[4] The Extra Diet Kitchens _must_, it is necessary to state, be under a separate roof from the General Kitchens, as long as the present system (or no-system) of cooking exists. But the sooner it is altered the better. There should be one kitchen only. But the Nurse should always superintend the administering of the Diets. She is unquestionably the proper person, also, to administer the medicines, &c. The Orderlies, to be of any use, must act under the direction of the Head-Nurse and not independently. It would seem hardly necessary to enunciate such a self-evident proposition. [5] To all references which may here be made to Civil Hospitals I should wish to say, by way of preface:-- 1. That I have always believed and I believe it more and more every day I live, that what is wrong in hospitals is to be patiently, laboriously, and, above all, quietly mended by efforts made from within them, if it pleases God to grant that blessing upon them without which all human efforts are vain, and not by accusations, investigations, and noise from without. 2. Also I have always believed, since I knew Hospitals at all, and I believe it more and more every day I live, that, with all their faults and shortcomings, which are easily learnt and more easily declaimed against, our great English hospitals are places in which more is done for the relief and cure of human misery, or, rather, of that large branch of it arising from disease, than in any other places in the world. Also that their faults are not essential to them, but that they may, by God’s blessing on the patient endeavours of many years, be very much modified. [6] In their regulation dress they should always appear, except when they go on holidays. But let the Queen pay for the transport of one box and one bag only, for each Nurse on duty; and if she takes more let her pay for it herself. [7] I would allow each Nurse 1½ pint of porter or ale _per diem_, or, instead of the half-pint of porter, 1 oz. of brandy or a wineglass-full of wine, as she likes best. Most Nurses crave, and rightly, for a luncheon about 9 or 10 A.M., and drink some beer then. I would let them take their own time as to when they drink their day’s allowance. But, while trying to suit each Nurse’s varying tastes (and in Hospital duty the taste does vary) each Nurse must keep to one thing, say for a week or month. [8] Better than a closet is a moveable dresser, only table-height, under which cleaning can be carried on. There should be no projections in a ward or recess, which are only lodgments for flue and dust. The walls of a ward should be even, polished, impervious.