It was the duty of the commissioners to resist all such impulsive yieldings, and they failed not to urge upon the guardians the necessity for such resistance on their part, without which the limited means of relief at their disposal would be sacrificed. They were told that effectual relief, even to the extent of the existing accommodation could not be given, if contagious disease took possession of the workhouse; and that in attempting to go beyond due sanitary limits, the guardians would turn what was designed and adapted for good purposes into an active evil, and deprive themselves of the power of using effectually those means of relief which had been placed at their command. In some instances orders under seal were issued, prohibiting the guardians from admitting beyond a certain number. The commissioners likewise “called into action the proper functions of the medical officers of the workhouses, and placed upon them the direct responsibility of advising and warning the guardians of those limits, beyond which their admissions could not be extended without danger.” Notwithstanding these precautions however, such was the fearful prevalence of distress, especially in Connaught and the south of Ireland, that all considerations of this nature were borne down, and the workhouses became crowded to an extent far beyond their proper capacity, the consequences of which were in some cases very disastrous. The workhouse hospitals were prepared for cases of sickness occurring among inmates, presumed to be in an average state of health, and they were generally found sufficient for the purpose. But now unhappily, almost every person admitted was a patient—was either suffering from dysentery or fever, or extreme exhaustion, or had the seeds of disease about him. Under such circumstances separation became impossible, diseases spread, and the whole workhouse was changed into one large hospital, without the appliances necessary for rendering it efficient as such. [Sidenote: Mortality among the union officers.] This state of things was not a little aggravated by the illness retirement or death of many of the principal officers. The usual difficulty of replacing a master or a matron, or medical officer when suddenly removed, was much increased by the dangerous nature of the service, there having been great mortality among these officers. During the first four months of the current year, at least a hundred and fifty were attacked with disease, of whom fifty-four had died, including seven clerks, nine masters, seven medical officers, and six chaplains—a number unusually large, and calculated no doubt to excite some indisposition to undertake such duties. [Sidenote: Mortality in the workhouses.]