HISTORY
OF THE
ALBANY      CITY   HOSPITAL,
AND
EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES
DELIVERED IN ITS BEHALF,
BY JAMES H. ARMSBY, M.D.,
IN
1851-1852.


2lbang:
JOEL MUNSELL.
1868.










THE ALBANY HOSPITAL.
The Albany Hospital was incorporated April 11th, 1849,
and was formally opened for the reception of patients
November 1st, 1851. A temporary building was at first
occupied, on the corner of Lydius and Dove streets, while
the present edifice was remodeled and prepared for use.
The first officers of the Board of Management, elected
July 14th, 1851, were,
JOBN C. SPENCER, President.
EZRA P. PRENTICE, Vice-President.
JOEL RATHBONE, Treasurer.
FRANKLIN TOWNSEND, Secretary.
The late ROBERT TOWNSEND was elected Secretary, August
2d, 1853, and held the office until 1860.
STEPHEN GROESBEECK, the present Secretary, was elected
November 21st, 1862.
At the inauguration of the Institution, the late Hon. JOHN
C. SPENCER, its first President, who had labored with unremitting zeal in its behalf, commenced the exercises with
the following remarks:
I congratulate you, fellow citizens, that, at last, a Hospital for the relief of the poor and the suffering is opened
in our ancient city.
The increase of our population, the extension of business,
and the collection of travelers by land and by water, at
this great central point, renders such an institution not
only an act of ordinary humanity, but of absolute necessity.
Our railroads West, North, East and South, the cainals
terminating here, the river navigation by vessels and steam
boats, bringing each day multitudes exposed to all the
casualties of travel- in addition to those incident to the





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extensive business of an active resident population of 50,000
who are building houses, working factories, excavating
earth, and carrying on all the branches of mechanical art,
must inevitably produce a vast amount of bodily injury
and disease.
To the relief of these our alms-house is not adapted. Its
proper office is to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.
Necessity has compelled some efforts to provide for it surgical and medical assistance. But from the very nature of the
case, such assistance is and must be entirely inadequate.
Under these circumstances, Christian charity has touched
the hearts of our citizens, and, with a liberality that honors
them, they have opened their purses, and by individual
contributions have commenced this Hospital, which we
have. now met to inaugurate.
The wounded or sick stranger or citizen, destitute of
everything but his claim on our common humanity, shall
here be received without money and without price; shall
here find a home; the most skillful surgical and medical
care which science and sympathy can bestow; tender and
watchful nurses, the most pure medicines, comfortable beds,
warm and airy rooms, and a vigilant superintendence that
will guard their slumbers, cheer their convalescence and
restore them to their families in health and peace; or
afford them all the opportunies for religious consolation
according to their own modes of worship, which adverse
circumstafrces may require.
This, generous contributors to this blessed charity, is
your work i When, in the silent watches of the night, you
are yourselves the victims of disease or injury, your pangs
and sufferings will be mitigated by the reflection that you
have furnished the means of relieving, for generations to
come, so long as laws shall protect your property, the pangs
and sufferings of countless thousands. And for ages after
you shall have been gathered to your fathers, this stream of
your benevolence will continue to flow on, dispensing health
to the sick, relief to the agonies of the wounded, comfort
and peace to the dying, and to the poor, the greatest of all
earthly consolations, that in the hour of their extremity
they will not be abandoned to despair. In that last struggle of the soul to quit its tenement, when the glitter of
wealth, the toys of ambition, the bubbles of pleasure, shall
excite only disgust, the memory of your agency in the promotion of these purposes will bring peace and consolation
to your departing spirits, and smooth their passage to that





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region where you are assured, by the Inspired Volume, an
omnipotent voice will be heard, declaring, "Well done,
good and faithful servants;- inasmuch as ye have done
this to the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me!"
To the Surgeons and Physicians selected to attend this
hbspital, we are. deeply indebted for the generosity with
which they have accepted appointments involving such
arduous duties, without other fee or reward than that of an
approving conscience. To the well known eminent skill
which distinguishes them, they have added another claim
to the respect and confidence of this whole community, and
have exhibited that genuine practical philanthropy which
characterizes their profession.
Still,we must recollect that this is but a commencementa mere beginning, quite inadequate to what the increasing
population, travel and business of this great central point
even now requires.
When experience shall have made our citizens and the
legislature who assemble here, better acquainted with the
full value of this charity, it is to be hoped that private
and public benevolence will multiply its means so that it
may accomplish its objects, and render it worthy of the
political metropolis of this great state.
And may we not hope for God's blessing on this
effort " to do unto others as we would that they should do
unto us."
The attending Surgeons and Physicians are required to
visit the Hospital daily, and oftener when necessary. This
service is performed gratuitously.
SThere are two medical assistants, who reside in the Hospital, and have immediate charge of the patients, under
the direction of the attending medical officers.
The Hospital building occupies a commanding position
near the Capitol, and embraces an extended and beautiful
view of the river scenery and surrounding country. Its
situation is open, airy and healthful.
In all cities located on navigable rivers, and at points
where railroads centre or terminate, sudden and severe
accidents are liable to occur, and at such points well regulated hospitals are most needed. All persons suddenly





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stricken down by accident or disease, who are friendless
and without means, of necessity become a public charge.
This Hospital provides an asylum for patients of this class,
where they can be properly provided for and relieved.
The first legacy to the Institution (of $500), was made by
the late Miss Margaret Ten Eyck, through her brother,
Jacob H. Ten Eyck, and received on the 2d day of May,
1854. The following resolution was unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the Governors of the Hospital gratefully
acknowledge the genuine benevolence of the late Margaret
Ten Eyck, in thus contributing to the relief of the destitute
sick; that this communication be placed in the archives of
the Hospital, as a perpetual memorial of so much goodness
and generosity.
The Hospital has received another legacy from the late
James Schuyler of $2,000, and another from the late Joel
Rathbone of $1,000. These legacies have been added to the
invested funds of the Institution, which now amount to
about $30,000. The annual expenses of the Institution are
between seven and eight thousand dollars.
Among the various Christian charities of our city, no provision has yet been made for the numerous and deserving
poor, who are suffering from incurable diseases.
The Governors and Medical Staff of the Hospital
earnestly desire to enlarge, or connect with the Institution,
sufficient accommodations for this numerous and worthy
class of the community.
To draw a picture of every day experience: A pale
young seamstress has prolonged her daily toil far beyond
the closing hour of the workwoman's day; the gay robe in
which the wealthy patron is soon to appear, at the coming
festival, is not quite finished, but the slight form, with
cough and hectic flush, toils on until her work is done.
The child of fortune enters her costly carriage, and the
poor seamstress wends her lonely way on foot in the cold
dark night, slightly clad, weary, heavy-hearted with concealed care and suffering, to her cold lodgings. The seeds





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of consumption, already sown, are kindled into activity.
She is a subject for the Hospital, where, if incurable, the
wasting remnant of her days may be soothed by care, comfort and sympathy.   No refuge has been provided for such
homeless, helpless sufferers.   Similiar pictures in every
day life might be drawn of the clerk, the mechanic and the
laborer.  We rejoice that a generous chord in a noble heart,
long filled with kindness, has been retouched and moved to provide for this great want.   It is a holy thought, a heavenly
purpose, and its realization will do honor to an hbnored
name, and to our ancient city.  If this munificent design
could be carried out in connection with our Hospital,
it could be more speedily, economically and efficiently
accomplished than alone. Individual, municipal and state
aid could be more effectually and more hopefully invoked.
If we have not the wealth of New York, Philadelphia,
Boston or Providence, with which to endow our public
charities, we have great and generous hearts who will not
suffer this noble offering of a philanthropic mind to remain
unsupported, and so beneficent an enterprise to fail in
realization.
"Thieves may break in and steal away our gold,
The cruel flames may lay our mansions low,
A faithless debtor may our dues withhold,
Our lands may not return the seed we sow,
A spendthrift steward on our gains may thrive,
Our ships may founder with our precious store,
But wealth bestowed is safe, for what you give,
And that, and that alone, is safe forevermore."





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HOSPITALS,
Their Origin and History; Extracts from Addresses delivered
by Dr. J. H. Armsby in behalf of the Albany City Hospital;
1851 and 1852.
Another year has been added to our experience, and with
its accompanying benefits and burdens has passed away.
Of the events of the past year, in which our profession
have a peculiar interest, I know of none of greater importance, or likely to promote more beneficent results, then the
establishment of our City Hospital. This long desired institution is at length secured, and the ardent wish of many a
heart realized. It is a subject of great congratulation, that
so noble a charity has been reared in the midst of us, and a
feature in the character of our citizens upon which we
can dwell with the purest pleasure; for what can be more
noble than the devotion, by the rich and powerful of theit
means and their efforts, to relieve the wants and soften the
misfortunes of the destitute and suffering.  *  *
The hospital is the gift of Christianity. The ancient
world seems never to have risen to the conception that it
was possible by a union of means and an organization of
medical and surgical skill, to extend relief to those who
were too poor or forsaken to take care of themselves.
Even in the first centuries of ancient Rome, the lateston
the list of the earlier civilizations, there were no houses in
which sick persons were admitted to be taken care of and
cured. They had a practice of carrying diseased people
to the temples of Esculapius, but for a different purpose
than that of receiving medical treatment. No preparations were made for their accommodation, and they
relied for a cure upon the God of Medicine, on faith alone,
in obedience to a blind superstition.





