or, in their absence, to 
 that of the Superintendent. 
 
 The Visiting Committee, howevel", shall have the power at 
 any time to require the Superintendent to report to them the 
 names of applicants before admitting them, and may dismiss 
 any patient whom they think improperly admitted. 
 
 Patients discharged on the recommendation of the Physicians 
 or Surgeons, shall be provided with a certificate stating their 
 condition at the time of discharge, whether cured, relieved or not 
 relieved, which certificate shall be signed by the Superintendent. 
 
 In case of the decease of any patient, the Superintendent 
 shall sign a certificate to that effect, and shall furnish the City 
 Registrar with a copy of the same. He shall also state the time 
 and cause of death, the disposition made of body, whether de- 
 livered to friends or buried from the Hospital. In the last case 
 he shall mention the place of interment. 
 
94 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Patients may be admitted by the Trustees to the privileges of 
 the Hospital, at such rates of board as they may from time to 
 time determine ; such board being secured by their friends, or by 
 the authorities of the place to which they belong. 
 
 In all cases where in the opinion of the Trustees the circum- 
 stances of the patient will warrant it, the whole or a part of 
 the board shall be paid. If separate apartments or articles not 
 usually furnished at the Hospital are provided, such payment 
 shall be made therefor as the Trustees shall deem reasonable. 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 On or before the twentieth day of each month, the Superin- 
 tendent shall submit to the Trustees the order and bill book, 
 and all bills approved by any of the Committees, with a sched- 
 ule of the same, and also the pay-roll for salaries and wages, 
 containing the names of the persons entitled to payment, with 
 the amounts due to them respectively ; and if approved by the 
 Board, said schedule shall be signed by the President, and with 
 the pay-roll and bills shall be sent, on or before the twentieth 
 day of each month, to the Auditor of Accounts for payment by 
 the Treasurer. 
 
HOUSE RULES. 
 
 Patients must be in their proper places in the wards during 
 the visit of the Physicians and Surgeons, and always by 9, P. 
 M., unless specially exempted by the Superintendent. 
 
 Those free patients who are able, are expected to assist in 
 nursing, and in such other services as may be reasonably re- 
 quired of them. 
 
 Patients shall not leave the Hospital Grounds without a pass 
 from the Superintendent, nor their respective wards without the 
 consent of the nurse in attendance. 
 
 No patient shall purchase, or cause any member of the house- 
 hold to purchase for him, any article of food whatsoever, nor 
 any other article, without the consent of the Superintendent. 
 Nor shall any officer or servant of the Hospital receive a gift 
 or fee from a patient* 
 
 Profane or obscene language, loud talking, and incivility, are 
 prohibited. 
 
 No person shall be admitted to the Hospital whose case is 
 judged to be incurable, unless there be urgent symptoms which 
 in the opinion of the Physician or Surgeon are capable of beino' 
 relieved. Nor shall any one be admitted having an infectious 
 or contagious disease. 
 
 No patient having acute syphilitic disease, or mania-a-ipotu^ 
 shall be admitted as a charity patient, or at a lower rate than 
 twenty-five dollars a week for the former, and fifteen dollars 
 for the latter. 
 
 Patients may be visited by clergymen of their own selection, 
 
96 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 and where there Is a wish for the performance of any particular 
 religious rite, it shall be indulged when practicable. 
 
 It is expected that patients will implicitly obey the rules of 
 the Hospital. Complaints, for whatever cause, may be made to 
 the Superintendent or Visiting Committee, and when reasonable 
 shall be by them reported to the Trustees. 
 
 VISITOES. 
 
 No person shall visit any part of the premises, except on 
 business, or at such times as may be fixed for the reception of 
 visitors, without the permission of the Superintendent, or of 
 some one of the Trustees. 
 
 On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of each week, 
 from two to three o'clock p. M., friends may be permitted to 
 visit patients, though no patient shall receive more than one 
 visitor on the same day. In all cases, however, the Trustees 
 or Superintendent may exercise discretionary powers as to ex- 
 cludins: or admlttlno- visitors. 
 
 No visitor will be permitted to take any meal in the Hospital, 
 or pass the night therein, without permission from the Superin- 
 tendent. 
 
 No visitor shall be allowed to give any article of food or 
 drink to a patient, unless by permission of the nurse ; and any 
 article sent to the patients shall be left with the Superintendent. 
 
 NURSES. 
 
 Nurses are required to be in their several wards each morning 
 ready for duty, before the night watchers leave the same. 
 
 Nurses are to decide what clothing or other articles patients 
 are to retain in the ward. 
 
 RULES. 
 
 All employes must be In their respective places during their 
 
RULES AND REGULATIONS. 97 
 
 hours of duty. The doors and gates of the Hospital will be 
 closed at 9f p. m., at which time all are expected to be quiet, 
 and those not on duty, in their own rooms. 
 
 The smoking of tobacco is prohibited within the Hospital, 
 also the use of wine and intoxicating liquors unless prescribed 
 by a physician. 
 
 The Matron, Resident Graduates, and Apothecary shall take 
 their meals with the Superintendent ; all other employes in the 
 dining-room provided for them. 
 
 STUDENTS. 
 
 The Trustees may grant any practitioner or student of med- 
 icine of one year's standing, on the joint recommendation of the 
 Physician and Surgeon in attendance, a ticket of admission to 
 follow the practice of the Hospital for not more than one year. 
 Before receiving this ticket, the applicant shall sign an obli- 
 gation to obey in all respects the By-laws and Regulations of 
 the Hospital. The privilege thus granted may be modified or 
 revoked. 
 
 No student shall be entitled to admission except at the regular 
 hours for visiting, operation, or lecture. 
 
