Fourth annual report on the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum / Buckinghamshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum.

  • St. John's Hospital (Stone, Buckinghamshire, England)
Date:
[1857]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fourth annual report on the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum / Buckinghamshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    LUNACY. Bucks County Asylum, 24:th November, 1856. We have visited this Asylum, and seen all the patients, viz. 84 males and 117 females. They were generally quiet, well clothed, clean in their persons, and in fair bodily health. No one was under instrumental restraint, and only one woman was in seclusion. A considerable number of the men were employed on the land, and the women in all the female wards were occupied in needlework, straw- platting, lace-making, etc.; a number were also busy in the laundry, and other offices. The wards were throughout remarkably clean, and, with the excep¬ tion of the air in some of the water-closets, the atmosphere was pure. The defective condition of the water-closets is to he attributed to the present deficient supply of water. The bedding is very good. All the wards present a cheerful aspect, and are well supplied with furniture, books, and various games and amusements. We understand that the patients are read to in the evening, and on Sundays, and that they have the advantage of exercise beyond the precincts of the establishment. There appears to be a full staff of attendants, and we are glad to find that during the night the patients are under careful observation, and a record of their condition is regularly kept. The whole of the land appears to be under cultivation, and the airing-courts are now neatly laid out, and well kept. The recommendations made by the Commissioners at their last visit have generally been attended to, and we think that by using the upper