Reports from Her Majesty's diplomatic and consular officers abroad on the regulations at the places where they reside respecting the ambulance transport of civilian sick : presented to both houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, August 1890.

Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports from Her Majesty's diplomatic and consular officers abroad on the regulations at the places where they reside respecting the ambulance transport of civilian sick : presented to both houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, August 1890. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE MCLEAN ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE. A CRITICISM OF THE REPORT OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH FOR 1877. BY MORRILL WTMAN, M. D. The Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts for the present year contains an article, by Dr. Charles F. Folsom, secretary of the board, entitled Disease of the Mind. Its principal object, in the words of the general report of the board, is to show, by citing well- known historical facts, that during the past century very great strides have been made in the treatment of mental disease. After quoting from the reports of Dr. Bell and of Dr. Earle, made in 1847 and 1848, with regard to the very few instances of personal re- straint of the insane under their care, Dr. Folsom makes the following statement. The paragraph is quoted entire. With all this, the excited insane were found by a committee of our legislature in 1848 to be at the Worcester Asylum even in small rooms, ' having the least advantages for light, none for ventilation, unfavorably located, dark, dreary, damp, and uncomfortable to that extent as to aggravate rather than to assist the cure of the unfortunate beings placed there; ' the male violent insane at the McLean Asylum, then considered one of the best, were kept in stone cells in the cellar ; and this simply indicates the general knowledge of the time. The position and condition of the more quiet of the insane in asylums were very much better of course ; but it was reserved for further study and experience to show that the most violent may be treated to a certain extent in a similar way. 1 Many persons, medical men and others, have received from this state- ment very erroneous impressions as to the apartments and treatment of the violent male insane at the McLean Asylum. If these impressions were well founded it would be a stain upon the reputation of those who instituted and continued such measures, and upon the board of trustees, for whose fidelity and judicious care of the asylum from its foundation it would be hard to find a parallel.