CONNECTICUT HOSPITAL FOE THS INSANE 
 1868“ 1893 
 
 ;gfggW'« 
 
 . REPRINT' 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Book 
 
 Volume 
 
 Mrl0-‘20M 
 
3 - 
 
 The person charging this material is re- 
 sponsible for its return to the library from 
 which it was withdrawn on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. 
 
 Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books 
 are reasons for disciplinary action and may 
 result in dismissal from the University. 
 

 X 
 
 I 
 
 1 }.' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 
 
Return this book on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. 
 
 University of Illinois Library 
 
TO THE MEMORY 
 
 OF 
 
 Dr. Joseph W. Alsop ; 
 
 ALSO TO THE 
 
 TRUSTEES AND LOCAL TRUSTEES, 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Connecticut Hospital for Insane, 
 1868 . 
 
 THIS REPRINT OF ONE QUARTER OF A CENTURY IS PRE 
 SENTED BY THE FIRST TRUSTEE OF 
 HARTFORD COUNTY. 
 
 HARTFORD, CONN.: 
 
 Press of The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company. 
 1895. 
 
3£.a.a. 
 07 Qt 
 
oo 
 
 M 
 
 <r 
 
 v5 
 
 ->q 
 
 Jo 
 
 4 
 
 ( 
 
 J 
 
 r 
 
 o 
 
 o- 
 
 TRUSTEES AND LOCAL TRUSTEES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OOHHECTIOIIT HOSPITAL FOR IHSAH E, 
 
 1868. 
 
 JAMES E. ENGLISH, 
 
 H. 'SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 
 R. S. FELLOWES, . 
 
 B. W. TOMPKINS, . 
 CURTIS T. WOODRUFF, 
 
 S. G. WILLARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 WM. B. CASEY, 
 LEYERETT E PEASE, 
 BENJ. DOUGLAS, . 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 
 New Haven, 
 Hartford County, 
 New Haven County, 
 New London County, 
 Fairfield County, 
 Windham County, 
 Litchfield County, 
 Middlesex County, 
 Tolland County, 
 Middletown, 
 Middletown, 
 Middletown. 
 
 *** At the time the Charter was granted, attention was directed to cer- 
 tain buildings for the Hospital. 
 
 It is but just to myself to acknowledge my great obligation to that 
 noble woman, Dorothea Lynde Dix, of world-wide fame, who, from the 
 first to the close of her useful life was a friend to the Hospital. 
 
 At my request we visited the Institute building in East Windsor, as 
 parties in interest desired the State should purchase them ; in reply to my 
 question she said, ‘‘As you become acquainted with the work in hand 
 you will learn there are no buildings for educational purposes suitable for 
 the care of the insane ; the brick alone are valuable.” 
 
 173540 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/tomemoryofdrjoseOOconn 
 
REPORT. 
 
 General Assembly, \ 
 May Session, 1866. j 
 
 The Joint Select Committee appointed at the May Session 
 of the General Assembly, A.D. 1865, “ to inquire into the 
 expediency and practicability of providing an asylum separate 
 from the Retreat in Hartford, and suited to the condition of 
 the insane, whether residing at said Retreat or elsewhere in 
 this State, with leave to sit during the recess, and report to 
 the next session of the General Assembly,” respectfully ask 
 leave to report : 
 
 That after the adjournment of the General Assembly at 
 which they were appointed they issued circulars of inquiry 
 which were sent to the selectmen of each and every of the 
 towns of this State, replies to which were in due time received, 
 and the same are herewith presented to be filed with this 
 report for reference, should such reference be desired. 
 
 From these replies the committee present the following 
 summary, which they believe is substantially correct : 
 
 On the 1st of April, A.D. 1866, there were in the Retreat 
 at Hartford, receiving aid from the State appropriations, one 
 hundred and forty-seven (147) persons. 
 
 In the Retreat, from Connecticut, supported as private 
 patients, there were fifty-five (55). There were in the poor- 
 houses or otherwise wholly or in part supported by the towns 
 (as per returns of committee’s circular) two hundred and 
 four (204) persons. 
 
 It is estimated by Dr. Butler and others well acquainted 
 with the subject (although the committee are not in posses- 
 sion of the facts which establish the soundness of that opinion) 
 
6 
 
 that there are in the State beside those above enumerated, 
 outside of the Retreat and poor-houses, as many as three 
 hundred (300) insane persons. 
 
 Upon recapitulation, the number stands thus : 
 
 The whole number of patients in the Retreat at Hartford 
 on the 1st of April, A.D. 1866, were two hundred and forty- 
 five (245). Even this number crowds the wards or halls of 
 that institution to such an extent that the comfort of the 
 patients is disturbed, and their recovery delayed. 
 
 For several years since 1859 the Superintendent of the 
 Retreat has represented the institution as being crowded, and 
 has deplored the necessity which compelled him to refuse 
 numerous applications, and to send away chronic to make 
 room for recent cases of insanity. 
 
 The committee are aware that the joint resolution under 
 which they were appointed contemplates provision only for 
 those denominated “ incurable insane but while it is unde- 
 niable that cases of incurable insanity are found, it is not 
 assumed by the committee that all chronic cases are 
 incurable. 
 
 The committee believe that the confinement of a large 
 number of persons together, in close rooms, or in inclosures 
 shut out from the beauties of the natural world in the more 
 genial seasons of our climate, without employment of any 
 kind, is calculated rather to intensify and increase any mor- 
 bid tendency than to restore in such afflicted persons the 
 normal condition of the faculties. A change of air, of scene, 
 and of occupation is always prescribed by the intelligent 
 physician for persons giving earliest evidence of morbid 
 mental action, and it is reasonably presumed that if necessary 
 in the first approach of derangement, it must be equally 
 
 In Retreat, with State aid, 
 
 In Retreat, without aid, 
 
 In towns supported or aided, . 
 All others, 
 
 147 
 
 55 
 
 204 
 
 300 
 
 Whole number of insane in the State, . 
 
 706 
 
7 
 
 essential in the treatment of chronic insanity, and during all 
 the periods of restoration. 
 
 In the opinion of the committee, healthful and cheerful 
 employment out of doors during the seasons when such occu- 
 pations are appropriate, and pleasant labors in well-ordered 
 and well-ventilated apartments during the colder portions of 
 the year, would do much toward giving to the class of insane 
 persons who are the subject of this inquiry that relief which 
 all treatment is intended to secure for them. 
 
 While pursuing this inquiry the committee have become 
 satisfied that there is actual necessity for some legislative 
 action, which shall embrace in its scope the wants of our 
 State, in providing not only for the indigent and chronic 
 insane, but also for such persons more happily situated who, 
 having abundant pecuniary means, are not able to secure 
 within the limits of the State an asylum within whose walls 
 they may find the restorative treatment which they require. 
 
 The advancing civilization of our times, in its culture and 
 development of all humane enterprises, demands that Con- 
 necticut should take a step forward in her provision for all 
 classes of unfortunate persons within her borders who need 
 either restoration or reform. 
 
 It is certain that our beloved State, behind no other in 
 patriotic devotion to the whole country, is yet behind several 
 of her sister States in her provisions and appropriations for 
 classes of her own citizens who are entitled to the sympathy 
 and generous aid of all who are so highly favored as to 
 escape the maladies and disabilities under which they languish 
 and so miserably suffer. 
 
 With a population rapidly increasing in numbers, in wealth, 
 and so devoted to acquisition in all the departments of indus- 
 try, it must soon inevitably occur that the present temporary 
 arrangement with a private and limited institution, already 
 wholly inadequate to meet the wants of the State, will become 
 altogether insufficient to provide for them. 
 
 A wise forecast, prompted by humane and charitable mo- 
 tives worthy of our citizens, and especially of our legislation, 
 
8 
 
 would indicate the soundness of a policy which should make 
 immediate and generous provision for the wants of the insane 
 of our State, of all classes, in the erection of an institution 
 upon the most improved plans, to be owned and controlled 
 by the State, and to constitute one of the sources of its 
 greatest honor, and most grateful mention. 
 
 Of the expediency and practicability of this course the 
 committee have no doubt. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 SYLVESTER SMITH, 
 JOHN S. RICE, 
 
 P. J. KINGSBURY, 
 
 H. B. MUNSON. 
 
ACT TO CREATE A HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE IN THE 
 STATE OF CONNECTICUT. 
 
 Whereas, The report of the Commission appointed by this 
 Assembly in the year 1865 shows that there are seven hun- 
 dred and six insane persons in the State of Connecticut, of 
 whom two hundred and two are in the Retreat at Hartford ; 
 two hundred and four are in the almshouses, and three hun- 
 dred outside of both ; and whereas, it is impossible to secure 
 suitable care and medical attention for this large and deeply 
 afflicted class, either in the Retreat or in the almshouses, or 
 in private houses ; and whereas, considerations of humanity 
 and of true economy, as well as public welfare and of our 
 holy religion, all alike demand that these persons should lib- 
 erally be provided for by the State; therefore, 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
 in General Assembly convened : 
 
 Section 1. There shall be established and maintained, at 
 some place in this State to be selected by a Board of Trustees 
 as hereinafter provided, an institution to be named “ The 
 General Hospital for the Insane of the State of Connecticut.” 
 
