Calendar: 1856-1857 Page 128

12S MEDICAL DEPARTMENT applied it has answered well as temporary expedient and has been the means of affording relief to upwards of quarter of million of patients and oppor- tunities of professional experience to nearly thousand medical students The New Hospital The New Hospital of which the foundation stone was laid by His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury on the 17th of June 1852 is designed for upwards of 200 beds but may without inconvenience or the slightest approach to over- crowding be made to contain 300 or even 400 patients The first portion of the building has now been occupied for some months It contains complete and distinct out-patient department with its own entrance and exit chapel two theatres and wards which can accommodate 105 patients This portion of the building is distinguished in the plan by the dark walls and the tint The portion of the building still to be erected consists of three parts The North Front tinted yellow and comprising in addition to offices on the ground and basement storys spacious wards for medical cases The Great Staircase marked on the plan and tinted pink And smaller portion not distin- guished by any colour occupying the site of the bulk of the old hospital and containing the lesser surgical wards and the residences of the medical officers This small portion will complete the east wing of the building which will present symmetrical front to Carey Street Situation of the Hospital -The Hospital stands between four thoroughfares- Portugal Street Carey Street Grange Court and St Clement's Lane The South Front will form part of the new thoroughfare from the City to Long Acre as shown on the plan Site -The soil is gravel All defects in the site were made good by concrete Drainage -The fall is rapid and the parts of the building chiefly requiring drainage are semi-detached so that the drains pass at once into the sewers and do not traverse the body of the building Lighting Warming and Ventilation --The building is lighted by large windows glazed with plate glass It is warmed solely by open fires The ventilation is effected by combining ample space open fire-places and windows opposite to each other opening freely both in the width and in the length of the wards The great staircase also lighted and ventilated by opposite windows is intended to be centre of light air and warmth to the whole building It is believed that by trusting to the open fire-place aided by thick walls and plate glass for warmth and to ample space with opposite windows in the length and breadth of the wards for ventilation the authorities have consulted the comfort and interests of the patients no less than economy in their expenditure The circulation of warm air through the building from central source of heat even if it had succeeded would probably have entailed an outlay at least equal to that occasioned by the extra space now provided The Chapel -This is square room with recess at the east end and dome it is marked on the plan It is on the first story and will be approached when the building is finished by its own corridor Attached to it is vestry It is fitted up for the present in simple and inexpensive manner and divine service is performed in it every Sunday at half past nine o'clock It is open to the public and will accommodate 200 persons The Operating Theatre -This room is also on the first story and is approached from the great staircase by its own corridor It will hold 300 persons is well