Burdett's Hospital Annual. Edited by Henry C. Burdett. (The Hospital,
140 Strand.)—Mr. Burdett's preface is interesting as usual. He comments with just severity on the revelations as to the sanitary condition of one of the great hospitals, and criticises very adversely Canon Duckworth's statement that Hospital Sunday has harmed the resources of the hospitals. No one should know more of this matter than Mr. Burdett ; he is of a distinctly contrary opinion. That the Canon, having made the statement, should justify it, can scarcely be questioned. Probably he really meant nothing more than that many people who ought to subscribe to hospitals content themselves with a shilling or so given at an -offertory. But the only effect of abolishing Hospital Sunday collections would be to save them their shillings. The tables are highly interesting. The cost of a bed seems to vary very largely. Of the London hospitals with medical schools, St. Bartholomew's heads the list, with an average of £121 13s. 9d.; the Westminster and the Royal Free come last, with £76 (plus a few pence). The Provincial, Scotch, and Irish Hospitals show lower figures. The Radcliffe, at Oxford, is highest, with £68 18s. 2d. ; the Belfast Royal Hospital lowest, with ..f..41 is. 2d. The Miller Hospital, a London institution, spends £213 7s. 8d. per bed. Some of the special hospitals seem to be very costly.
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