Page:Stewart 1879 On the teaching of medicine in Edinburgh University.djvu/15

13 are so arranged that a current of fresh air is admitted to a chamber situated behind the back plate of the grate. In this chamber the air becomes heated, and from it, is passed on into the ward by an opening above the chimney-piece. Each grate is calculated to yield per hour 100,000 feet of fresh air warmed up to a temperature of 60° Fahr. In such spacious rooms, the heat derived from the grates alone would, of course, be insufficient to keep up a satisfactory temperature. Therefore advantage is taken of a complete system of steam-pipes, which are distributed throughout the house, and by means of which it is expected the air of the wards will be maintained at a comfortable heat.

The next essential is an efficient system for the removal of excreta; and in connection with every ward there are very complete arrangements. The demands made by an infirmary upon the public drainage system, although formidable enough, are not so great as those of an ordinary town district of similar extent, for the population inhabiting the eleven acres of infirmary ground will be much less than that of adjoining spaces occupied by dwelling-houses. But the liability to infectious excreta makes the hospital drainage of special importance, even in an infirmary like ours, where infectious cases are not received. All the drains proper to the house are therefore carefully ventilated by means of pipes, which pass away above the ridge of the roof, far from any windows. The drains and pipes have further arrangements of double traps, so as to make them as secure as possible. The water supply for drinking purposes is quite distinct from that for the waterclosets and baths. Baths and lavatories of the most approved kinds are attached to each ward. When you visit the wards you will see the arrangements that have been made for supplying the food to the wards in good season, the ward kitchens, the recreation rooms, doctor's rooms, and other conveniences connected with them.

Gentlemen, when I think of the discomforts of the old Infirmary, of its cubic space of something like 1000 feet for each patient, of its deficient ventilation and superabundant draughts, of its inconvenient water-closet and lavatory arrangements, and its scarcely accessible baths, I feel that we cannot be too grateful for the generous efforts which have been made,