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Those numerous benevolent institutions, for the accommodation of travelers, the indigent and the sick, which have
done so much honor to modern: times, were first introduced by Christianity. The Emperor Julian, called' the
Apostate, observing the numerous means for alleviating
the misfortunes and miseries which were introduced by
the new religion, caused his Pagan priests to provide for
the poor, and to establish for them inns, into which they
could be received, and he also assigned to them funds
necessary for their support. In imitation of the Christian
principle of extending relief to the wretched, whatever
their creed, color or country, he caused to be admitted not
only persons of his own religion, but those of every other
religious sect.
Provision and care for the sick and destitute poor,
belongs properly to governments. But in earlier ages
this principle was not recognized, nor is it received with
more than partial favor, at the present time in the most
enlightened Christian nations.
Houses and homes for the sick were first established
by the clergy.
One of the earliest hospitals, for the reception of indil
gent sick, was built at Rome by Fabiola, a noble Roman
lady, a friend of St. Jerome. This munificentcharity wasa
founded in the fourth century, and through all time its
memory will dwell in the minds of men, with the many
other acts of unselfish charity, sympathy and love which
history records of woman.
During some of the earlier centuries, religious rites!
made certain holy places centres of attraction to pilgrims
from distant countries. There were then no inns or
public houses, in which attention could be bestowed
upon those who were in need of them. *The clergy encouraged these pilgrimages, and afforded every possible aid
for poor pilgrims, and all the assistance they could render
to the sick and suffering.
The place most important to visit was Jerusalem, and





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institutions for the reception of travelers and sick pilgrims
were erected by the clergy at an early period, on the road
thither. St. Jerome built a hospital at Bethlehem, and
his friend Paula caused several to be erected on the road
to that village, as she expressed it, that "the devout idlers
might fare better than the mother of Christ," who on her
journey thither, "could find no inn," and later Irish built
hospitals for the use of their countrymen on their pilgrimages to Rome.
But hospitals were not only necessary in settled countries, but were required in desert regions where human
habitations were not found; and in wooded, mountain
ous districts, on the banks of broad rivers, where travelers
were stopped for the want of bridges, and collected together in great numbers.
Pope Adrian I commended to the notice of Charlemagne, hospitals built in the Alps, and in 855, Louis II
of France, caused those situated on mountains to be repaired. Many of these edifices still exist.
The eleventhi century gave birth to the brotherhoods
founded in the Holy Land, to provide for the wants of sick
pilgrims. These increased to number and wealth with
the crusades. The opulent, when dying, often bequeathed
to them their property, and those who had found in them
consolation and relief, gave them money and effects.. The
hospitals in Palestine were constructed on a larger scale,
provided with better accommodations, and were regarded
as models. Princes and rich persons, on returning safe
from their pilgrimages, caused similar ones to be established
in their own countries forming brotherhoods of Charity.
Some members of these brotherhoods visited Europe,
and in the course of time orders of knighthood were established who employed themselves in the erection of
hospitals. These hospitals gave great aid to mercantile
people, who, in the infancy of trade, when roads were
insecure and no public means of conveyance established,
were obliged to accompany their merchandise themselves.





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The first hospitals for the sick were generally connected
with cathedrals and monasteries, and were under the
immediate inspection of the bishops or priests. From
this, arose the right subsequently exercised by bishops, of
visiting institutions for the sick erected by laymen. They
did not retain this right in perpetuity, being subsequently
deprived of it by princes and sovereigns. But they continued to be ecclesiastical establishments, and hence their
exemption from taxes, from warlike visitations, and their
enjoyment of privileges similar to church es.
We know little of the internal economy of the earliest
houses for the sick. There were no apothecaries, and it
is not known in what manner these institutions were
supplied with medicines, or even whether physicians or
surgeons were attached to them.
In the hospitals at Jerusalem, knights apd nobles
attended the sick, bound up their wounds, and acted as
their physicians. It appears from the books of knighterrantry written in the middle ages, that the knights were
in the habit of dressing each other's wounds, but they could
not have had much skill in surgery or medicine. The
extent of their acquirements may be inferred from Guy de
Chauliac, who wrote on the healing of wounds in the year
1363. He mentions several medical sects, and among
these names the German knights as the fourth sect; who,
he says, cured wounds by exorcism, beverages, oil, wool,
etc., and believed that God conferred supernatural power
upon plants and stones, in curing disease.
The first mention which we find of physicians and
surgeons in houses for the sick in the order of Templars,
is in 1451, under the government of John de Lastic, who,
on assuming the office of grand master, defined with great
precision the duty of physicians and surgeons. It is
probable that hospitals had physicians and surgeons at an
earlier period, and the attempt to define their duties imply
that such offices had previously existed.
In the East, hospitals and asylums for the insane are





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first found. As early as the year 491 there was an establishment at Jerusalem, the chief object of which was to
take care of such monks as became insane in the monasteries; or such hermits as were visited by the same affliction
in the deserts. And in after ages, when philosophy and
the refinements of life were equally sought on the sands
of Arabia, the hospitals received the attention of the rich
and powerful; nor were such institutions less attractive
among the splendors of the great city of Bagdad in the
days of its magnificence.
Under the sovereignty of the caliphs, this city was the
seat of a very refined civilization. In the twelfth century
there were many hospitals there, and belonging to them
were nearly sixty dispensaries, which distributed at public
expense the necessary medicines. A large building called
the "House of Grace," received those who lost their reason. They were kept there in chains till they were cured
or died, and every month this house was visited by the
magistrates, who examined the state of the patients, and
suffered those who had recovered their reason to return
to their friends.
The first idea of rendering hospitals instructive to young
physicians had its origin in the East. In Persia at a very
early period, some Nestorian priests had a hospital near
their monasteries with an institute for students, who, under
prescribed rules, were allowed to visit the sick. The town
of Gaudisapora had a medical school so early as the
seventh century. Students were obliged to pass an examination in medicine and to read the psalms of David and
the New Testament. Many of those who. studied medicine there afterwards attained to high ecclesiastical dignity.
The first large establishment for invalids described in
history was at Constantinople in the time of the Emperor
Alexius Comnenus, near the end of the eleventh century.
He caused several large buildings around a church, to be
fitted up as a hospital. Other historians say that he only
enlarged to an uncommon degree an old institution. Sick





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and indigent persons of both sexes, and of every age, and
soldiers dismissed from service, were admitted and provided with bed, board and clothing. The Emperor secured
to this institution several sources of revenue.
The occasion which led to the erection of hospitals in
Europe, was the introduction by returning crusaders of
the diseases prevalent in the East. The disease which
proved the most formidable and destructive to life, was
leprosy, which rendered the erection of hospitals for this
disease, a'matter of necessity, as well as charity. Houses
for their reception were termed in France, Leproseries and
Maladeries, and were very numerous, amounting in that
kingdom alone, at the close of the reign of Louis VIII,
to two thousand, and in the different countries of Europe.
at the close of the thirteenth century, to nineteen thousand,
These gradually became unnecessary, as the disease
which had occasioned their foundation by degrees disappeared.
Hospital establishments in Europe were at first entrusted
solely to the priesthood. This led to great abuse, the
administrators turning to their own profit what was originally designed for the relief of the sick, so that hospitals
became, in fact, little else than benefices for the private
individuals who had the direction of them. These abuses
in their administration finally became so great as to attract
the attention of the church; and the councils of Vienna,
and subsequently of Trent, forbade the giving away any
charitable institution under the name of a benefice, and
ordered that the management of hospitals should be
entrusted to laymen, of good character, who, under the
sanction of an oath, should act as guardians, and make up
regular accounts of the manner in which the funds were
administered.
The ordinance of Blois, in France, assuming as its basis
the decision of the council of Trent, enjoined that the
administrators of hospitals should be neither ecclesiastics,
nobles, nor officers, but simple citizens, possessing business





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habits, and whose nomination was confirmed by the founders of the hospitals.
In France the hospital establishments can be traced
back to a very early period in history, yet few of them
were able to survive the disorders of the country. Two
only of the earliest hospitals exist at the present day.
These are the Hotel Dieu of Lyons, founded by Childebert
and the Hotel Dieu of Paris, founded under Clovis II. To
these two great establishments belongs an historical
interest, which adds to their present celebrity as the great
fountain-heads of charity in the two first cities of the
kingdom.
The French monarchs enjoyed from the earliest time a
right of sending to abbeys and monasteries such officers
and soldiers as were unfit for further service, and more
especially such as had been wounded. This practice can
be traced back to the time of Charlemagne, but the
complaints against it became so great under Henry IV,
that he resolved to have all invalids lodged and maintained
in one place. But the revenues were found insufficient
to maintain them, and they were again distributed. The
abbeys and monasteries finally purchased exemption from
this burden by giving an annual pension to their guests.
But the result of this was, that they soon spent all their
money, and then fell into a state of extreme poverty. Louis
XIII attempted to found an hospital for invalids, but failed
to complete it for want of funds.
In the year 1670, Louis XIV commenced the erection
of the Hotel des Invalides, in a style of princely magnificence. It is still one of the noblest structures in Paris,
and a monument 6f the profusion and pride of that
monarch.
The establishments of charity in Paris, and the details
connected with their administration, are placed under the
charge of a general council and- of an administrative commission, the whole being subject to the superior jurisdiction of the Minister of the Interior, This council is