 Every student when requested shall show his ticket to the 
 porter at the gate, and shall conduct himself with decorum and 
 propriety. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent to report 
 any infringement of the rules to the Visiting Committee. 
 
 FORM or APPLICATION. 
 
 The form of application for admission shall be as follows. 
 
 BOSTON CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 The undersigned, inhabitant of for the last 
 
 and now residing at Born in being 
 
 years of age, by employment a married and ill of 
 
 requests to be admitted to the City Hospital. 
 Boston, ,186 
 
 13 
 
98 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 CERTIFICATE OF ADMITTING PHYSICIAN. 
 
 Having examined the condition of the said applicant, I find 
 it a suitable case for admission to the City Hospital. 
 
 , M. D. 
 
 TO BE SIGNED BY SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Admit to the Hospital. 
 
 Said is assic^ned to ward bed 
 
 Extra payment, $ Transferred to ward bed 
 
 Said is discharged, 186 
 
 — , _ ^ Superintendent. 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT, 
 
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES. 
 
 Boston, January 1, 1865. 
 
 The Trustees of the City Hospital beg leave to pre- 
 sent to the City Council this their first Annual Eeport. 
 
 It will be remembered that the foundations of the 
 Hospital were laid in September, 1861, and that the 
 first Board of Trustees was elected in January, 1863. 
 The Hospital buildings were so far completed, as to 
 allow the dedication services by the City Government 
 on the 24th of May, 1864, at which time the whole 
 charge of the Institution was surrendered to the Trus- 
 tees. 
 
 The Hospital was opened for the reception of pa- 
 tients on the first day of June, and from that date until 
 the 31st of December, a period of seven months, the 
 number of patients has been as follows : — 
 
 Admitted . . . . . 
 
 Discharged .... 
 
 Died 
 
 Remaining .... 
 Surgical patients 
 Medical " 
 Ophthalmic patients . 
 
 There were also treated as out patients 
 Ophthalmic patients . 
 
 475 
 327 
 
 47 
 101 
 230 
 208 
 
 37 
 
 195 
 176 
 
 Total 
 
 371 
 
102 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 For details respecting expenditures and minute sta- 
 tistics, we would refer to the accompanying Report of 
 the Superintendent. 
 
 It will be seen that the amount expended for fixtures 
 and furniture, has been ^ 36,069.70. The current ex- 
 penses for the seven months ending December 81, 
 ^20,294.41* 
 
 In the opinion of the Trustees, the amount necessary 
 for maintaining the Hospital for the current year 
 will be — 
 
 For supplies . , , . $36,500 
 
 Salaries and labor . , , .13,500 
 
 Fuel and gas . , , , 7,500 
 
 Furniture , . . , , 2,500 
 
 Repairs and grounds . , . 2,500 
 
 Medical supplies . , , . 2,500 
 
 $65,000 
 Estimated amount to be received, pay patients $3,000 
 
 The cost of the Institution thus far is not a fair cri- 
 terion for the future, in estimating the average for each 
 patient, as during the early months, after the opening, 
 nearly the whole staff of attendants had to be em- 
 ployed, as at present, for the care of comparatively few 
 inmates. 
 
 The furniture provided for the buildings is of a 
 good and substantial character, and was purchased at 
 prices much less than would be required at the present 
 time. 
 
 The sums expended for alterations and repairs were 
 for objects considered necessary by the Trustees, after 
 
 * For an account of the bequests to, and property of Hospital, see Appendix. 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 103 
 
 the buildings had been surrendered to their care, and 
 which had not been foreseen. 
 
 The apparatus for heating and ventilation has 
 worked satisfactorily, and the air in the wards has 
 been kept as pure and fresh as in most private dwell- 
 ings. 
 
 On the 31st of May, the Hospital was visited, and 
 its various departments minutely inspected, by Admiral 
 Lessoifsky and the officers of the Russian fleet, then 
 lying in the harbor. On the 21st of May, by invita- 
 tion of the Trustees and Hospital Committee, it was 
 visited by the Suffolk District Medical Association, and 
 on the first of June it was thrown open to the public. 
 
 In the Board of Consulting Physicians, we have to 
 lament the death of Dr. John Ware, an eminent prac- 
 titioner, whose skill and experience would have been 
 of great value to the Institution in this early stage of 
 its existence. His place has been filled by the election 
 of Dr. Edward Reynolds. 
 
 We have also experienced a severe loss in the death 
 of Dr. John C. Dalton, the senior member on the list 
 of Attending Physicians. Dr. Dalton had acquired an 
 enviable distinction in his profession, after long ex- 
 perience in this and a neighboring city, and took an 
 active interest in all that related to the Hospital. Dr. 
 John Homans was elected to fill the vacancy, and dur- 
 ing his term has had four months of active service. A 
 recent attack of illness has, we regret to state, obliged 
 him to resign his position, which has been filled by the 
 election of Dr. John P. Reynolds. 
 
 Short religious services have been held on the prem- 
 ises during the autumn and winter, for the j)atients 
 
104 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 and employes, by clergymen of various denominations, 
 and have, we think, exercised a very beneficial in- 
 fluence. 
 
 The nucleus of a library has been formed through 
 the kindness of donors, whose names will be found in 
 the Report of the Superintendent. Useful and enter- 
 taining books, tracts, and newpapers, will be thank- 
 fully received, and will tend to instruct and beguile the 
 wearv hours of manv of our inmates. It not unfre- 
 quently happens that discharged patients are obliged to 
 leave the Hospital with insufficient clothing, having 
 perhaps expended all their earnings before their en- 
 trance. It would be a deed of benevolence to create 
 a fund, of which the income should be annually de- 
 voted to this object. 
 
