LUNATICS AND INSANE 2503

An. Code, 1924, sec. 18. 1912, sec. 18. 1904, sec. 18. 1888, sec. 18. 1886, ch. 487, sec. 19.

1910, ch. 715, sec. 18 (p. 186).

18. Said Board shall make such by-laws and regulations not incon-
sistent with this article, as it may deem proper. The Board shall meet
at least once in each month, and should be required to meet at any time
when, a call for a meeting shall be made in writing by any two members of
the Board to the Chairman. There shall be semi-annual meetings, .which
it shall be the duty of the Board and the members of the several boards
of managers of the various State hospitals for the insane and feeble-
minded in Maryland to attend for the purpose of consultation and the
more harmonious and effective administration of this article and the pro-
tection and advancement of the interests of insane persons within the
State. Such semi-annual meetings shall be held at the office of the Board
of Mental Hygiene, or at such other place as said Board may designate.

An. Code, 1924, sec. 19. 1912, sec. 19. 1904, sec. 19. 1888, sec. 19. 1886, ch. 487, sec. 20.

1910, ch. 715, sec. 19 (p. 186).

19. The Board of Mental Hygiene is hereby vested with full and
plenary powers and charged with the duties and functions of supervision
of all matters relating to the custody, cure and treatment of the insane
as provided in sections 17 to 19, 24 to 26, 28, 40 and 42 to 49; said Board
shall secure to the insane just and humane care and careful and adequate
treatment of their malady, or maladies, and shall do and effectuate what-
ever may be feasible for the amelioration and improvement of their con-
dition, and said Board shall furthermore secure to the insane in this
State all their rights and privileges as involuntary wards of the State. It
shall also be the duty of said Board, and it is hereby given full powers
for the purpose, to make investigations and examinations into and respect-
ing and concerning all institutions, public or private, or whether the same
be incorporated or be conducted or controlled by individuals, which may
be authorized by law to receive and care for insane persons, and to inquire
into the nature and methods of detention, treatment, government and
management of all persons therein confined, detained or treated. Said
Board shall also investigate and examine into the condition of all build-
ings, grounds and other property connected with any such institution or
institutions, and into all matters relating to their maintenance, conduct
and management, for such purpose or purposes any members of said
Board shall have free access to the grounds, buildings, equipment and
appurtenances and all books and papers relating to patients confined in
any such institution, or institutions, and to said patients themselves. All
persons connected with any such institution shall give such information
and afford such facilities for any such examination or inquiry as the Board
or its Chairman may require. The Board shall encourage scientific inves-
tigations by the medical staffs of the various institutions under its super-
vision, and to this end may, in its discretion, publish from time to time
bulletins and reports of the scientific and business work done therein,
and may prescribe to the superintendent and managers of the several
institutions under its supervision the forms of and periods covered by
the statistical returns to be made by them in their annual report to the
Board. The Chairman, or at least one member of the Board appointed
for the purpose by the Board, shall visit all public, corporate and private
institutions, almshouses or county asylums where the insane or feeble-
minded are kept, at least once in every six months. The Board of Mental