File:The insane in foreign countries (1889) (14781313262).jpg

Identifier: 39002086343366.med.yale.edu
Title: The insane in foreign countries
Year: 1889 (1880s)
Authors: Letchworth, William Pryor,1823-1910
Subjects: Saxony. Provinzial-irrenanstalt Altscherbitz, Schkeuditz Insane Memtally ill
Publisher: New York, London : G. P. Putnam's Sons The Knickerbocker Press
Contributing Library: Yale University, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Open Knowledge Commons and Yale University, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library

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nd has been leased for the use of theasylum. The building accommodation proving insufficientto meet the growing demands upon the institution, it hasbeen found necessary to erect an annexe for the separatetreatment of chronic cases. At the time of my visit theinmates numbered 1,260, of whom 550 were men and 710were women. The annexe has since been completed, and atthe date of January 1, 1887, there were 1,679 patients. The dormitories are on the associate plan, some of themcontaining as many as forty beds. For greater privacy,the beds, which occupy the central space in the room, areseparated from one another by partitions four-and-a-half feethigh, so arranged as to form compartments or stalls openingtowards the windows. Wooden bedsteads are used. Abright rug was spread in front of each bed. The bare ap-pearance of the walls was somewhat relieved by painting,and decorations about the windows. The lower sections ofthe windows had screens on the inside. Thermometerswere hung in each ward.
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WHITTINGHAM. IOI The day-rooms were plainly furnished. The walls wereplastered and painted, and brightened by colored stencilling.They were adorned with illuminated mottoes, pictures, andplaster casts. Near the windows were flowers in hanging-baskets. The window-sashes were hung with weights andcords. On the floors of the long connecting corridors werelaid strips of carpet. Though not generally approved inEnglish asylums, metal ware instead of crockery was usedin the lavatories. The infirmary was comfortably and ap-propriately furnished. Low beds are provided for epilep-tics. They have a special night watch. There are two padded rooms—one on the mens and oneon the womens side. In reply to an inquiry respectingrestraint, it was said : We have no restraint. Occasion-ally we put on gloves, but not very often. We use no cribs,nor have we ever used them. Dresses buttoned behindare worn in certain cases. Sometimes two or three attend-ants hold a violent patient rather than seclude him. We

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