 On the recommendation of the physicians and sur- 
 geons, the North Pavilion has been devoted exclusive- 
 ly to the use of surgical patients, and the South Pavil- 
 ion to medical cases. The central building is reserved 
 for patients of either class, who require more ample ac- 
 commodations than are aff'orded in the common wards, 
 and by persons afl'ected wdth diseases of the eye, for the 
 treatment of which the upper rooms are found to be 
 specially adapted. Of this Department, Dr. Williams, 
 Ophthalmic Surgeon, reports that a large number of 
 operations have been performed, and that many cases 
 have been relieved, which, without treatment, would 
 have terminated in blindness. The attendance of out- 
 door patients in this Department has been from twenty- 
 flve to fifty on visiting days, and the number is rapidly 
 increasing. 
 
 Cases are often admitted which cannot be properly 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 105 
 
 treated in either of these Departments, so far as regards 
 the comfort of the patients themselves, or of the other 
 inmates of the ward. On this account we would call 
 the attention of the City Council to the subject of the 
 speedy erection of a building of moderate dimensions, to 
 be used as a Foul Ward. There are at almost all times 
 in such a hospital, cases of delirium, or patients affect- 
 ed with loathsome diseases, requiring separation for 
 their own proper treatment, as well as for the safety 
 and comfort of others. 
 
 It may not be unnecessary to repeat what has been 
 so often stated, that this is not, in the strict sense of the 
 word, a free hospital. It is free to those industrious 
 persons who, from sickness or misfortune, have been 
 temporarily disabled, and who can on recovery main- 
 tain themselves. Neither is it intended for the recep- 
 tion of paupers, for whom ample accommodations are 
 provided elsewhere. It is designed to do the greatest 
 good to the greatest possible number, and for this rea- 
 son, chronic and incurable cases which would speedily, 
 and permanently fill the wards are not received. Ac- 
 commodations for this class are greatly needed, and we 
 trust the time is not distant, when private charity shall 
 have founded an Institution for this object, which shall 
 be worthy of an enlightened and liberal community. 
 
 We take pleasure in stating that the most kindly 
 feeling has existed between the officers of the Massa- 
 chusetts General Hospital and ourselves, and we wish 
 to express to them our sincere thanks for the repeated 
 acts of courtesy and good wdll in affording facilities for 
 investigating many details of the economy and manage- 
 ment of their institution. Having one and the same 
 u 
 
106 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 beneficent object in view, the relief and cure of the 
 suffering and diseased, there is no reason why the 
 utmost harmony and good feeling should not continue 
 to exist. 
 
 The thanks of the Trustees are due to the physicians 
 and surgeons of the Hospital, for their faithful attend- 
 ance in the wards, as well as for their co-operation 
 in all measures affecting the interests of the Institu- 
 tion. 
 
 Too much praise cannot be awarded to our Superin- 
 tendent, L. A. Cutler, Esq., for the zealous and faithful 
 manner in which he has discharged his duties, and for 
 the peculiar skill and mechanical ingenuity which he 
 has manifested in perfecting the apparatus of the 
 Hospital. 
 
 OTIS NOECEOSS, 
 GEO. W. WAEEEN, 
 DAVID H. COOLIDGE, 
 WILLIAM CUMSTON, 
 JOHN T. BEADLEE, 
 WM. E. LAWEENCE, 
 THEODOEE METCALF, 
 SUMNEE CEOSBY, 
 
 Trustees. 
 
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Boston City Hospital, December 31, 1864. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees: — 
 
 I beg leave to present this my first Anpual Report, 
 which embraces an account of the cost of furnishing 
 the Institution, with a statement of the current ex- 
 penses for a period of seven months, from June 1 to 
 December 31, 1864, inclusive, together with statistical 
 tables showing the number of surgical and medical 
 cases treated, wdth the names of the diseases, and 
 results. 
 
 FIXTURES AND FURNITURE. 
 
 Iron Bedsteads $2,047 00 
 
 Beds and Bedding . . . . . . 4,550 05 
 
 Furniture 10,262 93 
 
 Window Shades and Mats .... 2,36474 
 Fixtures, and Furnishing Apothecary Department, 1,150 00 
 Gas Fixtures, &c. . . . . ' . 2,475 64 
 Fixtures and Improvements .... 3,008 85 
 Trees, Shrubs, and Grounds . . . . 426 50 
 Telegraphic Clocks and Electro Magnetic Watch- 
 Clocks 978 50 
 
 Hardware and Cutlery .. . . . 65253 
 
 Amount carried forward . . . . $27,91674 
 
108 CITY HOSFITAL. 
 
 Amount hrouglit forward 
 Clothinoj for Patients 
 Table Linen and Towelling 
 Horse, Harness, and Carriages . 
 Incidental Furnishing 
 Labor . . . . 
 
 Supplies, Provisions, &c. 
 Fuel and Gas . . . . 
 
 Tinware and Crockery . 
 Surgical Instruments 
 Silverware ..... 
 
 127,916 
 
 74 
 
 387 
 
 50 
 
 250 
 
 00 
 
 663 
 
 00 
 
 545 
 
 98 
 
 586 
 
 71 
 
 204 
 
 52 
 
 . 1,950 
 
 00 
 
 1,847 
 
 77 
 
 . 1,396 
 
 59 
 
 320 
 
 89 
 
 $36,069 
 
 70 
 
 SiBiMARY OF Expenses, fkom June 1 to Dec. 31, 1864. 
 
