476 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



chambers devoted to the use of those whose violence made it 

 necessary to confine them. The doors and windows were 

 grated, the rooms empty of furniture, but well lighted, spa- 

 cious, and airy ; not at all like cells, except in being so 

 strongly secured. They were mostly without occupants ; but 

 as we passed one of them a man rushed to the door, and 

 called out to us that he was not a prisoner because he 

 was mad, but that he had killed Lopez, and was no^ 

 the rightful Emperor of Brazil. This corridor led us to 

 the bath-rooms, which are really on a magnificent scale. 

 A number of immense marble tubs are sunk in the tiled 

 floors. They are of different depths, adapted for standing, 

 sitting, or lying down, and have every variety of arrange- 

 ment for douche, shower, or sponge baths. 



This hospital, like the Misericordia, is under the care of 

 the Sisters of Charity, and is a model of neatness and order. 

 The Superior has a face remarkable for its serenity, expres- 

 sive at once of sweetness and good sense. From her we 

 learned some interesting facts respecting insanity in this 

 country. She says furious maniacs are rare, and that vio- 

 lence generally yields readily to treatment. She also told 

 us that insanity is more common among the poor than 

 among the better classes. Though the asylum contains 

 apartments for private patients, there are seldom more than 

 eight or ten persons of this description to occupy them. 

 This is not because they have any choice of establishments, 

 for there is no other insane hospital in Rio de Janeiro, though 

 there are one or two " Maisons de Sant^ " where insane per- 

 sons are received. There were more blacks among the 

 patients than we had expected to see, the general impres- 

 sion being that insanity is rare among the negroes. We left 

 this hospital impressed by its superiority. A country which 



