Ninth annual report, &c., of the Belfast District Asylum for the lunatic poor of the counties of Antrim, Down, and County of the town of Carrickfergus, being from 1st April, 1838, till 31st March, 1839 / submitted to the Board of Governors by the manager.
- Belfast District Lunatic Asylum
- Date:
- 1839
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Ninth annual report, &c., of the Belfast District Asylum for the lunatic poor of the counties of Antrim, Down, and County of the town of Carrickfergus, being from 1st April, 1838, till 31st March, 1839 / submitted to the Board of Governors by the manager. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![so far as ascertainable, were as follow:— General Debility, ..... 6 Maniacal exhaustion, ..... 3 General Paralysis, ..... 2 Pulmonary Consumption, 3 ... 1 Rheumatic affection, ..... 1 Cause of death unknown, having died suddenly, . . 2 Total, ... 15 The average ages of the above were 42. The alteration made in the mode of supplying medicine, and affording the requisite surgical assistance, has been now in operation 15 months, and upwards, and is found to answer, most satisfactorily, in every respect, as well as to be much more economical—It is needless to observe, that Dr. Thomson’s charge is attended to in a manner highly creditable to his professional skill. The suggestion made, last year, by the Manager and Physician, to the Go¬ vernors, as to the necessity and importance of warming the Asylum differently to that of ordinary fires, met with their prompt attention ; and the Board, after much anxious deliberation, and after instituting the most particular in¬ quiries as to the method in which similar Establishments were warmed through¬ out the kingdom, came to the unanimous determination of adopting Perkins’ hot-water plan of procuring heat, and, accordingly, an apparatus of this descrip¬ tion was, in] January last, commenced putting up by Messrs. Turner and Walker, of Dublin, which, being recently erected and conducted through the principal portions of the Institution, is now in full operation ; and, from the short experi¬ ence had of its effects, there is no doubt, that the change will be productive of the happiest consequences, and found to answer all the expectations formed of it: in Jhose day-rooms, particularly, which smoked, the apparatus in question will be invaluable, not only in doing away with this, but with many other equally unpleasant and constant sources of annoyance. Altogether, the advantages that will accrue are far from being problematical ; and, so- genial to the feelings of the poor patients is the equable temperature thus obtained, that several of them, during the last few weeks, when the apparatus was in working order, were heard congratulating themselves on the Summer season having appeared, this vear, so much earlier than hitherto. The method in operation, for some years past, in the Establishment, for dry¬ ing clothes, being found quite inadequate, the same has accordingly been lately superseded, with the approval of the Board, and, instead thereof, a new one adopted, the necessary heat being now procured through the medium of hot- water tubes also. The drying-loft, thus remodelled, and otherwise newly fitted up, is giving every satisfaction ; and will, it is confidently hoped, be found a most decided and important improvement, as compared with the old system of drying. The gross expenditure, during the year now brought to a close, has been greater than last year’s, by the sum of £863 Is lOd; this year’s total discharge being £3,721 16s lOd ; that of the preceding, £2,858 15s;—an increase which, in part, is to be accounted for, by the expense of erecting the hot-water apparatus above referred to, and in part by provisions, generally, being much higher in price—the article of potatoes, alone, being Is and upwards per cwt. more this season than the last. It is also to be taken into consideration, that the number of Patients was increased, which necessarily added to all current expenses, excepting salaries and wages; but, on this head, the Manager feels, that the Board is fully cognizant, from its constant watchfulness and super¬ vision over this, as well as every other matter of detail connected with the ma¬ nagement of the Institution, that every economy that could consistently be effected, without trenching too much on those ordinary comforts which are indispensably necessary for the welfare of the inmates of such an Establishment,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30301828_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
