£ NEW-YORK DISPENSARY, ^ ^tituteti, 1790. " I Was sick, and ye visited me." NEW-YORK: PRINTER BY C. S. VAN WINKLE, 101 GREENWICH-STREET, Printer to the University of New-York. 1821. At a meeting of the New-York Dispensary, held on the 21st of May, 1821, on motion, it was resolved, that Dr. David Hosack and Edward R. Jones, be a committee to prepare and publish a new edition of the Charter and By-Laws of this Institution, in- cluding all such regulations as have been introduced since the date of the last publication. By order, RICHARD PENNELL, M. D. Sec'ry. New-York, May 21, 1821. ^NLM> PREFACE; The poor, when confined by sickness, have a peculiar claim upon the benevolence of those whose circumstances enable them to administer to their wants. For their relief many institutions have been established in this city. While the New-York Hospital, the Aims-House, and the Lying-in-Hospital, receive those who are among the most destitute, and are in want of every domestic accommodation, the Dispensary provides assistance for that description of poor, who, when deprived by disease of the earnings of their daily labour, are also denied the means of procuring the medical assistance necessary for their relief. The mechanic who cannot, without great inconvenience, leave his family to reside in a Hospital, the mother who can- not be separated from her children, the tender infant who re- quires the constant care and assistance of a fond parent, those who labour under chronic diseases, and are thence not objects of the Hospital, are the peculiar objects of this charity. The benefits arising from an institution of this sort, by which the poor are relieved at their own habitations, require no illustration. Its utility in this city has been long experienced and ac- knowledged ; but the number of our inhabitants having con- siderably increased since the first institution of the Dispensary, and the objects of its charity having multiplied in proportion, the trustees have found it necessary to enlarge the establish- ment. For this purpose they have divided the city into eight districts, and have appointed a physician to each, whose duty it is to 4 give constant attention to the poor, who are the objects of the Dispensary. To secure to the sick the benefits of additional advice, they have appointed six consulting physicians, who will be called on by the attending physicians in all difficult or dangerous cases. In addition to the relief afforded to the poor afflicted by sickness, it is also a primary object of the trustees of this institution to diffuse the benefits of vaccine inoculation among the poor. For the accomplishment of this object, the trustees are happy to acknowledge the liberal pecuniary assistance which they have recently received from the corporation of this city. That the duties of this department may be executed in such a manner as will be most beneficial to the community, the trustees have made it the duty of the attending physicians of the Dispensary to vaccinate every person within their several districts, who may not have had the small-pox, or have not been already vaccinated, of whom information can be obtained. They have also made it the duty of the apothecary of the Dispensary to vaccinate such poor as may apply at the Insti- tution, and are recommended in the manner prescribed in the regulations of this establishment. The regulations which have been adopted relative to this department, and the alterations which have been made in the mode of conducting the ordinary business of the Dispensary, will be seen in the by-laws, which are herewith published for the information of the contributors. AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE CONTRIBUTORS TO THE NEW-YORK DISPENSARY, PASSED THE EIGHTH OF APRIL, 1795. Whereas it is represented to the Legislature, that John Rod- gers, John Henry Livingston, Abraham Beach, John Watts, Mat- thew Clarkson, Jacob Morton, Moses Rogers, John Charleton, Samuel Osgood, Lawrence Embree, John Cozine, John Broome, and James Watson, and their associates, inhabitants of the city of New-York, have become contributors to a Dispensary, for the purpose of relieving such sick, poor, and indigent persons, as are unable to procure medical aid: And whereas it is further represented, that the said contributors will, by being incorporated, be enabled to carry their benevolent intentions into more exten- sive effect: Therefore, Be it enacted by the People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That the said John Rodgers, John Henry Livingston, Abraham Beach, John Watts, Matthew Clarkson, Jacob Morton, Moses Rogers, John Charleton, Samuel Osgood, Lawrence Embree, John Cozine, John Broome, and James Wat- son, together with their associates, being contributors to the said Dispensary, and such other persons as shall hereafter become members of the corporation thereby erected, shall be, and are hereby ordained, constituted and declared to be one body corpo- rate and politic, in fact and in name, by the name of " the trus- tees of the new-york DrsPENSARY ;" and that by that name, they and their successors, forever hereafter, shall and may have succession, and may by the said name be persons capable in the law to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended, in all