VCT. 



LUNAR THEORY. 



e.; l*lVeCc.7S; 4 Viet c. 4 : and 5 ft Victe. S7. Thesame 

 *ix i iininiMrmin three of whom are physician* and 

 ra. witfc salaries; and other oommi-ioner. who act 

 No person osn act M a oommtasloner who within on 

 KM DM directly or indirectly connected with ny asylum. 

 are grmoUd by these onmrnfarinnm* at each of their quarterly 



r Any ! wr.anwhowl.he*too 1 >.nahou*.forth.raeption 



of iiatisnts I* required to send a plan upon a scale of one-eighth of 

 an Inch to a foot of every part of the premises at least fourteen days 

 prertou* to hi. application. Vo addition, to or alterations in a licensed 

 houa* can b* made without the consent of the commissioners. No 

 licence is to remain in force more than thirteen month*, and the notice 

 of wi*h to renew must give the number of patients then confined. 

 The jurisdiction of the commissioner* extend* to the whole of London 

 and Middlesex, and Soothwark; and to all places within seven mile* 

 of London. Westminster, and Southwark : in the country the licence* 

 arc to be muted by the justice* of the peace in quarter-sessions, who 

 are bound to appoint three of their number, together with one 

 physician, surgeon, or apothecary, as visitors of the asylum* licensed 

 lythem. Strict regulation* are enforced for the reception of patient* ; 

 it i* required that every person, not being a pauper, received as insane, 

 ahall b* certified to be *o by two physician* or surgeons, who shall 

 visit such patient separately, and shall have no interest in the asylum 

 in which such patient i* to be confined ; and certain entries of these 

 particular! are to be kept at each asylum. For a pauper, the certificate 

 of one medical man and the order of two justices is required. 



Penalties are fixed for neglecting these rules, or those which direct 

 notice to be given of every admission, death, discharge, or escape. 

 Houses having 100 or more patients are to have a resident medical 

 attendant, and those of smaller sixe are to be visited by a medical 

 attendant at defined periods, according to their size. Every house 

 within the immediate jurisdiction of the commissioners must be visited 

 by them at least four times in the year, and every other house at least 

 twice in the year; these visit* may be made at any hour, even by night, 

 and it i* penal to conceal any part of a house from them. Similar 

 power* are given to the viators in the country. 



The KHiiiiihsiimnn present an yinnl report to the lord chancellor 

 of the state of the different asylum* visited by them, which report is 

 laid before parliament 



An important alteration i* made in the law concerning the care of 

 single patients. Orders and medical certificates must now be procured 

 for the care of one patient, similar to those used for the admission of 

 patient* into licenced house* ; and copies of these documents are to be 

 privately sent to and registered by the secretary to the commissioners. 

 This Act only extends to England and Wales, and i* amended by 

 16 ft 17 Viet c. 96. and 18 ft 19 Viet. c. 105. 



The Act 16 ft 17 Viet. c. 97, relates to the regulation of lunatic 

 asylums for counties and borough*, and the maintenance and care of 

 pauper lunatics ; and gives to the commissioners a great power over 

 these institutions, which had formerly been entirely under the control 

 of justices of the peace. The justice* of every county and borough are 

 now compelled to erect or to join in the erection of an asylum, where 

 none such already exuta. This Act only extend* to England and 

 ',\ ' 



The patients who are confined in prisons, hospitals, workhouse*, or 

 in the house* of their relatives, are exposed perhaps more than any 

 others to great neglect and mismanagement, and not unfrequently are 

 tieslxl with great cruelty, even when the intentions of the parties who 

 have charge of them are good, through their entire ignorance of the 

 ire and i 





nt of the disorder. 



aforeuitl, and such further time, not exceeding aix months, a* the 

 chancellor may fix ; but the chancellor may in any inch cane, i -ittn-r 

 wfore or after directing *uch inquiry, and whether the master ahall 

 lave made such inquiry or not, direct a commission in the nature of 

 a writ J< Inxalieo iqninnda to issue, to inquire of the lunacy of such 



In the Roman system, persons of unsound mind (/nri'on) might be 

 deprived of the management of their property on application to the 

 inrUir by their next of kin. Thin legislation was either introdu 

 established by the Twelve Table*. The person who had the 

 he lunatic and of hi* property was called a curator. [CURATOR.] The 

 Twelve Tables gave the care of the lunatic to his agnati. In thoae 



M where the law had not provided for the appointment of a curator, 

 the pnctor named one. (' Dig. 1 27. tit. 10 ; Instif 1 , tit 



lite law with respect to lunatics in Scotland is consolidated by the 

 statute 20 ft 21 Viet. c. 71, as amended by the 21 & 22 Viet. c. 89. 



Act 5*0 Viet. c. 123, continued by 18 ft 19 Viet. c. 76, pro- 

 vides for private lunatic uylunis in Ireland. The Act* 1 ft 2 Geo. IV. 

 c.88; 9 ft 10 Viet c. 115; and 18 ft 19 Viet c. 109, regulate the 

 asylums for the lunatic poor in Ireland. 



LUNA I! CAUSTIC. [SILVER, NITRATE OP.] 



