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these officers give the State. The knowledge which they learn by experience is reflected in the reports they furnish, which as an expression of educated lay opinion are most valuable. It is with deepest regret that I record the death of Miss Colborne-Veel. All who were brought under her influence will have felt that death had taken a rare, benevolent, brave, unselfish personality. During her illness she wrote, "An always troublesome heart worried the lungs into congestion—a pity when such near neighbours are not good and joyful enough to dwell together in unity. The Matron very kindly came down to bring me the hospital news, and 1 have had several letters from the wards." Later she wrote that with extreme regret she was obliged to tender her resignation as Official Visitor to Sunnyside, and in acknowledging this letter I said, " You will understand how secure 1 felt in your wise and kindly friendship for tho patients and love, of the work, knowing that such feelings are reciprocated and such efforts never lost; whereas by a little unwisdom or misplaced sympathy much mischief may be wrought. . . We have often remarked how, when you first began visiting, you learned the whys and wherel'ors before making suggestions, and how you thereby won the confidence and CO-operation of the staff, which, I believe, has the best intentions." She is mourned by staff and patients, and for many years the memory of her sympathetic personality and her visits will be kept green in the wards and recalled lovingly. In addition to the visits of the District Inspectors and Official Visitors, and to those carried out by Mr. Holder and Miss Hanna, of the Head Office staff, I inspected as follows : — Auckland. —Visited in April, August, and November, 1922, and in April and May this year. During the first of these visits the institution was visited by a severe epidemic of enteric fever, traceable to the water-supply, which ceased as soon as it was substituted by the town supply. There are always in the community a number (comparatively few) of " carriers " —generally unknown to themselves and others without a proper investigation, impossible, unless suspicion suggests its need. We question new admissions and do our best, within reason, to trace " carriers," but doubtless every few years one, with no history to suggest the possibility, will slip past, and in due, course may be responsible for a few cases before being discovered. But the epidemic in question came from without. 1 wish to pay a tribute to the staff for the excellent way in which the sick were nursed and cared for. The accommodation has been largely augmented by the addition to Park House, which provides small well-designed wards with a beautiful and extensive outlook beyond the estate. Now this urgent need has been met there remains another, the provision for a hospital ward for about forty patients on the male side, the hospital proper being filled with senile patients needing infirmary treatment. Meantime maintenance work, which had got behind, is being prosecuted vigorously to place matters in a normal position, in which each year's maintenance work —painting, renovation, &c. —can be kept up'to date by the artisan staff. The kitchen alterations have proceeded slowly, but at last show the end in sight. lam of opinion that the kitchen and other domestic services should be placed under a, practical woman, a graduate in domestic economy, with an experienced staff. To begin with, the cost will go up ; but it will be repaid in improved service and in lesser anxiety to the higher officers. I was glad to see the Wolfe Home being used again for its original purpose, and the men's side under the care of nurses. Tokanui. —Visited April, August, November, and December, 1922, and in May this year. I found things progressing satisfactorily —the patients well clothed and fed, their accommodation comfortable, and many sources of recreation provided. The male reception block is ready, and cases from bluntly and south are already being diverted from Auckland. The corresponding block on the women's side should be proceeded with now. Meantime cement blocks are being made by the riverside to provide material to build units for a villa, village, or hamlet institution on another part of the estate —a proceeding which can be repeated and repeated, for there are numerous good building-sites separated from each other. This institution will gradually increase the area from which it will draw its patients, with the object of reducing admissions to Auckland and Porirua. lam still of opinion that we should purchase our water from Te Awamutu, the cost notwithstanding, for though the electric motor and pump are reported as giving more encouraging results from the springs, 1 repeal, that the springs in the district are often capricious, drying up unexpectedly, and we are taking too great a risk in depending on a group of springs for our entire supply. Considerable, developmental work has been done on the estate. Porirua. —Visited January, February, May, July, 1922, and in April and May this year. I regret that transfers made to reduce the numbers have been more than neutralized by increased admissions. I had hoped we would be able to get along without materially adding to the size of this institution, but I fear.it will be necessary to build two villas, one for each sex. As a matter of fact, these would coine within the policy of improving the facilities for classification, proposed in connection with larger institutions which it was deemed undesirable to enlarge. Apart from the above, the urgent need at Porirua is to remove the engineer's department to another side and turn the boiler-house, engineroom, &c, into an up-to-date kitchen, utilizing the present kitchen, chiefly, to enlarge the, diningrecrcation hall. This work was not pressed before owing to the financial stringency, and not because it could be easily deferred. I do not advocate any change during the, transition, but thereafter 1 think the domestic services should be place under a suitable graduate in domestic science. On my visits I found the food of the patients varied and wholesome, and the laundry working well, and therefore the above recommendation is not made because of complaints, but the Matron of a largo institution has sufficient anxiety in supervising the patients, and may well be spared domestic anxieties. The staff are working well, and the patients are receiving needful attention notwithstanding present difficulties, which I trust may prove temporary. The reception wards are bright, and continue to minister to the comfort of patients capable of residing therein. Nelson. —Visited in June and December, 1922, and in February this year. Great strides have been made since the last report. A number of patients have been received on transfer, a large proportion has been placed on parole and has not abused the privilege. To complete the open-door