Thirtieth report of the Derbyshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum : for the year 1881.

  • Derbyshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum.
Date:
[1882?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Thirtieth report of the Derbyshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum : for the year 1881. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of the Epileptic Patients ; which at onr visit yesterday, we found unaltered. Although the mortality has been high, no exceptional disease has prevailed. It is fortunate that this has been the case, since no detached hospital exists for the isolation of Patients attacked by infectious maladies, and we again desire to bring this deficiency to the notice of the Committee. The Patients in bed yesterday were 3 males and 2 females. The case of one of the men is very serious. He was at the time of our visit, and had been since 5 p.m. on the previous day, in a state of insensibility, and as far as we could ascertain from the effect of a blow or blows inflicted upon him in a fight with other Patients in Ward No. 2. We interrogated the 3 Attendants of the Ward and 5 Patients, each of them apart from the other, heard the state¬ ments of the Medical Officers, and read the Case Book entries upon the subject, as well as the documents and certificates given for two admissions of the injured man into the Asylum in 1872, and again in 1879. We gather that he, Samuel Jacques, a young man, came to the Asylum on both occasions from Prison, that he had been a Convict, and had also, according to his own statements been in the Army, and in other Asylums. He seems here to have been aggressive towards his fellow Patients, and he was previously reported to have been dangerous and violent in prison. Several fights took place in the Wards, which he provoked. On the last occasion, when he was injured, he seems to have attacked and to have been assailed by several violent Epileptics, he is not himself an Epileptic. One of the 8 Attendants was off duty at that time, but came in from an adjoining room, and was able to give some assistance towards parting the combatants. From which of the Patients, Jacques, who was felled, and immediately became un¬ conscious, sustained his serious injury, we cannot discover, nor can we bring home blame to any of the Attendants, but the event clearly shows that, never less than 3 Attendants should be on duty in Ward No. 2, where are 34 Patients of an unruly class, 9 being Epileptics, and not a few excitable and prone to violence.