 Sec. 2. The government thereof shall be vested in a 
 board of twelve trustees, consisting of the Governor, and one 
 from each county, to be appointed by the Senate, and of three 
 to be appointed by the other trustees, which three shall be 
 selected from the town or vicinity in which the institution 
 shall be located, two of whom shall be so appointed and com- 
 missioned annually ; and the places of the two senior members, 
 as they stand in the order of their appointment, shall be 
 annually vacated ; and no trustee shall receive any compen- 
 sation for his services, but he shall be allowed the amount of 
 
10 
 
 expenses incurred in the discharge of the duties of his office, 
 which amount shall be examined and allowed by the Comp- 
 troller of Public Accounts, and paid from the treasury of the 
 State. 
 
 Sec. 3. The trustees shall take charge of the general 
 interests of the institution, ordain and execute its laws, 
 appoint and remove its officers, select a suitable location and 
 a plan for its building; shall exercise a strict supervision 
 over all its expenditures, and discharge all other functions 
 usually devolving upon such trustees ; they shall have power 
 to receive, by gift or purchase, a suitable farm, and receive a 
 deed thereof, and the State Treasurer shall pay therefor, in 
 case of purchase, on the warrant of the Comptroller. 
 
 Sec. 4. The Superintendent shall be appointed by the 
 trustees at their first or some subsequent meeting. He shall 
 be a competent physician, and reside in or near the institu- 
 tion. As soon as possible he shall procure the plan of a 
 suitable building or buildings, which shall be approved and 
 contracted for by the trustees ; he shall personally superin- 
 tend its erection and arrangements, and whenever one section 
 of building shall be completed, he shall open the institution 
 for patients upon such terms and conditions as said trustees 
 shall prescribe, alwayp giving preference to the most urgent 
 cases, and to the people of this State. He shall be the 
 Treasurer of the institution, keep full and accurate accounts of 
 his receipts and expenditures, and of the property entrusted to 
 him. All accounts, with suitable vouchers, shall be submit- 
 ted to the trustees, as they shall require. He shall, before 
 entering upon his duties, give a bond to the Treasurer of the 
 State, with acceptable sureties in the sum of five thousand 
 dollars, conditional that he shall faithfully account for all 
 moneys and property received by him as Superintendent ; but 
 no trustee shall be Superintendent of the institution. 
 
 Sec. 5. The State Treasurer shall pay to the trustees, on 
 the warrant of the Comptroller, such sums of money as they 
 shall require for the location and the building of the hospital, 
 not to exceed five thousand dollars at any one time, and the 
 
11 
 
 expenditure of which shall be accounted for to the Comptrol- 
 ler, with the vouchers, before any other sum is advanced. 
 
 Sec. 6. The trustees shall hold their first meeting on the 
 call of any three of their number, due notice being given to 
 all. 
 
 Sec. 7. Thirty-five thousand dollars are hereby appropri- 
 ated to carry into execution the provisions of this act. 
 
 Sec. 8. This act is to take effect immediately. 
 
 Approved, June 29, 1866. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable , the General Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut : 
 
 The Board of Trustees of “ The General Hospital for the 
 Insane of the State of Connecticut,” appointed by your Hon- 
 orable Body at their last session at New Haven, respectfully 
 report : 
 
 That their first meeting was held in the city of Hartford 
 in July last, His Excellency the Governor presiding; and 
 that the important duties confided to them were entered upon 
 with unanimity and zeal. They found a prevailing sentiment 
 that the State of Connecticut was earnest in the determination 
 to make “ ample and suitable provision for its insane” — of 
 which it is computed there are between four hundred and five 
 hundred now needing the protection of the Hospital — and 
 that the board would be justly held responsible for any need- 
 less delay in the accomplishment of this great object; indeed, 
 the more that was learned of the insane in visits to various 
 hospitals, and of the pressing necessity in this State for such 
 a curative institution, and of the remedial benefits to be con- 
 ferred by it upon the helpless class afflicted with the terrible 
 malady of insanity, the more interested and pledged were 
 your board to provide, at the earliest period, a hospital, which, 
 in its buildings, should combine all> the improvements for 
 economy, comfort, and ventilation, which experience has 
 successfully endorsed, and in the treatment of patients, all 
 those excellent methods which modern science and Christian 
 faithfulness in this peculiar work have developed, in order 
 that the whole, in its working, shall conduce, in the words 
 of the preamble of act of appointment, to “ the public welfare,” 
 
13 
 
 the glory of “our Holy Religion — and, it may be added, 
 to the honor of the State of Connecticut. 
 
 Under this sense of responsibility to the benevolent intent 
 of the General Assembly, your board felt the necessity of 
 informing themselves individually of the needs in detail of 
 institutions for the relief of insane, and visited personally 
 several hospitals, thus bringing together many facts and the 
 experience of well-known superintendents in other States, of 
 direc't value to their object. 
 
 After several meetings and discussions, and hearing the 
 claims and liberal propositions of other places, the board 
 formally and unanimously accepted a tract of land of about one 
 hundred and fifty acres, which the town of Middletown 
 offered gratuitously to the State for the purposes of the 
 Hospital. 
 
 The location is about two miles southeasterly of the city of 
 Middletown, is healthy, sufficiently elevated, easy of access by 
 land and water (the depth of water of the river at end of 
 dock is twelve to sixteen feet), commanding extended views 
 of a beautiful region; and, what is of special mark, includes 
 the absolute control of a small stream called “ Butler’s Creek,” 
 giving, by the estimates of engineers, an abundant water- 
 head of seventy feet above the foundation of the proposed 
 buildings, with a power adequate to all the uses of water 
 within the walls, and sufficient for all mechanical and orna- 
 mental appliances, in shops and on the grounds, which it 
 may be convenient or proper to establish. 
 
 In selecting the special site for the foundations of the build- 
 ings, it was found that the economical and best interests of 
 the State and of the institution required a larger extent of 
 level ground than existed on the land given by Middletown, 
 and a purchase was subsequently made of about eighty acres, 
 connecting directly across a narrow highway with the westerly 
 line of the former tract. 
 
 Upon a plateau of this last-named land excavations were 
 begun for foundations, and a permanent road to the highway 
 constructed, under the direction of Dr. Abraham Marvin Shew, 
 
14 
 
 the appointed Superintendent of the Hospital, — who, before 
 entering upon his duties, gave the required bond and securi- 
 ties in accordance with the “ act,” and furnished a “plan” 
 for the buildings, which was approved by the board. The 
 particulars of the plan are given in the annexed report of the 
 Superintendent. 
 
 The work on the grounds was interrupted by the cold in 
 December, and resumed about the first of April. 
 
 The slackness of the demand for labor and stone, incident 
 to winter, and the fact of a “ natural bridge ” of ice on the 
 river, were availed of for cheaply hauling to the site several 
 hundreds of tons of sand and stone to be ready for use in the 
 spring; also for the construction of a wharf very near to the 
 site. The town of Middletown has consented to pay nearly 
 all of the cost of the wharf. 
 
 A decline in prices of materials during the winter led to 
 the purchase of two hundred thousand brick, and to the 
 making of favorable contracts, mentioned in another part of 
 this report, for one million brick, five thousand perches of 
 stone, five hundred thousand feet of Georgia pine, and other 
 lumber, deliverable early in the spring, to be stacked for 
 seasoning, and for one thousand or more barrels of lime. 
 
 A contract, also, was made for a dam and appurtenances, 
 with minute specifications for details as to manner and form 
 of construction, flowage of about three and one-half acres, 
 thorough “ grubbing,” and for the providing and laying of 
 necessary pipe to convey water to the buildings. 
 
 It is confidently expected by the board, and by competent 
 engineers who have been consulted, that the new feature to 
 be introduced at this institution, viz . : the economical service 
 of water descending by gravity for use in the buildings, and 
 for the motive power of the necessary machinery for ventila- 
 tion and other purposes, instead of the costly service of steam, 
 as in every other hospital in the country, will be of eminent 
 success and of permanent economy, saving thereby not only 
 the cost of erection and repairs of expensive machinery, but 
 hundreds of tons of coal, annually, in fuel. 
 
15 
 
 It will be evident that this use of water obviates the neces- 
 sity of a steam engine with skilled attendants, of reservoirs 
 in the upper stories of the buildings, which are often liable to 
 leaks, causing injury to walls and furniture, and also of 
 troublesome forcing pumps. The board do not believe that 
 they overestimate the advantages of this provision of water. 
 A deficient supply of water, and the difficulties frequently 
 experienced with the machinery that raises it, are subjects of 
 anxiety and complaint in many institutions. From these it 
 may fairly be expected that your hospital will be free. 
 
 The appropriation of the last General Assembly for the 
 supposed necessary expenditure until the next session was 
 only 135,000 of the much larger sum which it was well 
 known would be needed for the carrying out of their just and 
 benevolent intentions for this institution. 
 
 To accomplish all that was deemed by your board indispen- 
 sable to an early completion of a part of the hospital, and the 
 early reception of patients, as well as to consult true economy 
 in choosing a favorable time to obtain the materials requisite 
 for the progress of the structure, it w r as determined unani- 
 mously to make contracts for brick, stone, lime, and lumber, 
 with parties of good standing, who, in every case, accepted 
 them “ on the condition of waiting the action of the next 
 General Assembly for payment, without interest”; a copy of 
 the vote of the board to this effect was furnished to each. 
 In thus having on hand materials, especially lumber, which 
 requires time for seasoning, your board are convinced that 
 the building will be ready for inmates several months before 
 it could have been had they waited for the present session 
 before making arrangements for supplies. 
 
