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A LUNATIC VILLAGE. 97
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Part Ii. {Concluded From P. 33.)
of a surgeon ; tliese officials are placed , in _foiir local dispensaries , and are assisted by a few men _wKo can serve as keepers if necessary .
Living tlms in the midst of the small town , the medical men know each patient and his daily habitsand also the character and conduct
of the nourricier who has him in , charge . In case of bodily illness , they attend regularly , and they certify the progress made towards
mental health . Three times a year they draw up a report of the condition of each patient , - they also exercise administrative functions ,
and locate new comers as appears best , changing their domicile from one familto anotherif such changes are desirable ; and listening
y , to the complaints of either party , if any complaints are made . To them onlbelongs the authority of ordering measures of restraint :
the strait- y waistcoat or manacle can only be imposed by their direct permission . The physicians have lately demanded and obtained an
infirmary for the reception of cases demanding more constant medical attention ; it is , however , very much to be hoped , says M . Duval , that
they will not allow anything of the nature of an asylum at Gheel ; such being contrary to the whole spirit and practice of the place .
If , however , the medical service resists any temptation to treat even the worst cases by confinement , and forbears attempting to supplant
the free and easy life now led by the insane patients by any measure of the disciline imposed in asylumsthen the creation of a good
infirmary at Gheel p will be of the greatest , advantage to the insane and to science . Gymnastic apparatus _, swimming baths , and medical baths
of all kinds , will be brought into use . A library containing all the best and latest literature on the special subject will be formed in
connexion with this institution ; and a staff of regularly educated nurses and attendants on the insane will be trained for service from
the population of Gheel ; the female members of which population are already eminently qualified by nature and practice . In this
infirmary also will be received some of those dangerous lunatics who cannot be lodged at Gheel on the usual footingbut who in periods
, of intermittent quietness might be allowed to partake of its advantages . In thus combining the latest and best results of medical
science with the genuine excellences of a system which is rooted in the faith of Belium will satisfy her men of intellectual
progress , and ages shield , the g colony of Gheel from criticism on the score of fanatic adherence to a legend ; this colony being truly unique of
its kind , and one of the glories of the land to which it belongs . M . Duval makes several observations on the administrative
regulations of Gheel , and says that authority is too much divided between government officials and a local committee . He would prefer a
single director , responsible to Government , and to a committee of surveillance ; and that this director should be of the highest
intellectual quality . Many improvements have been made by the council of the Brussels Asylum for the benefit of the 800 insane whom
they send thence to Gheel . The council have improved the
clothing of the patients , and made it similar to that of a small shop-
A Lunatic Village. 97
A LUNATIC _VILLAGE . 97
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1861, page 97, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041861/page/25/
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