LUNAR ECLIPSE. The phenomenon of a lunar eclipse is occa- 

 sioned by the passage of the moon through the earth's shadow, and 

 the consequent interception of a portion of the solar light which 

 usually fall* upon the moon's surface. In the annexed figure, let A n 



A* to the persons and property of such so-called lunatics who have 

 Dot been found lunatic by a jury, the 8 ft 9 Viet c. 100, 94, enacts, 

 That whenever the commissioners in lunacy ahall have reason to sup- 

 pot* that the property of any person detained or taken charge of as a 

 lunatic is not duly protected, or that the income thereof is not duly 

 applied for bis maintenanoe, such commissioners shall make such 

 inquiry* relative thereto a* they shall think proper, and report them 

 to the lord chancellor. Sect 98 enacts. That when any person shall 

 have been received or taken charge of a* a lunatic upon an order and 

 certificate under the provisions of that Act, and shall either have been 

 detained a* a lunatic for the twelve month* then last past, or shall 

 have been the subject of a report by the commissioners in lunacy 

 pomunce of | 94, the lord chancellor ahall direct one of the masters 

 in lunacy to inquire and report to him a* to the lunacy of cuch person 

 I ; and the chancellor is authorised to make orders for the 



total, of guardian or otherwise for the protection, care, and 

 OMOt of such lunatic, and such guardian U to share the same 

 powers and authorities M a committee of the person of a lunatic found 

 aoah by inquisition has. and to appoint a receiver or otherwise f.>r th. 

 care and management of the estate of each lunatic ; and such receiver 

 i* to hsvs the same powers as a le -eiver of the estate of a lunatic found 

 nan by inquisition has ; and the ohanosllor Is also empowered to make 

 order* for the application of the income of the lunatic toward* hi* 

 ma*MUM. and the ooat of the oar* and management of hi* person 

 and estate.snd aleoa* to the investment or other application fur th. 

 purpose of aecuaiulation of the overplus ; but such protection, care 

 Cement are i-nly to continue so long a* such lunatic shal 

 to b* detained a* a lunatic upon such order or certificate a* 



represent a section of the sun drawn through a great circle on Us 

 surface, and c D a similar section of the earth's surface, both sections 

 being supposed to be in the same plane. Let the common tangent* to 

 these lections, AX,BY,AII,BN, be drawn. In consequence of the great 

 distance of the sun these tangent* may be supposed to intersect each 

 other at A, B and c, D, the opposite extremities of two parallel diameters. 

 It i* plain that the space c o z is a section of a cone, and that within 

 its limit* there will be a total interception of the sun's light Hence, 

 when the moon in the course of her monthly revolution paas< 

 this cone, she will undergo an eclipse, which will be total or partial, 

 according a* she plunges wholly or partially into the terrestrial 

 Hhadow. Within the region enclosing the shadow represented In 

 ZDX, there will be a jxirtial interception of the solar light This 

 region U termed the penumbra. If the moon revolved in the plane of 

 the ecliptic, she would pas* through the terrestrial shadow every time 

 that the earth was interposed between her and the sun, and conse- 

 quently she would undergo an eclipse in the course of each monthly 

 revolution ; but, in point of fact, the lunar orbit is inclined to the 

 plane of the ecliptic at a mean angle of somewhat more than 5*. 

 It happens, from this circumstance, that an eclipse of the moon can 

 occur only when the moon is near either of the node* of her orbit, 

 mil, by calculation, that if the distance of the node from the 

 point of the ecliptic opposite to the sun should exceed 11 25' 40", 

 there will be no eclipse. On the other hand, if the distance of the 

 node from the same point should fall short of 9 20' 29", there mutt 

 be an eclipse. Within these limits there may or may not be an 

 eclipse, the question of the occurrence of such a phenomenon 

 depending on the relative distances of the sun and moon from the 

 earth at the time of opposition. 



It ha* been found by observation that even when the moon is totally 

 immersed in the earth's shadow she still continues to be visible, her 

 surface being distinguishable by a dull copper colour. This is occa- 

 sioned by the light passing through the terrestrial atmosphere being 

 refracted so as to fall on the moon's surface. The ruddy ...'.. >ni of tliu 

 moon is due to the absorption of the violet rays by the terrestrial 

 atmosphere. The colour of the moon's surface during an eclipse i* 

 subject to considerable variations. Sometimes the degree of obscura- 

 tion is very slight ; on other occasions it is so great that the moon 

 cease* to be visible. Generally, it may be stated that the colour of the 

 moon'* surface will clejHrml on the condition of the earth'* atmosphere 

 at the time of the eclipse. 



LUNAR EVECT10N. An inequality in the moon's longitude, 

 occasioned by the disturbing force of the sun. It depm<N u in- 

 variable excentricity of the lunar orbit and the moveable position of 

 the apsides. The discovery of this inequality is due to Ptolemy. For 

 an explanation of its physical cause, see GRAVITATION. 



LUNAR OBSERVATION generally means an observation of the 

 moon's distance from a star, for the purpose of finding the longitude. 

 LATITUDE, METHODS or FINDING.] 



LUNAR THEORY. By the theory of a planet in meant tho 

 deduction of it* motion frm the lurof gravitation. This subject i* 



