H.—l9

2

be cleaned out without stopping the water-supply. A stop-tap on a connecting-pipe would meet the difficulty. The spouting needs repairing, and the whole outside ought to be painted, as well as the wards, which have rather a smudgy appearance. I found that Dr. Woodford gave every satisfaction in the discharge of his duties, though I think the salary he receives (£5O) is inadequate. 28th January, 1887.

AREOWTOWN. This hospital stands in a reserve of about four acres of land one mile and a quarter from the town. The building faces the north, is well designed, and looks very neat. It consists of a central part containing two rooms for the doctor, who does not occupy them, as he is a married man, and lives in the town. The male ward, 33ft. by 15ft., occupies the west wing. It is well lighted and ventilated, and the walls and ceiling are neatly painted. From the entrance to the male ward a long passage, 36ft. by 4ft., covered with linoleum, leads to the other wing, opening into a bath-room which has never been fitted up. The female ward, 15ft. by 15ft., like the male ward, is well lighted and ventilated, and very comfortably furnished. The two wards together contain seven beds with straw palliasses and good flock mattrasses, all exceedingly neat and clean. I noticed that there were no lockers and no head-cards. At the time of my visit there was only one patient, who had received a slight injury. The kitchen is a large, airy room, with a good Leamington range, a fine large dresser and table, with a suitable pantry adjoining. The dispensary opens nearly opposite the front door, and, like everything in the hospital, is kept admirably neat and clean. There is a good supply of instruments. The whole condition of this hospital is most creditable to Mr. and Mrs. Eintoul, and it is in all respects as comfortable a home for sick people as could be desired. The fever ward stands a little way off in the rear, containing a room, 18ft. by 12ft., with a window at each end. The whole is neatly painted, and contains two beds. The outbuildings contain a mortuary, a carriage-shed, a store, a coalhouse, and a fowlhouse. An abundant supply of pure water is got by means of a ram in the gully behind. The slops are discharged lower down by means of a superficial wooden drain. There are suitable and well-kept closets for males and females at the back. Admission of patients : non-subscribers pay £1 10s. per week ; subscribers pay £1; 'all others according to their ability. A ticket from a subscriber is necessary, except in case of accidents. Voluntary subscriptions in 1885 amounted to £170 ; in 1886, £68. The in-patients for the year were sixty-five and out-patients sixteen. From the inquiries I have made lam satisfied that Dr. Donaldson's attention to his work is all that could be desired. 11th January, 1887.

ASHBUETON. This hospital is an ambitious-looking structure, very badly adapted for its purpose. The original plan was evidently made by somebody who either knew or cared nothing about hospital requirements, and no subsequent expenditure can remedy the matter. It stands in a reserve of about eight acres, half a mile from the railway-station. A large part of the land is an old river-bed, and the rest very light shingly soil. The approach is through a handsome gate, and is spacious and well-gravelled, flanked by straggling flower-beds and a few trees. The building consists of two separate blocks, built of red brick, with white-stone facings and slate roof, patched together in front by means of large enclosed corridor filled with pot-plants, and communicating behind by means of a tortuous passage from the large male ward to the kitchen. The male ward stands at the far end of a long passage, flanked by single rooms —three on the one side and four on the other —at right angles to the front corridor. Its dimensions are 28ft. by 22ft., with two windows at each end. Ventilation is secured by fretwork openings in the ceiling, and four Sherringham's ventilators half-way down the walls; besides these at the top of the windows are glass louvres, moveable by a string. The whole ward is spoiled by a huge brick stalk in the middle like a factorychimney. It contains ten iron beds, one being a patent lever-bed for surgical cases, all with hair mattrasses and good, clean bedding. Seven of these were occupied at my visit. The lavatory, closets, and bath-room are well constructed and well kept. The male ward and the single rooms are all painted in a monotonous puce colour. All, however, are kept scrupulously clean, and, on the whole, are very comfortable. The original square block is of two stories, with a fine concrete balustrade at the entrance. The matron's rooms, which are large and comfortable, stand to right and left of the entrance, and are separated by an inner double door from the inner hall, 21ft. by 9ft., with a suitabty-furnished surgery to the right, and the kitchen, and pantry, and scullery, and store-room to the left. The surgery contains an operating-table and bed, a neat instrument-case well stocked and well cared-for, but no medicine-press. The first floor is reserved for female patients. On the left of the landing are two wards—one, the public ward, 16ft. by 16ft., with one large window with three divisions, having holland blinds. The ventilation is defective, there being no openings in the walls to correspond with the fretwork opening in the ceiling. This ward contains three beds, and is neatly and comfortably furnished. The private ward, next door, is similar, but a little smaller, and contains two beds. Separating this ward from a similar unfurnished room opposite is a very neat linen closet, cut off from the landing by a glass-panelled partition. The space over the kitchen is occupied by a very good bath-room, with hot and cold water, a servant's room, and a small lavatory. Close behind the hospital is a detached laundry with cement floor, with good boiler and fixed-in tubs. Further to the rear is a row of small buildings, containing a fever hospital, with two small wards and accessories, a neat kitchen, pantry, and nurse's room overlooking the ward. Next come a neat mortuary, and a cold, damp, padded room with leaky roof, which any active lunatic could get out of. Next in the same line come a two-stalled stable and a store. There is a garden of about three-quarters of an acre of an old river-terrace, very dry and badly fenced, but fairly stocked with vegetables. Rain-water is collected in a large underground