Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Eeview should "be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 87 Barbican , E . C . The Cottage Hospital . Its Origin , Progress , Management and Work . With an Alphabetical List of every Cottage Hospital at present opened , aud a Chapter on Hospitalism in Cottago Hospital Practice .
By Houry C . Burdett , Sanitary Commissioner to the Sauitary Record , Secretary to the Seimon ' s Hospital Sociaty ( lato Dreadnought ) , Greenwich , late General SuperintoudenD the Queeu ' s Hospital , Birmingham , aud Registrar to the Medical Board London : J . and A . Churchill , New Burlington-street . 1877 .
FEW men are better qualified than Mr . Burdett to write oa a subject of this character . He has had a lengthened experience as resident superintendent in a general hospital ia Loudon or the provinces . He has carefully studied this particular class of hospital , and has done his best to make himself as fully acquainted as possible with as many of the Cottage Hospitals now opoa as he could , and has likewise
visited and personally inspected many . His conclusions , therefore , as to the capabilities and requirements of a model Cottage Hospital , are certain to command the respectful consideration of hospital practitioners generally , as well as of all interested in the further development of this useful class of institutions in particular . Ancl in order to set before the public all the information it would ba likely to need ,
he has consulted thoso bjst qualified to contribute to the general stock of knowledge , the result being a treatise , which , if not complete in all essentials , —for the ditfijulty of gathering accurate information was great , and Mr . Burdett fears that some of these hospitals may have been omitted , —is , nevertheless , clear and precise in all its details , and trustworthy in all matters , both of theory and
practice , so far as it has been possible to lay clovvn the one or determine the other . We cannot , indeed , speak too highly of the general plan of the work , of the manner in which the subject has been treated , or of the matter which has been collected together for the purpose of illustrating it in detail . But oar readers , no doubt , will be better able to form an idea of Mr . Burdett ' s work , if we note ,
in brief , the main poincs of each chapter . Chapter I . treats of Cottage Hospitals generally , of their establishment , and the causes of their success or failure , the financial aspect of the question , expenditure , both per se and as compared with the expenditure in General Hospitals , and the different sources of income to which the authorities of a Cottage Hospital must look , in order
to meet the necessary outlay . Thus , we are told , there are only five counties in England in which there is not at least one of these institutions , the five being Cumberland , Hunts , Leicester , Monmouth , and Rutland , and Mr . Burdett attributes this absence , iu the case of the three smaller counties , to the indifference of the inhabitants to the benefits of General' Hospitals , so that it wonld bo unreasonable to
expect they should take a livelier interest in the humbler Cottage Hospital . In the case of Cumberland and Leicestershire ho attributes the want of Cottage Hospital accommodation to the over , whelming influence of the County Infirmary . Ou the other hand , this kind of hospital is spreading rapidly , and bids fair , in time , to bring the hospital accommodation np to the required standard , of one bed for
every 1000 inhabitants , in rural districts . As to the number of these institutions , it seems there are probably some 200 of them in the United Kingdom , but " our utmost endeavours have only brought to light something like 160 , " and this number is still further reduced by excluding those which have outgrown the limits originally contemplated in the scheme of Mr . Napper , —the author of the first work on the
subject , and the founder of the first hospital , —as well as those which , for various reasons , have been discontinued as failures . This latter class comprises only ten cases , the reasons being given where obtainable . Thus , in the case of East Radham , it was closed , not from any want of funds , but because the poor imagined the medical officer , whose services were gratuitous , derived some unknown benefit
from it . At Southam , there were not patients enough to warrant its continuance , ancl it is believed to have been since converted into a convalescent hospital . The cause of failure at East Grinstead is more lamentable , and deserves to be recorded in the words of the medical officer himself , who states his reasons for closing the hospital in 1874 to have been as follow : —
" In this district there are many very wealthy resident and landed proprietors , but scarcely any volunteered to help me . I got what money I required for furnishing it by writing direct appeals to individuals , and afterwards to meet the current expenditure , and I dare say I could have done so np to the present year , but , after a time , I became weary of making these appeals to people who
seemed to consider that , by contributing to the support of the Hospital , they were conferring a favour npon me . This was especially annoying , as I was not only giving my daily professional services , but was also the greatest pecuniary contributor . In addition to this , there were frequent attempts on the part of wealthy people to get their servants or dependents into the hospital , so as to avoid paying
for their support . At length , after having experienced for some years the meanness of the rich , ancl too often the ingratitude of the poor , I closed the hospital , aud by the sale of the furniture , raised a sufficient sum to pay off tho outstanding debts , without any further appeal to the charitable feelings of my wealthy neighbours . 1 allowed the furniture ancl fittings to remain in my cottage for a period of
two months , after I closed it for a hospital , ancl then , as no one offered to do anything to resuscitate it , I sent for an auctioneer . Some time after , a few persons , who had occasionally contributed to the hospital , met together and passed a vote of censure ou me—the founder ancl chief supporter of the hospital—for having closed it without their consent . " We fully endorse Mr . Bnrdett's hope that " in few places shall ^ re find wealthy people so mean , " but , unfortunately , the medioal
Reviews.