 As the contractors have thus so willingly entered upon 
 engagements, relying upon the faith of the State, it may not 
 be considered other than respectful on the part of the board 
 to call the attention of your Honorable Body to the need of 
 early legislation in behalf of the institution. 
 
 In Dr. Shew, the Superintendent, the board are satisfied 
 that a selection has been made of a competent, energetic, 
 
16 
 
 Christian man, devoted to the duties of his position. He is 
 of Connecticut origin, served over two years as Surgeon in 
 the army of the United States, and in treatment of the insane 
 in hospitals nearly three years, and had full testimonials for 
 integrity, capacity, and experience. His experience too, 
 derived from aiding in the erection of extensive additions to 
 the New Jersey State Hospital for the Insane (for which the 
 Legislature lately appropriated $100,000), made during the 
 past year at Trenton, has been found of much value. Dr. 
 Buttolph, Superintendent of the New Jersey institution, who, 
 from character and the experience of many years, is an 
 acknowledged authority in such matters, recommended Dr. 
 Shew in the highest terms for the direction of your hospital. 
 It is due to Dr. Buttolph, and it gives us pleasure to mention 
 it, that he voluntarily came from Trenton to visit the site at 
 Middletown, and gave the board important suggestions as to 
 plans and the positions of buildings. 
 
 The board are greatly indebted to Miss Dix for her disin- 
 terested advice and labors, and for attendance, as requested, 
 at several of the earlier meetings, and for the continued 
 interest she has manifested in the progress of the hospital, 
 with which her efforts in this State will be identified, as they 
 justly are with similar institutions in so many of the other 
 States of the Union. 
 
 The report of the Superintendent and Treasurer is herewith 
 enclosed. 
 
 In conclusion, the Board of Trustees respectfully request, 
 
 j First, — An appropriation of $100,000 for the needful ex- 
 penditures of 1867-8. 
 
 By early action of the General Assembly, it is believed 
 that the center building and two wings, over three hundred 
 feet in length, to contain two hundred patients, may be 
 opened during next year. The report of the Superintendent 
 is referred to for the dimensions of the buildings, information 
 as to plans, and reasons for work already in progress. 
 
 Second , — The passing of a bill to regulate admissions of 
 patients. 
 
17 
 
 A draft of a bill for admission, under such regulations and 
 formalities as have been found of practical value in other 
 States, and which Section 4 of the act makes' it the duty of 
 Trustees to provide, will be presented early in the session. 
 
 Third , — An amendment of that paragraph of Section 2, of 
 the Hospital Bill, June 29, 1866, w r hich reads : 
 
 “ And the places of the two senior members, as they stand 
 in the order, shall be annually vacated,” 
 by the addition of the following words : 
 
 66 But this clause shall not take effect in the case of the two 
 senior members first appointed, until one year after the com- 
 pletion of the Hospital and its being opened for patients.” 
 
 It is a very strong conviction on the part of the Board, that 
 it would be detrimental to the interests of the State, and of 
 the Institution now begun, to dispense with the services of 
 the “ two senior members.” The Trustees have spent much 
 time and effort to fit themselves for the work in hand, and 
 any change of the existing harmonious combination, before 
 the building is occupied and yielding practical benefits, 
 cannot but cause delay, as it would require much time for 
 new members to acquaint themselves with the necessary 
 details. 
 
 Fourth , — A repeal of those paragraphs of Section 4 which 
 unite the duties of Treasurer and Superintendent, beginning, 
 “ He shall be Treasurer,” . . . and ending, u property 
 
 received by him as Superintendent.” 
 
 The Trustees are of opinion that the detailed labors of 
 Treasurer, with care of funds, accounts, and vouchers, can 
 best be performed at small expense by some person not con- 
 nected with the Hospital, and who shall reside in the city of 
 Middletown. The separation of the two offices is recom- 
 mended, and is the practice in other States. It is supposed 
 that Section 8, defining “ duties of Trustees,” will, after 
 repeal of above paragraphs, be adequate to the appointment 
 of a Treasurer. 
 
 Fifth , — To amend Section 3, by the addition of the words, 
 “ And they shall have power to receive bequests of property, 
 2 
 
18 
 
 real or personal, and donations of any description, for the 
 uses of the Hospital.” 
 
 Your Trustees, in submitting this statement of their doings 
 to your Honorable Body for its sanction, believe they may 
 congratulate the citizens of the State of Connecticut on the 
 promising inception and expected early completion of this 
 benevolent institution. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 Jos. R. Hawley, 
 
 H. Sydney Hayden, 
 Leverett E. Pease, 
 
 S. G. Willard, 
 
 B. W. Tomplins, 
 
 Wm. B. Casey, 
 
 R. S. Fellowes, 
 Curtiss T. Woodruff, 
 Robbins Battell, 
 
 Hartford . 
 Hartford County. 
 Tolland “ 
 Windham “ 
 New London u 
 Middlesex u 
 New Haven “ 
 Fairfield “ 
 Litchfield “ 
 
 Middletown, April, 1867. 
 
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 After receiving in October your appointment as 
 Superintendent, and furnishing the necessary bond, I entered 
 upon the duties of the office, and, as required in the act, 
 u procured the plans of a suitable building” for your pro- 
 posed Institution. 
 
 As Messrs. Sloan and Hutton of Philadelphia are generally 
 acknowledged to be the architects most experienced in pro- 
 viding plans for hospitals, I applied to them for the draw- 
 ings, and spent several days in their office in consultation 
 and explanation of your wants, in which I had the very 
 valuable assistance of one of the oldest superintendents in 
 the specialty in the United States. The elevation and plans 
 as worked up, met your unanimous approval. 
 
 The whole length of the buildings, when completed, is 
 intended to be seven hundred and sixty-eight (768) feet, 
 with accommodations for at least four hundred and fifty 
 (450) patients. 
 
 The central building will be sixty (60) feet in width 
 by one hundred and twenty (120) feet in depth, four stories 
 in height, and will contain the necessary offices, kitchen, dis- 
 pensary, patients’ reception rooms, apartments for officers 
 and employes, chapel and amusement hall. 
 
 There will be, also, six retreating wings, three on each 
 side, of three stories in height; and four return wings, two 
 on each side, of two stories in height. 
 
 It is proposed this year to proceed only with the erection 
 of the central building and one wing, with its connecting 
 transept on each side of the center, of one hundred and 
 twenty-four (124) feet each, making a frontage of three hund- 
 
20 
 
 red and eight (308) feet, with accommodations for at least 
 two hundred (200) patients. 
 
 The commencement of the Hospital buildings with the 
 central building and adjoining wings, was determined by 
 motives of economy, as will be evident when it is considered 
 that in the central building are to be placed the rooms for 
 the assistants and personnel of the institution ; and of the 
 kitchen and storerooms, which thus will be permanent, sup- 
 plying by tramways in the cellar, food and necessaries to all 
 the wings and stories of the Hospital as they shall be built. 
 If this plan had not been adopted, temporary kitchens and 
 offices would have been required, and, to some extent, double 
 expense and removals made necessary. The time and ex- 
 pense will, by the plan adopted, be largely saved. 
 
 All the buildings are to be constructed of Portland free- 
 stone, laid in broken range work, with hammer dressed 
 stone for corners, water-tables, window-sills and caps. 
 
 You are aware of the completion of the dock, and of the 
 giving out of contracts under your direction, for lumber, 
 lime, brick, stone, sand, etc. Of sand, about six hundred tons 
 have been hauled over the ice; also, about fifteen hundred 
 tons of wall stone. With your sanction, I have employed a 
 foreman, head mason, and head carpenter, and we are fully 
 prepared to resume work. 
 
 It should be remembered that the five months since my 
 connection with your Board have included the winter 
 months, and, of course, the most unfavorable of the year for 
 outdoor work. 
 
 During the month of December we completed a macad- 
 amized road, at uniform grade, from the main highway to 
 the building site, and were engaged in making the necessary 
 excavation for cellars, when the cold weather interrupted the 
 work ; but the plans are matured and the means for progress 
 in such preparation, that I have no doubt that within a short 
 time very satisfactory advance may be shown. 
 
 The varied matters connected with the duties of a Superin- 
 tendent, especially during the period of the erection of the 
 
21 
 
 Hospital, induce me to suggest that the keeping of accounts 
 in detail, with accuracy, and with vouchers as required by 
 the law creating the office of Treasurer of the institution, 
 might advantageously be separated from the complicated 
 duties of oversight of the building. 
 
 The important contract for the dam, and for the intro- 
 duction of the water of Butler’s Creek to the immediate 
 premises of the Hospital grounds, has been made with Mr. 
 George H. Norman, and includes almost every possible 
 contingency for its perfect completion ; grubbing, mauling, 
 stone work, pipe and pipe connections, with necessary blow- 
 offs, etc. 
 
 My report, as Treasurer, audited by your Committee, is 
 herewith enclosed. 
 
 The proposed bill for admission of patients will be pre- 
 pared to be presented to the General Assembly for its sanc- 
 tion. It requires time and consultation to have it meet the 
 requirements of the laws of the State. 
 
 It is due to the people of Middletown, that I should 
 allude to the deep interest they have constantly manifested 
 in all matters relating to the progress of the Institution. 
 
 In closing this imperfect report of a short period, I would 
 express my gratitude to the Board for ther uniform confi- 
 dence and encouragement in the important trust committed 
 to my charge. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ABM. MARVIN SHEW, Superintendent. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., April 1, 1867. 
 
