Nineteenth annual report of the trustees of the State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester. December, 1851.

  • State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Nineteenth annual report of the trustees of the State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester. December, 1851. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    under the very windows of their apartments. The accumulated bal¬ ances, reserved partly for this especial purpose, have been found sufficient to meet all the expense thus incurred, without asking for any additional appropriation by the Government. And the Trustees may now express a confident assurance, that, without further cost, except in the inconsiderable charge of an occasional coat of paint to the wooden rails and paling, these spacious buildings, with their costly improvements and adjacent grounds of rich cultivation and ornament, covering an area of more than twelve acres of land, have received an outward protection, as enduring as the beautiful eminence which pre¬ sents to the view, from every side, the attractive and commanding site of this noble Institution. In the course of the season, gas lights, which had been partially introduced the last year, have been extended through other parts of the buildings. Experience has shown, that although this description of light is more expensive than the consumption of oil, yet its greater cleanliness and convenience in use, and its pleasant and cheering influence upon the patients, abundantly justifies its substitution. On one of the southern wings, over the halls of the male depart¬ ment, the recent application of a large ventilator has served to remove the offensive odor of the contiguous rooms, and, in a great degree, give circulation to fresh and pure air. Some considerable changes in the position and construction of the water closets and bathing rooms have also proved highly satisfactory. Occasions for alterations and improvements in such an establishment are continually occurring, and require unceasing attention and care. Notwithstanding all prudent precautions, insanity, at one moment quiet and apparently subdued, will suddenly manifest itself in paroxysms of violence, and while the wretched maniac is to be restrained, the mischief he has unconsciously committed remains to be repaired. The direction in all these matters has fallen within the personal care of the Superintendent, who, in his regard to the infinite diversity of the duties of his office, gives but renewed proofs of his untiring industry and fidelity. The farming concerns of the past year appear to the resident Trus¬ tees, under whose observation they have been more immediately con¬ ducted, to have been well and successfully managed. Much labor has been done upon the land in the cultivation of farm and garden, and the products, of which the steward’s books exhibit a particular account, have been bountiful. The importance of furnishing healthy employ¬ ment in the open air to such of the patients as can be induced to work, cannot be overstated, and the Trustees, under the promptings of their