A second letter to the general court of contributors of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh; containing remarks on the proceedings at the meeting held on the 30th March, 1818. To which are annexed, the report of the committee, the reported speech of the Lord President, and the resolutions of the general meeting of the 30th March / By a contributor.

Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A second letter to the general court of contributors of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh; containing remarks on the proceedings at the meeting held on the 30th March, 1818. To which are annexed, the report of the committee, the reported speech of the Lord President, and the resolutions of the general meeting of the 30th March / By a contributor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    was formerly in use, and had been abandoned, because it was thought better to bleach the bnen in the country; and he had his doubts whe¬ ther it was a prudent measure to alter this plan now, and whether the spots and specks upon the sheets were not more than compensa¬ ted by the caller smell of a country bleachfield. The linen which was “ bleached on the gowan brae, and beetled in the burn,” would, to him at least, be preferable. One gentleman, from whom the Com¬ mittee had got much valuable information, had stated, that the wash-, ing in the hospitals of London was infinitely superior, but with great candour admitted, that on examining the sheets, he had observed some small stains. Where such existed, there could be little doubt that larger also existed occasionally; and as for the information he derived from matrons of the different hospitals, who asserted that their sheets were washed free from all stains by a common washer¬ woman at Somers’ Town, he must be allowed to discredit it as a thing impossible, an chemical principles. The bedding too of the Hospital had been much found fault with ; and how was it possible that some bedding in an establishment of the kind must not occasionally prove faulty—proper respect to economy would not allow them to throw things away: nay, such was their si¬ tuation respecting funds, that they were compelled to wear every thing to the back bone. It had been asserted, that there was no trace of any of the blankets being scoured, but how did this fact turn out ? In 1817, no less than 1791 pairs were scoured, which, supposing there had been 250 beds made down in the House all the year'round, would have supplied seven pairs of clean blankets to each. Again, with respect to sheets, no less than 3300 pairs had been washed last year, allowing thirteen pairs to 250 beds during the year. And now, with respect to the period at which this business was agi¬ tated, he could not help saying a few words.—It was in the month of July, when, from the epidemic which then prevailed so extensively over the country, an extraordinary influx of patients poured into the Hospital—if, during this time, some little derangement in the regu¬ lar supply of linen took place, it was not to be wondered at. It was at that time the Society for the Relief of the Destitute Sick waited on the Managers. A deputation from that truly philanthropic institu¬ tion was received by the Managers in the most friendly manner; and, in consequence of their statement of the prevalence of fever among the lower orders, Queensberry House was fitted up for the reception of seventy fever patients;—could it be wondered at then, that some