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 LOCK HOSPITALS 
 
 AND 
 
 LOCK WARDS IN GENERAL HOSPITALS, 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERICK W. LOWNDES, M.E.C.S.Eng., 
 
 SURGEON, LIVERPOOL LOCK HOSPITAL. 
 
 LONDON: J. & A. CHURCHILL, 11, NEW BURLINGTON ST. 
 LIVERPOOL: ADAM HOLDEN, 48, CHURCH ST. 
 
 1882. 
 ^ <5^ vnicR ONE firTTT.T.TT^a «^ %a 
 
 PRICE ONE SHILLING.
 
 LOOK HOSPITALS 
 
 AND 
 
 LOCK WARDS IN GENERAL HOSPITALS, 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERICK W. LOWNDES, M.R.C.S.Eng. 
 
 SURGEON, LIVERPOOL LOCK HOSPITAL. 
 
 LONDON: J. & A. CHURCHILL, 11, NEW BURLINGTON ST. 
 LIVERPOOL: ADAM HOLDER, 48, CHURCH ST. 
 
 1882.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The limited knowledge the general public has of Lock Hospitals is 
 very remarkable, the more so that this ignorance does not extend 
 to the diseases for the cure of which these hospitals are intended. 
 That venereal diseases prevail to a very considerable extent among 
 all classes, in all large centres of population, is a fact well known. 
 That these diseases sometimes assume a very severe form, and 
 involve much suffering to innocent as well as vicious people, is 
 another fact of which the public is not ignorant. There is a vague 
 idea that for these, as for other diseases, most hospitals are open . 
 and in those localities where a lock hospital exists, there is an 
 impression, more or less general, that it is for the special reception 
 and treatment of persons suffering from these diseases. But as to 
 how these -hospitals are maintained, whether their number is in 
 any fair proportion to the increase of population and the greater 
 prevalence of these diseases ; whether the existing hospitals are or 
 are not sufficiently supported ; whether any deficiencies in these 
 respects are supplied by our workhouse hospitals and infirmaries ; 
 as to all these points people in general know little or nothing. 
 
 I have endeavoured in the following pages to give some informa- 
 tion which I trust will be of interest to those who may read them. 
 I would also hope that they may afford at least some assistance to 
 the managers of these hospitals, whose work, often very difficult 
 and thankless, is rendered still more so by the ignorance to which 
 I have alluded. For obvious reasons, details respecting these 
 hospitals can only be published in the medical press, and it is only 
 by means of pamphlets, judiciously circulated, that many who 
 might be willing to give them their assistance, pecuniary and 
 otherwise, can be made acquainted with their past history and 
 present condition. 
 
 Liverpool, Julyy 1882.

 
 VOLUNTAEY LOCK HOSPITALS. 
 
 Look Hospitals have a special interest for the medical profession 
 and the public quite apart from the special character of the diseases 
 treated within their walls. Indeed, their very existence is a matter 
 of accident. They owe it to the extreme foresight and benevolence 
 of their founders, who established them in spite of much dis- 
 couragement and many diflSculties. As we shall see presently, the 
 maintenance of these hospitals is a work of great difl&culty, and any 
 extension of them on the voluntary principle apparently quite out 
 of the question. Now, it would be entirely contrary to the pro- 
 verbial benevolence of this country if there were not very strong 
 reasons for this apparent negligence, and one chief reason is not 
 far to seek. These hospitals being built and maintained for persons 
 suffering from venereal diseases, it follows as a natural consequence 
 that the female patients will be mostly common prostitutes, and the 
 male patients men who have been guilty of some recent act of 
 immorality. In other words, lock hospitals are principally for the 
 reception and treatment of persons suffering from diseases, the 
 direct result of their own vicious indulgence. This is why they 
 enjoy so little of the liberality so lavishly bestowed upon other 
 hospitals and infirmaries, both general and special. Other circum- 
 stances tend to strengthen this loss of support. For obvious 
 reasons, those who are intrusted with the management of these 
 hospitals cannot advocate their claims for support from the 
 charitably disposed so publicly as in the case of other charitable 
 institutions. Of these latter, the only ones which can in any way 
 be compared with lock hospitals, are homes and refuges for fallen 
 women, which, however, differ from them in many important 
 points which need not be discussed here. Again, Lock Hospitals can 
 never be open to the inspection of the public, nor can they ever be
 
 2 
 
 the objects of public entortainments, annual dinners, concerts, or 
 bazaars. Their claims cannot be specially pleaded from pulpit or 
 platform. Their work must be begun and carried on silently and 
 unnoticed, save by the very few. All these circumstances combine 
 to make the position of these hospitals very precarious, and to dis- 
 courage their most zealous advocates from pushing their claims. 
 And yet, so obvious is it that such hospitals are required, it being 
 well known to medical men and hospital managers that, as a rule, 
 venereal cases are not admitted into the wards of general hospitals 
 and infirmaries, that I think it will startle medical as well as 
 lay readers to learn that the following is a complete list of the 
 voluntary lock hospitals in the United Kingdom, giving them in the 
 order of their respective ages : — 
 
 
 Year first 
 
 OPENED. 
 
 Number of Beds. 
 
 Where situated. 
 
 Total 
 Male. 
 
 Female. 
 
 Total 
 Females 
 
 London 
 
 1747 
 1792 
 1805 
 1819 
 1834 
 1870 
 
 20 
 
 none 
 none 
 none 
 25 
 none 
 
 36 made up 
 
 75 
 
 60 
 
 20 
 
 25 
 
 16 
 
 68 
 
 Dublin 
 
 150 
 
 Glasgow 
 
 81 
 
 Manchester 
 
 60 
 
 Liverpool 
 
 25 
 
 Bristol 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 Total... 
 
 45 
 
 232 made up. 
 
 400 
 
 The last column shows the number of beds for females which 
 could be made up in each hospital. But the available funds of the 
 first four hospitals only suffice for the number of beds given in the 
 previous column. 
 
 A brief history of each of these will be both interesting and 
 instructive.
 
 3 
 
 THE LONDON LOCK HOSPITAL. 
 
 I AM indebted to Mr. Geo. H. Bishop, the obliging and experienced 
 resident surgeon of the Female Lock Hospital, for the following 
 extract. It is from: "A Complete History and Survey of the 
 Cities of London and Westminster, the Borough of Southwark and 
 parts adjacent, from the earliest accounts to the year 1770." 
 
 Par. 570 : " St. George's Parish, Southwark. At the South- 
 east corner of Kent Street is The Lock Hospital. 
 
 "This was anciently a house for the reception and cure of 
 lepers, but at present (1770) it belongs to St. Bartholomew's 
 Hospital, and is appropriated to the cure of venereal patients. 
 
 "It is a small neat edifice, at the South-end of which is a 
 chapel. 
 
 *' Built about 120 years ago." 
 
 Par. 698 : " Near this hospital (St. George's) is a Lock 
 Hospital*, erected for the reception of persons afflicted with venereal 
 disorders, and supported by voluntary subscriptions and donations." 
 
 The first quoted paragraph explains the origin of the word 
 "lock" hospital, the lepers being kept in restraint. Another 
 reference to this ancient lock hospital is given in Turner's work on 
 Syphilis (p. 175), published in 1724, and quoted by the late 
 Mr. Acton in a work published in 1869: * " As to your desire of 
 knowing how many patients might be taken into the Lock Hospital, 
 Southwark, I here send you an exact account of those that were 
 admitted and discharged from that house in 1720, which was the 
 last year they were under my direction. 
 
