Gentlemen,—I have chosen as the subject of this address a question which, though it is almost as old as the present system of treating the insane, has been revivified with so much vigour as to demand at our hands the close attention which we should feel bound to give to it had it been entirely new. I am about to offer you some remarks on what is called “Hospital treatment for recent and curable cases of insanity.” The reintroduction of this question is undoubtedly due to the necessity for the consideration of the great increase of the insane population; and it is appropriate in point of time; indeed, the time has been determined by the change in the composition of those bodies whose sanction and help are required for any new departure in this direction.