 Meat and Fish % 2,970 67 
 
 Fruit and Vegetables . . . . . 846 02 
 
 Butter, Chees(s and Eggs . . . . 1,184 83 
 
 Groceries 2,229 25 
 
 Milk, Cocoa, and Shells . ... ,. 1,137 69 
 
 Bread and Flour . . . . . . 1,150 37 
 
 Liquors, Ale, and Porter . . . . 1,101 19 
 
 Medicines ....... 2,216 91 
 
 Salaries and Wages 6,087 52 
 
 Books, Printing, and Stationery . . . 765 92 
 
 Sundry Supplies . ■, . , . . 626 00 
 
 Coal and Gas ...... 4,680 96 
 
 Incidental Expenses . . . . . 350 89 
 
 Compress and Bandages . . . . . 189 24 
 
 $25,537 46 
 By Coal, Medicines, and other Supplies on hand, 
 
 January 1, 1865 .... 2,950 00 
 
 $22,587 46 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 109 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Fixtures and Furniture . . . . $3fi,069 70 
 
 Summary of Expenses ..... 22,587 46 
 
 Total amount . ... . . $58,657 16 
 
 Cash received from pay Patients from June 1 to 
 
 December 31, 1864 . . . $2,000 36 
 
 Bills due and unpaid, from same . . . 292 69 
 
 $2,293 05 
 
 STATISTICAL STATEMENT. 
 
 The number of persons having made application 
 for admittance to the Hospital, and been 
 visited by the admitting physician . . 459 
 
 Of this number, admitted . . . . . 231 
 
 Males admitted 288 
 
 Females admitted . . . . . . 187 
 
 Total . . . . . . ■=— 475 
 
 Discharged . . . . . . .327 
 
 Deaths ....... 47 
 
 Remaining in Hospital ..... 101 
 
 Total , 475 
 
 Out Patients treated at the Hospital, Medical and 
 
 Surgical ...... 195 
 
 Out Patients treated at the Hospital, Ophthahnic, 176 
 
 Total . . . . . . — — 371 
 
 Average number of Patients, new and old, in 
 attendance upon visiting days in the Oph- 
 thahnic Department .... 25 
 
 Whole number of Patients treated at the Hos- 
 pital from June 1 to Dec. 31, 1864 . 846 
 
110 CIT\ HOSPITAL. 
 
 NATIVITY OF PATIENTS ADMITTED. 
 
 Boston ......... 82 
 
 Other towns In Massachusetts . . . . .61 
 
 Other States 71 
 
 Ireland ........ 188 
 
 EngLand ........ 24 
 
 Other Foreign Countries . . . ' . . .30 
 
 Nova Scotia ........ 17 
 
 Unknown . . . . ... .2 
 
 Total 475 
 
REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DISEASES AND THEIR RESULTS, EROM JUNE 1 TO DEC. 31, 1864. 
 
 MEDICAL. 
 
 
 ADMITTED. 
 
 EISCHAEGED. 
 
 o 
 
 
 DISEASES. 
 
 "a 
 
 S 
 
 "3 
 o 
 
 "3 
 
 13 
 > 
 
 1 
 
 •a 
 > 
 
 o 
 
 a) 
 S 
 
 '5 J- 
 1 
 
 Acne Rosacea Syphilitica 
 
 Albuminuria 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 1 
 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 4 
 
 ■ 1 
 4 
 2 
 4 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 2 
 5 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 
 1 
 5 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 6 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 1 
 4 
 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 2 
 5 
 1 
 
 2 
 1 
 5 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 5 
 1 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 Amenorrhoea 
 
 Alcoholismus 
 
 1 
 
 Anaesthesia 
 
 
 Angina Gang-renosa 
 
 Aphonia 
 
 1 
 
 Apoplexy 
 
 
 Arsenical Poisonine 
 
 
 Bright 's Disease 
 
 
 Bronchitis 
 
 
 Cancer of Utsrus 
 
 " " Ovaries 
 
 " " Pylorus 
 
 1 
 
 Cerebritis 
 
 Cholera Morbus 
 
 Chorea 
 
 Cirrhosis . . 
 
 
 Colica Pictonum 
 
 
 Congestion of Lungs 
 
 Cystitis 
 
 Debility 
 
 1 
 
 Delirium Tremens 
 
 
 Dropsy 
 
 
 
 
 Amount carried foricard 
 
 26 
 
 2.3 
 
 49 
 
 16 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 45 
 
 4 
 
112 
 
 CITY HOSPITAL, 
 
 Report of Diseases and their Results from June 1 to Dec. 31, 1864. 
 
 M.^T>\CXL.— Continued. 
 
 DISEASES. 
 
 Amount brought forward 
 
 Dysentery , 
 
 Dyspepsia 
 
 Eczema 
 
 * ' Impetigenodes , 
 
 Enteritis Puerperal 
 
 Enuresis 
 
 Epilepsy 
 
 Erysipelas 
 
 Erythema 
 
 " Nodosum 
 
 " tuberculatum 
 
 " papulatum 
 
 Fever, Typhoid 
 
 " Continued.... 
 
 " Intermittent 
 
 Hemiplegia 
 
 Hepatitis 
 
 Hypochondriasis 
 
 Hysteria 
 
 Neuralgia 
 
 Ovaritis 
 
 Paraplegia 
 
 Peritonitis 
 
 Phthisis 
 
 Pleuritis 
 
 Pleurodynia 
 
 Pneumonia 
 
 ADMITTED. 
 
 26 
 3 
 3 
 1 
 
 Amount carried forward 
 
 71 
 
 23 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 6 
 2 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 73 
 
 49 
 6 
 5 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 7 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 5 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 7 
 1 
 1 
 16 
 
 144 
 
 DISCHAEGED. 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 2 
 
 CO 
 
 12 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 45 
 6 
 5 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 4 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 8 
 5 
 2 
 5 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 119 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 
 
 113 
 
 Report of Diseases and their Results from June 1 to Deo,. 31, 1864. 
 
 MEDIQKL.— Concluded. 
 
 
 ADMITTED. | 
 
 
 DISCHARGED, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 p 
 
 DISEASES. 
 