officer—a Dr . Rogers—laid himself open to censure . Contributors expect to have a voice in the management of the institution they help , no matter iu how small a degree , to support . It wa * an error of judgment ou his part to act as he did ; at the same time , while enduring the censure passed upon him with indifference , we would rather not have bean in the same bait with the maaa , though
wealthy proprietors , who allowed Dr . Rogers to bear the heat and oimlen of tho day . As to the progress of the Cottage Hospital movement , started in 1855 , by Mr . Napper , at Cranleigb , in Kent , only seventeen appear to have been opened in the dooeuaial pariocl to 18 tio . In 1836 , thirteen were opened , and tin interest " went on increasing until
1870 , when it reached icaulimix , aud twenty . two new hospitals were started . " The average auuual number open during the tea years 186 J-75 , both inclusive , is from thirtoau to fourteen , the actual number established being , Mr . Bardect believes , 135 . Tue number fluctuated from year to year , and whereas tweuty-two were started in 1870 , only five date from 1871 , aud six from 1875 , so that
Mr . Burdett thinks the publication of this work may serve to revive the interest in these hospitals , j usb as the publication of other works by different authors may probably account for the increase from two ia 1865 to thirteen tho year following , and the aotioa of Dr . Stvete in 1869 may have had something to do with the marvellous increase in 1870 . As to the expenditure , taking it on aa average of
100 hospitals , with aa average numoer of eight beds , aud ia thirty , four of which thj average number occupied was six , id auwuats to £ 310 10 s , which gives a cost per bdd of £ 12 10 s oa tha wuoia uumoer , or of * £ 57 per bed occupied . Comparing this with the average ost per bed ia the London Hospital ( £ 51 ia 1875 , or £ 59 per bed occupied ) , or at the Charing Cross , where id was £ >> 8 aud £ Jl
i-espaclively , or ad the Middlesex , where it was £ 59 aud £ 72 respectively , it is evident that , as regards economy , the Cottage Hwpital has much ia its favour . As to tha income , the average of these hospitals is £ 350 , or about £ 10 per annum ia excess of expenditure . Tue sources of income are five—annual subscriptions , donations , Hospital Sunday , patients' payments , and interest oa funded property , and the
proportion par cent , of each source of income , ia the order as given , is 48 , Id , 16 , 13 , aud 5 . This Mr . Burdett , speaking with his kaow . ledge of hospital management , considers aa excellent result . Chapter II . deals with the Medioal Dapartmeut , the staff , tha advaatages these hospitals offer to the medical profession , rules , mortality , statistical tables of diseases , dietaries , & c , & j . Chapter
III . goes very elaborately into dhe important question of construe tion aud sanitary arrangements , while ia Chapter IV . the nursing arrangements , domestic supervision , and geaeral management are referred to ia detail . Chapter V . should be read in coanojtion with ChapterILL , as id contains , ia miaata detail , particulars of certain Cottage Hospitals , with plans of buildiags , & a , & c , while Chapter
VI . is a kiad of companion to Chapter IV ., as iu id ace noted" Paculiarities and Spacial Features in the Working of Cottage Hospitals . " Tne last two chapters are devoted , the one to the interior fittings and appliances , aud the other to the advisability or otherwise of traad . ing midwifery cases in a Cottage Hospital . The Appeadix contains a paper specially written , on the subject of Hospitalism in connection
with those tlospitals , and aaindex completes the volume . We htve thus glaacad through the whole couieats . We have dwelt at length oa the opduiug cuapter , because it touched ou matters which all oar readers could understand . We have contented ourselves with a brief sketch of the rest of the volume , because only a few among as are competent to pass an opinion on the bulk of the questions dealt
with . Bat though we abstain from offering remarks on the mauagerial and medical portions of the work , what we have read convinces us of the utility of establishing such institutions , wherever there is a lack of hospital accommodation . Statistics of tho character which Mr . Burdett has collected speak for themselves , while his experience and the evident ability he has displayed ia his treatment and
arrangement of the work are a sufficient guarantee of its excellence . We may even go so far aa to say that , coasideriag it is a book which must chiefly interest medical practitioners and the managers of hospitals , it is even iutereatiag to the general reader in many parts . At all events Mr . Burdett has doae well what he undertook , and we thauk him for enabling us to glance at the results of his labours .
