On the construction and management of hospitals for the insane : with a particular notice of the institution at Sieburg / by Maximilian Jacobi ; translated by John Kitching ; with introductory observations, &c. by Samuel Tuke.

Date:
1841
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the construction and management of hospitals for the insane : with a particular notice of the institution at Sieburg / by Maximilian Jacobi ; translated by John Kitching ; with introductory observations, &c. by Samuel Tuke. 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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    The labourers are, many of them, depositors to a very considerable extent, in the York Savings’ Bank 5 and the circumstances of that excellent institution, no less than the records of crime, within the City and neighbourhood, speak comparatively well of the social and moral condition of the popu- lation of the districts. Large then, as is the proportion of the insane and idiots, within the York Union, when compared with even the calculation of Sir A. Halliday, I still venture to express the opinion, that taking together the returns from both the divisions, they present a too favourable view of the actual prevalence of insanity in South Britain. It is not irrelevant to our general inquiry, to take into view the experience of select communities in England, in regard to the ])revalence of insanity among their members ; and it bears deci- dedly upon, the kindred and very interesting inquiry, as to the circumstances and conditions of man, which are favourable or otherwise to mental health. With this view I introduce the following particulars, relative to the Society of Friends. At the time when the Retreat, near York was established, (in the year 1796,) the opinion prevailed that insanity was of very rare occurrence in this body. Dr. Haslam, at that time Apothecary ofBethlem Hospital, in his “ Observations on Madness,” published about that time, expressed the opinion that the Society was nearly exempt from this greatest of human calamities. The projectors of the Retreat were thought, by some of their own friends, to be making too large a provision for its wants, in proposing a building for thirty patients; so little is the value of general uninvestigating computations of aggregate quantities. The successful management of the institution, soon brought it into general favour, and it gained so completely the esteem and confidence of the Society, that a very large proportion indeed, of the cases of insanity which occurred among its members, were, from time to time, placed under its care. This was encouraged by the low terms on which patients of the poorer class were admitted to its benefits, and also by the ready supply of the wants of the poor, which the economy of the Society provides. It is practically