chapter three hundred and eighty of the laws of nineteen hundred, is hereby amended to read as follows: § 7. Official visits.-The commission, or a majority thereof, shall visit every such state hospital jointly or by a majority of the commission and every such private institution by one member of the commission at least twice in each calendar year. Such visits shall be made on such days and at such hours of the day or night, and for such length of time, as the visiting commissioner may choose. But each commissioner may make such other visits as he or the commission may deem necessary. Each visit shall include, to the fullest extent deemed necessary, an inspection of every part of each institution, and all the out-houses, places, buildings and grounds belonging thereto or used in connection therewith. The commissioners shall, from time to time, make an examination of all the records and methods of administration, the general and special dietary, the stores and methods of supply, and, as far as circumstances may permit, of every patient confined therein, especially those admitted since the preceding visit, giving such as may require it suitable opportunity to converse with the commissioners apart from the officers and attendants. They shall, as far as they deem necessary, examine the officers, attendants and other employees, and make such inquiries as will determine their fitness for their respective duties. At the next regular or special meeting of the commission, after any such visit, the visiting commissioners shall report the result thereof, with such recommendations for the better management or improvement of any such institution, as they may deem necessary. But such recommendations shall not be contrary to the doctrines of the particular school of medicine. adopted by such institutions. The commissioners shall, at least once each year, at a time to be appointed by the commission, meet the managers of such institutions, or as many of the number as practicable, in conference, and consider, in detail, all questions of management and improvement of the institution, and they or one or more of them with the managers shall inspect the institution or such parts thereof as they may deem necessary and shall also send to the managers, in writing, if approved by a majority of the commissioners, such recommendations in regard to the management and improvement of the institution as they may deem necessary or desirable. § 5. Section nine of said chapter five hundred and forty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six, as amended by chapter three hundred and eighty of the laws of nineteen hundred and chapter twenty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and two is hereby amended to read as follows: § 9. Annual report. The commission shall, annually, report to the legislature its acts and proceedings for the year ending September thirtieth last preceding, with such facts in regard to the management of the institutions for the insane as it may deem necessary for the information of the legislature, including estimates of the amounts required for the use of the state hospitals and the reasons therefor; and also the annual reports made to the commission by the board of managers, of each state hospital and by the state charities aid association. The commission shall determine from time to time the capacity of each of the state hospitals and shall incorporate a statement of such capacity in its annual report to the legislature. § 6. Section ten of said chapter five hundred and forty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six, as amended by chapter six hundred and thirty-four of the laws of nineteen hundred and chapter twenty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and two is hereby amended to read as follows: § 10. State hospital districts; how defined. The state commission in lunacy shall divide the state into as many state hospital districts as there are state hospitals. No county shall be divided in such classification, unless more than one of the existing state hospitals be situated within such county. Whenever the commission shall deem it necessary to more conveniently care for the insane in the various hospitals, it may change the limits of such hospital districts. When a new state hospital shall be established it shall again divide the state into hospital districts. Before any change or reestablishment of hospital districts shall be made, the board of managers of each hospital to be affected thereby shall be notified by the commission that they may be heard in regard thereto, at a time and place to be specified in said notice. Such hospital districts shall be so defined that the number of patients in each district shall be in proportion, as nearly as practicable, to the accommodations which are or may be provided by the state hospital or hospitals within such district. The commission may provide for the commitment of patients from any part of the city of New York to any state hospital located in the city of New York, or to the Kings park state hospital, or to the Central Islip state hospital. § 7. Section eleven of said chapter five hundred and forty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six, as amended by chapter twenty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and two, is hereby amended to read as follows: § 11. Change of hospital districts and reassignment of patients.