It is no longer used as a house of correction for dissolute women.
Prostitutes, taken up by the police, are now carried to St. Lazare,
in the _Rue St. Denis_. Those in want of medical aid, for disorders
incident to their course of life, are not sent to _Bicêtre, but to
the _ci-devant_ monastery of the Capucins, in the _Rue Caumartin_.
At present, the _Salpêtrière forms an _hospice_ for the reception of
indigent or infirm old women, and young girls, brought up in the
Foundling-Hospital, are placed here to be instructed in needle-work
and making lace. Female idiots and mad women are also taken care of
in a particular part of this very extensive building.
The Salpêtrière was erected by Lewis XIII, and founded as an
hospital, by Lewis XIV, in 1656. The facade has a majestic
appearance. Before the revolution, this edifice was said to lodge
6000 souls, and even now, it cannot contain less than 4000. By the
_Plan of Paris_, you will see its situation, to the south-east of the
_Jardin des Plantes_.
I shall also avail myself of the opportunity of correcting another
mistake concerning