THE STORY OF A COLONY FOR EPILEPTICS. 669 



It is noteworthy that none of the children who have been 

 brought up in Bethel have ever lost their reason, at least not so 

 long as they have remained in the institution. Indeed, the medi- 

 cal statistics prove that not three per cent of the epileptic patients, 

 of all ages, who take up their permanent residence in the colony, 

 become insane. Unfortunately, thirty per cent of them are al- 

 ready imbecile when they arrive, and of these very few recover 

 their senses. This success in warding off insanity is not so much 

 the result of any special medical treatment the patients receive in 

 Bethel as of their being kept steadily at work and being pre- 

 served from all unwholesome excitement. But cheering as the 

 medical reports on the condition of the patients are in one re- 

 spect, in another they are decidedly depressing. The investiga- 

 tions into the causes and symptoms of epilepsy which have been 

 carried on in Bethel have led to the adoption of remedies by which 

 the sufferings it entails are materially lessened, but, so far at 

 least, no cure for the disease has been discovered. By submitting 

 to the conditions of life as arranged in the colony, epilepsy may 

 be rendered dormant for years ; those suffering from it may, for 

 all practical purposes, become as able as their fellows ; but the 

 taint of the disease still remains. Worry or excitement may at 

 any time lead to a return of the disorder. Out of 3,300 patients 

 treated in Bethel, only 228 were dismissed as cured, and even of 

 these several were obliged later to return to the institution. 



Great hopes are entertained by the managers of Bethel that 

 in time the colony may become self-supporting. So far, however, 

 its expenses have been twice as great as its regular income. Dur- 

 ing the year 1890 there were 1,277 patients in Bethel, 1,073 of 

 whom were there on January 1, 1891. Of these, the first class 

 paid one hundred pounds a year, the second class fifty pounds, 

 and the third class twenty-one pounds a year or less. These terms 

 include board, lodging, and medical attendance for all classes, as 

 well as clothing and washing for the third class. Only twenty- 

 five per cent of the patients belong to the first and second classes, 

 and the remaining seventy-five per cent to the third class. Al- 

 though theoretically the terms for the lowest class are twenty-one 

 pounds a year, as no one is refused admittance merely because he 

 can not pay the fees, the majority of those belonging to it pay 

 considerably less, and many of them nothing at all. During the 

 year 1890 the patients, roughly speaking, paid on an average 

 twelve pounds per head, whereas they cost on an average twenty- 

 five pounds per head. The working expenses of the colony for 

 that year were £31,155, while the fees paid by the patients amount 

 only to £12,351. To this amount must be added the value of the 

 articles produced in the colony and sold — viz., £3,452. At the end 

 of the year there would thus have been a deficit of £15,352, if out- 