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charged with the whole general management of the
hospitals, hospices and public institutions of charity of the
capital, and with the general expenditure and state of the
revenues. They regulate every branch of the administration, calculate the regular expenses of each, and under the
authority of the Minister of the Interior, determine the
number of inmates to be admitted, also the number and
salaries of persons employed in them, and in the various
offices connected with their administration. They also
extend their superintendence to all private committees and
associations of charity, the state of which they report to
the Minister of the Interior.
The civil hospitals of Paris are divided into three classes,
1st. General hospitals, which are open to complaints
for which a special hospital is not provided. The Hotel
Dieu is the principal of these.
2d. Special hospitals, which are destined to the sole
treatment of particular classes of disorders, such, for
example, as the cutaneous, mental, &c.
3d. Hospices or alms-houses.
The whole number of those under the care and direction
of the council general of hospitals are thirty-six, and each
hospital and most of the hospices are provided with a
director, appointed by the administration, who superintends the general arrangement and internal police of the
institution; and with surgeons and physicians proportionate to the number of beds contained in the hospital.
They are required to pay a daily morning visit to their
patients, and regulate minutely their treatment, after
which they prescribe in rotation for such out-door patients
as present themselves at the hospital for advice. They
are also provided with apothecaries, with internes or
resident physicians, or externes or dressers, wtth students
of Pharmacy, with sisters of charity, with a priest and a
steward.
The revenues which support the hospital establishment
of France are derived from various sources. One is pro




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perty, consisting in houses, lands, manufactories, forests,
vineyards and other possessions, and the rents and income
derived from them; another, donations and legacies, which
now form a permanent and highly productive fund. The
aggregate of these made to the hospitals and the poor of
France, during a period of ten years, amounted to more
than one million one hundred thousand pounds sterling
(~1,100,000). Another source consists of money paid by
persons admitted into the hospitals and hospices; another
is the tax which is levied upon the theatres and places of
public amusement. This is ten per cent. on all money
received at the theatres; it amounts to one-fourth of the
net receipts of all balls, public gardens, and amusements
of every kind; this, in 1822, amounted to nearly twentysix thousand pounds. Another source of revenue is the
excise; this is a very productive one. In Paris alone, they
receive an annual sum of more than ~200,000.
The advances made in all the practical departments of
medicine and surgery, have placed the physicians and surgeons of Paris at the head of their profession, perhaps in
the world. This may be, in no small degree, owing to
the immensely diversified forms of disease and varieties
of medical and surgical practice, which is offered them in
the numerous hospitals and hospices. Some of the best
physicians and surgeons in the world have been the attendants upon the hospitals of Paris. Such as Dupuytren,
Roux, Velpau, Louis, Rostan, Chomel, Andral, and many
others of equal celebrity, have been found performing
their duties as physicians and surgeons in these hospitals.
It is reasonable to suppose that the superior knowledge,
skill and dexterity attained by these men have, in no
small degree, resulted from the facilities afforded them to
perfect themselves by practice.
From the statistics of the year 1844, the total number
of patients admitted into the general hospitals of Paris,
was 80,006.
In Paris there are a great number of hospitals, in





Vienna but one general hospital (1844.) The principle
of centralization is powerfully displayed in everything
Austrian. In the early part of the eighteenth century
there existed several minor hospitals in Vienna, but toward
the close the Emperor Joseph the Second, son of Maria
Theresa, suppressed all except those of the sisters and
brothers of charity, and applied the revenues to the erection of one immense establishment, centering in that one
the forces of them all.
This is the largest hospital on the continent of Europe,
and probably in the world. The building is a vast quadrangle, three stories high, inclosing in its area one large
and ten minor courts, the interiors of which are tastefully
laid out, intersected by graveled walks, bordered by rows
of trees, and ornamented with shrubs and flowers. It
contains 104 wards, independent of those contained in the
lying-in and lunatic asylums; is furnished with 2,214 beds,
1,247 for males, and 967. for females. It receives from
18,000 to 20,000 patients annually. Within it is contained
the residences of the priests, directors, professors, physicians and other medical attendants; the chapels, the pharmacy, the compounding apartment, pathological museums,
library, lecture rooms, operating theatre, dead houses, dissecting rooms, baths and laundry. All the persons contained within its walls amount to over 3,500, while it treats
upwards of 30,500 patients annually.
The wards of the ground floor are occupied by patients
requiring surgical treatment; and those of the upper by
persons laboring under acute diseases. The whole is
disposed under six medical, four surgical, and four clinical
divisions. The whole medical staff consists of seventy-six
persons, who, with the exception of the professors of
medicine and surgery, reside within the hospital,
The hospital is divided into three great departments,
the medical and surgical, the lying-in and the lunatic
asylum. There is no institution of the kind in the world
that furnishes medical relief upon a scale so immense, or
2





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affords greater opportunities of studying disease, or
confines within such clear and defined limits the several
branches into which medical science may be divided.
Independent of the different clerks and general servants
not in immediate attendance upon the sick, there are 389 medical attendants, making one attendant for every eight beds.
The medical officers visit the wards twice a day, from
seven to nine in the morning, and at four in the afternoon;
the morning being the chief visit, and that at which the
medicine is prescribed and the diet regulated.
The whole hospital is under the government of a
director and vice-director, appointed by the medical department of the State, and they appoint the officers under them.
If the patient has the ability, he must pay the charges
for his reception, and the medicines, care and attendance
bestowed upon him.
If he is unable, and if his friends are in circumstances
to afford it, then they are required to pay for his care and
treatment.
If it satisfactorily appears that neither himself nor his
friends are able to pay, then his expenses are to be paid
by his parish, or the district to which he belongs.
Masters are compelled to pay the expenses of their servants at the hospital.
The different guilds and corporations pay a yearly sum
to the hospital for the members of their bodies.
Patients sent from the country, who are affected with
unusual diseases, are paid for by the district to which they
happen at the time to belong.
There are three different classes, having three different
grades of accommodation, the amounts required to be
paid respectively varying according to the goodness of
these accommodations. Manufacturers are required to
pay for those in their employment in the third class.
Should a foreigner be compelled to seek relief in this
hospital, his ambassador would be served with a bill of
his expenses, which his country is expected to pay.





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The rich and noble are neither taxed nor permitted to
support, by voluntary contributions, the hospitals and
asylums of their country. It is, perhaps, taxing their
means sufficiently to support an expensive government
and an immense standing army to overawe the people.
Connected with this hospital is the lying-in department, in which the arrangements for secrecy are such that
a female may enter, and depart from the hospital, without her name being known, or even her face seen by the
physician or any of the attendants. They may appear
masked, veiled, or otherwise disguised. They may enter
at any time and remain as long as is necessary, and carry
their infants away with them, or send them to the foundling hospitals, through the medical attendants.
There are two kinds of patients received into this hospital - the paying and the non-paying.
Married women are admitted only on certificate of their
poverty, and then their relatives are compelled to pay for
them, or, if they have none, their expenses are to be
defrayed by their district, parish or village.
The unmarried are admitted, if poor, free of all charge.
Immediately connected with the general hospital of
ViennV is the Foundling Hospital, which not only affords
protection to children who are deprived of the care of
parents, but also removes as much as possible the moral
and social disabilities under which illegitimate children
and their parents labor.
In England the hospital followed the Reformation. A
new impetus was given to this and kindred charities,
which contributed largely to their after-growth and
increase. The dissolution of the monasteries, and the
abolition of the monastic orders, laid a foundation highly
favorable for these institutions. The first effect was to
deprive the poor of the only public charities which they
could solicit without shame; but in the spirit of Montesquieu's critique upon the acts of Henry, the very fact





20


that vigorous men might receive alms from these institutions without losing caste, condemns them as eleemosynary institutions. Public relief, when bestowed upon the
well and strong indiscriminately with the sick, degrades
the national character. In this spirit the violence of the
king promoted the good of his people, and more especially as from the large sums of money received by him on
the suppression of the monasteries, he was induced to
convert some of them into hospitals, with permanent
revenues. These revenues were not large. The sympathies of that age were more strongly with war, profuse
expense and splendid state, than with benevolence and
charities. A beginning was thus made. St. Bartholomew's
hospital was property once belonging to the priory of St.
Bartholomew, and to which, on the dissolution of the
monasteries, Henry VIII left nearly 500 marks a year on
condition that the city should add 500 more for the relief
of sick and poor people. The great Bethlehem hospital,
more commonly known as Bedlam, was originally a priory,
and was given to the city of London in 1547 by Henry
VIII, and employed for the accommodation of lunatics.
Christ's hospital was a monastery of Grey Friars. It was
dissolved by Henry VIII, and granted by him to the city of
London in 1547, which grant was confirmed by charter of Edward VI, who converted it into a hospital for poor children.
It is a beautiful law to which our nature is subject, that,
in works of benevolence and charity, men never retrograde,
unless in consequence of some fearful overthrow, or great
revolution in human affairs. Wherever these noble virtues
are planted in the breasts of men, they so commend themselves to our moral nature that even where the promptings
of that nature are weak compared with the resistless might
of the propensities and passions, still the good influence
increases, and the heart becomes more susceptible to
emotions of kindness and sympathy with the suffering.
These reflections are sustained by the history of English
charities for the relief of the poor and sick.





