AND LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 73 



medical commissioners. His next step is to shew that the old sys- 

 tem, with its enormities, is not yet (May, 1837) altogether exploded ; 

 that the ameliorated system commenced with the liberation of luna- 

 tics from the Bicetre of Paris, in 1792, by the venerated Pinel, whose 

 memory will remain enshrined for ever in the temple of heroism and 

 philanthropy ; and that, though the adoption of enlightened principles 

 be partial, yet the desire for improvement is steadily becoming more 

 and more prevalent. 



Mr. B. notes a cursory record of the fact, which is remarkable, 

 that it was in Egypt and Belgium, in remote times, where the recog- 

 nition of humanity and occupation was first adopted as a means of 

 treatment for the insane. Next, he adduces evidence to prove that 

 the existing method of managing them is characterised by want of 

 classification, want of employment, and want of bodily exercise. He 

 then exposes the error which leads to Asylums being imperfectly 

 heated, and the error of supposing that lunatics are impregnable to 

 cold, and the mischievous error of habitually disregarding their per- 

 sonal comfort. 



With much justice and good feeling, Mr. B. complains that, though 

 corporal punishment is now professedly discontinued, yet cruelty in 

 various forms is still committed on the inmates of mad-houses ; that 

 patients are sometimes confined to bed for the accommodation of 

 servants ; and that the number of keepers is often inadequate. His 

 remarks on coercion are pertinent and practical, suggested by en- 

 lightened humanity, and confirmed by experience. 



Attendants on the insane ought to be preferred for their character 

 and qualifications : on this account, Mr. B. has taken great pains in 

 defining the rules by which these persons should be selected. Hav- 

 ing pointed out the evils of an indiscriminate association of lunatics 

 and the grounds for separating them, he proceeds to expose the erro- 

 neous views too generally entertained respecting their moral treat- 

 ment, and the great disadvantages occasioned by the want of wards 

 for convalescents. He would not invest the commissioners for regu- 

 lating Asylums with the power of visiting all such houses in the 

 night. A proposal for adopting a measure of this kind was negatived 

 by the legislature, in consequence of the almost unanimous opposition 

 of the medical men who were consulted on the subject ; but, he ob- 

 serves, such a proposal indicates two things — a total and unjust want 

 of confidence in the probity and competency of the managers of these 

 institutions, and a complete want of knowledge of the interests of the 

 insane. Such visits might disclose some of the evils which it were 



VOL. VIM., NO. XXIII. 11 



