l board, as we should call it, and by
its Director-General, Dr. Davila, whose work one encounters continually
in Bucarest. There are seven hospitals or infirmaries, of which three
at least are well worth a visit. The Colentina hospital makes up 200
beds, 130 for women and 70 for men. The wards are roomy, well ventilated
and warmed, and the beds and bedding clean and comfortable. (The same
cannot, however, be said of certain other arrangements.) There are ten
women nurses, and we heard complaints of a want of volunteers there and
elsewhere, which detracts from the humanitarian character of the work.
To the hospital a dispensary is attached, where from January 1 to
September 8 last year, 10,791 persons had been relieved. A very
repulsive feature in this hospital is the ward containing forty or fifty
unfortunate women under the surveillance of the so-called 'Police des
Moeurs,' who are very solicitous about the health of a few of these
miserable creatures that live in a wretched lane in the city, whilst
they allow the traffic to be carried on in some places as openly as it
is in the Strand or Haymarket. Another hospital, which to the
uninitiated is far more attractive than the Colentina, is the
Philanthropic, a beautiful building of recent construction, containing
wide passages and very fine wards, and admirably fitted up with baths
and all modern conveniences. The third is situated close to the academy,
and is called the Coltza hospital. This was originally a monastery, at
the entrance of which a statue, already referred to, has been erected to
Michael Cantacuzene, the founder,[32] and it is said to have been
converted into a hospital in 1715.

This may be called the students' hospital, for here is not only the
little chemical laboratory of Dr. Bernath, but also dissecting rooms,
amphitheatre, and anatomical museum. Of the latter, indeed, there are
several, osteological, physiological, &c., and they reflect great credit
upon the gentlemen who have formed them under almost insuperable
difficulties. There are several other important buildings in or near
Bucarest. Two of these, the Agricultural College and the Asyle Helene in
the outskirts, will receive a special description hereafter; but in the
city itself there are, besides those already named, the National Bank,
some of the monasteries devoted to philanthropic purposes, and three or
four hotels, where travellers may live with great comfort and luxury at
an extravagant co