REPOET OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 
 
 The Board of Trustees of the General Hospital for the 
 Insane of this State beg leave respectfully to report : that 
 since their first Report to your Honorable Body the highly 
 important work committed to their charge of erecting and 
 preparing a suitable hospital for the insane of this State, has 
 been steadily and zealously pursued. 
 
 On the 20th of June last the corner stone of the hospital 
 was laid, with impressive and appropriate ceremonies, by 
 Governor English, in the presence of the State officers, mem- 
 bers of the legislature, and a large concourse of deeply inter- 
 ested spectators. Addresses were made by Governor English, 
 ex-Governor Hawley, Dr. Pliny Earle of Northampton, Mass., 
 Rev. Dr. Cummings of Wesleyan University, and Prof. Thacher 
 of Yale College; and it is believed that not one of that vast 
 assemblage went away dissatisfied with the noble purpose 
 and policy of the State then and there set forth and pro- 
 claimed. 
 
 The work has since been vigorously pushed on. The car- 
 penter’s shop, laundry, bake-house, kitchen, and boiler-house 
 are completed. The air shaft, so indispensable a portion of 
 the edifice, is finished, and the ventilating flues duly arranged. 
 The south wing and return wing are fully completed and 
 ready for occupancy on the first of May. The main or center 
 building is in an advanced state of forwardness, is roofed 
 and pointed, and will soon be finished. Water, of which 
 the supply is ample, of excellent quality, and believed 
 to be unfailing, has been brought more than a mile and 
 introduced throughout the building. By an arrangement 
 with the Middletown Gas Company, mains have been laid 
 
23 
 
 from the city and the pipes carried through the building. 
 An engine and boiler, steam-heating apparatus, and a patent 
 washing-machine have been put in. The bedsteads, bedding, 
 and other furniture, sufficient for a hundred patients, have 
 been provided, and we are now ready to receive that number 
 of male patients. The foundation and basement story of the 
 north wing and return wing were also laid last fall, and are 
 waiting for the superstructure. 
 
 The buildings are of Portland stone, “ laid in broken range 
 work, with hammer-dressed stone for corners, water-tables, 
 window-sills, and caps.” They are roofed with slate and fin- 
 ished, without and within, in a style which, though severely 
 plain and simple, is yet not devoid of taste and beauty ; and 
 the Board of Trustees believe that the hospital will be regarded 
 as a model of strength, durability, and perfect adaptation to 
 its objects. 
 
 The work has been done thoroughly, and yet as economic- 
 ally as possible under the circumstances, and, when finished, 
 the edifice will be one of which the State of Connecticut may 
 be justly proud. The early and unusual severity of the past 
 season unavoidably interrupted the work and occasioned great 
 delay, difficulty, and increased expense in its progress ; but the 
 board are satisfied that all those employed upon it, whether as 
 superintendents or operatives, have been faithful in the dis- 
 charge of their duties, and have, moreover, been animated by 
 a proper and zealous spirit. Dr. A. M. Shew, the Medical 
 Superintendent, to whom, by the act creating the hospital, was 
 committed the duty of procuring the plan of a suitable build- 
 ing or buildings, “ and of personally superintending its erec- 
 tion and arrangement,” has very faithfully and efficiently dis- 
 charged his duties, has been untiring in his zeal and energy, 
 and has personally supervised every part of the buildings and 
 their appointments. 
 
 The General Assembly, at its last session, promptly voted 
 a liberal sum for the completion of the buildings. The appro- 
 priation, from various causes, lias proved to be insufficient, 
 and the board are therefore compelled to apply to the Assem- 
 
24 
 
 bly for such additional appropriation as will enable them to 
 go on and finish their work. No more noble, no more neces- 
 sary charity can be brought before the State; and if Connect- 
 icut would not be immeasurably behind her sister States in 
 provision for the insane, a prompt and unhesitating response 
 will be made to this application. 
 
 It will not be improper nor out of place in a report of this 
 kind to cite the opinions of persons who have devoted much 
 time and attention to these matters, and are fully conversant 
 with the requirements of such institutions. 
 
 Dr. Kirkbride, the accomplished Superintendent of the 
 Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane, and President of the 
 Association of Superintendents, thus remarks: 
 
 “ Every one concerned in providing accommodations for 
 the insane may rely upon the fact being established by all 
 experience that the best kind of hospitals, not only best built, 
 but with the most perfect arrrangements and fixtures of 
 every kind, and managed in the most liberal and enlightened 
 manner, are sure to be the most economical in the end (for 
 true economy consists not only in avoiding all waste and ex- 
 travagance, but also in doing thoroughly whatever is under- 
 taken), will fullfil most completely the objects for which 
 they are erected, and ultimately give most satisfaction to 
 every enlightened community.” Again, in another place, he 
 remarks : “ The difference in cost between a hospital that is 
 well-built and one that is badly, — between one that is com- 
 plete in all its arrangements and one that is imperfect, — 
 between one liberally and one meanly managed, is really so 
 small that if the good citizens of any State would make the 
 simple calculation how much of this extra expense would fall 
 upon each one of them, it can scarcely be credited that a sin- 
 gle individual could be found anywhere who would be willing 
 to admit that he would not cheerfully bear his proportion of 
 it, even if it had never occurred to him that, at some period 
 or other, he might not himself be compelled, personally, to 
 test the character of the provision for the insane made by his 
 State.” 
 
25 
 
 Again, we quote from the 66 First Biennial Report of the 
 Trustees for the Iowa Hospital for the Insane,” made in 
 1861: 
 
 “ The cost of hospital buildings for the insane cannot, with 
 propriety, be estimated by the cubic foot, and placed in com- 
 parison with other public buildings, because the peculiar uses 
 for which they are erected require a peculiar and expensive 
 construction and fixtures, which other State edifices do not 
 require. Insane people must have ample room and provisions 
 for restoring health, and for the personal comfort and the 
 security of each individual. Safety from the calamities of 
 destruction by fire, and from the escape of inmates, is essen- 
 tial; but these safeguards cost many thousands of dollars in 
 construction. The single extra item of window-guards has 
 cost this institution more than 14,000. 
 
 “ The best sanitary arrangements in any case do not admit 
 of crowded apartments, but the space required by the insane 
 is more than double that usually allotted to the sick with 
 other than mental diseases. About eighty per cent, of the 
 insane require each a distinct and well-ventilated apartment 
 to sleep in, separated from others by walls of masonry. 
 
 “ From an examination of the cost modernly constructed 
 first-class hospitals for the insane in the United States [and 
 it must be noticed that this report was made in 1861, before 
 the war and its results had stimulated and enhanced the cost 
 of everything], we find them to be not less than $1,000 for 
 each patient properly provided for, while the proportionate 
 cost of some of them considerably exceeds this sum. Thus, 
 the new Government Hospital for the Insane, near Washing-' 
 ton, which is built of brick and will accommodate 800, or 
 possibly 350 patients, has cost $473,040. The new Hospital 
 for the Insane near Cincinnati, also built of brick, has cost 
 more than $1,000 for each patient provided for ; and the 
 same may be said of the two new hospitals in Northern and 
 Southern Ohio, at Newburg and Dayton.” 
 
 But again, we make a quotation from a memorial of Miss 
 Dix to the legislature of New Jersey in 1845 : “It is said 
 
26 
 
 that the establishment of hospitals involves expense, that it 
 is much cheaper to maintain the insane elsewhere. Is it also 
 computed at what actual cost these are supported in the State 
 Penitentiary, in county jails, in poor-houses, and in families ? 
 What sums are consumed by their uncontrolled habits of 
 destructiveness ; what are lost by their crimes when, under 
 frenzied impulses they fire buildings, take human life, and 
 make wreck of all social and domestic peace and happiness ? 
 What sums are uselessly expended in conducting the trials 
 of insane criminals ? What cost of supporting the large class 
 of incurables, who, if timely treated, would have been restored 
 to society and usefulness — to health and enjoyment?” 
 
 Lastly, we quote from a report presented to the Fourth 
 Annual Meeting of the Rhode Island Hospital, which thus 
 concludes : 
 
 66 It is objected by some that hospitals are expensive ; of 
 this we are fully aware. But are not streets and bridges very 
 expensive ? Are not our private residences, our churches, 
 and other edifices very expensive ? The practical question is 
 not whether a hospital costs a large sum of money, but 
 whether it is worth what it costs , whether the money is judi- 
 ciously expended. No great institutions, dispensing their 
 blessings from generation to generation, can be established 
 without costing money. But what nobler use for money 
 than to establish them ? How trifling and ignoble and evan- 
 escent are the objects of many of our expenditures, compared 
 with the founding of a great institution for the relief of the 
 suffering, for the healing of the sick, and for the exempli- 
 fication of a true Christian benevolence for centuries to 
 come?” 
 
 These remarks, so truly and appropriately made in reference 
 to a “ general hospital,” come with three-fold force when 
 applied to a hospital for the insane. 
 
 The Board of Trustees has held regular monthly meet- 
 ings during the year, and various members have, besides, 
 from time to time, visited the institution, inspected the work, 
 and satisfied themselves that everything was going on well. 
 
27 
 
 In accordance with the requirements of the act creating 
 the hospital, the board elected three additional trustees from 
 Middletown, viz. : Hon. Benjamin Douglas, Hon. Julius Hotch- 
 kiss, and Rev. Dr. Joseph Cummings ; and these gentlemen 
 have zealously and effectively cooperated with the old board, 
 and participated in its doings and deliberations, thereby 
 evincing the wisdom of the legislature in providing for such 
 addition. 
 