courts and places whatsoever; and that they and their successors may have a com- mon seal, and may change and alter the same at their pleasure ; 6 and that they and their successors, by their said name, shall for- ever hereafter be persons capable in the law, to purchase, take, hold, receive and enjoy, to them and their successors, any real estate whatsoever, and other hereditaments, of whatsoever nature, kind, or quality they be, in fee simple, for term of life or lives : or in any other manner howsoever ; and also any goods, chattels and personal estate whatsoever. Provided always, the yearly in- come of the said real and personal estate, and hereditaments, doth not at any time exceed the sum of twelve hundred pounds current money of New-York. And that they and their successors, by the same name, shall have full power and authority to lease the said real estate and hereditaments, on such terms as they shall judge most beneficial ; and also to dispose of all such personal estate at their will and pleasure, as they shall judge most beneficial and ad- vantageous to promote the humane purposes of the said corpo- ration. And be it further enacted, That there shall be forever hereafter, thirteen trustees of the said corporation, who shall conduct and manage the affairs of the said corporation ; that the said trustees shall be contributors to the said dispensary, actually resident in the said city of New-York ; and the first trustees of the said cor- poration shall be, John Rodgers, John Henry Livingston, Abra- ham Beach, John Watts, Matthew Clarkson, Jacob Morton, Moses Rogers, John Charleton, Samuel Osgood, Lawrence Embree, John Cozine, John Broome, and James Watson, who shall hold their said offices until the second Monday in January next ensuing : and for keeping up the succession in the said offices, Be it further enacted, That on the said second Monday in Janua- ry next ensuing, and yearly and every year forever thereafter, on the second Monday in January in every year, the members of the said corporation shall meet at some convenient place in the city of New-York, to be fixed by the by-laws of the said corporation, and thereby the majority of such of them as shall so meet, shall by ballot elect thirteen of their members to be trustees of the said corporation for the year ensuing, who shall immediately enter upon the said offices, and hold the same from the time of such election, for and during the space of one year, and until others shall be elected in their stead; and in case any of the said 7 persons elected to be trustees of the said corporation, or who shall thereafter be elected thereto, shall die, or remove out of the city of New-York, before the time of their appointed service shall expire, or shall refuse or neglect to act in, and execute the said office ; then, and in every such case, the remaining trustees of the said corporation shall, within thirty days thereafter, by ballot, elect another or others of the members of the said corporation in the stead of him or them so dying or removing, refusing or ne- glecting to act ; and that such person or persons as shall have the greatest number of votes at every such election, shall hold their said offices from the time of such election, until the second Mon- day in January then next ensuing, and until other or others shall be chosen in his or their stead. And be it further enacted, That the trustees of the said corpora- tion shall regularly meet on the third Monday in every month, and at such other times as they may judge expedient; and that any seven or more of the said trustees, being so convened together, shall, forever hereafter, be a legal meeting of the said corporation ; and that at any and every such legal meeting of any seven or more of the trustees of the said corporation, it shall be lawful for them, or a ma- jority of them, to make such by-laws, rules and regulations, for the management and disposal of the property and estate of the said cor- poration, and the government of the said Dispensary, and the same or any part of them, to alter, amend, or repeal from time to time, as they, or a major part of them so met, shall think proper : Provided, such by-laws, rules, and regulations, be not repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States, or of this state ; and that at any such legal meeting of any seven or more of the said trustees of the said corporation, it shall and may be lawful for them, or the majority of them, so met as aforesaid, to nominate and appoint one of the said trustees of the said corporation to be their president, and one other to be treasurer, and any other competent person to be secretary of the said corporation, and also to appoint so many physicians, sur- geons, apothecaries, officers and servants, and with such compensa- tions as to them shall seem meet; and, whenever they shall think proper, to discharge them or any of them, and to appoint other or others in their stead. 