Thirteenth annual report of the directors and physician of James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics. 1840.

  • James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Thirteenth annual report of the directors and physician of James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics. 1840. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/16 (page 6)
    It is particularly gratifying to reflect upon the great good which has thus been accomplished in affording relief, not merely to a most wretched class of society, but in imparting comfort to their afflicted relatives. The generality of cures in an Asylum do not offer sufficient interest to make the record of • them desirable, and other obvious reasons exist for avoiding publicity as to some of the cases. A few of what are considered the most remark¬ able will only therefore be mentioned. The first case to be noticed, is that of a person who had been insane for 14 years. His malady was brought on by a fright when out herding deer. For years, after coming to the Asylum, he never exchanged words with any one, but walked about moping and dull. His bodily health became weak, and he was emaciated almost to a skeleton. The first symptom of recovery which the Physi¬ cian observed about him was, that if any children happened to be at the house, he always came up to them, touched them with his hands, laughed, and seemed pleased with them. Time, however, wore on, and still the poor man continued insane. He was unable to work from bodily weakness, but the Physician arranged to have him sent out at the regular hours with the other patients, when he occasionally employed himself in herd¬ ing the cows, and also in assisting the other men.