At a special meeting of the County Council for Dorset, on January 8th, the proposal of the Visiting Committee to build, at a cost of about £40,000, a detached house for one hundred private patients, was unanimously approved, and the plans, which have been prepared by the architect, Mr. G. F. T. Hine, gave satisfaction. Dorsetshire was the first county in England to take advantage of Section CCLV of the Lunacy Act, 1890, by providing accommodation of private patients in connection with the County Institution, and the results of this further development of the private side of the institution will be followed with interest.