Report on lunatic asylums / by Fredc. Norton Manning.

  • Manning, Frederick Norton, 1839-1903.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on lunatic asylums / by Fredc. Norton Manning. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    LDJSiATlC A ST HI MS. ihc latter, ihosc arc also gi-ated openings, elosable at will, near the floor of each i-ooiri, for the same purpoRO. All those asylums, then, and others which it is not necessary to mention, are venti- lated by natural means—by windows or doors only, or by some openings for the ingress or egress of air, one or both, in addition to these ; and in all, the ventilation is good and seems to serve every puri)ose. But it is noteworthy also that those with AvindoAVS, doors, and tire))lacea only, and those Avith the more simple accessories in addition to t:hese, seem as well ventilated as those in Avhich there is an elaborate arraiigement of ventilating shafts. Artificial Ventilation.—Artificial ventilation is never employed alone m British asylums, but onlv as an accessory to the natural method. The most nsual mode ot employim^ it is that by extraction, heat being generally the agent. The principle of this is Avell known, and the system is used at Pentonvillc Prison and many othei- public institutions. In most instances H ayden's system, or some modilication of it, is employed, and, as an accessory, is reported to'be successful at Bristol, Colney Hatch, Worcester, (jlloucester, the M'Lean Asylum. Boston, and other institutions ; but it has been tried and abandoned as useless at the lAUcester and Essex Asylums, and wherever used, is more or less expensive. At Guislain's Asylum, Ghent, the exit shafts are heated by small parufliiie lamps. At some ijistitutions, as at Montrose, the main shaft is heated by l)laciuu' the hot water tiniks in or near it; and at 8t. Anne's, the chimney of the furnace iis(m1 for wanning the wards passes through it and serves to cause an up-ctirrent. The expense is in these cases less than when special fires are lighted for this purpose. At the' Derby Asylum, Sylvester's method is in use. At the Prestwich Asylum, a simple ])roccss of ventilation by extraction is in o])eration. The fresh air is admitted tVom the basciucnt througlv openings in the floors closable at will. The vitiated air passes thi-ough openings ])laced near the ceilings in the low^er, and in them in the up])er wards, into shafts leadinii; to the roof On the top of these is fitted a revolving fan, worldng by the wind and turning a pum]iing screw in the shaft, by means of v.hich the air is extracted from the Avards. Tlie apparatus, called an Archimedean screw ventilator, is so fitted that the sliijhtest bree/e suffices to turn it; and in very calm Aveather, the heated air from below forcing its way up is sufficient to set it in motion. This process of ventilation by extraction is inexpensive, and is re])orted to aiisAver Aery Avell. In the large majority of American institutions artificial ventilation by propulsion is used, and in winter is trusted to almost entirely; the A\indoAvs at the Ncav York State Asylum at Utica, for instance, being fostened doAvn during the Avinter months. In this system, the air is in the Avinter driven by a large fan Avorhedby machinery over steam pipes, and thus, warmed, enters the Avards by openings, near the ceiling at the Utica Asylum, and near the floor in the majority of the institutions. The vitiated air leaves by other oi)enin2;s, generally near the ceiling, but at the Utica and Noav Jersey institu- tions near the floor, Avhich pass into shafts opening in the roof. At tlie XcAv Jersey Asylum, for some AA^ards, a sytem of exti-action by means of heat is in use in addition to the system of propulsion. In summer the Avindows arc o])ened, and the fan becomes only an accessor}^ to natural ventilation. At AVashingttni Asylum, the fan is used only in summer—in Avinter the di)ul)le system of shafts, and the dillerence i)i temperature betAveenthe atmosphere inside and out. serving for the purposes of ventilation. At the Pranlvfort Asylum, the system of propulsion by means of a tan is in use in the wards devoted to the more excited patients. Artificial ventilation by ]u-()pulsi()n seems in America to have succeeded more thoroughly than the same system wlien employed in Europe. At the Lariboisicre Hospital, Paris, those wards in which this system is employed are far from sAveet, and the system has been a total failure in other institutions. In the cold Aveather of America, Avhen it is difficult to open windows without lowering too much the temj^erature of the room—and Avith the form of building ado])ted f or American asylums, Avith its enclosed corridor and large number of single rooms—the system is undoubtedly successful, and perhaps the best method that <'ould be employed; but it is costly, and quite unnecessary in buildings constructed on the pavilion, or even the single corridor or Avard plan, in milder climates. Culic Space.—In dealing with asylums, it will, as a rule, be sufficient to calculate the cubic space only, without taking note of the .sujierficial area ; since the rooms, Avhetheriu
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