 In accordance, also, with the amendments to the act, passed 
 at the last session of the Assembly, which separated the office 
 of Treasurer from that of Superintendent, the board elected 
 M. B. Copeland, Esq. (cashier of Middletown National Bank), 
 to the office of Treasurer, which office that gentleman has 
 since filled to the acceptance of the board. 
 
 At the February meeting of the board, held at the residence 
 of the Hon. H. Sidney Hayden of Windsor (at that time dis- 
 abled by a painful accident), Dr. Winthrop B. Halloek was 
 appointed Assistant Physician, and his wife, Mrs. Mary Halloek, 
 Matron; and Charles W. Galpin of Middletown, who had, 
 from the inception of the undertaking, efficiently and satisfac- 
 torily discharged the duties of clerk to the Superintendent, 
 was appointed Steward. 
 
 The board also appointed a committee to prepare a code of 
 by-laws and regulations, and to fix the terms and conditions 
 upon which patients should be admitted. This committee has 
 discharged the duties assigned to it, and has drawn up and 
 caused to be printed a series of rules and regulations, which 
 have been approved by the board, and are ready for the exam- 
 ination of the legislature. 
 
 At one of the more recent meetings of the board a commit- 
 tee was appointed to ascertain the number of insane persons 
 in the State, and circulars were sent to the selectmen and 
 physicians of every town in the State, with blank returns to 
 be filled up, giving the number, sex, age, and condition of all 
 insane persons in the State, how and by whom supported, etc. 
 
 By a report submitted to the legislature in 1865 it appears 
 that there are about seven hundred insane persons in the 
 
28 
 
 State, though it is believed that this is considerably below the 
 actual number. Partial returns from the selectmen and other 
 sources give five hundred and eighty-four as the present 
 number of insane persons in the State, but this is evidently 
 an incorrect computation, and much below the fact. 
 
 To show how difficult it is to get accurate returns of this 
 sort, we refer to a statement of Dr. Edward Jarvis of Dor- 
 chester, Mass., who, when Commissioner of Lunacy for that 
 State, finding that no reliance could be placed upon the returns 
 furnished by the national and State census, sent letters to 
 every physician in the State, with blanks for them to fill and 
 return. The result was, that while the national census of 
 1850 reported 1,680 insane persons, and the State census of 
 1855 returned 1,909, the commissioner’s record of 1854 
 actually gave the names of 2,632 ; and upon close and 
 careful examination of these by himself, and afterward by the 
 legislature, only one name was found to be duplicated. 
 
 But to return to our State reports. By reference to these, 
 and to communications received from reliable private sources 
 of information, it is found that there are many cases of in- 
 sanity in the State, the mere recital of which would melt a 
 heart of stone. Some have been confined in out-houses for 
 twenty or thirty years, or more ; others kept in private fam- 
 ilies and chained by a leg to the floor ; others still subjected 
 to the most cruel and inhuman systems of restraint, receiv- 
 ing no medical attendance, and with no prospect of change, 
 or improvement. Now, the fact that such things are true in 
 this nineteenth century, and in so advanced, enlightened, and 
 wealthy a State as Connecticut, shows very clearly and 
 forcibly the need of such an institution as that of which we 
 have the honor and privilege to be in charge ; and we can 
 truly affirm that Connecticut has not been a day too soon in 
 making the munificent provision which she has begun, and 
 will doubtless continue to make for the care and protection 
 and restoration of this preeminently unfortunate class of her 
 children. Ordinary sickness of any kind, especially when 
 combined with poverty, is grievous to be borne ; but who can 
 
29 
 
 estimate or properly depict the horrors of a malady which 
 abolishes reason and judgment, which destroys the mind as 
 well as the body, and consigns an immortal soul to the un- 
 told miseries of insanity ! The Almighty only knows th e 
 depth and amount of such a condition of suffering, and 
 He will demand from those of us who are more favored a 
 strict account of the treatment which such unfortunates re- 
 ceive at our hands. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 From what has now been said, it will be seen that the care 
 of the insane, and more especially the insane poor, is not a 
 mere question of dollars and cents, but of sound policy, true 
 economy, a wise humanity, philanthropy, and religion. Such 
 is the view which the members of this board take of their 
 trust, and such, we believe, is the view that will be taken of 
 it by your honorable body. 
 
 The cost of the buildings may to some appear large, but 
 we can conscientiously affirm that not a single dollar lias 
 been wasted or misapplied. The State of Connecticut is 
 wealthy and liberal, and this board, as the almoners of her 
 bounty, did not dare to erect a mean, niggardly, inappropriate 
 structure, when such grave and important interests were in- 
 volved. They were not limited by public enactment to any 
 specific amount, and they were perfectly aware that the edu- 
 cated and enlightened public sentiment of the State would 
 not sanction, nor allow of, any miserly and illiberal construc- 
 tion of the act which created this much-needed institution. 
 They have therefore gone forward, and actuated by prudence 
 and economy, as well as a desire to carry out what they be- 
 lieved to be the intent of the people of the State, have par- 
 tially erected an edifice, which is designed not only for to-day, 
 but for future years, and which they are satisfied will fully 
 meet the wishes and expectations of the State. 
 
 The funds, so liberally appropriated by the last legislature, 
 are now exhausted, and to complete the center building and 
 north wing, and meet outstanding obligations, a further ap- 
 propriation of 1162,384 will be required. The board do not 
 entertain a doubt that this sum, and more still, if requisite, 
 
30 
 
 will unhesitatingly be voted by this assembly. Indeed, the 
 members of the board have become individually and jointly 
 liable for the sum of $30,000, in the shape of a loan from 
 the banks, because they saw last autumn that if funds were 
 not at once provided, the work must come to a stop, to the 
 very great detriment of the public interest, and to the oc- 
 casioning of injurious delay as regarded the class of unfor- 
 tunates for whom the institution was designed, yhere is, in 
 addition, a debt of $41,614 for materials, fixtures, furniture, 
 labor, etc., to be provided for from the next appropriation. 
 We said “ injurious delay,” for every day that defers the re- 
 ception and treatment of these patients, increases the diffi- 
 culty and diminishes the probability of their restoration to 
 health and sanity. 
 
 It is unnecessary at this day to go over the whole ground 
 of argument in favor of the early treatment of the insane, 
 whom it is well-known cannot be successfully treated at home; 
 and we will mention here another fact — to which we may 
 again recur — that from eighty to ninety per cent, of recent 
 cases are curable. We shall, however, adduce the opinions of 
 those who have had large experience in the care of this class 
 of patients. 
 
 We make, in the first place, a brief extract from the report 
 of the superintendent of the Iowa State Hospital, bearing 
 upon this point ; and his statements are equally applicable to 
 •our own State : 
 
 “ For several years prior to the opening of this hospital,” 
 he says, “ the insane of this State had been necessarily con- 
 fined in jails with criminals, and in county infirmaries (poor- 
 houses) in gradually increasing numbers, until there existed 
 the most painful necessity for other and more appropriate 
 accommodations for them. During the last ten years, a few 
 of the insane of the State had obtained places in the institu- 
 tions of other States, at an inconvenient expense ; private 
 families have been burtliened, and their safety put in peril by 
 others ; and upon some the grave has prematurely, though 
 kindly, closed. But the majority have, for no crime, been 
 
31 
 
 compelled to occupy, more or less, the felon’s cell. Relief, 
 though tardy, came at last, and so great was the desire of citi- 
 zens to obtain admission for their afflicted friends, that, during 
 the first twelve weeks, more than one hundred patients were 
 admitted. It is painful to add, that so long had these poor 
 sufferers been confined under adverse sanitary circumstances, 
 not one in ten of all this number will ever recover the right 
 use of reason ; whereas, eighty or ninety of them, under the 
 best treatment, early applied, would certainly have been cured. 
 These are facts which should arrest the attention of every 
 citizen. They show most clearly the importance of the 
 earliest possible application of restorative treatment. Insan- 
 ity is only curable, as a rule, before the delicate textures of 
 the brain have suffered injury from chronic disease. For the 
 curative treatment of mental diseases, a month during their 
 incipient stages is worth more than a whole year in their 
 advanced stages. Indeed, no subsequent period, however 
 protracted, can compensate for the loss of the golden early 
 period in which to treat successfully diseases of the mind.” 
 
 In the memorial of Miss Dix, before referred to, we find 
 tables showing the relative expense of supporting old and re- 
 cent cases of insanity, and we quote a few of the figures : 
 From Dr. Awl’s report of the Ohio State Institution, for the 
 year 1840, it appears that the 
 
 Average cost of supporting old 
 
 cases 
 
 was, 
 
 . 
 
 . 11,903.60 
 
 u u 
 
 new 66 
 
 u 
 
 • 
 
 56.00 
 
 Report of 1841, average cost of old cases 
 
 was, 
 
 . 1,969.00 
 
 u u 
 
 u 
 
 new 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 52.22 
 
 Report of 1842, 
 
 u 
 
 old 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 . 2,020.00 
 
 u u 
 
 u 
 
 recent 46 
 
 u 
 
 45.20 
 
 Report of 1843, 
 
 u 
 
 old 
 
 
 u 
 
 . 2,239.10 
 
 u u 
 
 u 
 
 new 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 65.41 
 
 In Massachusetts for 1843, 
 
 old 
 
 u 
 
 66 
 
 . 2,166.20 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 new 
 
 u 
 
 6,6 
 
 58.45 
 
 In Maine for 1842, 
 
 
 old 
 
 u 
 
 (6 
 
 . 2,108.33 
 
 66 66 
 
 
 new 
 
 u 
 
 66 
 
 35.50 
 
32 
 
 In Virginia (Staunton), av. cost of old cases was, . $2,081.65 
 
 “ “ u new “ “ . 63.25 
 
 Of course this very great difference in cost is owing to the 
 fact that the recent cases are soon cured and discharged, 
 while the old or chronic are kept on indefinitely, but it is no 
 less a strong and irrefutable argument in favor of the early 
 treatment of cases of insanity. 
 