21


English hospitals have been divided into two great
classes, general and special.
They are not, as in Paris, under the administration of
the State, but each is managed by a Board of Governors,
constituted of persons giving donations or a yearly subscription to a certain amount. This board appoints the
physicians and surgeons, who render gratuitous service;
and the members of it recommend the patients. To each
of these hospitals is attached a school of medicine and
surgery, with museums, libraries, &c., where the medical
officers of the institution lecture to such pupils as the
reputation of the school may attract, the fees paid by
whom are the only compensation received.
The special hospitals are about thirty in number, having
altogether nearly 3,000 beds.
In addition to these two classes of hospitals, there are
in London about thirty or forty dispensaries for the relief
of in and out-door patients. Some of these are provident
societies in which an annual subscription is necessary of
secure aid and attendance during sickness.
These various institutions amount to over one hundred,
of which all but thirty.three have been founded since the
year 1800. Their united income is two million dollars, of
which about one fourth, is from voluntary contributions.
The number of out and in-door patients, annually treated,
nearly six hundred thousand.
The London hospitals compared with those on the
Continent are inferior in extent of accommodation and are
conducted on a less liberal plan. Nor are they equal in
reputation as schools of medicine. Internal arrangements
to promote the comfort of the patient, and in the care,
good nursing and attention  bestowed, they have no
superiors. In those provided by the nation, as asylums
for the poor and disabled members of the army and navy,
the most liberal provision is made. In the Greenwich
Hospital each inmate is allowed per week 7 one pound
loaves of bread, 3 pounds of beef, 2 of mutton, a pint of





22


peas, one and a quarter pounds of cheese, 2 ounces ofbutter.
14 pints of beer and one shilling for tobacco money. An
extensive library, a nautical museum, and fine collection of
portraits of distinguished naval commanders, marine views
and battle pieces, are also open to the pensioners. This
collection consists of 141 paintings, and is contained in one
of the most splendid apartments in England. This room,
called "the Great Hall," was designed by Sir Christopher
Wren, and is a noble work of art, the fresco painting on
the walls alone costing nearly ~7,000.
In this country most of the large cities have made
provision for hospitals; not on the magnificent scale
adopted in England for such undertakings, but still respectable. Our revenues will not justify extravagant
outlays forbuildings and architectural ornaments. Neither
would public opinion sanction such a course. No one of
our hospital buildings has cost as much as the chapel,
alone, in Greenwich Hospital; the expenditure on which,
with the internal decorations, amounted to ~84,000.
The revenues of our hospitals are of course limited, as
they are chiefly derived from  individual benefaction.
This is the legitimate source from which such institutions
should derive their means of support. It is the organization of private charity for public purposes. It tends to
soften and humanize the heart of the giver, at the same
time the benefaction is contributing to relieve the most
distressing forms of misery with which we are acquainted.
The hospital reared in Albany is, altogether the work of
individuals.  The fact that individuals subscribing and
paying certain sums of money, became in consequencethereof entitled to send a certain number of patients to the
hospital, by no means divests the act of that benevolent character to which it would otherwise be entitled.
It is giving to donors the selection of the objects of
their own charity, a feature which strongly commends
itself to every generous mind.





23


We, as medical men, are pledged to this enterprise.
Our position, our pride and our interest imperiously demand in its behalf our most earnest efforts. As a home
institution, it addresses to us its appeals for aid. As a
charity connected with our profession, our honor is concerned in its success. As a school of medicine, it will
enlarge our experience - furnish opportunities for investigation and severe study - and to the student materials
for varied illustration.
Courage! Friends of the Albany Hospital! If as
yet it has little reputation, there is greater need to create
an honorable one. The prestige of antiquity, of rich
charities, of museums, of noble sculpture, of galleries of
art, is alone the work of time. The munificence of
kings, and the splendid gratitude of the nation, have thus
royally endowed the institutions of England; but beyond
the favor of princes or of people, is the renown of their
great deeds and the glory of their great names. NTot the
curious sculpture, the rare art and costly architecture, alone
are for us to envy or to emulate; but great deeds and
great names are the reward of patient effort and determined
will. To these we aspire.
The circumstances under which the earliest settlements
in this country were made, and the character of the settlers, contributed to the early origin and subsequent
growth of charitable.institutions. The equality of condition, which everywhere prevailed, led to a more hearty
union and co-operation in all matters pertaining to the
general good. Concert of action was with them a matter
of necessity. And so far as it related to hospitals, it was
aided in no small degree by the social and benevolent
feelings which exist in all communities of recent origin,
where like pursuits and common dangers and hardships
bind together in brotherhood and mutual dependence.
In the early settlement of this, as of all other countries,
there was a want of means to build up institutions attended
with great expense. Notwithstanding this obstacle, we





24


find the early colonists busily engaged in founding such
institutions, and both individuals and colonial governments
uniting to build them up as monuments to proclaim their
greatness and goodness.
They have not sprung so suddenly. into existence, nor
had so rapid a growth as many of those on the Eastern
continent. The souices of their supply have generally
been more numerous, but the supplies themselves much
less abundant. In the old world, the strealms that have
nourished them have flowed from reservoirs in which strong
and despotic governments have gathered the hard earnings
of the people of mighty empires; while ours have been
fed by the thousand rills, that have coursed their way
spontaneously, bearing each its humble tribute to the
grand result.
One good consequence resulting from this has been,
that our institutions of this character have been strong in
the affections of the people. They have been too much
the people's own work, not to experience from them the
most powerful sympathy and support.
Hospital institutions, in this country, had their origin in
lazarettes, or places for the reception of diseased seamen
and others who were infected with contagious diseases.
A  hospital of this kind was established at Rainsford
island, in the harbor of Boston, nearly two centuries
ago. Another at a very early period, was erected on Staten Island, and used for, similar purposes for the port of
Philadelphia. After the practice of inoculation was established, hospitals became common in different parts of
the country, to receive patients and carry through that
process those who desired it. These were temporary, and
generally the results of individual enterprise.
The first regular hospital in this country was established
in the city of Philadelphia, near the close of 1750. Philadelphia then contained less than 30,000 inhabitants. Dr.
Thomas Bond commenced a subscription, and Dr. Benjamin Franklin, through the medium of newspaper publi




25


cations, led the public mind in the same direction. But
the resources of the city were then quite limited, and it
was soon discovered that the enterprise was beyond individual ability, and that resource must be had to the
Provincial Assembly. Accordingly a memorial asking
for a charter and for pecuniary assistance was presented
to that body in January, 1751. But here a difficulty prefsented itself. The country members could not understand
how their constituents could be benefited by such an
institution located in the city of Philadelphia. This difficulty was at length overcome by the ingenuity of Dr.
Franklin. He suggested to these members to make a
grant of two thousand pounds, on condition that the city
should raise by voluntary subscription, for the same purpose, an equal amount of money. Accordingly the grant
was made upon such conditions, and the citizens of
Philadelphia, determining not to lose the benefit of it, set
themselves at work with renewed energy to procure the
necessary amount. Thus was incorporated and commenced, on a capital of four thousand pounds (about
$10,000 of the currency of that period), the Pennsylvania
Hospital. In order that their work of charity should not
be delayed, a private house was hired for a temporary
hospital, which was opened in February, 1752, and two
patients were received. In December, 1754, was purchased, for five hundred pounds, the entire square (with
a small exception), on which the hospital now stands,
then a lot quite out of town.
The present structure was originated and the corner
stone of the east wing laid May 28, 1755. In December,
1756, the house was so far completed as to receive
patients.
New subscriptions were set on foot, and all ranks and
classes were solicited to subscribe. Many bequests were
also made to the institution. Within the first thirty years
more than five thousand pounds were received, in sums
varying from twenty to more than a thousand pounds.





26


Some aid was also obtained from other provinces, and
from the mother country, and in 1762 the Provincial
Assembly made another grant of three thousand pounds.
The institution had so far increased that, in April, 1776,
on the breaking out of the war, the capital stock,
independent of buildings and lot, was valued at $56,000,
and the annual income was about $3,500. A medical
library had, in the meantime, been collected for the use
of the medical officers. The internal affairs of the institution were superintended by a steward and matron, while
the care of patients was entrusted to'the physicians and
surgeons, and to students or apprentices living within the
institutiop.
But the war of the revolution came, and with it all the
changes and convulsions to which it necessarily gave
birth. The British army entered Philadelphia, and took
possession of the hospital, its wards, beds, medicines,
instruments, &c. This occupation, however, was only
temporary, but the immediate results of the revolutionary
struggle were almost overwhelming. The cessation of
subscriptions, the rise in the cost of living, the payment of
debts and income due the institution in the depreciated
currency of the country, which was made legal tender by
an act of the general government, altogether came very
near utterly destroying this flourishing charity. The
legislature came to its aid in 1780, granting the munificent sum of ten thousand pounds (the real value at that
time, owing to the greatly depreciated currency, being
only one hundred and sixty-three pounds, eighteen shillings and eight-pence). In 1785 its loss of productive
capital was ascertained to exceed eight thousand pounds,
and its expenses, although greatly reduced, doubled its
fixed income. In 1788-9 only 77 patients were admitted
during the whole year, the average number in the house
at one time was 47, these being mostly incurable lunatics.
But the board of managers, at the head of which was
Samuel Coates, now commenced a series of efforts to





27


retrieve the affairs of the institution. They made a new
appeal to the public; solicited subscriptions personally
from the citizens; collected in their debts and legacies;
brought to a legal settlement all disputed claims, and excited in the public mind a renewed interest, in consequence of which they began to find themselves in the
receipt of legacies.
An application was again made to the legislature in 1792,
which resulted in an act granting to the hospital the sum
of ten thousand pounds, and also the unclaimed dividends
of bankrupts' estates, which yielded, in the end, $19,000.
A further grant of $25,000 was made in 1796, so that
out of all, the hospital realized something more than
$70,000, which was applicable to the erection of buildings. This was the last aid ever given to the hospital
by the legislature.
In 1802, a lying-in department for poor and deserving
married women was established, and in 1807 a regular
dispensary for poor out-door patients, and physicians were
appointed to attend them at a small salary.
In 1808, the property of the hospital was for the first
time, assessed. The institution, after a long struggle
against this practice, finally obtained a partial relief in
1814, and complete relief in 1845, the Legislature then
exempting from taxation the whole real and personal estate of the institution.
The productive capital of the hospital, at its lowest
point of depression, at the close of the revolutionary war,
in 1783, was $27,000; in 1793 it was $45,000; in 1803,
$62,000; in 1823, $172,000; and in 1833, $260,000. Its
income rose from $1,000, its lowest point in 1796, to
nearly $15,000, in 1835 and to $20,000 in 1851.
The number of admissions in 1790 was 78; in 1800,
176; in 1810, 368; in 1820, 749; and in 1830, 1,130;
after which the average, for several years, was something
over 1,000. The average population in the house at one
time, rose from 46 to 225.





