Twenty-fifth annual report of the directors of James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics near Perth. June 1852.

  • James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Twenty-fifth annual report of the directors of James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics near Perth. June 1852. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    % 13 the first admissions when the Asylum was opened. He long enjoyed uninterrupted health, and was only about a week confined to bed before he died. He died of old age rather than disease, as did also the other person. One woman died in a fit of epilepsy. She had been unusually well for some time, rose at the usual hour in the morning, and, whilst dressing herself, was seized with a fit. The attendant who was present considered it so much more severe than any former one, that she went for Dr. Pierides, who was quickly on the spot, but on his arrival he found her dead. Hitherto we have totally escaped all putrid and infec¬ tious diseases, nor have the prevailing epidemics visited us. One patient was brought here ill with typhus fever, and she died; but, by complete cleaning and washing, the disease did not spread. When cholera was in Perth we escaped it. This immunity I attribute to the excel¬ lent system of drainage about the house, and the absolute cleanliness and proper ventilation at all times enforced and attended to. We still continue the same kinds and amount of amuse¬ ments and exercise which we have always used ever since the House was opened; and we have found, from long experience, that, besides tending strongly to effect cures, it relieved the tedium of confinement, and contri¬ butes materially to preserve the health of the inmates. Besides amusements, we employ a very considerable num¬ ber of our Patients in manual labours, chiefly in garden¬ ing and supplying the House with water. We also give employment, in their several trades, to those who are handicraftsmen, and they make any repairs or alterations which may be required about the House or grounds.