1166 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 566

stitution under the provisions of the preceding Sections of this
Article and still confined therein, to exercise all of the powers
conferred upon them by Section 3A of this Article with re-
spect to persons hereafter to be so committed, to the end that
payment for the future maintenance and support of such per-
sons while in such institutions may be required, made, col-
lected, and accounted for as in the case of persons hereafter to
be committed under the provisions of said Section 3A.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That Sections 37 and 41
of Article 59 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, title "Luna-
tics and Insane, " sub-title "Lunacy Commission, " be and the
same hereby are respectively repealed and respectively re-
enacted with amendments, so as to read as follows:

37. The medical superintendent or chief officer of any insti-
tution, hospital, home or retreat for the insane may receive and
detain therein for purpose of care and treatment any person
who is. desirous of submitting himself for treatment and makes
application therefor in writing, at the expense of such person,
or the expense of his relatives or friends, or of the County in
which such person resides upon the consent of the County Com-
missioners thereof, or of the City of Baltimore, if such person
resides therein, upon the consent of the Supervisors of City
Charities. No such person shall be detained for more than three
days after having given notice of his or her desire and intention
to leave such institution unless such person shall in the mean-
time have been legally committed upon and after due notice
to him or her on the request of his or her relatives or friends,
in accordance with Section 31 of this article regulating
the commitment and detention of the insane in hospitals and
asylums; nor shall any person be received or detained as a vol-
untary patient whose mental condition is such, or becomes such,
that such person cannot comprehend the act of voluntary com-
mitment, or be able to request his or her discharge, or give con-
tinuous assent to detention. Every such voluntary patient so
admitted shall be reported to the Lunacy Commission as pro-
vided in cases legally committed, and shall be further reported
to the Lunacy Commission with a statement of the mental con-
dition of said person at the end of each three months of said
patient's residence in the institution to which he or she has
requested admission, and when discharged therefrom, a copy
of this Section shall be read or exhibited to every person re-
questing admission to any institution in accordance with its
provisions.