Fortitude Lodge of Instruction . —At a meeting held at tho Masonic Hail , Truro , on Thursday , the 28 th clay of Jaae 1877 , id was unanimously resolved that , in appreciatioa of his extraordinary services oa behalf of the great Masonic Charities ,
The W . Bro . JOHN CONSTABLE P . M . 185 , & c . be elected the first Honorary Member , as the Prince of Masonio Stewards . Signed WJI . JAS . HUGHAN P . S . G . D . Preceptor , WM . MIDDDETON P . Prov . S . G . D . Secretary , J . 0 . Furnesa Assist . Secretary .
New Concord Lodge . —The Summer Banquet will take place on Thursday , the 26 th inst ., at the Alexandra Palace , under the presidency of Bro . T . J . Cusworth W . M ., when ladies and non-masoua ivill bo present . In addition to tho attractions of the Palace , a oanquct will be provided by Bros . Bertram and Roberts . The staff of
stewards comprises Bros . lt . B . Harper S . W ., W . Stead J . W ., I . Euimens P . G . P . P . M ., John Bertram P . M ., J . \ T . Wilson P . M ., II . J . Gabb P . M ., T . Barton P . M ., J . R . Gallant I . P . M ., G . Sinclair jun ., S . George S . D ., W . Gabb jun . J . D ., J . Taylor I . G ., J . Thomas D . O ., F . Dunn S ., and W . H . Main P . M . Hon . Sec . Tho musical urangements will be under the direction of Bro . J . W . Walesby Org .
Birth.
BIRTH .
HAYDON . —On the 11 th June , at Buckingham House , Knaphill , Surrey , ths wife of Bro . William Haydon , of St . John ' s Lodge , N . IOM , of a son .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Eeview should "be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 87 Barbican , E . C . The Cottage Hospital . Its Origin , Progress , Management and Work . With an Alphabetical List of every Cottage Hospital at present opened , aud a Chapter on Hospitalism in Cottago Hospital Practice .
By Houry C . Burdett , Sanitary Commissioner to the Sauitary Record , Secretary to the Seimon ' s Hospital Sociaty ( lato Dreadnought ) , Greenwich , late General SuperintoudenD the Queeu ' s Hospital , Birmingham , aud Registrar to the Medical Board London : J . and A . Churchill , New Burlington-street . 1877 .
FEW men are better qualified than Mr . Burdett to write oa a subject of this character . He has had a lengthened experience as resident superintendent in a general hospital ia Loudon or the provinces . He has carefully studied this particular class of hospital , and has done his best to make himself as fully acquainted as possible with as many of the Cottage Hospitals now opoa as he could , and has likewise
visited and personally inspected many . His conclusions , therefore , as to the capabilities and requirements of a model Cottage Hospital , are certain to command the respectful consideration of hospital practitioners generally , as well as of all interested in the further development of this useful class of institutions in particular . Ancl in order to set before the public all the information it would ba likely to need ,
he has consulted thoso bjst qualified to contribute to the general stock of knowledge , the result being a treatise , which , if not complete in all essentials , —for the ditfijulty of gathering accurate information was great , and Mr . Burdett fears that some of these hospitals may have been omitted , —is , nevertheless , clear and precise in all its details , and trustworthy in all matters , both of theory and
practice , so far as it has been possible to lay clovvn the one or determine the other . We cannot , indeed , speak too highly of the general plan of the work , of the manner in which the subject has been treated , or of the matter which has been collected together for the purpose of illustrating it in detail . But oar readers , no doubt , will be better able to form an idea of Mr . Burdett ' s work , if we note ,
in brief , the main poincs of each chapter . Chapter I . treats of Cottage Hospitals generally , of their establishment , and the causes of their success or failure , the financial aspect of the question , expenditure , both per se and as compared with the expenditure in General Hospitals , and the different sources of income to which the authorities of a Cottage Hospital must look , in order
to meet the necessary outlay . Thus , we are told , there are only five counties in England in which there is not at least one of these institutions , the five being Cumberland , Hunts , Leicester , Monmouth , and Rutland , and Mr . Burdett attributes this absence , iu the case of the three smaller counties , to the indifference of the inhabitants to the benefits of General' Hospitals , so that it wonld bo unreasonable to