— When a change or reestablishment of state hospital districts shall be made, or a new state hospital district created, the commission. shall make a report thereof, designating the counties included within each district affected thereby, and file the same with the secretary of state, and send a copy to the managers and superintendent of each state hospital affected by such change, and to each judge of a court of record, each county superintendent of the poor, and each county clerk in the state, affected by such change, to be filed in his office. § 8. Section fifteen of said chapter five hundred and forty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six, as amended by chapter three hundred and eighty of the laws of nineteen hundred, and chapter twenty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and two is hereby amended to read as follows: § 15. Commission to provide for the prospective wants of the insane. The commission shall provide sufficient accommodations for the prospective wants of the poor and indigent insane of the state. To prevent overcrowding in the state hospitals, it shall recommend to the legislature the establishment of other state hospitals, in such parts of the state as in its judgment will best meet the requirements of such insane. It shall also furnish to the legis lature in each year, an estimate of the probable number of patients. who will become inmates of the respective state hospitals during the year beginning October first next ensuing, and the cost of all the additional buildings and equipments, if any, which will be required to carry out the provisions of this chapter relating to the care, custody and treatment of the poor and indigent insane of the state. No money shall be expended for the erection of additional buildings, or for unusual repairs or improvements of state hospitals, except upon plans and specifications to be approved by the commission and the governor. The cost of such buildings as are to be occupied by patients erected on the grounds of existing state hospitals, including the necessary equipment for heating, lighting, ventilating, fixtures and furniture, shall in no case exceed the proportion of five hundred and fifty dollars per capita for the patients to be accommodated therein. No municipality of the state shall have the power to modify or change plans or specifications for the erection, repair or improvement of state hospital buildings or the plumbing or sewerage connected therewith. The commission may secure a blanket policy of insurance covering any or all of the buildings, property or fixtures of the state hospitals. § 9. Section sixteen of said chapter five hundred and forty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six is hereby amended as follows: § 16. Director of pathological institute.-The commission shall, after a special civil service examination therefor, appoint a director of the pathological institute, who shall perform, under the direction of the commission, such duties relating to pathological research as may be required for all of the state hospitals for the insane. His office and laboratory shall be in the city of New York. He shall receive an annual salary to be fixed by the commission, subject to the approval of the governor. The state hospitals shall co-operate with the pathological institute in such manner as the commission may from time to time direct. § 10. Section seventeen of said chapter five hundred and fortyfive of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six, as added by chapter three hundred and eighty of the laws of nineteen hundred, is hereby amended to read as follows: § 17. Hospital attorneys.-The commission shall appoint an attorney for each state hospital outside the city of New York and the county of Suffolk, and one attorney who shall act as such for the Manhattan state hospital, and the Central Islip state hospital, and one attorney who shall act as such for the Long Island state hospital, and the Kings Park state hospital. Each such attorney shall conduct all of the legal business required to be done for or on account of the hospital or hospitals, for which he is appointed, at a stated sum to be fixed by the commission, and which shall be charged upon the maintenance account, and paid in the same manner as other expenses of the hospital. § 11. Section thirty of said chapter five hundred and forty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six, as amended by chapter four hundred and eighty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, is hereby amended to read as follows: § 30. State hospitals for the poor and indigent insane.-There shall continue to be the following hospitals for the care and treatment of the poor and indigent insane of the state which are hereby declared to be corporations; but other insane persons, who are residents of the state, may be admitted when there is room therein for them: 1. Utica state hospital, in the city of Utica, in the county of Oneida. 2. Willard state hospital, in the town of Ovid, in the county of Seneca. 3. Hudson river state hospital, near the city of Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess. 4. Buffalo state hospital, in the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie. 5. Middletown state homeopathic hospital, in the city of Middletown, in the county of Orange. 6. Binghamton state hospital, in the city of Binghamton, in the county of Broome. 7. Rochester state hospital, in the city of Rochester, in the county of Monroe. 8. Saint Lawrence state hospital, in the city of Ogdensburg, in the county of Saint Lawrence. 9. Gowanda state homeopathic hospital in the town of Collins in the county of Erie. 10. Long Island state hospital, at Flatbush, in the borough of Brooklyn, in the city of New York. 11. Manhattan state hospital, on Ward's island, in the city of New York. 12. Kings Park state hospital, at Kings Park, in the county of Suffolk. 13. Central Islip state hospital, at Central Islip, in the county of Suffolk. § 12. Section thirty-one of said chapter five hundred and fortyfive of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six as amended by chapter twenty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and two is hereby amended to read as follows: § 31. Managers of state hospitals and their terms of office.-Each state hospital shall be under the control and management of a |