Which is the maddest part of the kingdom? / by J. Holt Schooling.

  • Schooling, John Holt, 1859-1927.
Date:
[1897]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Which is the maddest part of the kingdom? / by J. Holt Schooling. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    s ^ Ju- .?», p.t-i 7 WHICH IS THE MADDEST PART OF THE By J. Holt Schooling. Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, &c. ? UNATICS form an important section of our population, and their importance is increasing year by year. But, despite the frequentt asser- tions of lunatics that “ It’s you, not me, who's mad,” the time has not yet come for the sane minority to be guarded by the in- sane majority. At present, that section of the com- munity which thinks it is sane — and which is sane, some- times — takes care of that other section of the community which also thinks it is sane, but which is usually insane. A difference of opinion merely, and 6>® ii ENGLAND SWALES. SCOTLAND. ICELAND. No. 1.—The Superior Sanity of England and Wales, when compared with Scotland and with Ireland; also, the superior sanity of Scotland when compared with Ireland. This diagram shows for every 1000 known Lunatics in the Unite! Kingdom at January 1, 1896, the Actual number per 1000 and the Expected number per 1000 in each of the three Divisions of the Kingdom ; the Expected numbers are computed on the respective popula- tions in the middle of the year 1896. [Actual in solid black, Expected in striped black and 'white; the black columns add up to iooo, the striped columns add up to iooo.] one, moreover, in which time and statistics seem to be gradually working in favour of the opinion now held by the insane minority, for the ranks of this minority are being appreciably swelled by recruits from the opposite camp, and who also, presumably, then share the opinion of the insane just quoted. Omitting the discussion of this matter of opinion as to who is and who is not insane, an investigation of the existing official records of this question of lunacy opens up some rather interesting features, which I have been asked by the Editor of Pearson's Magazine to examine and illustrate. First, I deal with the relative degrees of lunacy for England and Wales, for Scotland, and for Ireland, respectively. There is much vagueness as to facts, and another difference of opinion as to which is really the maddest part of the United Kingdom. The vagueness as to the facts is pretty generally distributed over all the three divi- sions of the kingdom ; the difference of opinion (I should say, perhaps, the difference of three opinions) is localised and emphasised in each of the three countries that make up the United Kingdom ; for each one says to the other “ It’s you, not me—-who’s the maddest.” Diagram No. i refers to this part of the inquiry; it pictures the facts for known lunatics only, viz., those persons who by the action of the lunacy laws are known by the Commissions in Lunacy to be lunatics, idiots, and persons of unsound mind, whether these be housed in private, pauper, or criminal establishments. It is clearly impossible for me to include here the not inconsider- able number of unknown citizens who also are more or less insane, for these have not yet lost touch of their social environment to a degree which calls for the active interference of friends or of