Hospital, which is conducted by the
Government at an annual expense of five millions of dollars. The
royal treasury appropriates a large portion of this sum each year to
its support, besides which it is most liberally endowed by private
bequests. The building which is occupied by the hospital, or rather
the series of buildings, forms a large quadrangular group on the
north bank of the Moskva, half a mile east of the Kremlin. The length
of the frontage is fully a thousand feet, enclosing finely-kept,
spacious gardens which cover several acres of ground, divided
between pleasant paths, greensward, and shady groves. Here, on a
sunny afternoon at the close of July, the author saw between fifteen
and sixteen hundred infants paraded under the branches of the trees,
sleeping in their tiny cradles or in the sturdy arms of the
country-bred nurses, of whom there were over five hundred. These were
all wet-nurses, each hearty, well-fed peasant woman being expected to
nurse two infants. These women were all clad in snow-white cotton
gowns and muslin caps, appearing scrupulously neat and clean, the
muslin about head and face contrasting strongly with their nut-brown
complexions. Some of the little ones who seemed to thrive best by
such treatment are fed with the bottle, while careful and scientific
care is afforded to each and all alike. Besides three or four regular
attending physicians, the arrangements are presided over and the
detail carefully carried out by a corps of trained matrons, the most
thorough order, discipline, and system being observed as existing in
every department. Just within the garden gate, at the main entrance,
a bevy of thirty or forty children, rosy-cheeked, bright-eyed boys
and girls, not over six years of age, were amusing themselves in
childish games; but they came instantly to us with smiling, happy
faces, extending their little hands as a token of welcome to the
stranger. Selecting any one of these promising children, the thought
occurred how proud many a rich family would be to have such a one for
its rightful heir; and then we wondered what might be the future of
these graduating from here under the ban of a clouded parentage. It
seems that a few children are retained until about the age of these,
though the number is comparatively small. Their contented, vigorous,
healthful appearance showed how judicious and well-applied must be
the system that could produce such physical results.

"There is no deny