 
 "3 
 
 i 
 
 "3 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 o 
 
 > 
 
 1 
 
 > 
 .2 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 '5 CO 
 S 
 
 o 
 
 Amount brought forioard .... 
 
 71 
 
 73 
 
 144 
 
 60 
 
 27 
 
 7 
 
 25 
 
 119 
 
 25 
 
 Podagra 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 :: 
 
 :: 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Prolapsus Uteri 
 
 1 
 
 Rheumatism. 
 
 16 
 1 
 1 
 
 21 
 6 
 
 37 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 15 
 3 
 
 9 
 3 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 11 
 
 Sciatica 
 
 1 
 
 Spanaemia 
 
 
 Sypliilis, Sec. and Tert'y 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 .. 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 Threatened Abortion 
 
 .. 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 • 
 
 2 
 
 Unknown 
 
 .. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 .. 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 • • 
 
 Variola 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Totals 
 
 94 
 
 106 
 
 200 
 
 80 
 
 42 
 
 10 
 
 26 
 
 158 
 
 42 
 
 
 
 ]5 
 
114 
 
 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Reports of Diseases and their Results, from June 1 to Dec. 31, 1864. 
 
 SURGICAL. 
 
 DISEASES. 
 
 Amputation, accidental 
 
 Abscess 
 
 Aneurysme, diflFused 
 
 Apoplexy . , 
 
 Arthritis Chronica 
 
 Atresia Vaginae 
 
 Burns 
 
 Calculus Vesicalis 
 
 Carbuncle 
 
 Caries 
 
 Cicatrix from Burn 
 
 Concussion of Brain 
 
 " " Spinal Cord 
 
 Contraction of Biceps Muscle 
 
 Contusion 
 
 Crushing, with laceration , 
 
 Dislocation of Elbow 
 
 " " Shoulder , 
 
 " " Thumb, compound. 
 
 Enlargement of Uterus 
 
 Epilepsy 
 
 Fistula in Ano 
 
 " Vesico Vaginalis 
 
 '* in Perineo 
 
 Fracture of Clavicle 
 
 " " Bibs 
 
 '' " " complicated 
 
 " " " compound 
 
 ADMITTED. 
 
 A mount carried forward 47 
 
 19 
 
 DISCHARGED. 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 66 
 
 3 1 
 
 25 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 .. 
 
 14 
 
 Q . 
 
 49 
 
 18 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 
 
 115 
 
 Reports of Diseases and their Results, from June 1 to Dec. 31, 1864. 
 
 ' SURGICAL. — Co?i/i)merf. 
 
 DISEASES. 
 
 Amount brought forioard • 
 
 Fracture into Elbow joint 
 
 «' " " " compound 
 
 " of Radius 
 
 «' " " at Wrist 
 
 " <' " and Ulna 
 
 " "Metacarpus ■ 
 
 " " Phalanges, compound 
 
 " " Femur, Neck 
 
 " " Shaft 
 
 " " "compound 
 
 " into Knee-joint 
 
 '« " " " compound 
 
 " of Tibia 
 
 <' << " compound 
 
 " " " and Fibula 
 
 " " '< " compound 
 
 " " Fibula 
 
 " " Ankle 
 
 " " " compound 
 
 " " Tarsus 
 
 « «' " and Metatarsus, comp'd. 
 
 Hemorrhoids 
 
 Harelip 
 
 Hernia, Crural, Strangulated 
 
 *' Inguinal 
 
 Ingrowing Toe-nail 
 
 Leucocy tliemia 
 
 Amount carried forward 
 
 ADMITTED. 
 
 84 
 
 19 
 
 35 
 
 6G 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 4 
 .3 
 2 
 1 
 2 
 6 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 6 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 
 DISCHARGED. 
 
 119 
 
 14 
 
 29 
 
 17 
 
 11 
 
 49 
 
 81 
 
 Q 
 
 18 
 
 36 
 
116 
 
 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Reports of Diseases and their Results, from June 1 to Dec. 31, 1864. 
 
 SURGICAL. — Continued. 
 
 
 ADMITTED. 
 
 DISCHAKGED. 
 
 
 o 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 w 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DISEASES. 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 -a 
 
 CD 
 
 _s> 
 
 
 
 .S'-H 
 
 
 lU 
 
 
 3 
 
 -• 
 
 > 
 
 u 
 
 -a 
 
 "3 
 
 ■5«3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 Ph 
 
 H 
 
 29 
 
 
 Z 
 
 Q • 
 
 p 
 
 Si 
 
 
 R4 
 
 m 
 
 119 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 11 
 
 81 
 
 an 
 
 Alnnv TTrartnros 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Morbus Coxai'ius 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 .. 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 o 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Orchitis 
 
 5 
 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 .. 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 Ovarian Dropsy 
 
 .. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 
 1 
 
 .. 
 
 Plilphitis 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 , ^ 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Polypus Uteri 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 • • 
 
 
 2 
 
 .. 
 
 Snrfl ins 
 
 n 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 Scrofulous Disease, Knee 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Stricture of Urethra 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Rtriif.lr hv v Jo-litniiiff 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 staphyloma, anterior 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Testicle nialio"naut disease 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 •• 
 
 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 
 
 " Fibrous deo'cneration 
 
 
 
 
 " Painful Subcutaneous 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 '* Syphilitic Gumnious 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 " Tumor Epithelial 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 " Encephaloid 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 " Jlelanotic 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 " Scirrhus 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 39 
 
 27 
 
 1 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 141 
 
 
 
 
 Amoimt carried forward 
 
 52 
 
 54 
 
 186 
 
 43 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 
 
 117 
 
 Reports of Diseases and their Results, from June 1 to Dec. 31, 1864. 
 
 SURGICAL.— Concluded. 
 
 DISEASES. 
 
 Amount brought forward. 
 
