Seventeenth annual report of the managers of the Buffalo State Asylum for Insane for the year 1887.

  • Buffalo State Hospital
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Seventeenth annual report of the managers of the Buffalo State Asylum for Insane for the year 1887. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    dressed by three attendants and taken down stairs to the lower ward, which he occupied during the day. Upon being placed in a chair he slipped out upon the floor. His feeble condition was recognized and he was placed upon a bed and. a physician summoned, but before he reached the ward the patient was dead. A post-mortem examination revealed a chronic meningitis extend¬ ing over the frontal and parietal portion of the brain, a fracture of the spinous process of the fourth cervical vertebra, and of three ribs and one costal cartilage on each side. The ribs were all in an extremely brittle state; the fractured portion of the spinous process did not press upon the cord nor was there any evidence of injury to it. The frac¬ tures of the ribs were all transverse and there was no penetration of or injury to the pleura or lungs. The physicians of the board of managers were summoned and saw the post-mortem appearances. In consultation with the sujoerintendent it was decided to request the coroner to make a thorough investigation. This was held, and con¬ tinued for several days, during a period of two weeks. The decision reached was that- “ The patient came to his death by injuries received in the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, which injuries were received in some manner unknown to this jury.'’ At this time the Commissioner in Lunacy visited the asylum, made an investigation, and arrived at a similar conclusion. About a week later the three attendants who last had care of the patient were arrested on the charge of murder. This was reduced to manslaughter in the second degree, and bail fixed at $2,000, which was furnished, and they were released, pending an investigation by a justice. This was waived and they were held for the action of the grand jury. An indictment was found upon the charge, without any direct evidence, and apparently on the ground of exclusion, as all of the attendants who had any care of the patient were examined, except the three charged wdth the crime. The trial was held before the Superior Court of Buffalo in Se]3tem- ber last, and continued for eight days. There was no evidence to con¬ vict the defendants indicted, but proof sufficient to show the probability of the injuries having been self-inflicted. Hon. Charles Beckwith directed the jury to bring a verdict of not guilty, which wms done without leaving their seats. In his remarks he fully vindicated the asylum, and commended the action of the board in seeking an official investigation into the causes of the death of the patient. We quote from the Judge's remarks to the jury, as we deem it well to j)lace on record the view^s held b}^ the court in a case of such inij^ortance, not only to this asylum, but to