prescriptions compounded was 101,539. Large as is this apparent increase, however, it is not great in proportion to the increase in the population of the city.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND LITERATURE OF THE PHILADELPHIA HOSPITAL.

With the exception of the medical history of Dr. Agnew no extended account of the Philadelphia Almshouse has been published; but facts with reference to it may be found in various volumes which deal with the local, medical, legal and official history of Philadelphia. We will give here a list of works, and a statement of some sources of information, which have proved of advantage to us and may to others.

LECTURE ON THE MEDICAL HISTORY OF THE PHILADELPHIA ALMSHOUSE. Delivered at the opening of the Clinical Lectures, October 15, 1862. By D. Hayes Agnew, M.D. Philadelphia: Holland & Edgar, printers, 54 North Eighth street, 1862.

A HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

By Joseph Carson, M. D. Philadelphia Lindsay & Blakiston,

1889. In this well-known work of Dr. Carson the references to the Philadelphia Hospital are taken chiefly from Dr. Agnew's pamphlet, but a few additional facts of interest are mentioned.

INTRODUCTORY LECTURE TO THE CLINICAL COURSE OF THE PHILADELPHIA HOSPITAL FOR THE WINTER OF 1855-56. By Robert K. Smith, M.D. Published in pamphlet form. Philadelphia, 1855.

An introductory lecture,

SUMMER MEDICAL TEACHING IN PHILADELPHIA. delivered before his class in pharmacy, April 13, 1857. By Edward Parrish, M.D. THE PICTURE OF PHILADELPHIA. Giving an account of its origin, increase, improvement, etc. With a compendium of the societies, police, institutions, etc. By James Mease. Philadelphia, 1811.

PICTURE OF PHILADELPHIA.

Or a brief account of the various institutions

and public objects in this metropolis. Being a guide for strangers. With addenda of all the improvements to the present time. E. L. Cary and A. Hart, 1835. ANNALS OF PHILADELPHIA AND PENNSYLVANIA IN THE OLDEN TIME. In two volumes. By John F. Watson. Philadelphia, 1857.

HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

1609 to 1884. In three volumes. By J. Thomas

Scharf and Thompson Westcott. Philadelphia, 1884.

A HISTORY OF MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT. Philadelphia, 1681-1887. Edward P. Allison and Boies Penrose. Baltimore and Philadelphia, 1887.

By

In the Philadelphia Library are eight volumes of POULSON'S NEWSPAPER CUTTINGS, search of which will reveal some notes relating to the almshouse and hospital.

Rev. C. F. Pearson, who, ripe in years and good works, is still connected with the almshouse, published a volume in 1875, religious in tone, entitled, SPARKS AMONG THE ASHES. Including reminiscences of nineteen years of labor in the

Philadelphia Almshouse. With an introduction by Mrs. Dr. Bell. Some interesting reminiscences of Blockley characters are to be found in this volume.

Among other sources of information are the published Annual Statements or Reports of the board of guardians of the poor, and since 1887 the Annual Reports of the department of charities and correction. Bound volumes, from 1844 to 1854, are to be found in the Philadelphia library; and in the library of the Philadelphia Hospital from 1853 to 1883, the latter presented by a former president of the board of guardians, Mr. Edward F. Hoffman; also several bound volumes are to be found at the office of the bureau of correction, Harmony and Hudson streets.

At various periods, rules for the government of the board of guardians, of the medical board, and of the department of charities and correction have been published, and afford much information. Among these are the following: Rules for the Government of the Board of Guardians, 1828; Laws for the Relief and Employment of the Poor, 1844; Rules for the Guardians of the Poor, 1861; Rules for the Guardians of the Poor, 1868; Rules for the Medical Board, 1870; Rules for the Department of Charities and Correction, 1890.

In the preparation of historical notes and memoranda we have made use of these and also of the written minutes of the board of guardians of the poor, and of the bureau of charities, which, with much other material, have been placed at our disposal through the kindness of Mr. Robert Laughlin. To Mr. Robert C. Floyd, secretary of the bureau of charities, and to Mr. Edwin Palmer, secretary of the bureau of correction, we are under obligations for valuable information and documents. We have also consulted the written minutes of the medical board of the Philadelphia Hospital, which have been placed in our hands by the secretary, Dr. Louis W. Steinbach. At the almshouse are documents, minute books, records, etc., to which we have had access through the courtesy of Mr. George Roney, the superintendent, to whom great credit is due for the manner in which he has collated and arranged these archives of the almshouse, formerly in extreme confusion.

This is an appropriate place to say a word about the literature of the Philadelphia Hospital, or rather about the contributions of the members of its various medical boards to the literature of the profession. These constitute a large portion of the literature of Philadelphia medicine. It would be an interesting task to collect the contributions which owe their existence to work done within the walls of the Philadelphia Hospital. In the notes on the epidemics of the hospital, references are made to a few valuable contributions; as to the monograph on epidemic meningitis, by Dr. Alfred Stillé, to the paper on the same subject by Dr. W. H. H. Githens; and to that on puerperal septicæmia as observed at the hospital, by Dr. W. H. Parish. On pathology the hospital has furnished contributions without number, and some of great value, particularly during the last fifteen years. The medical societies of Philadelphia-the college of physicians, the

county medical, the pathological, obstetrical, neurological society, etc.—have drawn largely from this hospital for their material, as a search of their transactions will at once make evident. The record of the pathological society of Philadelphia, as indicated in its volumes of transactions, would be meagre indeed, if the material supplied by the Philadelphia Hospital were omitted.

EARLY HOSPITALS AND ALMSHOUSES OF PHILADELPHIA.

From Watson's Annals, Scharf and Westcott's History of Philadelphia, Allison and Penrose's History of Municipal Development, and other sources, we will give a few notes and citations with reference to the hospitals and almshouses of early Philadelphia, and the methods of caring for the poor, both well and sick, to assist by comparison, to a better knowledge of the position, history and work of the great institution with which we are particularly concerned in these pages.

While the Philadelphia Hospital is the oldest in the city, the Pennsylvania Hospital was the first separate institution of this kind, that is, the first distinct from an almshouse or other institution. In 1751, Dr. Thomas Bond projected a plan for a general hospital for Philadelphia, and obtained the support of Franklin; and this was the origin of the Pennsylvania Hospital. A charter was granted in May, 1751, and the first trustees were elected in the July following. Judge Kinsey's house on the south side of Market street (then called High street), above Fifth, was rented, refitted for the reception of patients, and opened in 1752. In 1754, the managers bought the ground upon which the hospital still stands, between Spruce and Pine and Eighth and Ninth streets, and the corner-stone of the first building here was laid May 28, 1755.

The Friends' Almshouse of Philadelphia, which ante-dated by a number of years the first institution of the kind under the municipality, is described by Scharf and Westcott.

"In 1713 the first almshouse was established. It was determined by the city council in July, 1712, that, as the poor of the city were daily increasing, a workhouse should be founded for employing the poor; the overseers to hire the house, and the council to determine the rent and pay of superintendence. The mayor, aldermen Hill and Carter, and councilmen Carpenter, Hudson and Teague, were appointed to take the matter in charge. In the meantime, however, before the councils acted finally, the Friends had founded their own almshouse. It was established in a small house on the south side of Walnut street, between Third and Fourth streets, where, in 1729, the ancient, well-known building, called the Friends' Almshouse, was built, to stand till 1841. The lot belonged to John