 Every consideration, then, of humanity, of economy, of 
 sound policy, goes to sustain and enforce the appeal we now 
 make to the State, for prompt and liberal assistance in com- 
 pleting the work entrusted to us. It is superfluous to say 
 that the members of this board have no other or further in- 
 terest in this matter than that shared, or which should be 
 shared, by every citizen of the State ; but the very important 
 trust having been imposed upon us, without any seeking or 
 solicitation on our part, we feel a greater responsibility on 
 account of our official connection with the institution, and 
 are therefore desirous that the work shall be pushed on as 
 speedily and vigorously as possible. 
 
 We might, to be sure, have provided at less cost, a flimsy, 
 unsubstantial, and inappropriate building, but we did not and 
 do not believe this to be the wish and intention of the people 
 of Connecticut. We have therefore endeavored faithfully and 
 conscientiously to discharge the trust imposed upon us : to 
 promote the best interests of the State and of that very inter- 
 esting and deeply afflicted class of her children for whom this 
 hospital is intended. 
 
 Many urgent calls for the accommodation of patients have 
 already been received from different parts of the State. The 
 officers of the Retreat at Hartford have notified the various 
 towns having male patients under their care that they must 
 remove them by the first of May, as it has been determined 
 to expend $100,000 in altering and improving that excellent 
 and well-managed institution. Some, even, of private patients, 
 a class for which that hospital was and is designed, must be 
 removed, to allow of the contemplated improvements. 
 
38 
 
 These and other facts have convinced the board that great 
 distress and perplexity will result should the completion of 
 the State hospital be delayed, and that they will be fully jus- 
 tified in carrying forward the work intrusted to them. 
 
 It now rests with your honorable body to say whether the 
 work shall go on and be completed in a manner befitting so 
 wealthy, enlightened, and benevolent a State, and we do not 
 doubt that the wisdom and sound policy of this assembly will 
 be evinced by directing the board of trustees to go forward 
 with their noble and important work, so that all those who 
 are entitled to claim may, as speedily as possible, receive its 
 benefits. 
 
 We append, for the information of such members of the legis- 
 lature as may not be familiar with the facts, a brief summary 
 of what other States have done and are doing in behalf of 
 their insane, and trust that Connecticut will not long be 
 behind the record. 
 
 We make an extract from the Fourth Annual Report of the 
 Directors and Superintendent of the West Virginia Hospital 
 for the Insane for 1867. 
 
 “ Massachusetts , with five large hospitals within her borders, 
 is providing a sixth”; and has several municipal and private 
 establishments. 
 
 New York , with five large public and some excellent private 
 hospitals, has just resolved to erect two more that will cost 
 nearly if not quite a million of dollars. 
 
 New Jersey , small but brave in duty, with one of the best 
 hospitals in the world, has just resolved to provide for all 
 their insane, and is enlarging, at an expected cost of two or 
 three hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 Pennsylvania , with five hospitals of large size and some 
 smaller ones, is enlarging its Western Hospital and canvass- 
 ing for another in some unprovided section of the State. 
 
 Maryland , with two excellent hospitals, is now building 
 two more that, when finished, will cost, together, over half a 
 million of dollars, — one of them being from private munifi- 
 3 
 
34 
 
 cence entirely ; (and the State has recently voted an appropri- 
 ation for the enlargement of one of the older.) 
 
 Ohio , with five excellent hospitals (one devoted to the 
 colored insane) has just resolved to enlarge two of them to 
 more than double their present capacity, and also to erect a 
 sixth, equal to any of the others, the cost of all wdiich is 
 estimated at from one-half to three-fourths of a million of 
 dollars. 
 
 Kentucky has two, and means 44 to provide for every insane 
 person within her limits.” 
 
 Iowa, Indiana, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Alabama, 
 Virginia, and almost all the other States have at least one ; 
 .and even little Rhode Island, besides a large hospital for the 
 insane, has recently built a general hospital at Providence, 
 which, up to September 30, 1867, had already cost about 
 $ 338,000, and will, when completed, reach the sum of $500,000. 
 Very recently, moreover, this noble little State has taken 
 preliminary steps for building another hospital for the insane. 
 Will Connecticut be behind her sister States in making ample 
 provision for all her insane poor? We will not believe it. 
 The supposition is a reproach to her fair fame and honor. 
 
 We cannot better or more appropriately conclude this report 
 than by making a few quotations from the addresses of Gov. 
 English and ex-Gov. Hawley, on the occasion of laying the 
 corner-stone of the hospital. 
 
 64 It is true,” remarked Governor English, 44 that we have a 
 large State debt, and, besides that, a large national debt to 
 carry, but there are few citizens of Connecticut who would 
 wish the State to refuse to do her duty to the suffering and 
 unfortunate class for whom this hospital is building. 
 
 44 This is the founding of one of the noblest charities to which 
 humanity can be devoted. It promises to reward all our care, 
 all our expenditure, all our hopes with a rich harvest of ben- 
 efits. In the coming years its blessings will flow as broadly 
 and deeply and at the same time as beneficially as the waters 
 of yonder river, in a never-ending stream. 
 
 44 Large as some may consider the last appropriation, it is 
 
35 
 
 small when compared with the magnitude of the evil to be 
 met, and the demands of this class of unfortunates upon our 
 charity, and especially when compared with the population 
 of the State. In Connecticut there are upwards of half a 
 million of people. This appropriation will only add an aver- 
 age of 30 cents to the list of each tax-payer, and what a work 
 of good is by this small expenditure accomplished ! No one 
 who shall see this institution in practical operation, and 
 note the patients who shall be cured or benefited here — 
 patients suffering from the direst curse that can fall upon 
 poor humanity — will ever regret the small proportionate 
 share he pays to aid this noble work. 
 
 “I rely upon the willingness of the State to carry out the 
 philanthropic enterprise she has begun. This enterprise, with 
 others of a similar character, is due, in great measure, to the 
 intelligence of our people. Our system of common schools, 
 so generously sustained from the earliest period of our history, 
 has contributed largely to the beneficence of this great charity. 
 A philanthropy, dictated by intelligence, can hardly fail of 
 beneficial results.” 
 
 “ The history of such efforts as this,” said ex-Governor 
 Hawley, “is frequently marked by hesitating grants of money 
 through a long series of years, amounting to double or treble 
 the sums that private enterprise would expend in producing 
 similar results, and, by favoritism in contracts and appoint- 
 ments, useless display, general extravagance, and even fraud. 
 
 “ More cannot be asked than that this institution shall be 
 as free in the future as it has been in the past from such 
 misfortunes, errors, and crimes.” 
 
 He then referred to the “ wise, prompt, and large-minded 
 action of the General Assembly,” and, noting the fact that of 
 the seven hundred or more insane patients in the State, of 
 whom only a small portion could be accommodated in the 
 Hartford Retreat, goes on to add : “And there are more than 
 two hundred in the almshouses of the towns, where it is 
 altogether impossible that they can be treated as common 
 humanity and the honor of the State require.” “ The moneys 
 
36 
 
 expended by the commonwealth and the municipal corpora- 
 tions in these various unsystematic and unsatisfactory ways 
 are probably sufficient, when concentrated upon this institu- 
 tion, to take proper care of these unfortunate brothers and 
 sisters. But the General Assembly made no attempt to avoid 
 its responsibilities. It made no nice calculations of profit and 
 loss in dollars and cents, though it would be easy to show that 
 that State makes most money which best cares for the destitute 
 and suffering .” 
 
 No words of ours can augment the force or heighten the 
 effect of the stirring and impressive language of these quota- 
 tions ; and with this we are content to submit the whole mat- 
 ter to the wisdom and intelligence of your honorable body. 
 
 We append the Superintendent’s report for the past year, 
 with his estimates for completing the center building and 
 north wing; also a letter from Mr. Hutton, the architect of 
 the hospital, in regard to the estimates. The statement 
 which this gentleman makes should have great weight, as the 
 firm to which he belongs has had an extensive experience in 
 buildings of this character, and has designed and superin- 
 tended the erection of most of the more recent hospitals in 
 the United States. 
 
 These estimates amount to $75,770, which, added to the 
 debt already due of $41,614, and the sum borrowed by the 
 trustees, $30,000, and the further sum needed for furniture, 
 $15,000, make the total amount required $162,384. 
 
 Besides this there are barns and fences to be built, grounds 
 to be graded and laid out, stores and stock to be purchased, 
 and many other things to be done for which no precise or defi- 
 nite estimate can be made. For these we need, and most 
 respectfully ask, an additional appropriation. 
 
 That the work may not stop, and the valuable time that 
 must elapse before the meeting of the legislature may not be 
 lost, the board of trustees, at their annual meeting, held 
 April 8, 1868, again voted unanimously to obligate them- 
 selves individually for the purpose of obtaining funds to meet 
 the necessary payments and expenditures. 
 
37 
 
 MR. HUTTON’S LETTER. 
 
