6o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and noiirrlciers of the commune, is then consulted. The Jwtes (hosts) 

 are those who take lunatics as boarders ; the nourriciers (fosterers) 

 those who take indigent insane. As a rule, each hote or nourricier is 

 expected to take only one patient ; but many exceptions are allowed, 

 and a liberal construction is indulged in. The food is usually about 

 the same as that of the family with which the patient lives ; conse- 

 quently, the comfort of the latter is to a large extent dependent on 

 the pecuniary condition of his host, though the price he pays for main- 

 tenance may be the same. In this point the close asylums, where the 

 table-provision is uniform, or is varied according to a system, may 

 have some advantage over Gheel ; but this advantage is probably 

 more than offset by the freedom of the open air and exercise, and the 

 country life which the sojourner at Gheel enjoys. 



The air cajjacity, the furnishing, the cleanliness, and hygienic con- 

 dition of the patient's lodgings are carefully provided for in the regu- 

 lations and secured by the inspections-at-will of the sectional guards. 

 Patients able to pay a larger than the usual price can secure quarters 

 to suit them ; then the administration, being informed of the stipula- 

 tions of the bargain that has been made for them, see that they are 

 carried out. The board, whether of the self -paying or of the indigent 

 patients, is paid through the permanent committee. The price of 

 board is fixed anew at the beginning of each year. It is not absolutely 

 uniform for any class of patients, but is subject to variation, according 

 to the particular circumstances that may exist. 



A considerable responsibility is incurred by those among whom a 

 lunatic is put to board, and in many instances the position of his 

 guardians is no sinecure. They are at once furnished by the adminis- 

 tration with a register, in which are recorded his name, age, sex, civil 

 state, and profession ; and in this register the physician, inspector, and 

 guard of the section have to enter their names every time they visit 

 the patient, with such notes as will constitute a kind of history of the 

 case and a financial account-current. 



The nourricier has to answer for all the waste and damage his 

 patient may commit, and, together with the guard of the section, is 

 held responsible if he escapes ; and he is liable to punishment in case 

 he allows himself to commit any act of violence or hardship against 

 his ward. Only in case of extreme danger from a raving lunatic is 

 he permitted, in self-defense, to exercise restraint upon him. The 

 physician has the sole right to prescribe coercive measures. Like all 

 other institutions of the kind, Gheel has passed through a period when 

 measures and instruments of coercion were freely employed ; but they 

 are disused now, here as elsewhere. 



Instances occasionally occur where the attendants use force toward 

 the insane, but they are made cases for discipline. It is to be ob- 

 served, with reference to this question, that each patient at Gheel has 

 not one or two only, but several thousand persons observing him. In 



