Individual members had held this opinion for some time before any official action was taken, and foremost among such was Governor Isaac Townsend. This gentleman was one of the originally appointed Governors, and has been connected with the Board by re-election ever since--a circumstance which made him perfectly acquainted with all the workings of the present system, and to him the public is indebted for the conception of this undertaking. For years has he labored to bring about this result, with an indomitable energy and perseverance equaled only by his known benevolence and honesty of purpose. He frequently made the practicability of such a measure the subject of conversation with the gentleman who preceded me as Resident Physician of Blackwell's Island, and, on my appointment (1853), the subject was again urged by him; nor could I be unaware of its importance. No official action was taken until the commencement of the year 1855. At that time Mr. Townsend was President of the Board, and one of his first acts in that capacity was to submit a list of interrogatories on the subject, which were adopted and transmitted to me. I transcribe them from the Minutes of the Board: "At a meeting of the Board of Governors of the Alms-House, held January 23, 1855, the following interrogatories were presented by the President: "1. What proportion of the inmates of the institutions on Blackwell's Island under your medical charge are, in your opinion, directly or indirectly suffering from syphilis? "2. Are, or are not, the number of such inmates steadily on the increase? "3. Do not patients in the different institutions, particularly in the Penitentiary Hospital, often leave before the disease is cured, so that they are liable to infect other persons after their departure? "4. Are not the offspring of parents affected with constitutional syphilis subject to many diseases of like character, which cause them to become a charge upon the city for long periods of time, and often for life? "5. What are your views in reference to the best means of checking and decreasing this disease, and what plan, in your opinion, could be adopted to relieve New York City of the enormous amount of misery and expense caused by syphilis? "6. You will reply in full to the above queries at the earliest possible date. "_Resolved_, That a copy of the above be sent to the Resident Physician, Blackwell's Island."