necessities of an institution of this nature. The estimated cost of the new building is put at £20,000, of which only about £8,000 has yet been subscribed (£5,000 of it being from a single donor). In such a town as Birmingham, and indeed in such a district as surrounds us, an institution like the Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital is not only useful, but positively indispensable, and as there are no restrictions as to distance or place of abode in the matter of patients, the appeal made for the necessary building funds should meet with a quick and generous response, not only from a few large-hearted contributors, whose names are household words but also from the many thousands who have knowledge directly or indirectly of the vast benefit this hospital has conferred upon those stricken by disease or accident—to that which is the most precious of all our senses. It is intended that the hospital should be a model to the whole kingdom of what such an institution ought to be; the latest and best of modern appliances, both sanitary and surgical, will be introduced. There will be in and out departments, completely isolated one from the other, though with a door of communication. From sixty to seventy beds will be provided, special wards for a certain class of cases, adequate waiting-rooms for out-patients, and the necessary rooms for the officers and medical attendants, all being on an ample scale.
Fever Hospital.—There was a Fever Hospital opened in March, 1828, but we have no note when it was closed, and possibly it may have been only a temporary institution, such as become necessary now and then even in these days of sanitary science. For some years past fever patients requiring isolation have been treated in the Borough Hospital, but the Health Committee have lately purchased a plot of land in Lodge Road of about 4½ acres, at a cost of £4,500, and have recently thereon a wooden pavilion divided into male and female wards, with ail necessary bath rooms, nurses' rooms, &c., everything being done which can contribute to the comfort and care of the inmates, while the greatest attention has been paid to the ventilation and other necessary items tending to their recovery. This pavilion is only a portion of the scheme which the committee propose to carry out, it being intended to build four, if not five, other wards of brick. A temporary block of administrative buildings has been erected at some distance from the pavilion. There accommodation is provided for the matron, the resident medical superintendent, the nurses when off duty, and the ordinary kitchen, scullery, and other offices are attached. When the permanent offices have been erected this building will be devoted to special fever cases, or, should there be a demand, private cases will be taken in. The cost of the whole scheme is estimated at £20,000, including the sum given for the land. It is most devoutly to be wished that this hospital, which is entirely free, will be generally used by families in case of a member thereof be taken with any nature of infectious fever, the most certain remedy against an epidemic of the kind, as well as the most favourable chance for the patient being such an isolation as is here provided. The hospital was opened September 11, 1883, and in cases of scarlet fever and other disorders of an infections character, an immediate application should be made to the health officer at the Council House.
Homeopathic.—A dispensary for the distribution of homeopathic remedies was opened in this town in 1847, and though the new system met with the usual opposition, it has become fairly popular, and its practitioners have found friends sufficient to induce them to erect a very neat and convenient hospital, in Easy Row, at a cost of about £7,000, which was opened November 23rd, 1875, and may possibly soon be
