The feeble-minded : a guide to study and practice / by E. B. Sherlock, with an introductory note by H. B. Donkin.

Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The feeble-minded : a guide to study and practice / by E. B. Sherlock, with an introductory note by H. B. Donkin. 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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    made so long before the removal to the asylum actually takes place as to afford no satisfactory evidence about the patient’s condition at that time. In the case of children admitted to “ the Asylum for Children at Darenth” the admission order is available for fourteen days and the force of the objection just noted, to having the medical certificate as to fitness for removal given several days before such removal, is recognised by the Local Government Board, which, by an Order dated May 5th, 1890, requires that the certificate should be given on the day of the removal or on the day immediately preceding. Since December, 1907, the Metropolitan Asylums Board has been able to admit into its asylums patients at any age above 3 years. Such cases as do not appear to require certification under Section 24 of the Lunacy Act, 1890, are received into certain homes and schools which are under the control of the Board, but in which detention is not authorised. These last mentioned cases, if received before reaching the age of 16 years, remain until they are 21. Detention is, however, of the essence of control and it may be of interest to note briefly what authority outside the purview of the Lunacy Act, 1890, is available for the purpose. The detention of a lunatic is said to be justifiable at common law if necessary for his safety and the safety of others. For the rest, feeble-minded persons are on the same footing as ordinary persons. Guardians of the poor have limited powers under :— (i) The Children Act, 1908. (8 Edw. 7, c. 67.) Parts 2, 4, and 5. This Act repeals much of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, 1904.