28


In the year 1830, the propriety or necessity of having
separate accommodations for the insane began to be discussed. Their number had greatly increased; their
accommodations were insufficient; and the new views
developed relative to their treatment, could not be carried
out under the existing regulations. The contributors
were called together, and at their meeting in May, 1831,
they decided on having a separate asylum for the insane.
At subsequent meetings they authorized a sale of the
vacant grounds owned by the hospital, which were
situated east, west, and southwest of the hospital buildings, to raise money for the erection of new buildings.
These grounds were originally purchased at less than
$9,000, and the avails of the sale at this time amounted to
the large sum of $325,000.
The site selected for the new asylum was two miles west
of the city; the tract purchased contained about 100 acres.
The corner stone of ' The Pennsylvania Hospital for the
Insane," was laid June 22, 1836, and the house was opened
for the reception of patients on the 1st of January, 1841.
The resources of the Pennsylvania hospital consist of
an invested productive capital of $370,000, which yields
an income of about $20,000. In the year ending in May,
1851, the number received into the hospital was 1,935, of
whom 1,416 were on the charity list; the average population of the house being 158, of which 120 were poor.
More than a century has now elapsed since its foundation.
During that period it has received and treated 51,116
patients, of whom 29,863 were upon the poor list.
For many years there have been in attendance upon the
practice of the hospital, and upon the clinical lectures,
several hundred medical students; perfecting themselves
in medical and surgical knowledge.





29


Extracts from the Annual Report to the Contributors to the
Pennsylvania Hospitalfor 1867.
The Board of Managers, in laying before you an account
of their proceedings for the past year, can do so under
some feeling of relief from the anxiety which they expressed
at the time of your last annual meeting as regarded the
financial condition of the Hospital; they then felt that the
income from the permanent fund of the contributors would
fall far short of meeting the current expenses for the
support of the Institution.
The committee you then appointed to solicit contributions
has been attentive to the duty, and though they entered
upon it with reluctance, feeling they were engaging in
no pleasant vocation, yet they have been greatly encouraged, having met with so liberal a response from many
of those upon whom they called as to convince us they
were only waiting to be asked, cheerfully and liberally to
aid; and we doubt not, could we but reach in our appeal
all those whose hearts beat with sympathy for the sick
and suffering applying to us for relief, the needed funds
for our permanent endowment could be realized in a few
weeks.
The efforts of the committee, so far, have added, as
specified by the donors, $20,400 to the capital, and $136,556
applicable to the general expenses as, from time to time,
acquired, mostly payable in annual subscriptions running
through terms of three, four or five years. This will nearly
meet our wants for the period through which these annual
subscriptions are payable, and we trust the liberal donors
may experience so great satisfaction in thus, from year to
year, contributing to the relief of the poor sufferers sent to
us, not from our immediate surroundings only, but from
all parts of our State (the easy and speedy transit from
distant parts by railway placing those receiving accidental
injuries at great distances, within reach of our wards
within the time prescribed for their admission), as to induce
them to continue their payments for a longer term of years,
and that in our city and State there are those who may add
to the capital of the Institution to such an amount as will
enable the managers to meet all the wants and extend largely
the benefits of the Hospital.
The number of patients treated during the year at the
Hospital has been 1944. Of this number 703 were in the





30


medical and 1,241 in the surgical wards. Of these 734
were cases of accidental injuries.
Some of the surgical cases have been of a novel and
very interesting character. The cost for each patient has
been about $30. The average number in the house has
been 170, and time each has remained under care was
311 days.
The ladies who associated some two years since to visit
the wards of the Hospital, for reading and converse with
the patients, have continued their care during the year,
and it is very gratifying to learn from the association of
their encouragement in this good work. We believe their
labors have been blessed to many of the visited, shortening
the tedium of the sick bed and lightening the hours of
suffering.
Feeling the advantage of mental occupation for those
able to avail themselves of it, there has been a commencment made toward enlarged ward libraries for the use of
the patients.
Such is the Pennsylvania hospital; a monument of the
wisdom, philanthropy and energy of its founders; of the
liberality of individuals and the munificence of legislatures.
Tile unfailing refuge of the diseased and destitute, more
than 50,000 sufferers having been received and provided
for within its walls (1851). The means of education thus
afforded have been applied to great advantage for the purposes of medical investigation and improvement, and for
the benefit of mankind.
The TNew York hospital was commenced twenty years
later; the application to the legislature having been made
in 1770, and the act of incorporation passed 13th June,
1771. The charter committed the government of the
institution to twenty-six governors, who held their first
meeting on the 25th of July, 1771. In the next year
an act of the legislature of the province granted in aid of
the institution the annual allowance of X~800 ($2,000), for
twenty years.
In 1773 about five acres of ground were purchased for
the erection of a building, the foundation of which was
laid on the 27th of July of the same year; but on the 28th





31


of February, 1775, when almost completed, it accidentally
took fire and was nearly consumed.
In March of the same year, the legislature again came
to their aid, and granted them the sum of ~4,000 to enable them to rebuild the house.
The occurrence of the revolutionary war prevented the
completion of the edifice. During the war the British
and Hessian soldiers occupied the house as a barrack, and
sometimes as a hospital.
The general derangement of all affairs, particularly of
a monetary character, consequent upon the revolutionary
struggle, prevented any attention to the hospital until the
beginning of the year 1791, when the house was fitted up
for the reception of patients, and eighteen were admitted.
The annual sum granted for twenty years, in 1772,
ceased with the breaking out of the revolution, but the
Legislature of the State, in March, 1788, made a grant to
the Hospital of eight hundred pounds during four years,
to be paid out of moneys arising from the excise of the
city of New York. At the expiration of this time the
legislature made a grant of ~2,000 a year, for five years,
payable out of the same fund. At the expiration of three
years from the time of this last grant, and on the 31st of
March, 1795, the legislature repealed the act last mentioned, but granted to the Hospifal ~4X,000 annually for
five years, payable out of duties on auction sales in the city
of New York. In 1796 the legislature granted an additional ~1,000 a year, for four years, payable out of the
same fund. In 1801, the annual allowance of $12,500 was
continued for five years from the 1st of February, 1800.
At the expiration of this time, and on the 2d March,
1805, an act was passed continuing this sum for five
years longer. This last act was repealed in 1806, and a
new act passed, directing the sum of $12,000 annually to
be paid (out of duties on auction sales), to the treasurer
of the hospital, in quarter payments, until the year one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.





32


There were other incidental aids granted by the legislature. In 1796, an act was passed directing the harbor-master of the port of New York to pay certain fines
to the treasurer of the New York hospital.
An arrangement was made in 1779 between the Treasury Department of the United States and the hospital,
by which the sick and disabled seamen at the port of
New York were to be received into the hospital and to
enjoy its advantages, on the payment of their board by
the United States government.
So early as 1796, the commencement was made of a
medical library for the use of the hospital, by an appropriation being ordered by the governors of the sum
of $500 for that purpose.  This was increased in 1800
by the purchase of the medical library of the late Dr.
Romayne, and by the accession, in 1805, of the library
of an association of physicians, who gave their books on
condition that they and such of their sons as should
become physicians in the city of New York, should have
the free use of the hospital library. In 1805, the annual
sum of $250 was appropriated by the governors for the
purchase of books.  Annual appropriations have been
made since, and a valuable library collected.
The same practice prevailed here as in the Pennsylvania hospital in its early history in regard to lunatics.
They were received and taken care of, although the accommodations were inconvenient and inadequate, the building
not having been designed for that purpose.
These applications constantly increasing, a petition was
presented to the Legislature in 1806, asking for such further aid as would enable them 'to erect a separate building,
to be used as an asylum for the insane, or to give greater
permanence to the existing allowance. On the 14th of
March, 1806, the Legislature passed an act continuing the
annual provision for the hospital, payable out of the duties
arising on sales at auction in the city of New York, until





