Department of Agriculture. To Miss Emma Lynch, who, as hospital matron, has been for several years associated with the author in institutional work, special thanks are due for valuable assistance. Many practical suggestions have been gleaned from the papers given at the annual conventions of the Association of Hospital Superintendents. To the writers of these papers the author expresses grateful appreciation. Many of the electrotypes used for illustration have been kindly furnished by courtesy of the business firms whose names accompany them. These have been introduced because they were deemed essential to a clear understanding of the subject on the part of such readers as may not be familiar with the use of such appliances. So far as the author is aware, no attempt has previously been made to discuss the subject of hospital housekeeping as a whole. As a pioneer in the field, the book doubtless has many defects. If it proves of practical value to even a small number of those for whose assistance it was prepared, it will have justified its existence. CHARLOTTE A. AIKENS. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PREFACE 7-8 CHAPTER I—The Hospital Housekeeper; The Housekeeper’s Province; Bookkeeping; Hospital Inventory 13-19 CHAPTER II—The Main Entrance; The Porter; The Private Rooms; Hospital Couches; Fumigation; The Daily Cleaning; Dusting; Bath Rooms 20-29 CHAPTER III—The Hospital Ward; Soiled Clothing; Buying Beds; Bed Making; Ward Lockers; Care of Patients’ Clothing; Ward Medicines and Records; Adjuncts to the Hospital Ward; Quiet Room; Matters Miscellaneous; Destruction of Appliances; Screens; A Twenty-Bed Ward Equipment 30-42 CHAPTER IV—The Linen Room; Bed Linen; The Room; Linen Accounting; Discarded Linen; Emergency Supply; Removing Stains; New Linen; Shelf Management; Laundry Bags 43-50 CHAPTER V—The Hospital Laundry; Manager’s Duties; Laundry Workers; Starching; Blueing; Drying; Ironing; Routine of Work; The Laundry Plant 51-59 CHAPTER VI—The Hospital Kitchen; General Construction; Kitchen Cabinet; Plan of a Model Kitchen; Cold Storage; The Storeroom; Dishwashing; Dishcloths and Towels; The Chief Kitchen Employees; Training Needed; The Diet Kitchen 60-70 CHAPTER VII—The Purchase and Care of Food Supplies; Judging Food Values; Bread; Milk; Care of Milk; Cheese; Eggs; Economy and Care; Meat; Beef; Veal and Mutton; Chickens; Fish; Pork; Butter; Fresh Vegetables; Approximate Estimate of Quantities of Food for a Twenty-five Bed, a Fifty-Bed and a One Hundred-Bed Hospital 71-87