246                                   LAWS OF MARYLAND                           [CH. 77

Sec. 26. And be it further enacted by the General Assembly of
Maryland, That Sections 18, 19B, 25 and 39 of Article 59 of the
Annotated Code of Maryland (1957 Edition and 1968 Replacement
Volume), title "Lunatics and Insane," subtitle "Department of Mental
Hygiene," be and they are hereby repealed and re-enacted, with
amendments, all to read as follows:

18.

The Department of Mental Hygiene is hereby vested with full and
plenary powers, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Health
and Mental Hygiene, and charged with the duties and functions of
supervision of all matters relating to the custody, care and treatment
of the insane; said Department shall secure to the insane just and
humane care and careful and adequate treatment of their malady,
or maladies, and shall do and effectuate whatever may be feasible
for the amelioration and improvement of their condition, and said
Department 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 Department, and it is hereby given full
powers for the purpose, to make investigations and examinations into
and respecting 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 de-
tention, treatment, government and management of all persons therein
confined, detained or treated. Said Department shall also investigate
and examine into the condition of all buildings, grounds and other
property connected with any such institution or institutions, and
into all matters relating to their maintenance, conduct and manage-
ment, for such purpose or purposes any representative or representa-
tives of said Department 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 Department may require.
The Department shall encourage scientific investigations by the
medical staffs of the various institutions under its supervision, 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 Department. One or more representatives of the Department
appointed for the purpose by the Department shall visit all public,
corporate and private instituti