14S MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE djl". Major Does not the law require, that the officers should not only enter in that book James Palmer, their names and the periods of their visits, but the duties which they perform ?—- ' The Act of last session does require it. ( 27 May) jg there any entry made of the duties performed, by the officers, in that book?— There is, sometimes; we have had frequent occasions to call the attention of the officers of Dublin to that circumstance, so much so, that upon my last inspection, I called upon the inspector to report to me, whether the officers did, bond, fide, attend, as I saw some omissions, and I required in writing from him, a written statement that they did so, which I received; this I thought necessary previous to my making my report to Parliament, that I might have grounds for reporting that the duty was performed, when by the book it appeared, in some instances, it was not; by the signature book I mean. In adopting the form of report, which you and Major Woodward have perused, you have abstracted under separate heads; have you not the different provisions of the Gaol Act, in the shape of queries to the officers ?— That was our plan ; as we had no general direction, we proposed it to ourselves as the best mode of obtaining information as to every clause of the Act of Parliament. And in the conclusion of your report, you give your view of the summary of the whole of the queries ?— We do. Are you aware how those special queries, with reference to the medical depart- ment of the Dublin prisons, are answered on the face of your report?— I do not recollect the particulars, but the general impression on my mind is, and I am ready now to bear testimony to it, that the medical men belonging to the gaols of Dublin do attend, and that the duty, so far as the present system is capable of, is performed, that is, the sick are attended to virtually, though the medical officers may not have always entered their names in the book. Your general recommendation, which you have alluded to in the former part of your evidence, with regard to improvement, bears solely on this plan of an united hospital for all the gaols?— It bears solely upon a plan of economy, superior ac- commodation, and a better provision for attention to the sick, without any reference whatever intended as to the performance or non- performance of the medical attendance. Ireland is divided into divisions for the purpose of inspection ?— It is. Each inspector has his own division?— That is what we consider as our duty. Each reports on his own division ?— Yes; with the exception that I made in the commencement of my evidence, for reasons that appear to be advantageous with respect to Dublin. On your distinct inspection, you each form your opinion on your own individual observations ?— Yes. What is the division that has taken place in Ireland, which you inspect, into provinces?— They were not divided into provinces ; but north and south. Do you inspect north, or south ?— North. How long have you been in your office ?— A year and four months. Have the goodness to inform the Committee whether it be possible for all the officers to attend at the same hour, without giving the keeper of the prison such notice as would enable him to be prepared for them ?— I think not for the purposes of their various duties. In point of fact, if different officers were to attend together, simultaneously, must it not be the result of a previous appointment for that purpose?— Certainly. If therefore, the apothecary and the physician were obliged to attend together, could that be effected without some previous arrangement between the two persons to meet at the same hour ?— Certainly not. Are you aware of any actual inconvenience that has arisen from the apothecary not in person attending the physician when he goes to the gaol ?— No, I am not. Do not you think it would be better for those officers to attend separately, without any previous notice to the gaoler, or to persons connected with the governor of the gaol ?— Not the apothecary. Is it better that they should attend at one hour, or not ?— The apothecary has no duty to perform as a gaol officer, he is only to obey the directions of the medical man ; he is different from all other officers, the Act calls on him to attend with the surgeon, that he may receive his instructions, what he is to do. Would it not be a better check on the officers residing in the prison, to be subject to visits from these persons at different hours, and unprepared, than if both came