are in a filthy condition. The disinfectant powder ordered by you to be purchased has not yet been received. Lieutenant- Colonel Pierson wrote to the company for it November 28. I requested him to ascertain at once the cause of the delay in forwarding it, for its absolute necessity is everywhere most evident. The principal excuse urged by the prisoners for their filthy condition is the scarcity of water, caused by the freezing of the pumps and the frequent exhaustion of the wells. This excuse, however, will not hold good, for there is no difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply of water from the lake. Ventilation- there is an utter absence of ventilation in all the quarters, and to this fact, together with that of their being generally overheated and almost constantly crowded with their inmates, who rarely venture out of doors, is attributable the great majority of the cases of disease which occur among the prisoners. Suggestions- several of the blocks are divided up into small rooms, each being made to accommodate six to twelve prisoners, although originally designed for but four. I would suggest that the partitions between these rooms be removed, thus dividing each block into but tow barracks, one on each floor. They might then be readily provided with the means for some degree of ventilation, such as I have directed (as hereafter described), to be introduced into the hospital, and which I would suggest be also adopted here, unless it be deemed advisable to adopt some e more complete and expensive method. The quarters should all be thoroughly and frequently (as they have not yet been) whitewashed. Blankets and clothing- the prisoners are provided with a sufficient supply of blankets, and but few complain seriously of having insufficient clothing, although all need and should be supplied with overcoats. Heating- there is a sufficient number of stoves and an abundance of wood for fuel. Rations- the rations provided are of good quality, though they suffer considerably from improper cooking, and are in sufficient quantity with the exception of vegetables. The ordinary ration of potatoes is issued as a purchase from the prison fund. I have recommended to the commanding officer that at least two rations of cabbage or onions be issued per week as a preventive of scurvy, for although there are no declared cases of this disease at present in a camp, yet many, perhaps a majority of the prisoners, are more or less strongly tainted with it. Hospital- the hospital is in a slightly better condition than the quarters. It consists of four wards, two on each floor, and each forty- eight feet long, twenty- eight feet wide, and ten feet high, affording accommodation for sixty- eight beds, allowing 800 cubic feet of air to each patient. There are at present in the hospital eighty beds and fifty-six patients, of whom fifteen are cases of erysipelas, the remainder being principally a low type of fever complicated with pulmonary disease, and chiefly superinduced by living in the crowded and unventilated quarters. Ventilation- the wards are utterly unventilated except by the side windows. The accompanying copy of a communication tot eh commanding officer describes the manner in which I propose to remedy, though by no means effectually, this defect. Police- the wards are defective in their police and are much in need of a frequent coat of whitewash; especially in view of the fact that their walls are rough- plastered. Heat- they are each heated by one stove, which in the present state of the weather is insufficient. I have directed that an additional stove be placed in two of the wards (the pulmonary and convalescent). Fuel (wood) is abundant and of good quality. Kitchen- the kitchen is partitioned off from the lower right- hand ward and though small can be made to answer its purpose. It is under the charge of a Confederate