and have erected there on a wooden pavilion, divided into male and female wards, with all necessary bath rooms, nurses’ rooms, &c., everything being done which can contribute to the comfort and care of the inmates, while the greatest attention has been paid to the ventilation and other necessary items tending to their recovery.  This pavilion is only a portion of the scheme which the committee propose to carry out, it being intended to build four, if not five, other wards of brick.  A temporary block of administrative buildings has been erected at some distance from the pavilion.  There accommodation is provided for the matron, the resident medical superintendent, the nurses when off duty, and the ordinary kitchen, scullery, and other offices are attached.  When the permanent offices have been erected this building will be devoted to special fever cases, or, should there be a demand, private cases will be taken in.  The cost of the whole scheme is estimated at L20,000, including the sum given for the land.  It is most devoutly to be wished that this hospital, which is entirely free, will be generally used by families in case of a member thereof be taken with any nature of infectious fever, the most certain remedy against an epidemic of the kind, as well as the most favourable chance for the patient being such an isolation as is here provided.  The hospital was opened September 11, 1883, and in cases of scarlet fever and other disorders of an infectious character, an immediate application should be made to the health officer at the Council House.

Homoeopathic.—­A dispensary for the distribution of homoeopathic remedies was opened in this town in 1847, and though the new system met with the usual opposition, it has become fairly popular, and its practitioners have found friends sufficient to induce them to erect a very neat and convenient hospital, in Easy Row, at a cost of about L7,000, which was opened November 23rd, 1875, and may possibly soon be enlarged.  A small payment, weekly, is looked for, if the patient can afford it, but a fair number are admitted free, and a much larger number visited, the average number of patients being nearly 5,000 per annum.  Information given on enquiry.

Hospital for Women.—­This establishment in the Upper Priory was opened in October, 1871, for the treatment of diseases special to females.  No note or ticket of recommendation is required, applicants being attended to daily at two o’clock, except on Saturday and Sunday.  If in a position to pay, a nominal sum of 2s. 6d. a month is expected as a contribution to the funds, which are not so flourishing as can be wished.  The in-patients’ department or home at Sparkhill has accommodation for 25 inmates, and it is always full, while some thousands are treated at the town establishment.  The number of new cases in the out-patient department in 1883 was 2,648, showing an annual increase of nearly 250 a year.  Of the 281 in-patients admitted last year, 205 had