PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference -
C.O.885
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
Despatch, March 16, 1863.
Despatch, June 30, 1863.
Despatch, March 5, 1863.
Despatcú, May 13, 1863.
Despatch. March 20, 1863.
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they recommend~~(i) the immediate completion of the extensions at Rock- wood; and (ii) either the construction of another new asylum or the comple tion of that at Toronto, according to the original design, by the construction of wings, a plan which would save time, and would increase the facilities for classification and for economy of labour in the present establishment. Some such measures they consider imperatively necessary. They also urge (iii) the addition of hospitals to all the asylums. Province, they state that there are at the present time nearly 130 insane persons With reference to the Lower who are improperly provided for, in gaols and otherwise, and 60 who cannot find any accommodation at all. pressing necessity for the erection of a new asylum, with proper grounds, in And (iv) they represent that there is a the western part of the Province to replace the miserable make-shift at St. John's.
76. New Brunswick.-New Brunswick, with a population which in 1851 reached 193,800, has no public hospital. It can hardly be that none is wanted in a colony which provides for an average of 178 lunatics.
The Governor reports, that the colony has reason to be proud of the condition of the asylum. It is managed by a board of five unpaid Com- missioners appointed by the Governor. But it is insufficiently heated; there are no lavatorics, and no proper means for amusement in winter. There are no records of restraint, nor any visitation except by each Governor once in his whole term of office.
There is an urgent necessity for some proper system of inspection and reports.
77. Newfoundland-The defects of the hospital are that the sewage collects in a cesspool adjoining the building; that there are no baths except one slipper bath; that only one portion, recently added, has any ventilation. whilst in nine of the wards the space per head is less than 700 cubic feet ; and that the reports are insufficient. This hospital admits contagious cases, and no mention is made of any resulting inconvenience.
The defects of the lunatic asylum are, that though designed for only 77 patients it is crowded with an average of 88, and has once admitted 107; that some of the dormitories (and those the single ones, which ought to be especially roomy), give only from 510 to 561 cubic feet of space; that there is a great want of more commodious airing-courts, and of botter means of amusement and employment, especially in winter, and that there are three criminal and violent inmates who greatly disturb the order of the establishment. 78. Nova Scotia.-A population which in 1851 reached 277,119 is without a public hospital.
The asylum is unfinished, very insufficient for the wants of the country, and crowded with helpless imbeciles who ought not to be sullered to lessen the means of a curative institution, and who would be better off elsewhere. The associated dormitories allow only 510 cubic feet per head, and the portion first built is damp and out of repair. The medical superintendent further asks for an airing-court for males, and some other small improvements which may be left to local care. In other respects this asylum appears to be very satisfactory.
79. Prince Edward's Island.-Prince Edward's Island is also without a public hospital.
At the asylum drainage is effected by an open gutter leading into a cesspool, and the latrines can only be cleansed by hand. The basement cells allow only 323 cubic feet per head, and none of the rest exceed and few approach 600, an amount which it is needless to say is very insufficient. is there any means for ventilation except the nominal one of windows. The Nor means for employment are equally deficient. It does not appear that there are any records of restraint, or any reports except the statutable anual return. The combination in this case of a poor-house with a lunatic asylum is believed to be exceedingly prejudicial to both branches.
80. Bernudas.-There is no hospital in the Bermudas.
The asylum is one of the worst specimens to be found in the colonies. The site is bad and cold, the walls damp. The rooms are too few, over- crowded, ill-constructed, draughty in winter, ill-ventilated in summer, and so small as to give in some cases no more than 540 cubic feet of space to cach patient in single cells. There is no sewerage or drainage, and the
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latrines are micre pits without outlet of any kind, and are extremely offensive. "Besides these there are in each cell fixed commodes with a copper basin and chain leading to a pit placed either below or at the back of them—a pit for each commode; and as these are open throughout, having no effluvium-traps, or convenient provision för frequently flushing them, they are fruitful sources of bad smells, as well as disagreeable objects to look at. Those attached to the noisy ward are made to open into a court at the back of it, overlooked by the windows, and are especially disgusting." The water-supply is incon- veniently arranged, and the baths and lavatories so defective that it may be said that there are no provisions for cleanliness. There is a warm bath, but it is so placed that its effects are neutralized by the necessity of passing from it through a cold and exposed passage. There is no land cultivated by the patients, nor are there any sort of means for employment or exercise. There is a shower-bath in the "noisy ward," which it may be suspected is turned to no good purpose. The entire control is vested in the head keeper, who manages the stores and keeps the accounts, and seems to be practically irresponsible. The medical superintendent is non-resident, and receives only 501. a-year, out of which he has to provide all medical and surgical requisites, an arrangement which requires no comment. The three ex officio Inspectors visit only twice in the year, the Governor never. Scanty reports are returned half-yearly. Under this system the average stay of the patients is over three years.
It would be very little to say of this institution that it had better never have existed.
Considering the defects of the present building, and that there is a great demand for increased accommodation-a very large percentage of the inhabitants of the Island, of all classes, being asserted to labour under or to be predisposed to mental derangement-a new structure seems to be urgently required. The plans ought to be prepared by some competent engineer, and submitted to the Home authorities.
81. Gambia.-There is no lunatic asylum in Gambia.
Despatco,
The hospital stands low and to leeward of a malarious swamp. It contains March 24, 1863. about thirty-two berths, with about 700 cubic feet of air per head, which is insufficient of itself, but is to some extent supplemented by good ventilation. There is no sewerage, and the drainage is open. The one latrine, “situate about thirty-five paces to the south-west of the hospital, is emptied when necessary, and the contents thrown into the sea.” In other respects it seems to be good. The Governor visits very frequently, and is stated to be the sole author of its general efficiency.
82. Sierra Leone.- About 595 patients are annually treated in the Free- Despatch, town hespital, which is under the immediate control of the Colonial Surgeon. April 18, 1863. The wards are too much crowded, but are said to be well ventilated. There is no resident medical officer.
In the Kissy asylum there are great sanitary deficiencies: the drains are open, the latrines discharge themselves into cesspools, and the average space per head is only 603 cubic feet. The management is intrusted to a superintendent at a salary of 501, per annum. The two Colonial Surgeons visit on alternate days, a system which it is difficult to reconcile with the rule of the asylum, which requires the "Medical Attendant" to inspect the whole establishment three times daily. There are no regular visits by superior authorities, and the reports are insufficient.
It does not appear that any records of restraint are preserved.
A system can hardly be satisfactory which leaves the management to an ill-paid keeper. One of the visiting surgeons should at least be required to visit, inspect, and give orders for every part of the institution daily, and thus to be made responsible for its condition. The same visitors might inspect and report on both the hospital and the asylum. It appears that there is also a Quarantine hospital at Kissy, which is used for infectious cases. No details are given.
83. Gold Coast.—The hospital of this colony was closed in 1861 in conse- Despatch, quence of the refusal of the people to pay the poll-tax.
Feb. 26, 1863.
81. St. Helena. The only apparent deficiencies of the public hospital of Despatch, St. Helena are its bad ventilation and total want of regular visits of inspection, July 13, 1963. and the insufficiency of reports.