§ MR. CAIRNSsaid, he wished to inquire of the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the statement which has appeared n the public newspapers, that Dr. Hatchell has been appointed Inspector of Lunatic Asylums in Ireland, was correct; and, if so, whether Dr. Hatchell has had any and what experience in the management of Lunatic Asylums, or in the treatment of the insane?
§ MR. H. A. HERBERT, in reply, said that the announcement which had appeared in the papers relative to the appointment of Dr. Hatchell as Inspector of Lunatic Asylums in Ireland was perfectly correct. With regard to the second part of the question of the hon. Gentleman, Dr. Hatchell had never been connected with a Lunatic Asylum in a public capacity, but as surgeon to the Irish Constabulary, which office he had old for nine years, he had had frequent opportunities of inspecting and treating lunatics. He was educated in Stephen's Hospital in Dublin, which was in connection with Swift's Lunatic Asylum, where he had ample opportunities of observing the treatment of the lunatic. He (Mr. Herbert) might add that Dr. Hatchell had been twenty-four years a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, had been an M.D. for twenty-three years, and his appointment by the Lord-Lieutenant had been generally approved by persons who knew how well qualified he was by his skill and experience for the office in question.