The Express.
London, England, 1863-03-02 00:00:00

LONDON PETER HOSPITAL.

The annual general court of thin charity wag held
on Friday at the Freemasons' Tavern, the Right Hon. the
Earl of 'AVON in the chair. The report, as read by Dr.
Murchison, physician to the institution, and unanimously
adopted, showed that the total number of admisrions,
which in 1860 did nut exceed 391, and in 1861, 646, in 18132
amounted to no less than 2,699, being 533 in excess of the
largest number of patients admitted in any previous year
since the foundation of the hospital. The great increase
was mainly due to the prevalence of typhus fever. This
disease at one period had almost enterely disappeared from
the metropolis, so that during seven months of 1858
not a single case wee admitted into the hospital. As epi-
demic, however, oornmeoesd about the middle of December,
1861, and during 1862 no less than 1,827 cases were brought
in. The MUM of this epidemic appeared to be the existence
of destitution and overcrowding among the poor to an
notarial degree. Many of the patients had been in •
state of extreme destitution, verging on starvation, for
weeks before their illness, while many had come to Lon-
don from various parts of the country in search of work,
but there was no evidence that they Lad imported
the disease into Loucks though by their arrival the pauper
population of many of the poorer districts of London had
been condensed ; none of the patients, however, bad come
recently from Ireland. Of the cases of enteric and scarlet
fever • large proportion were servant, ie private families
who had been in comfortable cireurnstriacee before illness.
It was shown that although • considerable number of the
attendants on the sick had contracted typhus, a much larger
proportion had contracted the disease in all the general
osi tals of London, where cases of typhus bad been ad-
mitted during the epidemic. The report alluded to the
reprehensible practice of employing street cabs for the con-
veyance of patients suffering from infectious diseases. The
hospital had for several years been provided with • carriage
especially adapted for the purpose, which could be sent to
any part of Loodon ; the committee, however, regretted
that, owing to the limited funds they were compelled to
charge patients for horse hire on each occasion, and that
consequently the carriage was less used than it ought to
be. The public were therefore eotreated to contribute
towards • special fund for the maintenance of such carriage.
Since the foundation of the hospital in 1802, 34,949 patient.
had been removed to it from their own houses, and conse-
quently so many foci sif contagion had been arrested, while
the sick had been placed in circumstances moat favourable
to their recovery. The committee earnestly appealed for
increased support to enable them to meet the extraordinary
demand which the present epidemic continues to make on
the resources, for without such support their efforts would
be greatly curtailed. if not entirely paralysed. The hospital
bad exerted itself vigorously to stem the progress of this
epidemic, but its efficiency had been and still was greatly
impaired for want of funds. The report harlot been
unanimously adopted, the proceedings closed with a vote of
thanks to the chairman.