Twenty-second annual report of the Trustees of the New York Asylum for Idiots of the State of New York : transmitted to the Legislature January 22d, 1873 / New York State Asylum for Idiots.

  • New York State Asylum for Idiots.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Twenty-second annual report of the Trustees of the New York Asylum for Idiots of the State of New York : transmitted to the Legislature January 22d, 1873 / New York State Asylum for Idiots. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    I j lower the stage in the descending scale of degeneracy, the power of I endurance diminishes, and the survivals of the unfortunates are con- j tinually more infrequent. How, for such as these a place of custody, j whereby system in the management and the proper appliance^^ a I relief from positive misery and suffering, a degree of comfort, and i at the same time some improvement in the habits can be secured, is \ not alone of service to the individual and a great relief to the average i family of the community, or even those in charge of the ordinary j county asylum, but is a positive gain to the productive power of the I State. I Separation of any dependent class from the ordinary life or cir- j cumstances of the community, or even from the aggregated masses j of the county poor-houses, properly conducted, does not increase its burdensomeness, but should reduce it to its minimum. Prompted by such considerations, and after some experience of its operation, the work of separating and caring for the class of idiots by themselves has been determined upon by the authorities in I England, and with the warm approval of the commissioners of lunacy of thfst country. Canada is just now following in the same steps, by the establish¬ ment of custodial institutions for idiots, as out-departments of their several insane asylums. There is another class, constituting the mass of idiots, with physi¬ cal constitutions superior to those already described. In these the physical defect and infirmity is less deep seated and less marked. The bodily functions are impaired in their action to a less degree. The capacity for improvement, mentally and morally, is latent, because the mental life is not spontaneous in its action. It does not seek, through the active exercise of the senses, the aliment that should minister to its growth and strength. It does not feel the motives of action that lie above the range of appetite or passion. It grovels, while it should rise in the scale of being. And while the spirit thus fails in a proper, active out-going, a crust of habits of inertia and indifference forms about it and grows continually more impervious to exteinal influences. Socially speaking, it may be said, that while the existence of such as these is less a dead-weight upon the energies of any community than those of a lower grade of idiocy, yet in themselves they are equally unproductive. Their wants in the way of shelter, food and clothing, are to be supplied without their aid ; and very often this