 Ulcers 
 
 Unknown 
 
 Vegetations ■ 
 
 Wounds. — Incised of Axilla . 
 " " " Scalp... 
 
 " <« " Thigh . 
 
 " " " Throat. 
 
 " Lacei at'.'d of Hand . . . 
 " " " Head... 
 
 " " " Leg 
 
 " " " Neck ... 
 
 " " " Scalp . . . 
 
 " Gunshot of Abdomen. 
 " " " Face .... 
 
 " " " Hand .... 
 
 " " " Lung 
 
 " " " Flesh .... 
 
 Total . 
 
 52 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 4 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 
 185 
 
 68 
 
 186 
 19 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 4 
 1 
 2 
 4 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 
 233 
 
 DISCHARGED. 
 
 39 
 
 46 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 20 
 
 141 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 4 
 1 
 2 
 4 
 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 176 
 
 55 
 
118 
 
 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 EEPORT OF OPHTHALMIC DEPAETMENT. 
 
 NATURE OF OPERATIONS. 
 
 1^ 
 
 S 
 
 "3 
 
 O 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 d 
 CO 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 P 
 
 -a* 
 
 Cataract 
 
 16 
 3 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 1 
 
 28 
 3 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 22 
 3 
 
 1 
 , 10 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 Enucleation 
 
 
 " by Critchett's method 
 
 
 Iridectomy 
 
 Iridesis 
 
 •• 
 
 Total 
 
 32 
 
 13 
 
 45 
 
 38 
 
 3 
 
 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 
 
 119 
 
 TABLE or ACCIDENTS. 
 
 NATURE OF INJURY. 
 
 Amputation, accidental 
 
 Apoplexy 
 
 Burns 
 
 Concussion of Brain . . -. 
 
 " " Spinal Cord 
 
 Contusion 
 
 Dislocation of Elbow 
 
 " " Shoulder 
 
 •' " Thumb, compound 
 
 " "Fingers " 
 
 Crushing, with laceration, fingers 
 
 Hand 
 
 Fracture of Clavicle 
 
 " " JRibs 
 
 " " Humerus 
 
 " " " compound 
 
 " into Elbow-joint 
 
 " " " " compound 
 
 " of Radius 
 
 " " " at Wrist 
 
 " " " and Ulna 
 
 " " Metacarpus 
 
 " " Femur, Neck 
 
 Amounts carried forward 
 
 Male. 
 
 Female. 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 .. 
 
 2 
 
 •- 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 41 
 
 13 
 
120 
 
 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 TABLE or ACCIDENTS. — Continued. 
 
 NATURE OF INJURY. 
 
 Amounts hroiigld forward 
 
 Eracture of Femur, Shaft 
 
 " " '< " compound 
 
 *' into Knee-joint 
 
 «' " " " compound 
 
 '• of Tibia, compound 
 
 " " " and Eibula 
 
 «« " " " " compound 
 
 " " Fibula ' 
 
 " " Ankle 
 
 " " " compound 
 
 " Collis' 
 
 " Metatarsus and Phalanges of Foot. 
 
 Sprain . 
 
 Attempted Suicide 
 
 Strangulated Crural Hernia 
 
 Wounds. 
 
 " Gunshot of Hand 
 
 «' " " Thigh 
 
 " " " Abdomen 
 
 " " " Lung 
 
 " '' Gluteal Region 
 
 " Incised of Axilla 
 
 Male. 
 
 Amounts carried forward . 
 
 41 
 5 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 4 
 7 
 2 
 1 
 
 4 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 82 
 
 13 
 3 
 
 Total. 
 
 54 
 8 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 5 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 • • 
 
 1 
 
 • • 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 107 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 
 
 121 
 
 TABLE or ACCIDENTS. — Concluded. 
 
 NATURE OF INJURY. 
 
 Amoiiyiis brought forward. 
 
 "Wounds. — Incised of Scalp 
 
 " Throat 
 
 Lacerated Hand 
 
 Leer 
 
 Thigh . 
 Scalp . . 
 Ear . . . 
 Thumb 
 
 Epilepsy. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Male. 
 
 82 
 
 7 
 2 
 3 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 Female. 
 
 Total . 
 
 25 1 107 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 28 
 
 129 
 
 16 
 
122 
 
 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 TABLE OF OPEEATIONS. 
 
 NATURE OF OPERATIONS. 
 
 Amputation of Arm 
 
 " "Shoulder-joint.... 
 
 a «' Eore Arm 
 
 " "-Fingers 
 
 " " Thumb 
 
 " " Thigh 
 
 " " Leg 
 
 *' " Toes 
 
 Atresia Vaginae, artificial passage 
 
 Bullet removed • 
 
 Circumcision 
 
 Dislocation, reduction shoulder-joint 
 
 " *' elbow-joint 
 
 Fistula in Ano 
 
 Harelip, plastic operation 
 
 Hemorrhoids 
 
 Hydrocele, radical cure by injection 
 
 " by opening Scrotum 
 
 Hernia Inguinal, radical cure by Wood's method 
 
 Hernia Crural Strangulated 
 
 Minor operations 
 
 Naevus 
 
 Necrosis, operation for removal 
 
 Amounts carried forivard 
 
 Males. 
 
 Female 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 4 
 
 •• 
 
 3 
 
 •• 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 2 ' 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 5 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 .. 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 •• 
 
 72 
 
 11 
 
 Total. 
 
 3 
 3 
 1 
 4 
 3 
 9 
 5 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 8 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 6 
 2 
 21 
 1 
 6 
 
 81 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 
 
 123 
 
 TABLE OF OPERATIONS. — (7owcZMc?ec?. 
 
 NATURE OF OPERATIONS. 
 