expect they should take a livelier interest in the humbler Cottage Hospital . In the case of Cumberland and Leicestershire ho attributes the want of Cottage Hospital accommodation to the over , whelming influence of the County Infirmary . Ou the other hand , this kind of hospital is spreading rapidly , and bids fair , in time , to bring the hospital accommodation np to the required standard , of one bed for
every 1000 inhabitants , in rural districts . As to the number of these institutions , it seems there are probably some 200 of them in the United Kingdom , but " our utmost endeavours have only brought to light something like 160 , " and this number is still further reduced by excluding those which have outgrown the limits originally contemplated in the scheme of Mr . Napper , —the author of the first work on the
subject , and the founder of the first hospital , —as well as those which , for various reasons , have been discontinued as failures . This latter class comprises only ten cases , the reasons being given where obtainable . Thus , in the case of East Radham , it was closed , not from any want of funds , but because the poor imagined the medical officer , whose services were gratuitous , derived some unknown benefit
from it . At Southam , there were not patients enough to warrant its continuance , ancl it is believed to have been since converted into a convalescent hospital . The cause of failure at East Grinstead is more lamentable , and deserves to be recorded in the words of the medical officer himself , who states his reasons for closing the hospital in 1874 to have been as follow : —
" In this district there are many very wealthy resident and landed proprietors , but scarcely any volunteered to help me . I got what money I required for furnishing it by writing direct appeals to individuals , and afterwards to meet the current expenditure , and I dare say I could have done so np to the present year , but , after a time , I became weary of making these appeals to people who
seemed to consider that , by contributing to the support of the Hospital , they were conferring a favour npon me . This was especially annoying , as I was not only giving my daily professional services , but was also the greatest pecuniary contributor . In addition to this , there were frequent attempts on the part of wealthy people to get their servants or dependents into the hospital , so as to avoid paying
for their support . At length , after having experienced for some years the meanness of the rich , ancl too often the ingratitude of the poor , I closed the hospital , aud by the sale of the furniture , raised a sufficient sum to pay off tho outstanding debts , without any further appeal to the charitable feelings of my wealthy neighbours . 1 allowed the furniture ancl fittings to remain in my cottage for a period of
two months , after I closed it for a hospital , ancl then , as no one offered to do anything to resuscitate it , I sent for an auctioneer . Some time after , a few persons , who had occasionally contributed to the hospital , met together and passed a vote of censure ou me—the founder ancl chief supporter of the hospital—for having closed it without their consent . " We fully endorse Mr . Bnrdett's hope that " in few places shall ^ re find wealthy people so mean , " but , unfortunately , the medioal
Reviews.
officer—a Dr . Rogers—laid himself open to censure . Contributors expect to have a voice in the management of the institution they help , no matter iu how small a degree , to support . It wa * an error of judgment ou his part to act as he did ; at the same time , while enduring the censure passed upon him with indifference , we would rather not have bean in the same bait with the maaa , though
wealthy proprietors , who allowed Dr . Rogers to bear the heat and oimlen of tho day . As to the progress of the Cottage Hospital movement , started in 1855 , by Mr . Napper , at Cranleigb , in Kent , only seventeen appear to have been opened in the dooeuaial pariocl to 18 tio . In 1836 , thirteen were opened , and tin interest " went on increasing until
1870 , when it reached icaulimix , aud twenty . two new hospitals were started . " The average auuual number open during the tea years 186 J-75 , both inclusive , is from thirtoau to fourteen , the actual number established being , Mr . Bardect believes , 135 . Tue number fluctuated from year to year , and whereas tweuty-two were started in 1870 , only five date from 1871 , aud six from 1875 , so that
Mr . Burdett thinks the publication of this work may serve to revive the interest in these hospitals , j usb as the publication of other works by different authors may probably account for the increase from two ia 1865 to thirteen tho year following , and the aotioa of Dr . Stvete in 1869 may have had something to do with the marvellous increase in 1870 . As to the expenditure , taking it on aa average of