33


the year 1857. Immediately upon this, the governors of
the hospital proceeded to erect the lunatic asylum, which
was completed.on the 15th of July, 1808, when'it was
opened for the reception of lunatics, and nineteen were
removed from the hospital building and forty-eight others
admitted, making, in all, the number of 67. The whole
original cost of the asylum was about $56,000.
To assist the governors of the hospital, and enable them
to discharge the debts contracted in building the asylym,
the Legislature, by an act passed 23d March, 1810, granted
to the hospital the sum of $3,500 per annum for the term
of ten years, payable out of the auction duties in the city
of New York. This was, however, repealed on the 15th
April, 1817.
But previous to this repeal, and on the 17th April, 1816,
an act was passed granting the hospital the yearly sum of
$10,000 until the year 1857, to enable the governors to
erect further and more extensive accommodations for insane patients. About eighty acres were purchased, and a
building erected 211 feet in length and 60 feet in depth,
with two wings, the main edifice being completed and
opened for patients in June, 1821, when it received the
name of the "Bloomingdale Asylum."  Other buildings
were subsequently erected in 1830 and 1837, making the
entire cost of all the buildings and improvements, up to
the 1st of January, 1789, about $200,000. This, however,
included bedding, furniture, and other things necessary
for the accommodation of its inmates.
In 1821 the lunatics then in the asylum in town were
transferred to the Bloomingdale asylum. In 1825, after
undergoing some repairs, it was converted into a hospital
for the accommodation. of sick and disabled seamen, for
which it has ever since been used, and is known by the
name of the "Marine Department of the New York
Hospital.
The hospital is under the management of twenty-six
3





34


governors, whose services are rendered gratuitously. Persons laboring under incurable diseases, or having the small
pox, measles or any infectious disease, are not admitted
to the privileges of the hospital. There are a visiting
committee, who, superintend the admission of patients,
and an inspecting committee, whose duty it is to see that
the by-laws and regulations relativeto the management
and economy of the house are duly observed.
There are four physicians and six surgeons, who give
their attendance at the hospital. They are selected from
among the most eminent of the profession, and are appointed annually by the governors. Both the physicians
and surgeons perform their services gratuitously.
In addition to these, there are house physicians and surgeons residing constantly in the hospital, who are young
men, medical graduates, appointed for one year.
An apothecary, also residing in the house, has charge
of the apothecary's shop, and compounds and makes up all
medicines prescribed according to the directions of the
physicians and surgeons. It is the duty of the house physicians and surgeons to visit the wards every morning and
evening, and to report the state of the patients to the
attending physicians and surgeons.
The superintendent is the steward of the hospital, and
together with the matron, is charged with the domestic
management and economy of the institution.
The sources of income in the New York hospital (in
1853), were the following:
The duties on sales at auction in the City of
New York, annually,......................... $12,500
For care of U. S. disabled seamen, about,.........  15,500
For board of paying patients, about,.................  8,000
For articles sold, about,...............................  100
And in subscription for membership,................  700
From all these various sources the average income, for
the ten years immediately preceding the year 1849 was





35


$37,538.16, while the average expenditure for the same
period of time was $39,362.
The library attached to the hospital now numbers (1851),
5,500 volumes while it has a respectable pathological
cabinet.
The total number received into the New York hospital,
from its foundation to the year 1850, amount to 86,090.
Of these the large number of 62,183 have been discharged
cured. The number of 5,519 have been relieved; 5,382
have been discharged at their own request; 1,346 have
been discharged as improper subjects; 2,725 have eloped
or been discharged as disorderly, and 8,687 have died.
The following abstract statement shows the receipts and
expenditures from all sources and all accounts, under
their respective heads, during the year 1866:
Receipts and Payments of the Institution, from all Sources,
during the year 1866.
Balance in Bank of America to the credit of,  the  Asylum  Dec 31,  865,....................  $483  60
Balance in hands of warden of the Asylum
December 31, 1865,...........................  150  00
Received on account of the Now York Hospital.................................................  76,745  83
Received on account of the Bloomingdale
Asylum,......................................  99,351  15
Received  interest................................  44  25
"    donations,...............................  4,869  55
"    rent of north building,.,.............  1,686 66
"    grant from the State of New York
for 1864,.......................  15,000 00
("   grant from the State of New York
for 1865,................................  12,000  00
Balance due Bank of Commerce, December
31, 1866,..........................................  16,205  68
$226,536 72





36


Balance due Bank of Commerce, December 31, 1865,.................................
Paid on account of support of New York
H ospital,.......................................
Paid on account of support of Bloomingdale
A sylum,.....................................
Paid interest on bonds to bank for savings,
Balance in Bank of America to credit of the
Asylum, December 31, 1866,...............


$27,084 10
98,267 87
95,651 07
4,200 00
1,333 68
$226,536 72


The financial condition of this corporation on the 31st
December, 1866, stands thus, as compared on the 31st
December, 1865.
On the 31st December, 1865, it.stood thus:
Debt on mortgage,.................... $70,000 00
"  to Bank of Commerce,...... 27,084 10
-.97.084 10


Vi-         -


Deduct balance in Bank of America to credit of Asylum,......
Deduct balance in the hands of
warden,.......................
On 31st December, 1866:
Debt on mortgage..................
" to Bank of Commerce,.......


$483 60
150 00


$70,000 00
16,205 68


633 60
$96,450 50
$86,205 68
1,333 68
$84,872 00


I    I
Deduct balance in Bank of America to
credit of  Asylum...........................


During the past year no change in the internal management or general administration of the Hospital has been
made. Under a new contract with the Secretary of the
Treasury of the United States, the rate of board of sick
seamen entitled to the benefit of the United States Hospi




37


tal Fund, has been raised from $6 to $7 per week. The
general rate for other patients, able to contribute toward
their own support, remains at $6 per week for male, and
$5 for female patients in general wards.  Persons suffering from injuries or acute diseases, requiring immediate
relief, are received and treated gratuitously if unable to
make compensation.
The whole number of persons who received the benefits
of the New York hospital as medical or surgical patients
during the year 1866, was 2,645. The average daily number has been 226.
The number of patients in the hospital on the 31st of
December, 1865, was 243, and there were admitted during
the year 1866, 2,402.
The hospital library in 1866, numbered 7,717 volumes.
Another institution of a similar character, but more
recent in its origin, is the Massachusetts general hospital,
in the city of Boston. This is a gift of the present century. Thomas Boylston, Esq., by a will proved in 1800,
made the town of Boston his residuary legatee, in trust,
among other objects, to erect a small-pox hospital and
a lunatic asylum. He died insolvent, but his worthy
example found imitators who were more fortunate. William Phillips, by a codicil to his will, proved in 1804, bequeathed the sum of $5,000 to the town of Boston for the
same object. In August, 1810, a circular letter was addressed by Drs. Jackson and Warren to the wealthiest
and most influential citizens of Boston, for the purpose
of awakening in their minds an interest in the subject.
On tie 25th of February, 1811, a charter was obtained
from the Legislature. A grant was, at the same time,
made of the Province House Estate, as it was called,
which, however, was conditioned that, within five years,
an additional sum of $100,000 should be obtained by
private subscriptions and donations. In 1813, the time
was extended to an additional five years. This Province
House Estate was then valued at $20,000. In 1822 it was





38


estimated as worth $40,000, and would (1853), probably
sell for at least $100,000.
Subscriptions for the hospital under this grant do not
appear to have been really opened until the latter part of
the year 1816, and then several ward committees were appointed, and commenced proceedings on the 26th of December of that year. On the 29th of the same month
these committees reported to the board of trustees that,
in three days, the subscriptions amounted to $78,802. On
the 5th of January, 1.817, they had increased to $93,969.
Some of these were very liberal. The Humane Society
gave $5,000; Messrs. James Perkins, Thomas H. Perkins, and David Sears each gave the same sum. William
Phillips increased his father's legacy of $5,000 to the sum
of $20,000. The liberality thus exhibited in the commencement, secured the complete and permanent success
of the institution. No difficulty was experienced in obtaining the requisite amount of subscriptions, to secure
the benefits conferred by the charter.
Having thus secured the legislative grant, and encouraged by the liberality of the subscriptions, the corner
stone of the Massachusetts General Hospital was laid on
the 4th of July, 1818. On the day preceding, it was announced that Mr. Thomas Oliver, a Boston merchant, had
made the hospital his residuary legatee, the anmount derived from this bequest exceeded $24,000. The expense
of erecting the hospital building, including the cost of the
real estate on which it was built, amounted to $94,352.
On the 21st of August, 1821, the buildings were so far
completed that Drs. Jackson. and Warren gave notice
that, on the 1st of September following, the hospital
would be ready for patients. On the 3d of September one
patient was admitted, and not a single other application
for admission was made until the 20th of September, and
the records of the hospital show only eighteen admissions
during that year.





