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Superintendent's Office, Southland, 22nd June, 1863.

IT is hereby notified that a writ issued for the election of one Member of the Provincial Council of the Province of Southland, for the district of Wallace, has been returned with a certificate that Mr. Samuel Haughan has been duly elected.

J. A. R. MACKAY,
Superintendent.

Published from the New Zealand Gazette, 4th June, 1863.

Circular from Secretary of State respecting Management of Hospitals and Lunatic Asylums.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
New Plymouth, 5th May, 1863.

THE following circular, with its enclosures, transmitted by the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Governors of Crown Colonies, is published for general information.

Alfred Domett.

Colonial Office,
19th February, 1863.

The Duke of Newcastle presents his compliments to Sir George Grey, and begs to enclose, as concerning a matter of general importance, a Copy of a Circular respecting the management of Lunatic Asylums and Hospitals, addressed to the Governors of all Colonies in which the Government is responsible.

To Sir George Grey, K.C.B.,
&c., &c., &c.,
Downing-street.

[Copy.]
Colonial Office, 18 February, 1863.

Sir,

I am directed by the Duke of Newcastle to transmit to you the accompanying copy of a Report which has been recently discussed in the Public Hospital at Kingston, in Jamaica, and of circumstances and cruelties of long endurance which have been detected in the Lunatic Asylum of the same place, have induced his Grace to make enquiry into the state of similar institutions in other Colonies. With this view, he has obtained the assistance of the College of Physicians and of the Commissioners in Lunacy in determining the topics of enquiry which should be directed, and he instructs me to request that you will furnish him with the following information that you may be enabled to afford:

Hospitals.

1. The laws or written regulations relating to Hospitals; specifying the class of persons for which the Hospital was established, and the nature of the diseases most commonly admitted.

2. The site, the aspect, the elevation above the sea, the character of the soil, and other circumstances of the surrounding neighbourhood.

3. The water supply, the sewerage, the position and state of latrines.

4. The structure of the buildings, including adaptations to climate and arrangements for ventilation, coolness, and warmth. Beds.

5. The internal dimensions of the several wards, the number of beds in each, the distances between the beds, and the number of cubic feet allotted to each patient; what provisions are made by separation, or otherwise, for preventing the spread of diseases commonly held to be contagious.

6. The number of medical men, distinguishing those who reside within the walls, and stating which of them are allowed to engage in private practice, and specifying the proportion which the number of medical men bears to the average number of patients.

7. The like numbers and proportions in regard to day nurses and night nurses respectively, distinguishing those who reside within the Hospital.

8. The arrangements for wholesome and sufficient food.

9. The dietaries in use in the Hospital.

10. The proportion borne to the average number of patients by the number who die annually, and by the number annually discharged, cured, or convalescent.

11. The arrangements as to outpatients.

12. The arrangements respecting stores and accounts.

13. The arrangements for visitation and inspection by superior civil authorities, and whether such visits are periodical or occasional; and if occasional, whether they are visits after notice given or visits of surprise, of both.

14. Whether periodical reports and returns are furnished to the Governor of the Hospitals, and of the statistical details contained with them, specifying the causes of death, and the number of post-mortem examinations.

Lunatic Asylums.

1. The laws and regulations relating to Lunatic Asylums.