Lieut. Col. WM. H. ARTHUR, U. S. A. Dr. G. T. VAUGHN. Dr. W. P. CARR. Gynecology. Dr. J. W. BOVEÉ. Ophthalmology. Dr. W. K. BUTLER. Laryngology. Dr. W. A. WELLS. Dr. F. T. CHAMBERLIN. Genito-urinary Diseases. Dr. WALLACE NEFF. Medical Zoology. Dr. THOMAS A. CLAYTOR. Bacteriology. Dr. H. D. GIDDINGS. REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE. WASHINGTON, D. C., July 1, 1911. SIR: The Board of Visitors for the Government Hospital for the Insane have the honor to submit the fifty-sixth annual report of the hospital, consisting of the report of the superintendent for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, and his recommendations. Respectfully, GEO. M. STERNBERG, President of the Board of Visitors. Wм. A. WHITE, M. D. Superintendent, Secretary of the Board ex officio. The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT. MOVEMENTS OF POPULATION. On June 30, 1911, there were remaining in the hospital 2,862 patients, as against 2,916 remaining on June 30, 1910, a decrease of 54 over the previous year. There were admitted during the year 623 patients, a decrease of 27 over the previous year. The total number of patients under treatment during the year, however, was 3,539, or an increase of 37 over the previous year. The number of discharges, including deaths, during the year was 677, an increase of 91 over the previous year. The daily average population for the year was 2,884, as against 2,872.91 for the previous year, thus showing an increase of 11.09. The decrease in the number of admissions and the increase in the number of discharges during the past year are due to various causes, in the main as follows: There have been increased facilities for caring for the insane of the District of Columbia at the Washington Asylum Hospital, with the result that patients, instead of being immediately transferred from station houses to this hospital, are invariably sent to the Washington Asylum Hospital for observation and mental examination. The net result of this method of procedure is a great deal more care in the matter of commitment, and many patients are either discharged without commitment, perhaps to the care of their friends, or their condition is recognized as acute and they are permitted to stay there until they recover. The Army and the Navy have recently taken somewhat different attitudes toward the commitment of enlisted men, and the tendency |