39


The Massachusetts hospital, more than any other in this
country, is a monument of individual liberality. It should,
in this respect, be held up as an example worthy of imitation. Besides the gifts and legacies already mentioned,
we find the following:
August, 1830, Jeremiah Belknap, for free beds, $10,000
Nov.,   1832, to January, 1833. Mary Belknap, 89,882
Jan.,   1841, Mary Anne Brimmer, for free beds,  5,000
April,  1820, Samuel Elliot, for asylum,........... 10,000
Oct.,   1830, Joseph Lee, a deceased patient,
stocks valued  at,....................  20,000
Feb.,   1824, to November, 1827.    John McLean, a wealthy merchant in
Boston,......................... 100,000
March, 1844, Israel Munson......................... 20,000
May,    1849, Benjamin R. Nichols,.............  6,000
August, 1831, to December, 1850. Isaiah Thomas,  5,256
Feb.,   1850, Henry Todd,...........................  5,000
Sept.,  1820, Besa  Tucker............................  5,350
July,   1823, Abraham   Tours,...................... 10,000
Dec.,   1845, Daniel Waldo,....................... 40,000
April, 1851, Dr. Charles W. Wilder, for free
beds,................................  20,000
March, 1849, John D. Williams,.....................  13,000
("    William Appleton,.................... 20,000
"     Thomas Oliver,.........................  50,000
"     John Broomfield,...................... 40,000
"     John Parker,........................  10,000
"     John  Redman,........................... 100,000
Besides, a great number of smaller gifts and legacies
were received.
Contemporaneously with the efforts to establish the
Massachusetts General Hospital, an asylum for the insane
was in progress, and was a part of the same general enterprise. Subscriptions were taken for each, according to
the wish of the subscriber.
The asylum was the first in readiness for the admission
of patients, and the records show that they were received
to the number of 58 in the years 1818- '19. On the 12th





40


June, 1826, the committee appointed to take into consideration the best mode of perpetuating the memory of John
McLean, recommended that. the asylum should thenceforward be known as the "McLean Asylum for the
Insane," and from that time the name of the beneficent
Boston merchant has been associated with this splendid
charity, and both together will descend to posterity in fitting and congenial companionship. How much more desirable the monument thus reared to his memory than any
sculptured marble or splendid mausoleum, for time and
the elements to waste away.
The two establishments for the hospital and the asylum,
including the cost of real estate, expense of building, &c.,
have cost over $500,000. The present income to the hospital (1851) is $17,000. The present invested funds, inclusive of the lot and buildings, amount to about $200,000.
Notwithstanding the very large sums received from the
generous liberality of individuals, there is no excess of
means, all the funds are actually required, and even more
could be profitably employed.
In the year 1850 there were 746 admitted into the hospital, and in the whole thirty years, since the hospital was
first opened for the reception of patients, up to and including the year 1850, the number of those who had received
the benefit of the hospital amounts to 13,549. Of these,
6,265 were discharged cured, and 4,203 relieved, while
1,122 died within its walls.





41


The report of the trustees of the Massachusetts General
Hospital, made February 6, 1867, shows the following
income:


For Hospital:
Board of patients,...................
Subscriptions,....................
Income of funds,.....................
Other funds,...........................
For Asylum:
Board of patients,..................
Income of funds,....................


$14,977 44
4,100 00
19,743 74
1,082 64
$125,457 64
7,035 18


In general:
Income of general fund...........          $3,538 96
Massachusetts Hospital, Life Insurance Co.....................         15,000 00,           --.--
T otal,...........................................
Total expenses of hospital,..................
Total for asylum,.........:................v


$39,903 82
132,492 82
18,538 96
$190,935 60
$68,786 80
126,015 83
$194,802 63


During the year ending February 6, 1867, 1,120 patients
were admitted into the hospital. Of these 623 were
paying patients, 45 paying in part, and 556 free.
In April, 1865, the trustees issued a circular, setting
forth the wants of the Institution. This was followed by
an offer from a noble hearted citizen1 of $25,000, on
condition that $75,000 more should be raised by general
subscription. Cheered by this generous offer, the trustees
appointed a committee to solicit subscriptions, and in. a
few weeks their efforts were crowned with success, and


SNathaniel Thayer, Esq.





42


$100,000 were added to the permanent funds of the institution. The trustees conclude their report as follows:
"The acknowledgments already made to the friends of
the hospital are but a small part of the gratitude which
such benevolence inspires. Silent in these formal pages,
but rising fervently from sick beds and scenes of suffering,
the thanks of three hundred patients go out to those who
have thus provided for them. Their gratitude mingles
with ours, and not only towards the earthly giver, but to
Him who has made this institution and its benefactors the
instruments of His mercy for half a century."
These are the three great American hospitals; the first
having been in operation (1852) one hundred, the second
sixty, and the third, thirty years. Within the walls of
these three hospitals have been received as patients,
150,755 human beings. Of this number, 100,842 have
gone from them restored to health, 15,417 essentially
relieved, while 14,898 have been borne to their long
homes. There'is a force in numbers and an eloquence in
statistics that is irresistible. If it were possible for the different beds, upon which reposed those 150,755 human
beings, to yield up their secrets, there would be such
amounts of suffering and relief as would far exceed the
powers of the human mind to form any conception of.
It has taken time, money and effort to accomplish all this;
and it is well that men can combine their time, moUey
and efforts for such noble purposes:
There are a few features in common belonging equally
to each one of these three great hospitals:
1st. Each of them owes its existence to the well directed
energy and perseverance of individuals. It was individual
enterprise and activity that, in each instance, first set in
operation a train of causes that resulted in the success of
the undertaking.
2d. In the commencement, and for a considerable period
of the continuance of each, it was contemplated that relief
should be afforded to the insane as well as the sick, and





43


that the purpose of an asylum should be answered equally
with those of an hospital.
3d. In each case legislative aid was superadded to the
results of individual effort. In this respect the New York
Hospital has been much the largest recipient. It is right,
in a charity so expensive and so general in its objects and
aims, that both the State and individuals should unite in
their contributions.
The Rhode Island Hospital at Providence is one of the
most recent and noblest public charities in the country.
More than $300,000 has been contributed by generoushearted citizens during the last five years. One person
subscribed $40,000; one, $25,000; two, $20,000; two,
$10,000; one, $7,000; three, $5,000; one, $4,000; eight,
$3,000; ten, $2,000; five, $1,500; fifty, $1,000; fifty-two,
$500, each. The balance was made up in subscriptions
of from $100 to $400. The land, a spacious tract, on a
commanding eminence sloping down to the sea, and
planted with shade trees, was also a donation. The
building, commenced in 1864, is one of the most complete,
commodious and elegant hospital edifices in the world,
and the institution is one of the noblest examples of
Christian charity in the history of our country. The late
Capt. Robert H. Ives of Providence has left a legacy of
$50,000 to the institution, free of government duties, in
addition to a previous donation of $10,000. Capt. Ives
was a young man thirty-one years of age. He graduated
in 1854. On the breaking out of the rebellion, he
furnished a gunboat at his own expense, and entered the
naval service of his country. He soon attained the rank
of lieutenant-commander in the navy, and rendered efficient
service during the war.
The whole amount of subscriptions to this hospital up
to September, 1866, was $393,762.59. The permanent
invested funds amount to $150,215.21. The cost of building was over $200,000.
Hospitals have been founded in various other cities of





44


the Union - in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Troy, Buffalo,
Brooklyn, Albany. The idea of a hospital in this city was
suggested many years since. Nearly forty years ago a
public lecture was delivered in this city by Dr. Alden
March, on the "expediency of establishing a Medical
College and Hospital in the city of Albany;" the city
then contained about 20,000 inhabitants. The project,
with occasional intermissions, was suffered to sleep until
the winter of 1849, when an act of incorporation was
obtained, which simply gave a legal capacity to act, but
nothing further.
Under this act the governors matured and published
their plan; the basis of which was to afford to those who
contributed their money the opportunity of participating
in the benefits of a hospital for themselves, the members
of their families, or their servants, or of extending those
benefits to the suffering and needy who might appeal to
their benevolence. Thus, 'while they made their appeal
to the benevolent and humane for their contributions,
they offered to return a privilege which might be considered a reasonable equivalent.
From statistics collected from similar institutions, they
ascertained the average time each patient was under treatment, and the average cost of each per week; and based
upon this, they proposed that the contribution of $25 for
any one year, should constitute a member of that year,
entitled to a ticket of admission for a patient once in the
year; a contribution of $200 should constitute a member
for life, entitled to one ticket each year during life, to be
used once in the year; the payment of $100, to constitute
a member for five years, with a like right to a ticket each
year; a contribution of $1,000 at one time to constitute
a life member, who should be entitled at all times during
his life to recommend one patient for admission to the
hospital, and to repeat the same when there should be no
person in the hospital on his recommendation. Such
tickets or recommendations of admission should entitle





45


their holders to be lodged, boarded, and to receive medical treatment in the hospital, free of expense, until discharged as cured or incurable, and in the event of dying
in the hospital, to be properly interred.
The establishment and success of this noble charity is a
subject of real and heartfelt congratulation among all
classes of our citizens. In glancing, as we have, at other
institutions of the kind in the country, we derive the
strongest encouragement, and entertain high expectations
of its future usefulness and prosperity.
The character of a community and the spirit of its people may be judged by their public institutions and public
charities. The church, the school house and the hospital,
are the symbols of civilization and refinement. The
pyramids erected to immortalize kings, long since forgotten, built by the unrequited labor of the poor; the
temples of ancient Greece and Rome, dedicated to heathen gods, with sensual rites and bloody sacrifices; the
amphitheatres, where human beings were torn and mangled by wild beasts, amid the exultant shouts of an infuriated populace, sending up the cries of Christian agony
and heathen mirth, were symbols of ancient civilization.
In later times, stately edifices, cathedrals, churches, universities, marvels of architectural science, adorned in the
highest art of the most refined culture and taste, were
erected for the use and enjoyment of the titled and the
rich. But the hospital of the present age is the palace
and home of the poor, the sick and the suffering.
It is not the wayside inn, of temporary shelter, but the
comfortable home of the. afflicted, where everything that
can ameliorate human suffering and woe is provided for
the poor, without price or pay. Its governors are good
Samaritans, pouring out oil and wine for the bruised and
the afflicted, like the companions of our Saviour, whose
record of their Master's life and teaching will endure
while time shall last.





LIST OF THE FIRST


CONTRIBUTORS TO ALBANY HOSPITAL.