 Admitted from January, 17 ^§ inclusive, to January, 1720] 
 exclusive ... ... ... ... ... ... J 
 
 Cured and Discharged 108 
 
 Died 7 
 
 Sam Palmer." 
 
 The present hospital is a continuation of one founded in 
 
 * Prostitution considered in its Moral, Social, and Sanitary Aspects. 
 2nd edition. Footnote to page 78
 
 Grosvenor Place in 1747, and moved to Westbourne Green in 
 1846, having both male and female beds ; also out-patients. 
 But in 1862 the hospital in Dean Street, Soho, was opened for 
 male in-patients, and male and female out-patients, so that at the 
 hospital in Westbourne Green there are now only female in-patients. 
 The very existence of this, the only lock hospital in the first 
 city of the world, was for upwards of a century one continued 
 struggle ; and even now, with all the advantages it possesses, its 
 royal and aristocratic patrons, the support which generally attaches 
 to such long-established charities, the assistance derived from a 
 well-attended chapel, with all these, its financial position is by no 
 means what it might be reasonably expected to be. Writing in 
 1857, Mr. Acton stated : — " Unsupported by Parliamentary grants, 
 or metropolitan local funds, the Lock Hospital derived, in 1856, 
 £1,292 18s. of its trifling income from the voluntary contributions 
 which do honour to the liberality of a very limited body of sub- 
 scribers, and from the half-profits of a chapel, £227 9s. It 
 relieves at one time about 45 in- and 250 out-patients. The totals 
 in 1856 were of the former 397, of the latter 2,170, and its 
 entire income was £1,505 17s. 9d." Mr. Acton proceeds : — ** It 
 would almost seem to one reading the annual report of the charity 
 that the governing body are painfully nervous lest its real aim 
 should appear in black and white upon their pages. The spirit of 
 know-nothingism sits heavy on their shoulders, although they hint 
 at its folly in others. They give their time, trouble, and money to 
 the charity, but they hesitate, I see, to avow the character of the 
 good work they are engaged upon. They invite their friends to 
 give publicity to their report and appeal ; but the one is compara- 
 tively dumb upon the topics which would have nerved the other. 
 It seems, indeed, as though the hospital were put forward less 
 upon its own merits than under the wing of the affiliated asylum or 
 reformatory, which, though of less public importance, is made so 
 prominent as to divert, I fear, the financial nutriment so much 
 required by its parent. * The mission of such institutions,' say 
 the governors, * is to eradicate a widespread moral, as well as 
 physical malady.' Should they fall even something short of this,
 
 they will have done great things ; but if they hope for any material 
 advance from their own present unpromising position, they must 
 shake off unnecessary timidity, appeal to the public and the State, 
 and take much more advantage than heretofore of the nucleus for 
 extended operations offered by the antiquity and repute of the 
 charity they superintend. I would not have ventured upon this 
 expression of opinion did I not wish well to all concerned, and 
 believe that by giving additional publicity in unflinching terms to 
 its legitimate objects and its wants, I may even be doing the Lock 
 Hospital good service." 
 
 In 1875 I had an opportunity of seeing both the male and 
 female hospitals, and I feel that I cannot do better than follow, 
 though at a respectful distance, Mr. Acton's excellent example, by 
 endeavouring to make the claims of lock hospitals, especially those 
 for females, better known to the public. In 1869 the female 
 hospital in Westbourne Green was enlarged by the erection of a 
 new wing — "The Prince of Wales' Wing" — containing 73 beds. 
 As we shall see, this hospital is partly supported by the Govern- 
 ment and partly by voluntary aid. It is with the latter that we are 
 at present concerned. In conjunction with the hospital are an 
 *' Asylum," '* Servants' Home," and "Mission to Female Out- 
 Patients." On the voluntary side there are wards with 60 beds, but 
 of these 32 are vacant for want of funds. The last report shows 
 that subscriptions, including new ones, the result of a special appeal 
 by Lord Kinnaird, amount to £846, donations to £1,580, legacies 
 £185, Hospital Sunday Fund £202. The report is free from the 
 objection complained of by lilr. Acton, as will be seen from the 
 following extract : — " This Institution, for more than a century and 
 a quarter, has steadily relieved the misery and bodily suffering 
 endured by destitute fallen women, and this prominent fact em- 
 boldens the Weekly Board to presa on to the benevolent public its 
 claims to continued support. The debt which had been unavoidably 
 incurred in enlarging and improving the hospital has now been 
 cleared off, but the Governors have never at any time been enabled 
 to make large investments, and their securities, vested in the names 
 of trustees, have lately been very much reduced by the sale of a
 
 6 
 
 portion of the same to meet current expenses and additions and in 
 improvements to the building ; while the expenditure of the past 
 year is in excess of the income by £1,049. Moreover, the scale of 
 monthly expenditure, after every attempt at economy, remains 
 necessarily large, and the hospital must depend on regular Annual 
 Subscriptions and Donations, which have suffered from the pro- 
 tracted depression of trade, and by the retrenchments which all 
 classes have had to practise." 
 
 The report gives the most favourable results of the Asylum, 
 Servants' Home, and Mission to Female Out-Patients, which show 
 that the hospital assists very much towards the future moral and 
 social welfare of its patients, as well as in promoting their bodily 
 cure. Among the patients are married women who have been 
 infected by their husbands, and females who have only recently 
 fallen, many of them being very young. The following shows the 
 work effected by the hospital in the one year, 1880 : — 
 
 Females admitted as in-patients, including 
 
 Government cases and 63 married women . . . 999 
 
 Males admitted as in-patients 300 
 
 Female out-patients 2,294 
 
 Male do 11,625 
 
 Total 15,218 
 
 From all this it is evident that the London Lock 'Hospital, the 
 oldest, the largest, and the most favourably situated of all British 
 lock hospitals, is deserving of much more generous support from 
 the public than at present it receives. As we shall see further on, 
 the beds set apart for females with venereal diseases in all the 
 other London hospitals only augment the number by 57 to a total 
 of 93. Numbers of women are annually sent away for want of 
 room, and the Weekly Board ought to be placed in a position to 
 enable them to keep at least one hundred beds always ready for 
 occupation. There are hundreds, I might say thousands, of women 
 leading a life of prostitution in London while in a state of disease. 
 In every one taken from off the streets into hospital we have at
 
 once a most philanthropic and humane action done to the woman 
 herself. The hospital is a most powerful means of reformation 
 to the fallen women in it, and on this account alone deserves sup- 
 port. Moreover, the unfortunate married women who are compelled 
 to seek its aid need no arguments of mine to recommend them to 
 charitable consideration. But even admitting, as we must, that 
 many of the former class of patients will, when cured, or even 
 before then, return to their former vicious life, surely it cannot be 
 contended that we have encouraged vice or committed an error of 
 judgment. Such a contention is begging the whole question of 
 humanity. 
 
