First annual report of the medical officers on the state and management of the asylum for the insane poor of the County of Norfolk / [Norfolk Lunatic Asylum].

  • Norfolk Lunatic Asylum (Norfolk, England)
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: First annual report of the medical officers on the state and management of the asylum for the insane poor of the County of Norfolk / [Norfolk Lunatic Asylum]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/78 page 14
    Crowded State of Asylum. Ventilating Apparatus. Fire Guards. a fifth, of the noisy and dirty; and a sixth, of aged and quiet cases, with a few suicidal ones which re¬ quire especial attention. In consequence of the numbers during the past year haying greatly increased (particularly on the female side of the Asylum), there has been much crowding. The day rooms are made to hold more than they can properly accommodate; and in the female department it has been found necessary to use some of the' galleries as sleeping rooms. Increased work is thrown on the ventilating appa¬ ratuses, which, in our opinion, require improvement in order that there may be an unvarying heat, which should be at least 55° of Fahrenheit throughout the Asylum. It is only by living in an institution for the insane, that one can thoroughly appreciate the beneficial effects arising from good ventilation, not only is it necessary for those who may probably recover, but for the health and comfort of those whose condition is simply ameliorated by a residence within the building. As the crowding of persons in good health is well known to engender disease of the most severe kind, by an impairment of the functions of the body, how much more pernicious must be the result of placing in a small space a surplus number of individuals who are afflicted in mind and body, if there is not ensured to them a proper supply of pure and warm air ; we therefore suggest that mea¬ sures be adopted for the admission of more warm- air into the single dormitories. The day rooms have open fire-places, and the entire removal of the large fire-guards, which was previously commenced, has been attended with good result; no
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