100 hospitals , with aa average numoer of eight beds , aud ia thirty , four of which thj average number occupied was six , id auwuats to £ 310 10 s , which gives a cost per bdd of £ 12 10 s oa tha wuoia uumoer , or of * £ 57 per bed occupied . Comparing this with the average ost per bed ia the London Hospital ( £ 51 ia 1875 , or £ 59 per bed occupied ) , or at the Charing Cross , where id was £ >> 8 aud £ Jl
i-espaclively , or ad the Middlesex , where it was £ 59 aud £ 72 respectively , it is evident that , as regards economy , the Cottage Hwpital has much ia its favour . As to tha income , the average of these hospitals is £ 350 , or about £ 10 per annum ia excess of expenditure . Tue sources of income are five—annual subscriptions , donations , Hospital Sunday , patients' payments , and interest oa funded property , and the
proportion par cent , of each source of income , ia the order as given , is 48 , Id , 16 , 13 , aud 5 . This Mr . Burdett , speaking with his kaow . ledge of hospital management , considers aa excellent result . Chapter II . deals with the Medioal Dapartmeut , the staff , tha advaatages these hospitals offer to the medical profession , rules , mortality , statistical tables of diseases , dietaries , & c , & j . Chapter
III . goes very elaborately into dhe important question of construe tion aud sanitary arrangements , while ia Chapter IV . the nursing arrangements , domestic supervision , and geaeral management are referred to ia detail . Chapter V . should be read in coanojtion with ChapterILL , as id contains , ia miaata detail , particulars of certain Cottage Hospitals , with plans of buildiags , & a , & c , while Chapter
VI . is a kiad of companion to Chapter IV ., as iu id ace noted" Paculiarities and Spacial Features in the Working of Cottage Hospitals . " Tne last two chapters are devoted , the one to the interior fittings and appliances , aud the other to the advisability or otherwise of traad . ing midwifery cases in a Cottage Hospital . The Appeadix contains a paper specially written , on the subject of Hospitalism in connection
with those tlospitals , and aaindex completes the volume . We htve thus glaacad through the whole couieats . We have dwelt at length oa the opduiug cuapter , because it touched ou matters which all oar readers could understand . We have contented ourselves with a brief sketch of the rest of the volume , because only a few among as are competent to pass an opinion on the bulk of the questions dealt
with . Bat though we abstain from offering remarks on the mauagerial and medical portions of the work , what we have read convinces us of the utility of establishing such institutions , wherever there is a lack of hospital accommodation . Statistics of tho character which Mr . Burdett has collected speak for themselves , while his experience and the evident ability he has displayed ia his treatment and
arrangement of the work are a sufficient guarantee of its excellence . We may even go so far aa to say that , coasideriag it is a book which must chiefly interest medical practitioners and the managers of hospitals , it is even iutereatiag to the general reader in many parts . At all events Mr . Burdett has doae well what he undertook , and we thauk him for enabling us to glance at the results of his labours .
Fortitude Lodge of Instruction . —At a meeting held at tho Masonic Hail , Truro , on Thursday , the 28 th clay of Jaae 1877 , id was unanimously resolved that , in appreciatioa of his extraordinary services oa behalf of the great Masonic Charities ,
The W . Bro . JOHN CONSTABLE P . M . 185 , & c . be elected the first Honorary Member , as the Prince of Masonio Stewards . Signed WJI . JAS . HUGHAN P . S . G . D . Preceptor , WM . MIDDDETON P . Prov . S . G . D . Secretary , J . 0 . Furnesa Assist . Secretary .
New Concord Lodge . —The Summer Banquet will take place on Thursday , the 26 th inst ., at the Alexandra Palace , under the presidency of Bro . T . J . Cusworth W . M ., when ladies and non-masoua ivill bo present . In addition to tho attractions of the Palace , a oanquct will be provided by Bros . Bertram and Roberts . The staff of
stewards comprises Bros . lt . B . Harper S . W ., W . Stead J . W ., I . Euimens P . G . P . P . M ., John Bertram P . M ., J . \ T . Wilson P . M ., II . J . Gabb P . M ., T . Barton P . M ., J . R . Gallant I . P . M ., G . Sinclair jun ., S . George S . D ., W . Gabb jun . J . D ., J . Taylor I . G ., J . Thomas D . O ., F . Dunn S ., and W . H . Main P . M . Hon . Sec . Tho musical urangements will be under the direction of Bro . J . W . Walesby Org .
Birth.
BIRTH .
HAYDON . —On the 11 th June , at Buckingham House , Knaphill , Surrey , ths wife of Bro . William Haydon , of St . John ' s Lodge , N . IOM , of a son .