 Though I fear the suggestion will sound chimerical, I would 
 yet suggest to the Weekly Board of Governors that they should 
 appeal to the public for an Endowment Fund. The sum of eight 
 hundred pounds would, if invested, produce a sufficient sum to 
 endow permanently one bed in the hospital. There must be in 
 London many wealthy and liberal individuals of both sexes who 
 would be willing to give this (publicly or anonymously) if the 
 example were once set ; and by this means ten, twenty, or even a 
 higher number of beds might be always available for voluntary 
 patients, independently of those now maintained by the annual 
 income. It may be that I have over-estimated the sum required ; 
 be this as it may, I give the suggestion for what it is worth, leaving 
 better informed and abler persons to work it out. 
 
 THE WESTMORELAND LOCK HOSPITAL, DUBLIN. 
 
 From a History of Dublin, published in 1818, I find that 
 the Buckingham Hospital, originally intended as a small-pox 
 hospital, was for some time prior to 1792 used as a lock hospital ; 
 but being insufficient for that purpose, and inconveniently situated 
 for the necessary medical attendance, it was in that year transferred 
 to the Governors of the Charitable Foundation for Incurables, who 
 
 B
 
 8 
 
 gave in exchange their hospital in Townsend Street, which has 
 since that period been denominated the Westmoreland Lock 
 Hospital, from the nobleman who was then Viceroy, and at whose 
 instance the exchange was effected. It was opened in 1792 for the 
 indiscriminate admission, without recommendation, of indigent 
 persons affected with the venereal disease. It appears that prior 
 to 1792 the number of indigent persons affected with that disease, 
 and earnestly requesting to be received into the House of Industry 
 and the other hospitals of Dublin, was so great as to prove a heavy 
 burden on establishments with limited funds ; for, when admitted, 
 they too often occupied the beds which were wanted for other 
 descriptions of such poor, better entitled to relief. A wish to meet 
 this evil by an adequate remedy induced Government to open this 
 hospital. At first male and female patients were admitted, and in 
 the first sixteen years, 22,811 patients in all were admitted. The 
 hospital was from the first supported entirely by parliamentary 
 grants, the sum voted varying, but being £2,813, until the parties 
 known as the Scotch purists and Lambeth economists were strong 
 enough, first to reduce it in 1838 to £1,750, and then, in 1854, to 
 overthrow it altogether. But a Committee of the House of 
 Commons, appointed in 1854, succeeded, in spite of Ministerial 
 opposition, in restoring the vote to its place on the list. This was 
 no packed tribunal, as may be judged from the fact that it expressed 
 approval of an annual grant for Irish benefit, although composed of 
 eleven English and only five Irish members. Their report was as 
 follows : — 
 
 '' The Westmoreland Lock Hospital was established under the 
 direction of the Government in 1792, for the relief of male and 
 female venereal patients ; in 1819 it was remodelled, and confined 
 to the reception of female venereal patients only. Since the 
 union it has received grants from Parliament, varying in amount 
 from £9,019, the highest, to £1,215, the lowest, being the sum 
 proposed in the estimate of the present year. 
 
 " This Hospital is managed by a Board of ten Governors, 
 appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant. It appears to be well and 
 economically conducted ; it has no source of income except Parlia-
 
 9 
 
 mentary grants. The number of beds has been diminished, in 
 consequence of the reduction of the grant, from 150 to 40. 
 
 " The importance of such an institution in a town like Dublin 
 can hardly be over-rated. It appears that in large garrison towns, 
 the establishment of a lock hospital for females is the best mode 
 of preventing venereal diseases among the soldiers. 
 
 " On the mere grounds of economy, its support by Parliament 
 can be justified, as venereal disease constantly incapacitates, and 
 even causes the discharge of the soldier at the very age that he is 
 most serviceable to the country. 
 
 *' The present Government have proposed a vote this year for 
 the establishment of lock wards in the Hospital at Portsmouth. 
 
 *' There are great objections to the treatment of female venereal 
 patients in general or in workhouse hospitals; in Dublin they 
 have usually been totally excluded from the former, and serious 
 evils have arisen from their treatment in the latter. 
 
 ** Venereal disease has increased in the city in consequence of 
 the grant having been reduced. It is difficult to obtain private 
 subscriptions for such an institution. 
 
 '* It appears that 150 beds at least are necessary for the recep- 
 tion of female venereal patients in Dublin. Your Committee are of 
 opinion that a sum of from £2,500 to £3,000 a year would be 
 required for the support of this Hospital. The Committee are also 
 of opinion that all hospitals which receive assistance from the 
 State ought to afford medical instruction ; the Governors, there- 
 fore, should be directed by the Lord-Lieutenant to admit students 
 under such restrictions as may be found necessary to ensure pro- 
 priety and morality." 
 
 With the exception of this last, the recommendations of the 
 Committee were adopted, and the hospital now receives a grant of 
 £2,600 per annum. In all lock hospitals the female patients object 
 very greatly to the presence of students ; and it has been found 
 impracticable to adopt this recommendation. I had an opportunity 
 of seeing this hospital in February last, when Dr. Rawdon Macna- 
 mara, the senior surgeon, kindly showed me over. At the present 
 time the Government grant does not suffice to keep more than half
 
 10 
 
 the total number of beds (150) occupied. The number of patients 
 treated during the year ending 31st March, 1881, was 772. The 
 number of wards enable the patients to be classified, and a very 
 considerable number of fallen women are reclaimed and restored to 
 a virtuous life. Many married women infected by their husbands 
 are admitted, sometimes with infants also infected with disease. 
 The hospital affords every proof of being most efl&ciently managed, 
 and the only circumstance to be regretted is that the whole number 
 of 150 beds cannot be kept up and utilized. This can only be 
 effected by an increased grant. 
 
 Dr. Fitzgibbon has kindly forwarded me a copy of the last 
 Report of the Board of Superintendence, the first paragraph of 
 which is very instructive, and is as follows : — " This institution 
 appears to realize nearly all the conditions required for the suc- 
 cessful treatment of the class of patients for whose use it is 
 designed, but we believe that the spread of disease would be 
 greatly checked if patients could be induced to enter the hospital, 
 or could be removed to it for treatment in the early stages of 
 disease.*' 
 
 THE GLASGOW LOCK HOSPITAL. 
 
 This, the only lock hospital in Scotland, was established in 1805, 
 being incorporated by seal of cause from the magistrates and 
 town council of Glasgow, and supported by voluntary contribu- 
 tions. From the Medical Officer's Report for 1881, which, as the 
 Directors remark, is a very full and satisfactory one, I give the 
 following extracts : — 
 
 "The medical history of the hospital presents a few special 
 points of interest which may be worth recording. On looking over 
 the reports for a series of years, as from 1860 to the present time, 
 it is observed that about 10,000 patients have received curative 
 medical treatment in the wards during that period ; and further, 
 that while the great majority of these patients have been unfor-
 
 11 
 
 tunate girls (making a livelihood by prostitution), some of them 
 have been the wives of tradesmen, some of soldiers, and not a few 
 of them have been shop or mill girls, or domestic servants or field 
 workers (not persons publicly engaged in prostitution), but having 
 contracted disease, have sought admission to the wards in order to 
 be cured, so that they might return to their families or friends, or 
 service, in restored health." 
 
 "In 1867, when there was only accommodation for about 86 
 patients, the number of individuals admitted to the hospital was 
 624; by 1870 the accommodation was increased to 60 beds, but 
 since that time the numbers have decreased, faUing from 558 in 
 1870 to 849 in 1881." 
 
