Surgeon-General Moore has just made public his annual report. In all financial matters the report covers the operations of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1888, from the appropriation made by the Act approved February 9, 1887, for the expenses of the Medical Department of the Army. The money value of the medical and hospital supplies issued during the fiscal year was $178,034.11, and the Surgeon-General estimates that the cost will exceed that amount for the current year. In regard to the employment of " contract surgeons" and the Hot Springs Hospital, the Surgeon-General says:
"The limited number of contract surgeons allowed by law necessitates the employment of private physicians, under existing regulations, to furnish medical attendance to officers and enlisted men at stations where there is no medical officer of the Army. These physicians are paid by the visit from the ' medical and hospital appropriation.' Added to this is the