Erastus Corning............ $1,000
Marcus T. Reynolds,........  1,000
John Townsend,........... 1,000
Anthony Gould,............ 1,000
Edward C. Delavan,........ 1,000
John L. Schoolcraft,........ 1,000
Alexander Van Rensselaer,.. 1,000
Robert Boyd............... 1,000
Stephen Van Rensselaer,.... 1,000
William V. Many,..........  1,000
John Gibson,............... 1,000
John Taylor,............... 1,000
Teunis Van Vechten,......... 1,000
Robert Dunlop............... 1,000
Blandina Dudley.............. 1,000
Andrew White,............ 1,000
Silvanus J. Penniman,.... 1,000
Volkert P. Douw,.......... 1,000
Mrs. Cornelia Coster (late
Bleecker),................  1,000
John T. Norton,............ 1,000
John Tayler Cooper,......... 1,00
Joel Rathbone,............. 1,000
William H. De Witt,........ 1,000
Rufus H. King,................ 1,000
E. F. Backus.................. 1,000
Clark Durant,............... 1,000
Thomas Schuyler........... 1,000
Catherine James,............ 1,000


John B. James,............. $1,000
Edward James............. 1,000
N. Y. Central Rail Road,..... 1,000
James Stevenson............  500
John V. L. Pruyn............ 500
S. H. Ransom,.............  500
Friend Humphrey............  500
John F. Rathbone,...........  500
Ellis Baker,................  500
Hamilton Fish,............    00
F. & Theodore Townsend,...   500
William Newton,...........   500
Gideon Hawley..............  500
Harmon Pumpelly...........   500
Archibald McClure,.........  500
John C. Spencer.............  500
John Knower,............    500
Henry & Wm. E. Bleecker,..  500
Jacob H. Ten Eyck,..........  500
Ezra P. Prentice..............  500
J. B. Plumb,................  500
Eliza Hunter,..............  500
S. P. Jermain,..............  500
Lyman Chapin,.............  500
Tracey & Edson..............  250
H. & Frederick Townsend,..   250
Robert Townsend,.........   250
John D. Hewson............  100
James Goold & Co.,.........  50


When the above subscriptions had been secured through the influence of the late Hon.
John C. Spencer, a temporary building on Lydius street was leased and the hospital commenced operations with about twenty patients, and continued successfully two or three
years. Since the purchase of the present building on Eagle and Howard streets, the
following additional subscriptions have been obtained mainly through the personal efforts
of Dr. Armsby. A vast amount of. provisions and supplies have also been contributed
to the Hospital.:
ADDITIONAL       CONTRIBUTORS.


Alden March,.............. $1,000
Angelo Ames,............... 1,000
J. J. Austin,................ 1,000
Amsdell Brothers,............ 1,000
James Schuyler, legacy,..... 2,000
Joel Rathbone, legacy,...... 1,000
Robert H. Pruyn............ 1,000
John Tweddle,.............   600
Thomas W. Olcott,...........  500
Alexander Marvin,..........  500
Russell Forsyth............  500
William G. Thomas,...........  500


Robert L. Johnson,.......... $500
Alanson Sumner,............ 500
Steele & King,..............  500
John M. Crapo,..............  500
Albion Ransom,...........500
Miss Margaret Ten Eyck, legacy, 500
Mrs. Blandina Dudley,........  400
Charles B. Lansing,.........  350
Uri Burt & Co.,..............  300
C. P. Williams..............  250
Thurlow Weed,..............   250
John G. White,...........     250





47:H. Q. Hawley,............
Lewis Rathbone,...........
Treadwell & Perry..........
Arthur Bott,...............
Henry & Van Allen,........
F. J. Barnard & Son,........
White& Co.,..............
Orr & Cunningham,.......
Adam Cook................
Littlefield & Co.,.............
Perry  &  Co.,..............
Shear, Packard & Co.,.........
A. M. Strong,..............
M. H. Reed.................
G. Y. Lansing,........
William Fowler,..........
Van Santvoord & Co.,......
William N. Strong,........
William McElroy,...........
Charles W. Durant,.........
Charles Van Benthuysen,....
George C. Treadwell,......
E. A. Durant,...............
E. C. Clark, Jr.,.............
Clark, Sumner & Co.,........
C. T. Norton,...............
James B. Kelley.............
Joshua Rathbone,...........
W. H. Gratwick & Co.,......
J. Benedict & Son,..........
Birdsall, Fassett & Co.,......
Sage, McGraw & Co.,.......
Thomas McGraw,..........
Salisbury & Co............
Warren & Wilber,.........
David I. Boyd,.............
Bacon & Stickney...........
James Hendrick,............
J. H. Van Antwerp,..........
William Mitchell...........
Frederick Hinckel...........
C. W. Schindler............
A. F. Hedrick,..............
George Schwartz,........
J. D. Parsons,..............
Joel Munsell,...............
Young Men's Christian Association of Mr. Ludlow's Church,
Mrs. J. H. Armsby..........
Miss Cornelia Winne,.......
Mrs. Alden March,..........
Mrs. M. E. Viele,...........
Mrs. E. S. Coles,............
Mrs. A. D. Lansing,........
Mrs. John Tweddle,...........
Mrs. William Newton,......


$250
250
250
250
200
200
200
200
150
150
150
150
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100


Mrs. Samuel Patton,........
Mrs. H. H. Martin...........
Mrs. Thomas P. Crook,.....
Mrs. Alexander Davidson,....
Mrs. L. F. Hubbell,...........
Mrs. Jacob G. Sanders,.......
Mrs. W. C. Miller...........
Mrs. Geo. H. Thacher,....
Mrs. Daniel Lathrop,........
Mrs. E. P. Wicks...........
Mrs. I. W. Vosburgh,....
Mrs. Jesse C. Potts,............
Mrs. G. C. Davidson,..........
Mrs. David H. Cary,.........
Mrs. J. H. Shear.............
Mrs. Thomas W. Olcott,....
Mrs. Howard Townsend,...
Mrs. Charles L. Elliott,......
Mrs. William H. Taylor,.....
Miss Jane Van Schaack,....
Miss Susan Lansing.........
Mrs. J. C. Ward, Jr..........
Mrs. Charles Hinckel,.......
W. C. Little,...............
J. O. Towner,..............
J. Douglas & Son,.........
Romaine & Dunscomb,...
F. J. Barnard.............
William H. Ross & Son,...
W. W. Sage & Co.,........
Arnold & Folsom,.........
Henry Dorr...............
W ickes &  Co.,..............
Charles Van Zandt,..........
A. B. Van Gaasbeeck,......
Abram Koonz,..............
Lewis Rathbone...........
Townsend & Chism,.......
Gibson Oliver,............
W. J. Blackall..........
C. N. Warner,.............
D. H. Woodruff.............
James McKinney...........
Nelson Rogers,............
J. C. Ward & Son,..........
W. A. Many & Co..........
Michael Delehanty,.......
Dalton & Kibbe,............
J. Douglas & Son............
Simons & Griswold,........
John Fair,...............
H. & H. Blatner.............
Mann, Waldmann & Co.,.
Louis Cohn,.................
William Doyle..............
St. Andrew's Society,........


$100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
100


A large number of persons have contributed in sums of from $5, to $25.
The recent enlargement of the Hospital building, which has cost nearly $12,000, is now
finished and furnished, and most of the new rooms are already occupied by paying
patients, which will add greatly to the permanent income of the Institution.





Governors-Elected July, 1851.


JOHN C. SPENCER, President,
EZRA P. PRENTICE, Vice President,
ERASTUS CORNING,
MARCUS T. REYNOLDS,
JOHN TOWNSEND,
JOHN TAYLOR,
WM. V. MANY,


JOEL RATHBONE, Treasurer,
FRANKLIN TOWNSEND, Secretary.
ANDREW WHITE,
JAMES STEVENSON,
JOHN B. JAMES,
JOHN V. L. PRUYN,
ROBERT H. PRUYN,


FRIEND HUMPHREY.


Attending Surgeons.
ALDEN MARCH, M. D.,
JAMES MCNAUGHTON, M. D.,
JAMES ARMSBY, M. D.,
JOHN SWINBURNE, M. D.


Attending PhysicIans.
THOMAS HUN, M. D.,
JOEL A. WING, M. D.;
MASON F. COGSWELL, M. D.,
HOWARD TOWNSEND, M. D.


Trotut offirtro of tut tooapitaL,


THOMAS W. OLCOTT, President,ARCHIBALD MCCLURE, Vice President,
ERASTUS CORNING,
WILLIAM H. DE WITT,
ROBERT H. PRUYN,
JACOB H. TEN EYCK,
JOHN F. RATHBONE,
SAMUEL H. RANSOM,
Attending Surgeons.
ALDEN MARCH, M. D.,
JAMES H. ARMSBY, M. D,,
JOSEPH R. BOULWARE, M. D.,
JAMES E. POMFRET, M. D.
JAMES MCNAUGHTON,
Consulting Surgeon.


VISSCHER TEN EYCK, Treasurer,
STEPHEN GROESBEECK, Secretary.
JOHN TWEDDLE,
WILLIAM G. THOMAS,
JESSE C. POTTS,
ISAAC W. VOSBURGH,
GEORGE B. STEELE,
WILLIAM H. TAYLOR.
Attending Physicians.
JAMES P. BOYD, M. D.,
S. 0. VANDERPOEL, M. D.,
JOHN V. LANSING, M. D.,
JACOB S. MOSHER, M. D.
THOMAS HUN,
Consulting Physician.





THE ALBANY HOSPITAL.
1868.