 Philadelphia, March 13, 1868. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees, 
 
 General Hospital for Insane , Conn. 
 
 Gentlemen : — At the request of Dr. Shew, I have examined his 
 estimates for the completion of the north wing and center build- 
 ing of the new structure at Middletown, and having carefully 
 compared them with the expenditure involved in the work already 
 done am ready to vouch that they are sufficient to put the same in 
 working order. His exhibit denotes specifically what is con- 
 templated, and with the same energetic and careful management 
 that has characterized last year’s operation, the figures therein 
 named are liberal enough to do well all that is proposed to be 
 done. 
 
 I cannot let this opportunity pass without the statement, that, in 
 all my observation, I have never seen a building more thoroughly 
 well built , nor, in view of this fact, with greater economy Hoping 
 that your efforts to complete the whole will meet with entire 
 success in every respect, 
 
 I am truly yours, 
 
 Addison Hutton, Architect. 
 
38 
 
 Prom the West Virginia Hospital report, before referred 
 to, we copy a tabular statement of several hospitals for the 
 insane, with cost of building, etc., remarking only, that all 
 these were built before the late war, and consequent advent 
 of high prices ; and it would be a moderate estimate to add 
 now fifty per cent, to the prices then ruling : 
 
 Name, etc. 
 
 Capacity. 
 
 Cost. 
 
 Cost for Pa- 
 tient. 
 
 New York State Asylum, Utica, 
 
 440 
 
 $517,400 
 
 $1,185 
 
 Maryland Hospital, Baltimore, 
 
 130 
 
 213,600 
 
 1,443 
 
 McLean Asylum, Somerville, Mass.,. 
 
 200 
 
 321,000 
 
 1,605 
 
 Penn. Hosp. for Insane, Philadelphia, 
 New “ “ “ “ 
 
 240 
 
 330,000 
 
 1,377 
 
 250 
 
 325,000 
 
 1,300 
 
 New Jersey Asvlum, Trenton, 
 
 250 
 
 250,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 Maine Hospital for Insane, 
 
 175 
 
 150,700 
 
 861 
 
 Mt. Hope Institution, Baltimore, .... 
 
 120 
 
 200,000 
 
 1,666 
 
 Butler Hospital, Providence, R. I.,. . 
 
 140 
 
 116,000 
 
 828 
 
 Lunatic Asylum, Taunton, Mass., . . . 
 
 250 
 
 250,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 Michigan Hospital, Kalamazoo, 
 
 288 
 
 340,000 
 
 1,180 
 
 Northampton Hospital, Mass 
 
 250 
 
 335,000 
 
 1,340 
 
 Iowa State Hospital, Mt. Pleasant,... 
 
 250 
 
 359,666 
 
 1,440 
 
 Average coster cap ita before the war, 
 “ “ “ with 50 per 
 
 — 
 
 
 1,248 
 
 cent, added for increased prices, 
 
 
 
 
 since the war, 
 
 — 
 
 
 1,872 
 
 Now let us see how this average compares with the ex- 
 penditures already made, and to be made, upon our hospital. 
 The first appropriation by the State was . . $35,000 
 
 “ second “ “ “ . . 150,000 
 
 Loan from the trustees, ..... 30,000 
 
 Funds required to finish center building and 
 
 north wing, as by superintendent’s estimate, . 75,770 
 
 For furniture for center and north wing, . . 15,000 
 
 Existing indebtedness, 41,614 
 
 Total, . . . $347,384 
 
 Multiply the above average of $1,872 by 200 — the num- 
 ber of patients which the center building, and north and 
 
39 
 
 south wings, when finished, will accommodate — and the 
 resulting figures are $374,400 ; so that thus far the cost 
 of our hospital has been within the average. But one im- 
 portant fact must be kept in mind, viz., that our institution 
 was, and is, designed for 450, instead of 200 patients; and 
 that all the out-buildings, the center building, and their 
 numerous appointments, were planned, and have been con- 
 structed and provided with that ulterior view, so that as 
 a matter of fact, the edifice, thus far, has been built very 
 economically under all the circumstances, and at consider- 
 ably less than the average arrived at by the above table. 
 
 All which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 James E. English, 
 
 H. Sidney Hayden, 
 Leverett E. Pease, 
 
 S. G. Willard, 
 
 B. W. Tompkins, 
 
 Wm. B. Casey, 
 
 R. S. Fellowes, 
 Curtiss T. Woodruff. 
 Robbins Battell, 
 Benj. Douglas, 
 Julius Hotchkiss, 
 Joseph Cummings, 
 
 Fairfield “ 
 Litchfield 66 
 Middletown . 
 
 New Haven . 
 Hartford County . 
 Tolland 66 
 Windham “ 
 New London u 
 Middlesex “ 
 New Haven “ 
 
 u 
 
 Middletown, April, 1868. 
 
EE PORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Gentlemen: — In compliance with instructions received 
 from the board at its last meeting in March, 1867, “to 
 resume work whenever the season should permit,” excava- 
 tions were begun on the first day of April by such force of 
 workmen as could be advantageously employed. 
 
 SEWERAGE. 
 
 Your attention was early directed to the importance of 
 having ample provision made to carry off the surface water 
 during the construction of the building. By your direction, 
 therefore, an eighteen-inch cement pipe was successfully laid, 
 during the month of April, from the center building directly 
 east, a distance of one thousand feet, with a descent three- 
 sixteenths of an inch to the foot. This drain pipe is abun- 
 dantly adequate to carry off the waste water from the laundry 
 and kitchen and the bath and wash rooms of the whole 
 building. 
 
 CARPENTER SHOP. 
 
 At the same time masons were engaged in carrying up the 
 walls of a permanent two-story stone building, twenty-seven 
 feet in width by fifty -two feet in length, to be used as a car- 
 penter and work shop. The first story of this building has a 
 work bench extending the entire length of one side, one cir- 
 cular saw and one scroll saw, and a large grindstone. In 
 the second story are placed three benches with sufficient 
 room for twelve carpenters. The attic, with mansard roof, 
 makes a most convenient paint and glazing shop. 
 
 The motive power driving the machinery alluded to is, 
 water from our dam (described below) in the use of a six- 
 inch turbine wheel, manufactured by and presented to the 
 
41 
 
 institution by Mr. Dwight Cushman of Hartford ; and it 
 gives me pleasure to mention it, that this wheel, with a 
 power adequate to all the mechanical appliances of the shop, 
 has been eminently successful in its workings, and entirely 
 without repair to this date. 
 
 The importance of the early erection of the above shop 
 building was manifest, .as in it would be prepared all the 
 wood-work throughout the entire hospital edifice. It is a 
 permanent, good structure, and will supply to convalescent 
 patients the means of light employment to their great advan- 
 tage, and therefore to the profit of the institution. 
 
 DAM AND RESERVOIR. 
 
 Early in April, 1867, Mr. George H. Norman, with whom 
 a contract had been made for a dam and appurtenances, and 
 for the providing and laying of necessary pipe to convey 
 water to the building, commenced and prosecuted the work 
 with vigor. Six thousand five hundred feet of six-inch cast- 
 iron pipe were laid in accordance with the minute specifica- 
 tions of the contract before the fifth day of May, thus pro- 
 viding a supply of water for mechanical and other purposes 
 during the entire season. 
 
 The turbine wheel has been in constant use, and at all 
 times more water has passed around the waste canal from 
 the reservoir, than was used on the grounds. 
 
 EXCAVATIONS. 
 
 Simultaneously with the prosecution of the work heretofore 
 mentioned, laborers were employed in excavating for the 
 foundations of the main buildings. 
 
 In order to render this portion of the report intelligible to 
 those not acquainted with the practical details of a work of 
 the magnitude of your hospital, I would state that in excavat- 
 ing for foundations and cellars, about twelve thousand cubic 
 yards of earth were removed a distance of several hundred 
 feet. The soil, consisting principally of “hard pan” and 
 gravel, formed at all points an unyielding foundation for the 
 heavy walls of the superstructure. 
 
42 
 
 By employing an adequate force of masons, and by work- 
 ing over hours for a few days, the cellar walls, two feet eight 
 inches in thickness, and seven feet six inches in height, were 
 completed previous to the ceremony of laying the corner-stone 
 on the twentieth of June. 
 
 UNAVOIDABLE DELAYS. 
 
 During the months of July, August, and September, much 
 embarrassment and delay occurred in consequence of the un- 
 usual number of wet days. 
 
 To those having the grave responsibility of the building 
 operations, the constantly recurring rains and showers were 
 a source of care and great anxieties. Incessant forethought 
 was required to prevent damage to the walls and loss of 
 material from the washing of mortar-beds during the contin- 
 uance of sudden storms. 
 
 It also became necessary to erect temporary sheds under 
 which the masons and stone-cutters could work without inter- 
 ruption. 
 
 To those who are not practical builders these hindrances of 
 weather may not seem as important as they really are ; but 
 when it is considered that nearly two hundred men were em- 
 ployed, and that each man would lose from five to ten min- 
 utes in changing from scaffold to sheds, it must be evident 
 that the aggregate of time lost amounted to a large total. 
 
 BUILDINGS ENCLOSED. 
 
 Notwithstanding the above embarrassments and delays, we 
 succeeded in enclosing the center building, intermediate and 
 south return wing, the laundry, and the boiler-house, during 
 the season. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE CENTER BUILDING. 
 
