Thirty-second annual report of the directors of James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics, near Perth. June, 1859.

  • James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Thirty-second annual report of the directors of James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics, near Perth. June, 1859. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/58 (page 19)
    ful; their exercise and diet regular ; and they are frequently the very pictures of robust physical health. A table appended to our obituary statistics for the present year shows, that of 222 deaths since 1827, nearly one-half, or 46*39 per cent, occurred in persons over 50 years of age. Of 103 deaths in patients above the age of 50, 48 occurred be¬ tween 50 and 60; 27 between 60 and 70; 21 between 70 and SO ; and 7 between 80 and 90. The majority of deaths in each decennial period between 50 and 90 were cases of Dementia—of confirmed fatuity. Even in Dementia, the form of disease, and the age at which it super¬ venes, are important in regard to the prognosis. For instance. Senile Dementia may not necessarily, or at all, shorten life; it is part and parcel of the euthanasia ; the brain, like all the other organs of the compara¬ tive lonije- body, is becoming gradually weakened, and fatuity results. Accordinglyofthe to the first Deport of the Board of Lunacy for Scotland [Appendix A,sane* page 112] it would appear, that, of the whole pauper insane of Scotland, nearly l-9th or 11*58 per cent, are above 60 years of age—a fact which argues strongly both in favour of their longevity and of their good treatment. There is probably still, as there has been for long, a vague chances of . . n . . life in idio1 popular idea that idiots never survive the age ot 30. Decent statistics abundantly prove, however, that this statement is not altogether correct. In the valuable Deport by the u Commissioners appointed by the Gover¬ nor of Massachusetts to inquire into the condition of the idiots of the Commonwealth,”* it is stated, that of 574 idiots examined, 374 were over 25 years of age, and no less than 292 were capable of improvement in their physical and mental health. The majority of idiots are the subjects of a variety of abnormal cerebral and physical conditions; body and mind alike are imperfectly developed, and it is not surprising that their viability, or chances of life, should be considerably less than those of sane persons with normal or healthy physiques. But quoad the mere mental condition—or in other words, in simple idiocy, when the physical health is good—we believe the tenure of life to be much greater than in the bulk of ordinary idiots. Even in regard to some of the most fatal or incurable forms of insanity, we are of opinion that great chances oi errors have been committed in speculations on the probable duration ofraf Paraiy” life. For instance, what is called ec General Paralysis” has been usually described as certainly fatal in 2 or 3 years at farthest: but there is now no doubt that the duration of this disease is frequently much greater. * “ On the Causes of Idiocy; ” being a Supplement to said Report. Edinburgh, 1858 : p. 55.