TREATMENT OF ALL CHRONIC DISEASES.
This imposing Establishment was designed and erected to accommodate the large number of invalids who visit Buffalo from every State and Territory, as well as from many foreign lands, that they may avail themselves of the professional services of the Staff of Skilled Specialists in Medicine and Surgery that compose the Faculty of this widely-celebrated institution.
DESTROYED BY FIRE
On the sixteenth of February 1881, the original Invalids' Hotel was totally destroyed by fire. Although occupied at the time by a large number of invalids, yet, through the extraordinary exertions of the Faculty and employees, all were safely removed from the building without injury to any one. The Board of Trustees took prompt steps to rebuild, for the accommodation of the many sufferers who apply, to avail themselves of the skill, facilities and advantages of treatment which such a perfectly equipped establishment affords. Profiting by the experience afforded by several years' occupancy of the original Invalids' Hotel building, which at the date of its erection was the largest and most complete establishment of its kind in the world, we believe we have, in the building of the elegant structure illustrated herein, made great improvements over the original Invalids' Hotel, for the accommodation of our patients. Although our new building has only been occupied about two years, yet almost immediately our business required the erection of a very large addition thereto, to accommodate our growing practice. This large Annex, which is about the size of the original building, has ever since been kept well filled with patients, hailing from every State and Territory of the United States, Canada and occasionally from a foreign country,
THE INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE IS PLEASANTLY SITUATED AT No. 663 MAIN STREET,
in the city of Buffalo, just above and outside the business and bustle of this Queen City of the Lakes. It is easily reached from the railroad depots by the Exchange and Main Street car lines (see map on last page of this book). It is a substantially built brick building, trimmed with sandstone, well lighted and provided with a patent hydraulic elevator, so that its upper stories are quite as desirable as any, being more quiet than those lower down. It is well provided with fire escapes, and, in fact, nothing has been neglected that can add to the comfort and home-like make-up of this popular national resort for the invalid and afflicted. Great pains and expense have been assumed in providing perfect ventilation for every room and part of the building.
The surroundings of the Hotel are very pleasant, it being located in the finest built part of the city, among the most elegant residences.
STAFF OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.
Only men who are, by thorough education and experience, especially fitted to fill their respective positions, have been chosen to serve as physicians and surgeons in this institution. After having spent a very large sum of money in erecting and furnishing this national resort for invalids with every requirement and facility for the successful treatment of all classes of chronic diseases, it is the determination of the Board of Directors that the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons shall be superior in culture, experience and skill.
We have not the space to speak, individually, of the eighteen professional gentlemen composing the Faculty, but will say that among them are those whose long connection with the World's Dispensary and Surgical Institute has given them great experience and rendered them experts in their specialties. Several of them had previously distinguished themselves in both private and hospital practice, had held important chairs as lecturers and teachers in Medical Colleges, and had filled responsible positions in military and civil hospitals; also in some of the most noted Asylums, Dispensaries, and Sanitary Institutions in the land.
With such a staff of Physicians and Surgeons, efficient and trained nurses, and with all the most approved sanitary, medical and surgical appliances which study, experience, invention and the most liberal expenditure of money, can produce and bring together in one institution, the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute affords the afflicted unusual opportunities for relief.
THE GRAND ENTRANCE.
The entrance to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute is covered by a lofty porch of beautiful design, the roof of which is supported upon heavy iron columns. Above the massive double doors, through which the visitor enters, are large, heavy panels of beautifully wrought stained glass, on which the words "Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute" stand out conspicuously.
FIRST FLOOR.
The first floor of the building is reached through a beautifully finished vestibule, by a short flight of broad, easy stairs, and once inside the visitor is struck by the beauty of design as well as by the home-like appearance of the surroundings. The wood-work is mainly of hard woods, oak and cherry predominating. In a large part of the house the floors are of oak, with a cherry border, neatly finished in oil and shellac, and covered with rich rugs and elegant carpets of the very best quality.
On the first floor is the gentlemen's reception-room, which is thronged with patients from early in the morning until late in the afternoon. It is entirely distinct from the large reception-room and parlors for lady patients, and the utmost privacy is secured throughout the whole arrangement of the Institution. On this floor are the suites of offices, parlors, and private consultation-rooms, some fifteen in all; also a well furnished reading-room and circulating library, for the use of the inmates of the Institution. On all sides are beautifully frescoed walls adorned with numerous choice engravings and other pictures. All the rooms throughout the house are furnished in the best of style, and in a manner to afford the utmost comfort and cheerfulness of surroundings for the sick and afflicted who seek this remedial resort. The Turkish and other baths are elegantly fitted up on the first floor, opposite the reading-room.
THE UPPER FLOORS.
Above the first, or main floor, the building is divided into separate rooms and suites of rooms for the accommodation of patients. All are well lighted, have high ceilings, and are cheerful and well ventilated apartments. On the second floor is the large medical library and medical council-room, for the exclusive use of the Faculty, also the museum-room, which contains a large and valuable collection of anatomical and morbid specimens, many of them being obtained from cases treated in this Institution. On this floor are also suites of rooms, occupied by the Bureau of Medical Correspondence, wherein from ten to twelve physicians, each supplied with the improved graphophone, are constantly employed in attending to the vast correspondence received from invalids residing in all parts of the United States and Canada. Every important case receives the careful consideration of a council composed of from three to five of these expert specialists, before being finally passed upon and prescribed for.
ON THE THIRD FLOOR
are the large treatment-rooms, supplied with all the apparatus and appliances for the successful management of every chronic malady incident to humanity. Electrical apparatus of the latest and most approved kinds, some of it driven and operated by steam-power, dry cupping and equalizing-treatment apparatus, "vitalization" apparatus, numerous and most ingenious rubbing and manipulating apparatus and machinery, driven by steam-power, are among the almost innumerable curative agencies that are here brought into use as aids in the cure of human ailments. Our
ELECTRICAL OUTFIT
is the finest to be found in any sanitarium in the United States and, we believe, in the world. There are two forty-cell galvanic batteries with switch boards for controlling the voltage, or force, from the whole power to one-fortieth of this amount, at the will of the physician. Safe-guards in the shape of milli-ampere meters continually indicate to the operator the force of the current. There is a dynamo for charging the storage batteries, which may be used in a patient's room when this method is found more convenient or more comfortable for the invalid. There are two static or Franklin machines. These are used when the milder current is desired, and for spraying, sparking, etc. One of the instruments is of high voltage and furnishes us with the X rays for examining the interior parts of the body. The largest treatment room also contains a powerful ozone generator, operated by a dynamo. This supplies the room with allotropic oxygen and is invaluable in treating diseases of the lungs and air passages. This supplies the patient with vitalized air, equal to the most salubrious atmosphere in any part of the globe.
Beyond this and separated by a court, across which is an iron bridge, are the large dispensing-rooms, stocked with drugs and medical compounds of almost endless variety, and representing every branch of the materia medica. Here all medicines prescribed are most carefully and specially prepared for each individual case. Those to be sent away by mail or express, to patients being treated at a distance, are placed in trays, with full directions for use, and sent to another large room, where they are carefully packed, and shipped thence to their destination.