An appeal issued by the directors in June, 1864, asking for funds for the purchase of the new buildings, contains a letter by Dr. Horatio R. Storer giving cogent reasons for the desirability of a special hospital for women and noting the particular conditions which made the New England Hospital peculiarly suitable for such purpose. This appeal was signed also by Drs. Walter Channing, C. G. Putnam, Henry I. Bowditch, and S. Cabot. And about this time, Dr. Walter Channing writes to Dr. Zakrzewska: I regret I had not made my visit later as I was too early to have the pleasure of seeing you. I was desirous to do so to express to you my entire satisfaction in regard to the operation you performed the evening before. It was a very difficult operation and was done under circumstances most unpromising of success. I do not think it could have been done better. I write also to say that if at any time I can do anything to aid you in the performance of your important duties, I shall be always ready and happy to do so. Very respectfully & truly yrs., WALTER CHANNING. _Boston, 39 Mt. Vernon Street, June 2, 1864._ Remembering the financial difficulties of both Dr. Zakrzewska herself and this young, struggling enterprise of hers, one may well wonder at the second annual report (1863-1864) stating: Half of our beds are always filled by patients who pay nothing, and the resident physician has the right to receive at half price those whose circumstances require this indulgence. And realizing how the prices of the necessities of life must have advanced with the continuance of the Civil War, one is not surprised to read elsewhere: We have been reluctantly forced to double our price of board, placing it at eight dollars per week. The third year (1864-1865) of Dr. Zakrzewska’s new life of freedom, of the longed-for opportunity for expressing her ideals, and of the attaining of sympathy and support for the forms of such expression, found the Hospital continuing its growth, like a manifestation incarnate of her soaring spirit. This growth compelled the addition, with alterations, of the remaining two houses on Pleasant Street; and the housewarming which dedicated this further enlargement of its opportunities netted a precious six hundred dollars. The Legislature of Massachusetts now voted the Hospital five thousand dollars for the purchase of the new site, on condition that a similar amount should be raised by subscription. And the Boston Lying-in Hospital Corporation increased its donation to one thousand dollars. For the first time Dr. Zakrzewska, as attending physician, presented to the board of directors a formal report which she thus introduces: Before this year I had never considered that a lengthy report given by me was a necessity. Hitherto our Hospital had been so small and so simple in its management that it was easily understood by the directors and friends.