FARM COLONIES FOR EPILEPTICS. 811 
as far as I know, is planning a huge colony for the insane 
epileptic population of London and surroundings; the 
second will provide for the epileptic population of the 
northern counties. Mr. B. Levy, who has been conducting 
the preliminary inquiries for the promoters, has been so 
generous as to forward his reports and plans to Melbourne, 
in the hope that we may be able to establish something in 
the way of an-epileptic colony there. . 
Among collateral benefits the colony-system affords un- 
equalled opportunities for the scientific study of the disease. 
No medica! man in ordinary practice sees enough of it to 
be able to observe its varied manifestations, or to study it 
in any wide scientific spirit. 
in preparing to establish an epileptic farm colony in any 
of the Australian States, the first step is to collect statistics, 
and in thi® I would urge you to ask for the co-operation of 
the Government statisticians, in order that you may be able 
to lay certain definite facts before the public. 
Then there are two or three initial points to be by no means 
lost sight of. The land must be good; not too costly to 
clear or cultivate. You work largely under the handicap 
of untrained and irregular labour, and you cannot afford to 
burden yourselves with poor land. Land and buildings 
must be clear of debt before any colonists are received. 
Epileptics are not a sensational class of patient, so that the 
public could be readily appealed to to clear off any debt 
incurred ; therefore, it is absolutely necessary to ensure 
success from the first. Next, the greatest care has to be 
taken in selecting the first cases, and in not filling up the 
place too rapidly. The bed-ridden and the insane must be 
barred. Nor are those, who through long years of indul- 
gence have become completely spoiled and unmanageable, 
suitable cases with whom to begin the experiment, although 
these are just the very ones whom relatives are most eager 
to try and palm off upon managers. And epileptics are not 
at any time easy to manage. 
Lest it should be thought that I have dwelt too exclu- 
sively on the economic side of the question, let me conclude 
by reading a short extract from the last report of the Craig 
Colony. 
“The Craig Colony is not a custodial imstitution im 
any sense of the word. The law declares it is for the 
‘humane, curative, scientific, and economic treatment and 
care of epileptics.’ Every patient is under scientific care 
and treatment; no patient is here as a mere matter of 
custody. This is not an idle institution; it does not exist 
solely to give food and shelter, and be a place where nurses 