 Amounts carried forivard- 
 
 Paracentesis Ovarii 
 
 ** Thoracis 
 
 Polypus Uteri 
 
 Resection of Knee 
 
 Section of old cicatrix of Burn. 
 
 Suture of wound of Trachea . 
 
 Talipes Varus 
 
 Tumors Epithelial 
 
 *' Encysted 
 
 '* Encephaloid 
 
 " Glandular 
 
 •* Melanotic 
 
 " Painful Subcutaneous... 
 
 " Testicle Removed 
 
 Tracheotomy 
 
 Vesico Vaginal Fistula 
 
 Total 
 
 Male. 
 
 72 
 
 Female 
 
 11 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 90 
 
 19 
 
 Total. 
 
 81 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 107 
 
124 
 
 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 SUKGICAL DEPARTMENT. 
 Table op Deaths from June 1 to December 31, 1864. 
 
 CAUSE OF DEATH. 
 
 Asphyxia 
 
 Apoplexy 
 
 Burn 
 
 Encephaloid 
 
 Gunshot Wound 
 
 Phlebitis 
 
 Fracture Femur, compound 
 
 " of many bones 
 
 " '* Leg, compound 
 
 " " Elbow-joint, with laceration 
 
 Peritonitis 
 
 Suicide 
 
 Hemiplegia 
 
 Male. 
 
 Total 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 
 16 
 
 Female 
 
 Total. 
 
 2 
 3 
 2 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 1 
 
 20 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 
 
 125 
 
 MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
 Table of Deaths from June 1 to December 31, 1864. 
 
 CAUSE OF DEATH. 
 
 Albuminuria 
 
 Alcoholismus 
 
 Apoplexy 
 
 Bright's Disease... 
 Cancer of Pylorus. 
 
 Cirrhosis 
 
 Delirium Tremens. 
 Disease of Heart. . 
 
 Dysentery 
 
 Enteritis Puerperal 
 
 Epilepsy 
 
 Fever, continued . . 
 
 Hemiplegia 
 
 Neuralgia 
 
 Phthisis 
 
 Pneumonia 
 
 Rheumatism 
 
 Total. 
 
 Male. 
 
 Female 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 ■• 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 .. 
 
 1 
 
 •. 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 19 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 
 27 
 
126 CITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 The foregoing tables present a synopsis of the results for the 
 seven months, during which the Hospital has been open to the 
 public. A large number of patients have been treated in the 
 Institution during this time ; most of whom were for accidents 
 and acute diseases. The total number of patients treated in the 
 Hospital is four hundred and seventy-five. The total number 
 of medical, surgical, and ophthalmic out patients is three hun- 
 dred and seventy-one. Thus, the whole number of patients 
 treated at the Institution Is eight hundred and forty- six. The 
 number of patients who have died at the Hospital Is forty-seven ; 
 many of these were brought to the Hospital In a dying condi- 
 tion in consequence of severe accidents. Two hundred and 
 fifteen patients have been discharged well, and ninety-two re- 
 lieved. 
 
 In presenting the above Report, I trust I may be permitted to 
 congratulate your Board upon the success which has attended the 
 labors of the several Departments during the time which they have 
 been In operation. Nor should I do justice to my own feelings, 
 did I not make acknowledgments for the uniform kindness and 
 respect which have been manifested towards me by the profes - 
 slonal gentlemen connected with the Hospital, In my efforts to 
 promote its interest and welfare. It has given me much pleas- 
 ure to witness the earnestness with which they have discharged 
 the many and arduous duties which have devolved upon them. 
 In addition to his valuable services as ophthalmic surgeon, Dr. 
 Williams has presented the Hospital with a beautiful French 
 Skeleton. 
 
 During the last few months many valuable donations have 
 been made to the Hospital Library. We are Indebted to Dr. 
 Silas Durkee, Dr. J. N. Borland, Dr. W. E. Coale, and others, 
 for valuable donations of standard medical works and plates. 
 
 A library of general reading for the use of patients has also 
 been commenced through the liberality of Messrs. Little & 
 Brown, Ticknor & Fields, Walker, Wise, & Co., A. Wilhams 
 & Co., T. O. H. P. Burnham, Lee & Shepard, W. W. 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 127 
 
 Clapp, jr., T. C. Amoiy, jr., Chas. H. Appleton, C. F. Dana, 
 Edwin Story, and others. 
 
 In conclusion, permit me to thank the members of your 
 Board, for their kind consideration of my efforts to bring to a 
 successful Issue the duties and trust with w^hlch they have In- 
 vested me ; and which, with the assistance of Divine Provi- 
 dence, I have earnestly endeavored to fulfil. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 LUCIUS A. CUTLER, SuperiiUendent. 
 
BEQUESTS. 
 
 Elisha Goodnow of Boston, by will dated July 12, 1849, makes the 
 city of Boston residuary legatee to his estate, real and personal, for the 
 benefit of a City Hospital. Provided, That one half of the proceeds 
 shall be applied to the establishment and perpetual maintenance oifree 
 beds under the control of the government and officers of the said Hospi- 
 tal for the time being. 
 
 The following sums of money have been received : — 
 
 1862, June 9. From executor's balance of account at 
 
 Probate Office $ 623 85 
 
 1864r, April 14. Proceeds of sale of estate on Cross 
 Street, containing 6,228 square feet land 1 14,907 12 
 Old buildings upon same . . . 223 00 
 
 1864, December 31. From city of Boston 
 for 225 square feet of land taken from 
 above estate to widen Cross Street . 523 36 15,653 48 
 
 1864, July 1. Interest on same from city to this date . 222 67 
 
 $ 16,500 00 
 
 1864, July 1. In accordance with the City Ordinance establishing 
 the Hospital, the above amount, say % 16,500, has been invested in city 
 scrip, dated July 1, 1864, twenty years' interest semi-annually, at six 
 per cent per annum, and deposited with the City Auditor, who is 
 required to receive the interest upon the said scrip, and add the same to 
 the moneys appropriated for the use of the Hospital. 
 
