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THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



it was considered that an insane person 

 was a vicious person. That was their 

 explanation of insanity. It was vicious- 

 ness. So they used to dig a great, big, 

 deep well, and in the bottom they put all 

 sorts of snakes and reptiles, and they 

 would take these insane persons and drop 

 them down among the reptiles and draw 

 them up and down again many times. 

 Then they used to have great circular 

 swings and put them in these circular 

 swings and run them around as fast as 

 possible, and all sorts of tortures of that 

 kind ; and it was stated that the doctors 

 of those days considered that kind of 

 treatment very beneficial to the patients. 

 Another thing that will give you a 

 little idea of the horrible torture that 

 these people were subjected to is this. 

 It is the case of Noyes. It is on record ; 

 any of you can look at it. It happened 

 in one of the asylums of Great Britain. 

 He was a peculiarly vicious insane pa- 

 tient — probably subject to chronic mania 

 — and was very troublesome. They took 

 him down into a dungeon, way below 

 the ground, where he only had room to 

 get up and lie down, and up on the wall 

 was an iron standard set up against the 

 wall and fastened to the wall, and around 

 his body was put an iron band. To this 

 band was one link attached, and that link 

 was attached to the standard, and when 

 he wanted to lie down he would slide the 

 link down the standard and lie down, 

 and when he wanted to get up he would 

 have to slide it up. He was never re- 

 leased from that position for twelve 

 years. You can get an idea of the care 

 given to our insane people as compared 

 with what it was then. What has been 

 the result ? From what has this change 

 come ? It has come from this. We have 

 come to recognize insanity as a disease, 

 not as a vicious characteristic. It is a 

 disease and these people must be treated 

 as sick people. They are sick people 



and they should have that kind of treat- 

 ment. We do treat them that way, and | 

 as far as it is possible we give them good 

 food, the best of care, and all of them \ 

 outdoor exercise. Why, if you take a ' 

 ride in Central Park any day you will 

 see from ten to fifteen to twenty insane \ 

 persons riding in carriages. You are not 

 aware of it. They ride in carriages. 

 They are allowed to go out. 



But let us take a look at a few of them. 

 Those are insane women on Blackwell's 

 Island, out for their afternoon outing. 

 They are taking a walk with their at- 

 tendants, and they are allowed to walk 

 and run and romp and do almost any- 

 thing they like. 



I remember a very strange feeling 

 came over me as I went to the Hospital 

 on Ward's Island and with two or three 

 of the physicians was sent out into one 

 of the back yards, where there were about 

 IOC men, and they were allowed to talk 

 with us, and I turned around and found 

 the doctors had all left me and I was in 

 there alone, and I began to think it was 

 about time I was moving on. I did move 

 on. 



There is one peculiar thing about in- 

 sanity. It changes the whole tenor of 

 one's way. That is to say if a person 

 who is very pious when he is in his 

 normal condition, should become insane 

 he becomes one of the kind that will 

 swear and rant, and one of the most 

 wicked of people ; but you take a man 

 who is naturally wild and irreligious and 

 let him become insane, he generally wants 

 to pray all the time. 



Now let us take another picture. That 

 is a picture of an insane boy — or man he 

 is now — up on Blackwell's Island, and it 

 only shows a type of insanity. Now that 

 boy harnesses himself up every morning 

 with this harness and this wagon and he 

 works around the Island all day long. 

 He unharnesses himself at noon and has 



