LEPROSY.
255
and 15 wide, a wooden house, 60 feet by 20 feet, divided into six apartments, capable of accommodating four persons in each. A well was also dug 24 feet deep, and four of the wooden houses which stood on the old site were transported to the new one. The expense of effecting these objects amounted to 1300l. currency, of which about 1000/. currency was raised by subscriptions. This establishment was opened on 8th March, 1837, under the name of the Asylum, and has been providentially raised up to meet, in the most satisfactory manner, the various cases of distress that have occurred since the general emancipation in 1834, and has effectually done away with begging in the streets of St. John's." As leprosy is a frequent disease among the negroes, and, from its contagious character, doubts had arisen upon the propriety of admitting persons suffering from that dreadful complaint into the asylum, it was determined in 1836 to open a subscription list for the purpose of erecting another building for their reception. That they might have the benefit of sea-air and sea-bathing, the site chosen for it was by the sea-side. This building was commenced in 1837, and " although, from want of funds, scarcely one of the two wings could be completed, admission was given to five leprous persons on the 25th of April in that year.'' The society, however, " was compelled to declare that, without parochial allowances, the institution must fall to the ground. The claim to such help was at once seen to be most reasonable and highly needful, and the desired combination of parochial with voluntary relief was speedily effected. The legislature granting 600/. currency the following year, the debts were paid off, and the building finished and publicly opened under the title of the Lazaretto, on the 20th June, 1838." The Lazaretto consists of " six rooms for females and six for males, capable of accommodating three in each, besides one small room for one person only. The enclosed yard has been, for the most part, converted into plots for pro-