The Empress donated money to fund the Town Hospital at St. Petersburg, where poor were admitted without payment (Kochan 26). Upon admittance, they were shaved, bathed, and put in tidy dress. The hospital consisted of 300 well spread beds with curtains and a professor of electricity who was permanently employed to relieve diseases. Likewise, the St. Petersburg House for Lunatics was constructed and became renowned for its gentle treatment. Unlike other mental hospitals, it did not use chains to subdue raving patients, but instead used thongs, and, it only used gentle remedies, such as a strict diet, for mental disorders (Kochan 26). Finally, Catherine built the Foundling Hospital on the banks of the Muskva. This hospital broke new ground, for it was one of the first establishments of its kind. It was through Catherine that vaccinations became widespread. Smallpox took the lives of many Russians, and permanently disfigured its survivors. Catherine was one of the first people in Russia to submit to an inoculation against the disease (Kochan 27). In 1768, she summoned the Quaker, Dr. Thomas Dimsdale to perform the procedure; later that year, she had a Smallpox Hospital built, which, twice a year, inoculated children without charge. "For the first time in the history of Russia a ruler gave thought to the "people" and considered "the little man" as more than just a mere object for exploitation" (Kaus 246). Catherine was a ruler who cared for her subjects and wanted only the best for them. As a learned woman she wanted to see the rest of the country educated as well. She was curiously well read and deeply involved in the cultural trends of her time. As she was a knowledgeable writer herself, she endorsed arts and letters, and permitted the establishment of private printing presses (Grey 192). Because of Catherine's guidance the University of Moscow and the Academy of Sciences became inter nationally recognized centers of learning.
