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kitchen has been repainted, and a sufficient supply of hot water provided all over the house. At my first visit I pointed out that a considerable saving might be made in the dispensing of medicines, and I find that this is now beiti : satisfactorily performed by one of the probationer nurses under the directions of Dr. Hassall. The number of in-patients during the year was 615, a daily average of 76. Of these it is significant to find that 46 were cases of typhoid. Provision will be made in the new buildings for the most serious wants of the hospital, namely, a Lock ward, a children's ward, and accommodation for nurses. The management of the whole is admirable, and the hospital is one to be proud of. 13th August, 1886.

WESTPOBT. This hospital stands on the outskirts of this straggling town, on a shingle-bank facing the sea, with a swamp close behind. The .reserve consists of about four acres, only part of which is enclosed or cared for in any way. All the surroundings of the hospital, with the exception of one small bit at the entrance, are slovenly in the extreme. The building itself, in its present state, is an unintelligible fragment of a plan which may not be completed till the existing part is rotten. It consists of one good large ward, with two ill-lighted, inconvenient, and dismal-looking spaces, one of which is used as a subsidiary ward, 50ft. by 12ft., divided into two rooms by means of curtains. The other is used as a day-room, 50ft. by 18ft., which is poorly furnished, draughty, and cheerless, warmed by means of a large stove, with upright pipe passing through an iron plate in the ceiling. The male side of the hospital con tarns fourteen beds and nine patients, of whom six are chronic cases, who have been more than a year in the hospital. Of these, one or two have been over seven years ; two, three years; and two, about two years in the institution. In fact, only one of the nine is a proper hospital patient, and he has been altogether nine months here. The others ought to bo in an old men's refuge, for their complaint is old age and its concomitants; chronic asthma, two cases; paralysis, one case ; fits, one case ; and chronic rheumatism. The large male ward, containing nine beds and five patients, is 51ft. by 23ft. by 14ft., with concave roof. It has four windows on each side, with walls stuck over here and there with pictures (untrained) from the illustrated papers. All the beds are iron, with straw mattrasses, good and clean bedding. There are two long strips of matting along the floor, and short lengths by the bedsides. Besides these, there are the usual ward-tables, benches, cane chairs, and bedside lockers and diet-cards. There is a large fireplace, with a cheerful blazing coal lire. The female ward, which is at present empty, and a suitable nurses' room, are contained in a separate cottage with a lean-to, which was originally a steward's house. The kitchen and the steward's rooms and store open off a passage which leads into the dayroom. The kitchen is a rough, unlined weatherboarded room, 21ft. by 15ft. 'It contains a fine newrange and a suitable dresser. The bath-room, water-closet, and lavatory open off a lobby at the end of the large ward. The steward and his wife, who have only just entered on their duties, seem to mo very suitable persons, and I hope to find great improvements result from their appointment, for it is evident that heretofore the management has in some respects been very unsatisfactory. The dinner to-day was very good and well cooked. It consisted of roast beef, potatoes, and vegetables, with a sago-pudding. The stores are got by contract, and are all good except the butter, and, especially, the kerosene, which was very bad. I was unable to ascertain from any of those connected with the hospital, including the Chairman and the secretary, the true amount of the drugbill. An account has been sent in to the Government which nobody seems able to explain. Part of it seems to be for drugs supplied to Dr. Thorpe for his private practice, sent to the Government by mistake, and nobody seems to be. able to explain the real state of the case. The patients all expressed themselves as greatly pleased with their treatment by the new steward and his wife, and Dr. Thorpe is very kind and attentive. A very great improvement would be effected in the dayroom by opening two or three windows in the long blank wall which gives it such a dismal appearance ; and something must be done to improve the squalid aspect of the grounds at the back of the hospital. The only books kept are the patients' register and a book for the quarterly reports. 2nd November, 1886. I have, &c, D. Macgkegob, M.A., M.8., The Hon. the Premier. Inspector of Hospitals.