 1865, January. A lot of land being a part of the bequest of Mr. 
 Goodnow, situated upon Third Street, South Boston, has not as yet 
 been converted into money. The lot originally contained 7,700 square 
 feet. The New York Central Railroad located their track upon a por- 
 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 129 
 
 tion of this land, taking a strip 5 feet, 8 inches wide, by 100 feet 
 long, containing 6,683 square feet. No settlement has yet been made 
 with the railroad corporation for damages. 
 
 1865, January. A strip of land on the westerly side of the above, 
 measuring 15 feet, 2 inches, by 100 feet, is yet in possession of the 
 city, and should he sold as soon as convenient. 
 
 1865, January- The $ 10,000 deposited by the Executors of Mr. 
 Goodnow, June 22, 1852, with the Massachusetts Hospitable Life In- 
 surance Company, the interest upon which is to be paid to the widow, 
 will, upon her decease, be distributed as follows : — 
 
 $ 500 to the Farm School 
 
 $ 5,000 to city of Boston, income to be expended for the relief of 
 sick and infirm persons. 
 
 $ 4,500 to be added to the fund heretofore provided for the support 
 of free beds in the City Hospital.'-'' 
 
 Lawrence Nichols of Boston, by will dated August 19, 1862, and 
 recorded Suffolk Eegistry of AV ills, volume 160, folio 140, bequeathed 
 to the city of Boston towards the support of a City Hospital, the sum of 
 one thousand dollars. 
 
 1863, April 29. The Executor of Mr. Nichols paid the €ity Treasurer 
 $ 1,000 less the United States tax . . , . $ 937 25 
 The city of Boston paid interest on same . . 62 75 
 
 $ 1,000 00 
 
 1864, July 1. The above amount, say f 1,000, has been invested in 
 city of Boston scrip, dated July 1, 1864, twenty years, with six per cent 
 interest, payable semi-annually, and deposited with the City Auditor 
 as required by Ordinance. 
 
 1865, January. The residue of Mr, Nichols's estate, after paying 
 his bequest, is to be divided ameng the several legatees in the United 
 States, according to their several amounts. 
 
 The City Hospital will receive about $ 500. 
 
 * Plans, copy of the will, and other papers, are on file with the Secretary of 
 the Board of Trustees. 
 
 17 
 
MEDICAL AND SURGICAL STAFF. 
 
 CONSULTING PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 
 
 S. D. TOWNSEND, M. D. 
 
 Edward Reynolds, M. D. 
 WiNSLOw Lewis, M. D. 
 
 John Jeffries, M. D. 
 Silas Durkee, M. D. 
 A. A. Gould, M. D. 
 
 VISITING PHYSICIANS. 
 
 Wm. W. Morland, M. D. 
 Fitch Ed. Oliver, M. D. 
 J. Baxter Upham, M. D. 
 
 J. K Borland, M. D. 
 
 J. G. Blake, M. D. 
 
 John V. Reynolds, M. D. 
 
 VISITING SURGEONS. 
 
 C. H. Stedman, M. D. 
 
 C. E. Buckingham, M. D. 
 
 D. McB. Thaxter, Jr. M. D. 
 
 Charles D. Homans, M. D. 
 Algernon Coolidge, M. D. 
 David W. Cheever, M. D. 
 
 OPHTHALMIC SURGEON. — Henry W. AVilliams, M. D. 
 
 ADMITTING PHYSICIAN. — Howard F. Damon, M. D. 
 
 PATHOLOGIST. — Charles W. Swan, M. D. 
 
 RESIDENT GRADUATE PHYSICIANS. 
 John Dole, M. D. | C. J. Blake. 
 
 RESIDENT GRADUATE SURGEONS. 
 M. F. Gavin, M. D. | D. F. Lincoln, M. D. 
 
 EXTERNE IN OPHTHALMIC DEPARTMENT. 
 Ed. G. Loring, M. D. 
 
TRUSTEES FOR 1863-4. 
 
 Aldermen — THOMAS C. AMORY, Jr., President. 
 OTIS NORCROSS. 
 
 CouNCiLMEN— JOSEPH BUCKLEY, 
 LUCIUS A. CUTLER, 
 DAVID H. COOLIDGE, Secretary. 
 
 At Large — THEODORE METCALF, for three years. 
 SUMNER CROSBY, for two years. 
 WILLIAM R. LAWRENCE, for one year. 
 
 TRUSTEES FOR 1864-5 
 
 Aldermen — OTIS NORCROSS, President. 
 GEORGE W. WARREN. 
 
 Councilmen — WILLIAM CUMSTON, 
 JOHN T. BRADLEE, 
 DAVID H. COOLIDGE, Secretary. 
 
 At Large — THEODORE METCALF, 
 SUMNER CROSBY, 
 WILLIAM R. LAWRENCE, for three years. 
 
 TRUSTEES FOR 1865-6. 
 
 Aldermen — N. C. NASH, 
 
 THOMAS GAFFIELD. 
 
 Councilmen — SUMNER CROSBY, 
 
 M. W. RICHARDSON, 
 WALBRIDGE A. FIELD, 
 
 At Large — JOHN T. BRADLEE, Secretary. 
 *OTIS NORCROSS, President. 
 THEODORE METCALF. 
 
 LUCIUS A. CUTLER, Supbrintendemt. 
 
 * Mr. Lawrence having resigned, Mr. Norcross was chosen to fill his unex- 
 pired term. 
 
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 3 9031 0149714 
 
 
 
 EA 
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 BOSTON.. 
 
 Bapst Library 
 
 Boston College 
 Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167