A FREE COLONY OF LUNATICS. 63 



of himself ; when, with nothing to do, or with which to occupy his 

 mind, and in his timidity and strangeness, the idea of escape is apt to 

 take possession of him. The remedy for this is simple : the patient 

 has shared the occupations of the family during the week, now let him 

 share their diversions. Although Gheel is not a place of dissipation, 

 there is no lack of diversions there ; and there is no reason why the 

 lunatic, being invited to participate in them along with the others, 

 should not be made to feel at home in the colony, and become attached 

 to it, 



A doctor of laws, who had had several attacks of insanity, and had 

 passed sixteen months in a close asylum, came to Gheel in 1871. His 

 host took pains to procure diversions for him, and frequently engaged 

 him to assist in the concerts of the musical circle of the town. He 

 took great pleasure in this recreation, so that, in 1872, when he was 

 cured and at liberty to go away, he chose to stay in Gheel with his 

 musical circle ; and nothing but an official appointment in another city 

 could induce him to leave the place where he had had so much enjoy- 

 ment. The Harmonic Society was founded near the beginning of this 

 century by a lunatic named Colbert, a musical artist, with another in- 

 sane musician and a friendly amateur, and has Colbert's portrait in its 

 hall. 



A few unpleasant features, from the moral point of view, are pro- 

 duced through the constant intermingling of the insane with the 

 normal-minded population. There have been half a dozen cases of 

 pregnancy among the insane within fifty years ; two of them since 

 1880. Some of the patients also will occasionally manifest their pas- 

 sions in an obscene manner ; but, whenever they do so, they are sent 

 to a close establishment as soon as possible, and are in the mean time 

 confined in the infirmary. Generally, however, so careful discrimina- 

 tion is exercised in sending patients to Gheel, that it is rare to find 

 among them any who are dangerous to public morality. It has long 

 been usual for persons to come to Gheel for a temporary sojourn ; and 

 these are mostly deranged. They are not under the control of the 

 administration, which has no right to interfere with them, except in 

 case of scandal or danger ; and they come and go without surveillance. 

 Many of them, according to Dr. Peeters, may be regarded as danger- 

 ous, and likely to abuse their liberty ; and the doctor cites some par- 

 ticular instances to prove his position. These are the persons who 

 commit most of the immoral acts, and it would be wrong to hold the 

 colony responsible for their misdeeds. The value of the system pur- 

 sued at Gheel can not be justly estimated by the proportion of cures 

 obtained. The colony makes no pretense to be a substitute for the 

 close asylums. The administration, agreeing with alienist experts, 

 recognizes that there are some forms of insanity for which the close 

 asylum is the only possible resort. Therefore, only certain classes can 

 be sent to Gheel, and among these the number regarded as curable 



