Seventh annual report of the Committee of Visitors, Medical Superintendent, and Chaplain, with an account of receipts and expenditure, for the year ending 31st December, 1877 / Moulsford Lunatic Asylum.

  • Moulsford Lunatic Asylum.
Date:
[1878?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Seventh annual report of the Committee of Visitors, Medical Superintendent, and Chaplain, with an account of receipts and expenditure, for the year ending 31st December, 1877 / Moulsford Lunatic Asylum. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tive frequency of the diseases mentioned, there being on this occasion a preponderance of epileptics, and only two cases of General Paralysis. Twelve patients were ad¬ mitted subject to Epilepsy, and there were eight affected with various phases of ordinary paralysis. With reference to the form, duration, and cause of insanity noted regarding the admissions, it may be re¬ marked that there has been no great divergence from the corresponding statistics of previous years. The most frequent form of insanity manifested on admission was mania; but it was closely followed in order of fre¬ quency by dementia. Thus, 81 were affected with Mania, 18 with Melancholia, 7 with Monomania, 27 with Dementia, and 6 with Amentia; the latter com¬ prising an equal number affected with Idiocy and Con¬ genital Imbecility. The proportion of cases affected with incurable dementia continues to be large ; but there has been a reduction of one-half in the number of idiots or imbeciles admitted. An examination of the table showing the duration of the disorder on ad¬ mission discloses the anomalous fact that although the admissions were of a very unfavourable nature as regards curability, and only 15 of their number have already been discharged recovered, 45, or fully one- half of them, were cases of first attack whose insanity had existed for various periods within a limit of three months. In the case of 18, whose attacks were also primary, insanity had existed above three and within twelve months on admission, and, as regards 15, mental disease was of more than twelve months’ duration on admission. One or more previous attacks were likewise recorded regarding 11 of the patients admitted. The causes which are supposed to have induced insanity in the admissions present the same variety and points of