Reports of the County of Lancaster Lunatic Asylum at Prestwich : 1852.

  • County of Lancaster Lunatic Asylum.
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports of the County of Lancaster Lunatic Asylum at Prestwich : 1852. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    15/44 (page 13)
    County of Lancaster Lunatic Asylum, Prestwich, March 1853. Gentlemen, I have the honour of submitting' to you the following report of the progress of this Asylum during the past year, being the second since its establishment. On the 1st of January 1852, the Institution contained 302 patients; 272 have been admitted during the year (137 men and 135 women); 107 have been discharged recovered, 5 relieved, 15 unimproved ; 2 have escaped and 57 have died; leaving 388 in the asylum on the 1st of January 1853. The proportion of cures (39*34 per cent, on the admissions, and 18*64 on the total number under treatment) as compared with those of the previous year is greater by one-fourth, the mortality having diminished in the same ratio. In 24 instances death took place in persons who had been admitted with incurable disease of the brain and membranes, com¬ bined with general paralysis and epilepsy ; in 11 from disease of the heart and lungs; in 5 from natural decay in old age; in 9 from exhaustion after mania; and in the remaining 8 from various causes named in the annexed tables. It is gratifying to be able to say that out of the 107 discharged recovered, 5 only, after an absence of several months, were re-admitted before the expiration of the year; the cause of relapse, in three instances, being a return to habits of intemperance. The general health of the patients has been remarkably good through¬ out the year, and the hearty appearance of the inmates gives the best assurance of the sufficiency both of diet and clothing.