The moral treatment of the insane : a lecture / by W.A.F. Browne.

Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The moral treatment of the insane : a lecture / by W.A.F. Browne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    and it is interesting that, although murders have been committed in asylums by those so entrusted, the deed has never been accomplished by tlie dreaded instrument. The employment of males, however, in raising vegetables and grain, in excavations, constructing embankments, re- claiming land, constitute the most approved applications of this agent. In Hanwell, during 1856, of 507 men, 250 were employed; 114 in the open air, 52 in galleries, &c.; of 657 women, 388 were employed, 20 in the open air, 160 in galleries, 186 in needlework. In Colney Hatch, during the same year, of 546 men, 246 were employed, 69 in the open air, 80 in galleries; as upholsterers 3, as carpenters 11. Of 748 women, 503 were employed, in galleries 125, in laundry 72. In an establishment, Morniugside, where occu])ation is a charac- teristic, upwards of £1000 profit resulted from the work of patients in one year ; and in another, the county asylum of the North and East Eiding of Yorkshire, ui 1849, where occupation is the characteristic of the system of treatment pursued, where every feasible endeavour consistent with the cure, bodily health, comfort and happiness of the patients were resorted to, more than 130 patients were employed, being six sevenths of the whole number of males. The pecuniary gain here is subsidiary, but it is important. The grand results are the vigorous, physical health, the sound sleep, the agreeable sensa- tions, the mental quiet; and the future suggested; but unless the laboiu-er can see that his industry is useful and productive, and, above all, unless he possess an interest in the products, his exertions are hstless and indifferent, and unaccomjjanied by that earnestness and hope which are so conducive to sanity. It has, ac- cordingly, been customary to grant rewards and privileges in the form of tobacco and better food to the workmen, &c.; but an infinitely better plan would be to pay wages, however small, which might accumulate and be available on discharge, or to the family of the patient. The necessity for such a provision is shown by the creation of the Adelaide Eund at Hanwell and the benevolent fund of Surrey Asylum.—Conceive an extensive farm with a vast grange, or mansion, in the centre. Conceive the premises cultivated in the most ap- proved fashion, cbained, drilled, divided, but not enclosed, studded with stables, barns, piggeries, dairies. Conceive that the barrack is inhabited by a large body of labourers, gardeners, cowkeepers, hedgers, reapers, &c., that these go out at certain appointed hours, under agricultural experts, who regulate and stimulate their exer- tions, keep them engaged, prevent their elopement, and see that they return regularly for meals, rest, &c. Conceive that the internal economy corresponds to that of a monastery or boarding-house, that there is greater solicitude for the health and comfort, and correct behaviour of the inmates, than exists under ordinary circumstances. Conceive that the industrious class are occupied for a shorter time and in less onerous tasks tJian fi'(>e labourers, that the labour of three
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