 ** During the last year, with reviving trade, with a large 
 consumpt of alcohol, in this large city and suburbs, there have 
 been fewer patients admitted to the Glasgow Lock Hospital than 
 in any previous year since 1858. This decided diminution in the 
 prevalence of the disease must be gratifying to the Directors, as it 
 affords evidence that the hospital is fulfilling in an eminent degree 
 the high purpose for which it was instituted, and that It continues 
 to call for and to merit the hearty sympathy and support of the 
 community." 
 
 The number of patients admitted during the year 1881 was 
 849, which, with the 24 remaining in the hospital at the beginning 
 of that year, makes a total of 373. The annual subscriptions 
 amounted to £468, the expenditure to £659. It was thus neces- 
 sary to meet the difference by £180 drawn from the bank. Liberal 
 contributions in kind, especially coal, are sent by different firms. 
 With the exception of £8 as fees from special cases, there are no 
 other donations and no legacies. The expenditure is moderate, 
 and the hospital, being the only one of its kind in the whole of 
 Scotland, deserves increased support. It also appears from the 
 Report that the worst cases of the disease come from distant 
 country districts, those of Ayr, Hamilton, and Maryhill being 
 specified. The Report concludes as follows : — **In concluding this 
 Report, the Medical Officers desire to reiterate the statement made 
 in former reports, that in addition to causes connected more
 
 12 
 
 especially with the hospital itself, and its management, one of the 
 principal agents in the reduction of the prevalence of the disease in 
 the city of Glasgow, as compared with Dublin, Liverpool, or Man- 
 chester, is the wise, judicious, and effective measures carried out 
 by the poHce authorities for repressing the vice upon which the 
 origin of the disease depends." 
 
 I wish I could agree with the medical officers, Drs. Dunlop and 
 Patterson, in thinking that a reduced number of admissions means 
 a reduced amount of disease in the city generally. Unfortunately, 
 reviving trade and the large consumpt of alcohol have a direct 
 tendency to keep prostitutes out of the hospital. Repressive 
 measures, very similar to those enforced in Glasgow, are also 
 carried out by the police in Manchester, and in Liverpool the 
 prostitutes are not allowed to go on unchecked. Under existing 
 circumstances, it seems to me that any diminution in the number 
 of females admitted into voluntary lock hospitals, is a matter 
 rather of regret than of congratulation, since it means not reduc- 
 tion of disease, but rather its concealment. 
 
 THE MANCHESTER AND SALFORD LOCK AND 
 SKIN DISEASE HOSPITAL. 
 
 This hospital was established in 1819. The last annual Report 
 gives the following interesting information : — 
 
 " The Committee have reason to believe that the public now 
 recognise the sanitary and moral advantages of hospitals devoted 
 to the special purpose for which this was originally instituted in 
 1819 ; at the same time they wish to correct the impression which 
 still prevails that the hospital is provided for the relief of the most 
 abandoned, and to state that their efforts are rather devoted to 
 assist those who are the innocent victims of vice, and those who 
 have been more sinned againgt than sinning, and to those who are 
 
 anxious to escape &om situations of vice and disease 
 
 Innocent wives and young children form a large percentage of the
 
 13 * 
 
 cases treated in the hospital ; and if alone for these, the Com- 
 mittee appeal for increased funds to meet the increasing demands 
 
 upon the resources of the charity The hospital is 
 
 capable of accommodating sixty patients, and the applications 
 for admission are more numerous than the hospital could receive, 
 but owing to the state of the funds the Committee only feel 
 justified in having twenty beds occupied. . . . The present 
 hospital was built in 1874, and its walls still remain unpainted for 
 want of funds ; and there are also many other alterations urgently 
 needed, but which the Committee do not feel justified in under- 
 taking in the face of a debt of nearly £1,800, which they regard 
 as their first obligation. . . . The class of patients received 
 into the hospital is principally composed of those who have never 
 known the advantages of sympathy and cleanliness, and who are 
 taught, for the first time, habits of self-respect, regularity, and 
 decency. Under the influence of spiritual, as well as bodily, com- 
 fort, they are encouraged by the motherly tenderness and shrewd 
 sagacity of the matron to give up their wicked life, and assisted to 
 commence an honest and virtuous career." * 
 
 During the two years ending 31st December, 1881, there had 
 been a total of 4,103 out-patients, viz. : — 
 
 Males 3,001 
 
 Females 1,004 
 
 Children 98 
 
 Total ... 4,103 
 
 In-Patients. — (All Females.) 
 
 Married , 25 
 
 Unmarried 148 
 
 Left in hospital, 31st December, 1879 ... 20 
 
 Total 193 
 
 Of the married patients, all returned to their families except 
 one, who died. Of the unmarried, 58 were taken home by their
 
 14 
 
 parents, 40 have gone to various charitable homes, 13 have 
 returned to their situations as domestic servants, 37 have been 
 made out-patients, and 2 have died. On the 31st December, 
 1881, there were 18 remaining in the hospital. 
 
 The expenditure for 1881 was £586, in addition to a sum of 
 £473 due to the bankers. The subscriptions were £269; legacies, 
 donations, amount derived from Hospital Sunday and Saturday 
 Fund, with £53 19s. Od. for board of in-patients, increased this 
 amount to £853, leaving a balance of £205 still due to bankers. 
 This, and the hospital in Liverpool, are the only two lock hospitals 
 in the whole of the north of England. Mr. Walter Whitehead, 
 one of the surgeons to the hospital, kindly conducted me through 
 it, and gave me much useful information. It will be seen that the 
 hospital is in need of much more liberal support. It has a great 
 advantage in possessing small wards, which enable the patients to 
 be classified, and assists greatly towards their moral improvement. 
 There is one paragraph in the Report which I regret to read, which 
 is as follows : — " The doors of the hospital are always open in the 
 first instance to every one sufi'ering from the diseases for which it 
 treats ; but in order to prevent abuse, and to reserve its benefits for 
 the most deserving, no patient is admitted a second time." 
 
 While giving every credit for the laudable intentions of this 
 rule, it is obvious that it must tend to narrow the benefits of the 
 hospital on the one hand, and probably also the interest and sup- 
 port of the public on the other, I sincerely trust that the Com- 
 mittee will soon succeed in clearing off the debt on the hospital, 
 and in receiving such increased support as may enable them to 
 rescind the above rule. 
 
 THE LIVERPOOL LOCK HOSPITAL. 
 