8 And be it further enacted, That any male adult person, who shall contribute for the benefit of this corporation the sum of five dollars, shall, by virtue of such contribution, become a member thereof, and continue so to be, for the space of one year, from and after the time of his making such contribution ; and any like person who shall con- tribute ten dollars for the like purpose, shall be a member thereof two years : and any like person who shall contribute any greater number of sums, of five dollars each, not exceeding nine, as shall be equal to the number of sums of five dollars each, so by him contri- buted ; and any like person, who shall contribute fifty dollars for the like purpose, shall be a member of said corporation for life ; and every contributor of the value of five dollars or upwards, shall be entitled to have such number of patients (being proper objects of this institution) on the Dispensary list, and for such term of time as shall be prescribed by the by-laws of the corporation. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the trustees of the corporation hereby created, to exibit annually between the first and last days of May in each year, to the chancellor of this state, a full and particular account of all the estate, both real and personal, then vested in the said corporation, and of the rent or in- come thereof, attested by the oath of the treasurer thereof, that the same is a true and perfect account, together with a particular and detailed account of all the moneys expended by the said corporation in the preceding year, specifying the several purposes to which it has been applied ; and if it shall appear to the said chancellor, that the amount of the said property, or the disposal of the same, is not agreeable to the true intent and meaning of this act, he shall report the same to the legislature at their next ensuing session. And be it further enacted, That this act shall be, and is hereby declared to be a public act, and shall be construed benignly and favourably, for every beneficial purpose herein intended. BY-LAWS. duties of the trustees. 1. Any member who may be unable to attend any meeting oX the board, shall send a written notice thereof to the place, at or before the hour of meeting. 2. It shall be the duty of each of the trustees to visit the Dispen- sary at least once in every month, and to report the state of the institution at the regular meetings. 3. It shall be the duty of a committee of visitation, to be ap- pointed at each monthly meeting, to visit the patients of the Dis- pensary, in company with the physicians, once in every month, and report at the meeting next ensuing, the number and condition of the sick. PHYSICIANS AND APOTHECARY. There shall be eight attending physicians, six consulting physi- cians, and an apothecary, annually elected by the trustees of the Dispensary. The city shall be divided into eight districts. First District—From the Battery, up the west side of Broad- way, to Chatham-street; up Chatham-street to Tryon-row ; up Try on-row to Cross-street ; up Cross-street to Pearl-street; up Pearl-street to Broadway ; up the west side of Broadway to Anthony-street, and through Harrison-street to the North River. Second District—Up the east side of Broadway to Chatham- street ; up Chatham-street to Pearl-street, and down Pearl-street and Dover street to the East River. Third District—Up Dover and Pearl-streets to Oak-street ; through Oak-street to Catharine-street ; up Catharine-street to Harman-street; through Harman-street to Jefferson-street, and through Jefferson-street to the East River. Fourth District—Up Jefferson-street to Norfolk-street; up Nor- folk-street to Stuyvesant-street; through Stuyvesant-street to the East River. le Fifth District—Through the Bowery to Stuyvesant-street ; down Stuyvesant-street to Norfolk-street ; down Norfolk-street to Harman-street ; through Harman-street to the Bowery. Sixth District—Through Tryon-row to Cross and Collect- streets ; up Collect-street to Rhynder-street ; up Rhynder-street to Spring-street ; up Spring-street to Broadway ; up Broadway to Art-street ; down Art-street to the Bowery ; down the Bowe- ry to Catharine-street; down the east side of Catharine-street to Oak-street ; down the south side of Oak-street to Pearl-street ; up the east side of Pearl-street to Chatham-street; down the north side of Chatham-street to Tryon-row. Seventh District—Through Harrison and Anthony-streets to Broadway ; down the east side of Broadway to Pearl-street ; down the south side of Pearl-street to Collect-street ; up the east side of Collect-street to Rhynder street; up Rhynder-street to Spring-street ; up south side of Spring street to Thompson-street; down Thompson-street to Canal-street ; through Canal-street to the River. Eighth District—Along Canal, Thompson, and Spring-streets, to Broadway ; up Broadway to Art-street ; along Art-street and Greenwich-lane to the River. DUTIES OP THE PHYSICIANS. 1. The physicians shall attend at the Dispensary at a stated hour, upon every day of the year, (Sundays excepted,) to pre- scribe for those patients whose disorders do not confine them to their houses ; but such patients whose cases render them unable to attend at the Dispensary, shall be regularly visited at their respective places of abode. 2. Lying-in women are not properly objects of this institution, but in extraordinary cases of labour, or where medical aid maybe necessary, either during the labour or after delivery, they shall be attended by the physicians of this institution. 3. Should indisposition, or any other reasonable cause, prevent a physician