ABSTRACT
Character of System pursued previous to 1815—St. Vincent de Paul—Insane consigned to Monks—Lunatics set at large to beg—Lunatics in Gaols, in Cages, in Caves, in Dungeons.—Associating of Lunatics with Criminals—Modes of quieting Lunatics—“Muffling”—Modes of feeding Lunatics—“Forcing”—Death from this process—Lunatics in Hospitals—Four or five sleep in one bed—Confined in Venereal Wards—Lunatics in Workhouses—Want of Medical attendance, classification, comfort, and cleanliness in these establishments—Sale of Idiot children—Madhouses at Venice, Nantes—Confinement of sane individuals—Carelessness of Medical men in granting certificates—Unusual modes of coercing the Insane—Coercion required for the poor, but not for the rich—Coercion resorted to as economical—Lunatics exhibited for a sum of money; excited and induced to gorge themselves with food, or filth, for the amusement of visitors—Gangrene of extremities from cold—Insufficient supply of food, of clothing—No medical or moral treatment—Superintendence confided to ignorant and dissolute keepers—Terror as a remedy—Cruelty and immorality of servants—No separation of sexes—Unhealthy cells—Concealment of mortality—Deaths from fury of keepers and patients—Records burned to frustrate inquiry, &c.—A visit to Asylums as they were.