 This hospital differs entirely in its history from any of the preced- 
 ing. The old Liverpool Royal Infirmary, opened in 1749, was 
 enlarged in 1752 by the erection of wings, which were used for the
 
 15 
 
 reception of seamen. Owing probably to the circumstance that 
 venereal diseases were very prevalent among these latter, and that 
 there was then no other hospital in Liverpool, and no workhouse, 
 patients of both sexes, suffering from venereal diseases, were 
 admitted. When the present Infirmary was completed in 1824, 
 wards accommodating 25 patients of each sex were set apart as 
 venereal wards. Greater accommodation being soon required, this 
 was afforded by the erection of the present Lock Hospital in 1834, 
 with wards containing the same number of patients as were pre- 
 viously provided in the venereal wards of the Infirmary, and thus 
 giving the latter an addition of 50 beds. The Liverpool Lock 
 Hospital is thus a part of the Royal Infirmary, and under the 
 management of its committee, though having its separate surgical 
 staff, superintendent, matron, nurses, &c. During the year 1834, 
 there were admitted 218 males, 196 females ; in all 414. The 
 numbers fluctuate, as will be seen by the following return of 
 patients for the last ten years : — 
 
 Year. 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1872 
 
 281 
 
 160 
 
 . ' 431 
 
 1873 
 
 298 
 
 185 
 
 483 
 
 1874 
 
 312 
 
 144 
 
 456 
 
 1875 
 
 295 
 
 172 
 
 467 
 
 1876 
 
 836 
 
 150 
 
 486 
 
 1877 
 
 326 
 
 141 
 
 467 
 
 1878 
 
 391 
 
 183 
 
 574 
 
 1879 
 
 319 
 
 215 
 
 534 
 
 1880 
 
 333 
 
 291 
 
 624 
 
 1881 
 
 362 
 
 280 
 
 642 
 
 From the year 1854 to 1881, a total of 13,163 patients have 
 been admitted, of which 8,019 were males, and 5,144 females. 
 
 My colleague, Dr. Bernard, and I have every reason to expect 
 that the numbers this year will be even more, the wards having 
 been almost constantly full on both sides of the hospital. It must 
 not be inferred, however, that the increased number of patients 
 implies an increased amount of disease ; it means rather that the
 
 16 
 
 hospital is better appreciated by the females, among whom these 
 diseases constantly prevail, while the male wards continue to be, as 
 they always have been, fairly well filled all the year round. 
 Periodically, as many as from fifteen to thirty men have to be 
 refused in one week, for want of room. The hospital is most 
 economically worked, as may be judged from the total expenditure 
 of last year being £873 8s. 5d., for 675 patients; 642 admitted 
 during the year, and 81 remaining from the previous year. In 
 1880 it was £839 18s. 6d., the number of patients being some- 
 what less. But although the expenditure is so moderate, it is a 
 very fortunate circumstance that the hospital is a part of the Royal 
 Infirmary, as, but for- this, there is only too much reason to fear 
 that Liverpool would be without any lock hospital at all. While 
 admitting fully the proverbial liberality of the citizens of Liver- 
 pool, it must also be admitted that hospitals and institutions for 
 the most deserving objects are only built and carried on by the 
 very greatest exertions, and with no little difficulty. It must be 
 obvious that a lock hospital, on an independent basis, would have 
 had a slender chance, seeing what has been the history of similar 
 hospitals in London, Glasgow, Manchester, and, as we shall see 
 presently, that of the Bristol Lock Hospital also ; nor has the 
 Liverpool Hospital escaped prejudice, though I am glad to think 
 that this is now removed. A proportion of our female patients 
 are married women who have been infected by their husbands ; 
 these are surely deserving of compassion and sympathy, and there 
 is no other hospital in Liverpool, except the Workhouse hospital, 
 into which they could be admitted. Again, every one of our female 
 patients who has previously led an abandoned life, has the oppor- 
 tunity afforded to her of leaving it. Mr. and Mrs. Serjeant, the 
 present superintendent and matron, use every effort to induce 
 these women to give up their wretched life, and their efforts are 
 to a certain extent successful. But all their efforts are much ham- 
 pered by existing circumstances, and especially by the limited 
 accommodation, which comprises only two wards, opening into one 
 another. Into these, married women, young females who have 
 only just commenced an immoral life, and prostitutes are admitted.
 
 17 
 
 Any classification is impossible. There are evidences that when 
 the hospital was first erected, nearly fifty years ago, it was 
 with the conviction that it would be necessary subsequently to 
 enlarge it by the addition of another story. The Committee 
 have never seen their way to enlarge the hospital, and viewing 
 the great demands made upon them by the increasing impor- 
 tance of the Infirmary, they would not be justified in doing 
 so without special and liberal support from the public for this 
 specific purpose. If, therefore, these pages should fall into the 
 hands of any fellow-citizens, liberally endowed with wealth, and 
 willing to bestow some of it in a good cause, here is a most excel- 
 lent opportunity. For a sum of £600, a house adjacent to the 
 hospital could be secured and fitted to accommodate from ten to 
 twelve patients. In it we should be able to isolate the married 
 women and young girls, leaving the present wards for prostitutes, 
 who, as we have seen, are coming in in much larger numbers than 
 in any year prior to 1880. And I may here repeat, that in every 
 one taken from off the streets while in a state of disease, and pre- 
 vented from following her trade, a humane act is don^ to her, since 
 she is prevented from making herself worse. At the same time 
 she is prevented from spreading her disease to innocent as well 
 as guilty people. Within the last seven years we have admitted 
 between seventy and eighty married women who have all con- 
 tracted the disease from their husbands. Could we carry the 
 history further, we should most probably find that these men all 
 contracted the disease from prostitutes. I trust, therefore, that 
 enough has been urged to induce benevolent persons to strengthen 
 the hands of the Committee of the Royal Infirmary, not only by 
 aiding them in the manner I have indicated, but also by increased 
 annual subscriptions. They undertake the management of this, 
 the only lock hospital in Liverpool, as well as that of the 
 Infirmary. Into the lock hospital we receive patients from all 
 parts of the city and neighbourhood, and some from a considerable 
 distance. On all grounds, therefore, the Committee are entitled to 
 the most liberal support from the public. And it is not only by 
 money that help may be afforded. Many who cannot give this,
 
 18 
 
 could give old linen, books, newspapers, especially illustrated 
 papers and magazines, which latter would cheer many a weary 
 hour. Other hospitals have these sent in abundance, but it is 
 remarkable how few ever think of sending, unasked, anything to a 
 lock hospital. With the aid of a few influential friends, I suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining engravings for the wards ; and a gentleman 
 gave me five pounds to be expended in paying the expenses of such 
 female patients as wished to return home to their friends. It is 
 quite impossible to over-estimate the good which a little judicious 
 expenditure may accomplish, and if others can be induced to follow 
 such an excellent example, these pages will not have been written 
 
 THE BRISTOL LOCK HOSPITAL. 
 
 This hospital owes its establishment in great measure to the 
 exertions of Mr. R. W. Coe, surgeon, of that city, who is its 
 honorary surgeon. The Report for 1881 contains the following 
 statement : — 
 
 *' The Old Park Lock Hospital has now been in existence for 
 nearly twelve years, and each year gives increasing evidence of the 
 important place it holds amongst the medical charities of this city. 
 "It is the only hospital that receives women when they are 
 suffering from diseases incident to an immoral life. And however 
 much we may regret that there are no wards set apart in the 
 Infirmary and General Hospital for this class of patients, there are 
 great advantages in their being treated in a separate house, where 
 they have constant personal attention, and are placed in healthful 
 moral condition. They come there voluntarily, as they would to 
 any other hospital, to be cured. They receive the best medical 
 care and most kind and skilled nursing. Whilst lying by, sick and 
 suffering, they are led to see the past in a new light ; they become 
 attached to the nurse, who watches over them with motherly care, 
 and are influenced for good by her and the ladies who help her in 
 the work. A large proportion of those who come to be healed,
 
 19 
 
 without any thought of amendment, leave with an earnest desire to 
 lead better lives and pass to Houses or Reformatories, or, in some 
 cases, to service, under mistresses who are willing to watch over 
 them." 
 
