Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1879.djvu/59

Rh with the plans originally adopted. The walks and pavements already laid thus far have proven durable, with a few exceptions; trees and shrubbery have been planted, and the general design of improvements is approaching completion. Since the introduction of the police, good order has been maintained upon the grounds and but little damage has been sustained by depredations.

The architect reports certain repairs upon the court-house of the city of Washington, and calls attention to the insecure condition of the land records of the District of Columbia stored therein. A large part of the upper story of this building is of wooden construction, and liable to fire. Greater security could be obtained at a small cost by removing the land records from the upper to the lower or basement floor, which is substantially fire-proof.

The expenditures on the Capitol Extension account for the year ended June 30, 1879, were $55,000, the amount of the appropriation.

The appropriation for extension of Government Printing Office was $43,800; amount expended to July 1, $14,244.57; leaving an unexpended balance at that time of $29,555.43. `

The expenditures on account of lighting the Capitol and grounds were $27,000, the amount of the appropriation.

The expenditures on account of the improvement of the Capitol grounds were $100,000.

The report of the Board of Visitors of the Hospital for the Insane contains interesting information pertaining to the condition and management of the institution.

The whole number of patients under treatment during the year was 1,015. Admitted during the year, 222. Males treated, 769; females, 246. The number discharged was, of recoveries, 92; improved, 37; unimproved, 4; died, 63; remaining in hospital June 30, 1879, 819, an excess of 26 over the same time last year.

The patients treated were, from the Army, 491; Navy, 51; civil life, 473. A statement is given of the sanitary history of those who died during the years 1878 and 1879; also in relation to the duration of their mental diseases. A table is given showing the nativity, as far as could be ascertained, of the 4,715 cases treated since the opening of the institution, together with the form of disease of those admitted. A tabular statement is also submitted showing the time of life at which the 4,715 cases became insane.

Carefully prepared tables are also submitted showing the history of the annual admissions since the opening of the hospital, with the discharges and deaths, and the number of patients of each year remaining June 30, 1879; also showing the mean annual mortality, proportion of recoveries, per cent. of the discharges, including deaths, for each year since the opening of the hospital. Attention is called to the crowded