 The number of patients admitted during 1881 was 51, which, 
 with 15 in the hospital at the end of 1880, makes a total of 66. 
 The total expenditure was £438 ; subscriptions, £322 ; donations, 
 £87 ; balance from 1880, £27 ; amount due to treasurer, £1 5s. 8d. 
 Now, seeing that Bristol is a large seaport, containing upwards of 
 200,000 inhabitants, it is clear that a larger hospital is needed, 
 and a much larger number of patients must be received before any 
 sensible reduction of disease can be effected. I trust, therefore, 
 that the hospital may receive increased support in the future, and 
 that its managers may be able to provide additional accommodation. 
 
 Such is a brief history of all the voluntary lock hospitals in the 
 United Kingdom. The Westmoreland Hospital, in Dublin, is 
 supported entirely by Government ; and the Liverpool Hospital 
 may be considered as maintained indirectly out of the funds of the 
 Royal Infirmary. All the others must be considered as having a 
 more or less precarious existence, and as being much hampered 
 for want of funds. The utter paucity of these hospitals will be 
 obvious, for if they are required at all, they must be required in 
 every large town or city, and especially in every one which is a 
 seaport or garrison town. It would be absurd to suppose that 
 Edinburgh, Leith, and Aberdeen do not require such hospitals 
 quite as much as Glasgow ; and that Belfast and Kingstown do not 
 require them as much as Dublin. And why should not Birming- 
 ham, Cardiff, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
 Sheffield, and Wolverhampton each have its lock hospital quite as 
 much as London, Manchester, Liverpool, or Bristol ? For prosti- 
 tution and venereal diseases are not peculiar to any town or city, 
 metropolitan or provincial, but prevail everywhere, being most 
 concentrated in each of those places which is the centre of a large 
 population.
 
 20 
 
 But it may be asked, Are there not lock wards in the older 
 London hospitals, and in all the general hospitals and infirmaries 
 of those towns and cities which have no lock hospital ? The 
 answer to this question will form the next important point we have 
 to consider, viz. : — 
 
 LOCK WARDS IN GENERAL HOSPITALS AND 
 INFIRMARIES. 
 
 For many years past patients with venereal disease have been 
 admitted into such of the London hospitals as have special accom- 
 modation for them. Till within the last thirteen years the number 
 of beds in the Lock Hospital was very limited, and the necessity for 
 lock wards in some parts of London was most apparent and 
 urgent. Hence we find that at St. Bartholomew's, Guy's, St. 
 Thomas', The Royal Free, Middlesex, and King's College Hospitals 
 there were lock wards, each containing from six to fifty beds. I 
 regret to notice that there has been a great reduction in the 
 number lately. The following table shows the total number of 
 beds set apart for females with these diseases in the London 
 hospitals : — 
 
 Name of Hospital. No. of Beds. 
 
 Charing Cross ... ... ... ... None. 
 
 Guy's ... ... ... .,. ... None. 
 
 King's College ... ... ... ... None. 
 
 London ... ..c ... ... ... 8 
 
 Middlesex 7 
 
 Royal Free None. 
 
 St. Bartholomew's ... ... ... 14 
 
 St. George's None. 
 
 St. Mary's None. 
 
 St. Thomas' 28 
 
 University College ... ... ... None. 
 
 Westminster ... ... ... ... None. 
 
 Total ... 57
 
 21 
 
 Now, there were formerly in — 
 
 
 Guy's Hospital 
 
 30 beds, 
 
 King's College 
 
 6 „ 
 
 Royal Free 
 
 30 „ 
 
 St. Bartholomew's 
 
 50 „ 
 
 St. Thomas' 
 
 30 „ 
 
 Middlesex 
 
 8 „ 
 
 ' Total ... 154 „ 
 
 There has thus been a reduction of 97 beds in six London 
 hospitals. 
 
 In Dublin there is a lock ward for males, containing 15 beds, 
 in Dr. Stevens' Hospital. Cases of venereal disease are by Act 
 of Parliament excluded from the Meath Hospital. Urgent and 
 exceptional cases are admitted into the Jervis Street, Mater 
 Misericordias, Mercers', and St. Vincent's Hospitals ; while the 
 Adelaide, City of Dublin, Richmond, and Sir Patrick Dunn's 
 Hospitals receive cases into their surgical wards. 
 
 In Glasgow, the Royal Infirmary has a male lock ward with 12 
 beds. 
 
 In Manchester, male patients are not admitted into the Royal 
 Infirmary for these diseases, and there is no hospital accommoda- 
 tion in this city for male venereal patients, except such as is 
 afi'orded in the hospitals and infirmaries of the various workhouses. 
 
 In Liverpool, all patients sufi'ering from venereal disease are, as 
 a rule, subject to very few exceptions, excluded from all the four 
 general hospitals — the Royal Infirmary, the Northern, Royal 
 Southern, and Stanley Hospitals. 
 
 In Bristol, as we have seen, females with venereal disease are 
 not admitted into the General Hospital or Royal Infirmary, and 
 only exceptional cases of male patients are admitted into either. 
 It is much to be regretted that there is not a lock ward for males, 
 with liberal accommodation ; since, as there is no male lock 
 hospital, there must be a great need for one or the other in such 
 a city as Bristol.
 
 In the following cities and towns there is no lock hospital : — 
 
 Aberdeen. 
 
 Hull. 
 
 Belfast. 
 
 Leeds. 
 
 Birmingham. 
 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne 
 
 Brighton, 
 
 Sheffield. 
 
 Cardiff. 
 
 Stafford. 
 
 Chester. 
 
 Wolverhampton. 
 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 York. 
 
 Exeter. 
 
 
 There are lock wards in the following : — 
 
 
 Nc 
 
 ). OF Beds. 
 
 
 Male. 
 
 Fem. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Aberdeen, Royal Infirmary 
 
 5 
 8 
 
 6 
 14 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 16 
 
 6 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 Birmingham, Queen's Hospital 
 
 15 
 
 Edinburgh, Royal Infirmary 
 
 16 
 
 Exeter, Devon and Exeter Hospital 
 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne, Infirmary 
 
 12 
 26 
 
 Stafford, General Infirmary 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 35 
 
 51 
 
 86 
 
 In the Newcastle Infirmary, females are admitted free, males 
 only on payment. 
 
 Mr. Weston, surgeon to the Staffordshire General Infirmary, 
 informs me that there were formerly four beds for patients of each 
 sex in their lock wards. He adds, the beds are rarely occupied. 
 
 At the Royal Infirmary, Belfast, patients of either sex, suffering 
 from venereal disease, can only be admitted on payment of 14s. 
 per week. 
 
 At the Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, the only accommoda- 
 tion for venereal cases is two small rooms, each containing one 
 bed.
 
 23 
 
 At the Cardiff Infirmary the rules exclude such cases, and none 
 are admitted. 
 
 In the Chester General Infirmary there is a Magdalen Ward, 
 and Mr. James Taylor, the senior surgeon, informed me recently 
 that as it was found many years ago that the women did not take 
 much advantage of it, to make it more useful it was decided to 
 admit such cases as urgent ones, i.e., on application without 
 recommendation, and at any time. But it would appear that the 
 alteration has had but little if any effect, there being sometimes 
 two patients, often one ; very rarely three, and often none. For 
 male patients there is no accommodation. 
 
 In the Hull General Infirmary only very exceptional cases of 
 venereal disease are admitted, and isolated so far as is possible. 
 Hull is a seaport with 160,000 inhabitants, and a lock hospital or 
 lock wards must be very much required. 
 
 In the Leeds General Infirmary, only married persons of good 
 character, and children, are admitted for venereal disease. 
 
 In the Sheffield General Infirmary venereal cases are by rule 
 excluded, but very severe cases are admitted, notwithstanding this. 
 
 In the Wolverhampton General Hospital only very exceptional 
 cases are admitted, and there are no special beds. 
 
 In the York County Hospital cases of venereal disease are not 
 admitted. 
 
 There are, besides these, many other hospitals and infirmaries 
 in the three kingdoms, some of which may have lock wards, or at 
 least some accommodation for venereal patients. But, as will be 
 seen, the preceding list gives all the larger towns and cities. It 
 will be apparent that the paucity of lock wards is almost as 
 marked as that of lock hospitals. 
 
 Now, the question as to whether lock hospitals, or lock wards 
 in general hospitals, are the more desirable, is one which has been 
 often discussed, but still remains unsettled, there being much to 
 be said in favour of each. 
 
 Lock wards are obviously more economical, avoiding the 
 multiplication of hospitals, and, consequently, much additional 
 expense. It has been also urged in their favour that less odium
 
 24 
 
 attaches to them than to lock hospitals ; this I believe to be 
 erroneous. For obvious reasons such wards must be kept dis- 
 tinctly separate. There must be not only separate wards, but 
 separate closets ; special male and female nurses, whose duties 
 must be limited to these wards ; and complete isolation from 
 the other patients. These can only be satisfactorily obtained in a 
 separate building. There are many other arguments in favour of 
 separate hospitals ; and it is very significant that though the 
 establishment of lock wards in every London hospital has been 
 strongly urged by the most eminent physicians and surgeons, 
 instead of increasing, they have, as we have seen, considerably 
 diminished. In those towns and cities just named which have no 
 lock hospital, lock wards are wholly wanting in some, and where 
 they exist have very limited accommodation. The truth is that 
 general hospitals are utilized to their fullest extent with general 
 medical and surgical patients, and that patients with venereal 
 diseases can only be admitted at the expense of the former. The 
 best arrangement is evidently a combination of the two systems, 
 such as we have in Liverpool — a separate lock hospital forming 
 part of a large and well-recognised infirmary or hospital, and under 
 the management of its committee, but with its separate surgical 
 and administrative stafi". By this means we combine economy, as 
 regards the financial department, with all the advantages of a 
 separate hospital. Reviewing carefully all the preceding facts, it 
 appears to me that this ofi'ers the best solution of a very difficult 
 problem. We have seen how difficult it is to establish and 
 maintain lock hospitals on an independent basis ; and that lock 
 wards in general hospitals are little, if any, more successful. But 
 lock hospitals, existing as part of one or more general hospitals or 
 infirmaries, ofi'er a better chance of success. So far as I am aware, 
 the Liverpool Lock Hospital is unique as regards its position ; and 
 seeing how successful its male wards have always been, and how 
 promising are the results of the female wards in the last few years, 
 I hope that the time is not far distant when every large town or 
 city will have its lock hospital in connection with one or all of its 
 general hospitals.
 
 25 
 
 LOCK WARDS IN WORKHOUSE INFIRMARIES AND 
 HOSPITALS. 
 
 From the earliest establishment of workhouses, either sick wards 
 or a separate infirmary or hospital has formed an integral part of 
 each ; and in those of the larger towns and cities these have been 
 further developed by the addition of lying-in wards, fever wards, 
 as well as medical and surgical wards. Cases of venereal disease 
 were formerly relegated to what were termed foul wards, but 
 are now more appropriately termed lock wards. But the Local 
 Government Service is by no means uniform throughout the 
 country, and there are many workhouses without lock wards. 
 Moreover, the parochial system is not administered for the special 
 cure of venereal or any other disease, nor can the lock wards of 
 workhouses be compared with voluntary lock hospitals, nor with 
 the lock wards in general hospitals. The admission into a work- 
 house must be in forma pauperis^ and the lock wards are, like the 
 lying-in, medical, or surgical wards, simply a matter of necessary 
 arrangement. The authorities of workhouses have now power to 
 detain any persons suffering from contagious diseases (which 
 include venereal) until cured, a power which, however, is not so 
 generally enforced as it ought to be. The admission into a work- 
 house, moreover, rests very much with the relieving officers, whose 
 practice in this matter is by no means uniform, even in the same 
 locality, still less throughout the kingdom. Hence it is quite 
 erroneous to suppose, as many do, that the authorities of a work- 
 house are bound to admit indiscriminately into it any person of 
 either sex suffering from these diseases ; and that workhouses thus 
 fully supply the defects of our voluntary lock hospital system. 
 But, while pointing out this erroneous impression, I am bound in 
 fairness and justice to add that the lock wards of some workhouses 
 reflect the greatest credit upon their management. The Guardians 
 of the St. George's Union, London, provided many years ago a 
 » special lock hospital in the midst of low brothels and common 
 lodging-houses, the inhabitants of which were described by Mr. 
 Bond, the surgeon to the hospital, as ** soldiers' women, a low.
 
 dirty, and wretched class, the shame of humanity." And that the 
 lock wards of the Liverpool Parish Infirmary are well availed of, 
 may be judged from the numbers admitted during the past ten 
 years : — 
 
 YEAR. 
 
 MALES. 
 
 FEMALES. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 1872 
 
 157 
 
 202 
 182 
 123 
 149 
 100 
 98 
 106 
 165 
 289 
 
 142 
 196 
 213 
 186 
 175 
 136 
 234 
 229 
 288 
 322 
 
 299 
 
 1873 
 
 398 
 
 1874 
 
 395 
 
 1875 
 
 309 
 
 1876 
 
 824 
 
 1877 
 
 286 
 
 1878 
 
 332 
 
 1879 
 
 335 
 
 1880 
 
 453 
 
 1881 
 
 611 
 
 
 
 But, unfortunately, the same enlightened view of their duties with 
 respect to the proper isolation of persons suffering from these 
 diseases does not prevail with all local authorities, and a return of 
 all workhouses giving the arrangements for venereal patients, 
 would, I fear, reveal many very scandalous disclosures. There can 
 be no doubt that a lock ward is a necessary part of the workhouse 
 hospital or infirmary in every large town or city, but that it is 
 too frequently conspicuous by its absence is equally beyond doubt. 
 
 GOVERNMENT LOCK HOSPITALS. 
 
 In 1864, 1866, and 1869, the various Acts known as the 
 " Contagious Diseases Acts " were passed. Into the general 
 question and working of these Acts it is not my intention to enter 
 here, all that remains for me to notice being the lock hospitals 
 provided by Government as the result of this legislation. The
 
 27 
 
 Acts provide for the registration of all known prostitutes in the 
 various districts in which they are in force, for their periodical 
 medical examination, and, when they are found to be diseased, 
 for their compulsory detention in hospital until cured. Now, it is 
 obvious that this last could not be enforced unless there were 
 hospitals to which the patients could be sent, and in which they 
 could be detained. From what has appeared in previous pages, it 
 will be evident that the voluntary lock hospitals and lock wards 
 then in existence would, even if they could have been subsidized, 
 have been wholly inadequate for the purpose. The number of 
 beds available in 1864 was 40, and this was gradually increased by 
 the erection of new hospitals, as follows : — 
 
 In 1865 to 118 beds. 
 
 1866 
 1867 
 1868 
 1869 
 1870 
 
 202 
 292 
 497 
 592 
 666 
 
 The following are all the Government Lock Hospitals :■ 
 
 
 YEAR OPENED. 
 
 NO. of beds. 
 
 Aldershot 
 
 1865 
 1870 
 1869 
 1869 
 
 1863-68 
 1869 
 1868 
 
 1857-58 
 1868 
 
 100 
 
 Chatham 
 
 68 
 
 Colchester 
 
 25 
 
 Cork 
 
 46 
 
 Devonport 
 
 150 
 
 Kildare o. 
 
 40 
 
 London (Prince of Wales Wing) 
 Portsmouth 
 
 73 
 100 
 
 Shorncliflfe 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 626 
 
 which could be increased to a total of 645.
 
 28 
 
 Let us now recapitulate the number of beds provided for 
 females in voluntary lock hospitals and wards. 
 
 Total number of beds which could be made up in the \ 
 
 six voluntary lock hospitals of London, Dublin, Y ^^^ 
 Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, and Bristol J 
 
 Of these the funds available only provide for 232 
 
 Number of beds provided in the lock wards of ) g^ 
 London hospitals 
 
 Number of beds provided in the lock wards of six 
 
 51 
 large provincial hospitals ' 
 
 Total 340 
 
 Thus it will be seen that by this legislation the Government 
 have been able to provide in the few years comprised between 
 1864 and 1870, and in eight districts, more lock hospitals, 
 containing in the aggregate more beds than all the voluntary 
 efforts of more than a century and a quarter has been able to effect 
 in the three kingdoms. The fact stares us in the face, and any 
 further comment would be only needless repetition. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 There are two great causes for the languishing condition of our 
 voluntary lock hospitals. One is a feeling of indifference on the 
 part of the general public to support them ; the attention of the 
 former being so frequently called, and its aid afforded so often to 
 other, and as it is supposed, more deserving objects. I hope that 
 I have succeeded in showing, in the foregoing pages, that, even in 
 a selfish point of view, the help afforded to these hospitals is a 
 gain pecuniarily and otherwise to the pubHc. For there is this 
 difference between lock hospitals and those of a more general 
 nature, that the former act in preventing, as well as in curing, cer- 
 tain diseases which are always more or less prevalent among us. In
 
 29 
 
 order that these diseases may be prevented and cured, there must 
 be hospitals for the treatment of patients suflfering from them who 
 are not in a position to pay for medical attendance ; and this is 
 the more imperative in the case of prostitutes ; since it is only 
 by strict isolation in hospital until cured, that they can be pre- 
 vented from spreading their diseases. Were these latter prevented 
 or cured on their first appearance, the charitable public would be 
 saved from having to support many persons suffering from the 
 remote effects of these diseases in general, and special hospitals, 
 hospitals for incurables, blind asylums, and other charitable insti- 
 tutions. For public indifference in this, as in other respects, only 
 reacts upon the public, the indifference of the past having only 
 tended to produce the present disastrous results, and its continu- 
 ance must lead to equally, if not more, disastrous results in the 
 future. It is another illustration of the old saying, " What is 
 everybody's business is nobody's business." Whose business is it 
 to provide for the treatment of diseases, the result, too often, of 
 the sufferers' own misconduct ? With few laudable exceptions, the 
 charitable public say, " Not ours." Ratepayers, as represented by 
 Boards of Guardians, say also, *' Not ours," except when combined 
 with destitution. And a certain proportion of the public, as repre- 
 sented by a certain proportion of the House of Commons, consider 
 that it is no part of the business of the State to provide for the 
 prevention or cure of these diseases. The solution of the problem, 
 how to escape from this social deadlock, is one of the questions of 
 the day, and I sincerely hope that it may soon be satisfactorily 
 answered. 
 
 The other, and no less serious prejudice attaching to lock 
 hospitals, is a fear that by supporting them, the subscribers and 
 donors give an implied sanction to immorality. Nothing is easier 
 than to show the utter fallacy of such an argument. For, in the 
 first place, as we have seen, innocent as well as guilty persons are 
 to be found in lock hospitals. Moreover, it is as untrue as it is 
 uncharitable to assume, as such an argument does, that every 
 prostitute discharged from a lock hospital of necessity returns to 
 her former vicious life. And, as we have seen, these hospitals are
 
 80 
 
 a very powerful auxilliary to "homes," "refuges," and other 
 institutions for fallen women. But, even granting that a propor- 
 tion will return to a life of sin, it is in the highest degree illogical 
 to assume that the hospital, with its subscribers and donors, have 
 in any way sanctioned, or even encouraged, their doing so. They 
 return to the life of shame of their own accord, and in spite of the 
 efforts which are made in all these hospitals to induce them to 
 abandon so wretched a life, and to avail themselves of the oppor- 
 tunity which is always afforded them of commencing an honest one. 
 A former Chaplain of the London Lock Hospital has replied to 
 these objections so forcibly, yet delicately, that I cannot do better 
 than reproduce his words : — 
 
 *' We would not say anything except in perfect admiration of 
 that spirit of high-toned morality by which many in the upper 
 circles of society in this country are so happily impregnated ; 
 although we are aware that many excellent persons from that 
 cause refuse their support to the charity, fearful lest by doing so 
 they should give their countenance to vice, and should be virtually 
 fostering those very penal evils which the hospital is founded to 
 eradicate. The Governors would only request such persons calmly 
 to examine the questions in all its bearings. 
 
 " It is true that many of the objects of its merciful protection, 
 are sinners suffering directly from the effects of their own profligate 
 conduct. But is the mitigation of no evil or disease to be 
 attempted except such as have been inherited, or have come upon 
 the sufferer while pursuing the path of propriety and virtue ? 
 Within the limits of how small a circle could the benevolence of 
 the Christian be then confined ! To how few cases in our general 
 hospitals could assistance be conscientiously extended ! How many 
 must be suffered to pine away in abject destitution ! Were this 
 a principle of conduct enjoined by Divine example, sm'ely the sun 
 would not now rise upon the unjust, nor would the rain descend 
 upon the unthankful and the evil — no scheme of redemption would 
 ever have been formed for our fallen race — nor would the Saviour 
 himself, our great Example, have healed in His day ' all manner of 
 sickness and all manner of disease among the people,' without any
 
 31 
 
 reference to the characters of the sufferers or the causes of their 
 maladies." 
 
 In the sincere hope that these grand words, together with the 
 facts I have given in relation to all our lock hospitals and wards, 
 will induce those who have not hitherto supported them to do so ; 
 and that those who have the working of them, and those who are 
 otherwise interested in them, will be thus encouraged to proceed in 
 their excellent work, I conclude this consideration of a most diffi- 
 cult and delicate subject. Should I succeed in doing this, it will 
 be a more than sufficient reward for the care and pains bestowed 
 upon it.
 
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