 The dimensions of the center building are sixty feet in 
 width, one hundred and twenty feet in depth, and four stories 
 in height. The walls are constructed of Portland freestone, 
 lain in broken range work, two feet four inches in thickness, 
 
43 
 
 with tool-dressed quoins, windowsills and caps, water-table, 
 belting course and cornice, surmounted by a “ French roof” 
 of slate and tin. 
 
 Inside the stone wall there is a four-inch brick lining, leav- 
 ing an air space of two inches between it and the stone, 
 thereby insuring dryness. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF SOUTHERN WING. 
 
 The southern wing is forty feet in width, one hundred and 
 twenty-four feet in length, and three stories in height, with 
 an u L ” or return wing, which also is forty feet in width, 
 one hundred and eight feet in depth, and four stories in 
 height. The walls are one foot eight inches in thickness, and 
 have a brick lining similar to that described in the center 
 building. The corridor and partition walls, thirteen inches 
 in thickness, are made of brick with an air space of five 
 inches in the center, in which are carried up all the hot air 
 and ventilating flues, than which mode none can be more 
 safe from the danger of fire. These ventilating flues are 
 supplied by air forced through a passage (seven feet in height 
 by twelve feet in width) running under ground from rear of 
 boiler-house into the cellar of center building. 
 
 The interior part of the building is plain but substantial : 
 the wood work being of Georgia yellow pine, oiled and var- 
 nished. The floors are lain with three and four inch matched 
 stuff, with course counter floors beneath. 
 
 The first story will be used as a ward for excited patients. 
 The rooms on each side of the corridor are filled with inside 
 window shutters hinged and locked. Four of these strong 
 rooms are supplied with iron closet-bowls, and a separate hot 
 air flue for each. 
 
 The large triple windows are protected in this story by 
 screen partitions of wood and iron pipe, as suggested and 
 adopted by Dr. Nichols, Superintendent of the Government 
 Hospital for the Insane at Washington, D. C., and in the 
 second story by painted iron wire screens. 
 
 The southern wing is adapted to one hundred patients 
 
44 
 
 divided into four classes. The wards consist of a corridor 
 twelve feet in width and height, and are one hundred and 
 twenty-four feet in length, with a space on each side adjoin- 
 ing the center building for light and air, and a large triple 
 window at the south end. 
 
 The “ L ” hall in the south return wing is ten feet in width, 
 and at right angles with the corridor, and will form the con- 
 necting hall with the extension south when it shall be 
 erected. 
 
 Bach ward contains one dining-room, one day or reading- 
 room, two “ associate dormitories,” for four and six patients, 
 two dumb-waiters, one dust-flue, one front and one rear hall 
 and stairways, two rooms for sick patients shut off by a pas- 
 sageway from the main corridor, eleven single rooms, one 
 clothes room, and one large room for attendants. 
 
 In each hall there is a water-closet and wash-room adjoin- 
 ing the bath-room. The water-closet bowls are enameled 
 cast-iron, funnel shape, and flushed with water whenever the 
 door is opened, by a spring attachment. The waste-pipe 
 from the closet and “ slop-hopper,” leads to the main soil- 
 pipe, and this having a connection with a tall chimney of the 
 boiler-house, as hereafter described, completes the system of 
 “downward ventilation.” 
 
 In the wards already completed there are four cast-iron 
 bath-tubs of the approved pattern of Messrs. Morris, Tasker & 
 Co., of Philadelphia. The supply of hot and cold water and 
 the waste, pass through one opening in the bottom. 
 
 In a vertical flue from basement to upper stories, opening 
 by a door in each bath-room, is a “pipe-closet” connecting 
 the supply of hot and cold water with each bath-tub, and 
 accessible only to the attendant. In each pipe-closet is a fire 
 plug with a length of hose permanently attached ; and ad- 
 joining this, a steam drying-room, containing coils of iron 
 pipe placed under a rack upon which damp clothing, bedding, 
 or wash-rags can be dried. 
 
45 
 
 LAUNDRY. 
 
 Referring to the plan accompanying your report, it will be 
 observed that the laundry -building, located sixty feet in the 
 rear, is connected by an underground passage with the center 
 building, in which passage a tramway will be placed for con- 
 veniently conveying clothing and bedding to and from the 
 wards. 
 
 The first story of the laundry-building is divided into three 
 large rooms ; one forty feet in length by twenty feet in width, 
 will be used as a bakery ; a room opposite of same size, as an 
 ironing and folding room. The washing will be done in the 
 rear room, fifty feet in length by twenty feet in width, and 
 will contain hydraulic washers of Smith’s patent, made by 
 the New York Laundry Manufacturing Company, 18 Dey 
 street, New York, with stationary tubs and steam-heated dry. 
 ing-closet. The second story is divided into a large sewing- 
 room (connected with the ironing-room below by a “ dumb 
 waiter”), one linen or store-room, and six sleeping-rooms 
 for female employes. 
 
 BOILER HOUSE, HEATING APPARATUS, AND CHIMNEY. 
 
 For the complete protection and preservation of the hospi- 
 tal building frem danger arising from the fires used in gen- 
 erating steam for heating purposes, a two-story stone build- 
 ing, sixty feet in length by twenty feet in width, has been 
 erected one hundred and fifty feet in the rear of the hospital, 
 for the boilers and various fixtures necessary to a steam- 
 heating apparatus. The first story contains the boiler-room 
 on the north end, and a fitting shop on th£ south end. The 
 second story contains four rooms for male employes, and one 
 large store-room over the boilers. From the center of this 
 building arises a brick chimney eighty-four feet in height, 
 built in the most substantial manner, six feet internal diame- 
 ter, surmounted by a cast-iron cap. Two large flues from 
 the main sewer open into the smoke stack, perfecting the sys- 
 tem of u downward ventilation.” 
 
46 
 
 STEAM HEATING. 
 
 The steam used during the winter for warming the hospi- 
 tal has been generated in a tubular boiler, sixteen feet in 
 length by four feet in diameter, and conducted through a five- 
 inch wrought-iron pipe covered with felting, to the cast-iron 
 radiators (Gold’s patent), placed in the- cellar corridor or air- 
 duct of the hospital building. 
 
 By the use of this (Gold’s patent) apparatus, put up in 
 stacks of from eight to twelve radiators in each box, about 
 sixteen feet apart, the apartments are severally heated in 
 stories, one above another. 
 
 It will be necessary to have two additional boilers of sim- 
 ilar dimensions to supply heat during the next winter. It is 
 supposed that three boilers will be adequate for the purpose 
 when the north wing is occupied. 
 
 The heating and ventilation are to be effected by the forc- 
 ing of a constant current of pure air over the radiators, 
 through which the steam circulates, and which after conden- 
 sation, is carried back in a warm state, to resupply the boiler. 
 
 The forcing power is a fan, twelve feet in diameter, placed 
 in the rear of boiler-house, as before mentioned, and kept re- 
 volving by water ; and a most necessary and important auxil- 
 iary to our ventilating system in summer and winter, so need- 
 ful in the rooms of insane patients. 
 
 GAS. 
 
 Daring the month of November your committee made ar- 
 rangements with the Middletown Gas Light Company for the 
 laying of a main pipe, from their works to the hospital, at the 
 very moderate cost of one thousand dollars. In a large insti- 
 tution of this character a very important advantage of illu- 
 minating by gas over other modes is the security against fire, 
 and also economy and cleanliness would equally recommend it. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 From the preceding statement of work done it will be seen 
 that the past year has been one of constant and unremitting 
 toil to those having charge of the building operations. 
 
47 
 
 Only twelve months have been consumed in erecting and 
 finishing a series of buildings, which have required in their 
 construction — 
 
 Of stone, four thousand perch (twenty-five cubic feet to the 
 perch). 
 
 Of brick, one million five hundred thousand. 
 
 Of lime, one thousand seven hundred casks, or two hundred 
 and seventy-five tons. 
 
 Of S. Y. pine, five hundred thousand feet. 
 
 Of white pine, seventy thousand feet. 
 
 Of spruce, eighty thousand feet. 
 
 Of hemlock, fifteen thousand feet. 
 
 Of nails, ninety kegs, or four and one-half tons. 
 
 Of roofing slate, twenty-five thousand square feet. 
 
 Of iron pipe, fifteen thousand feet, or about three miles. 
 
 Of labor of men, thirty-two thousand one hundred and sixty- 
 seven days. 
 
 Of labor of horses, two thousand five hundred and twenty- 
 three days. 
 
 To arrange for the need, to contract for, prepare and judi- 
 ciously use in one year the amount of material here tabulated, 
 has required the undivided time and attention of those hold- 
 ing positions of trust under the direction of your board. In 
 this connection I cannot refrain from alluding to the fidelity 
 of those whom you have associated with me in this great 
 work. 
 
 To Messrs. Hose, Hubbard & Galpin is due an acknowl- 
 edgment of the valuable services which they have respectively 
 rendered. 
 
 By your consent and authority, contracts were at various 
 times made with the following named parties : 
 
 Reservoir, dam and connection pipes with building, one and 
 a quarter miles : Geo. H. Norman, Newport, R. I. 
 Georgia yellow pine: New Haven Steam Saw Mill Co., New 
 Haven, Conn. 
 
 Stone, wall and dimensions : Middlesex Quarry Co., Brainard 
 & Co., and Shaler & Hall, Portland, Conn. 
 
48 
 
 Lime, cement, nails, and glass: Hubbard Brothers, Middle- 
 town, Conn. 
 
 Brick : Eugene Strickland, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Iron sash : H. A. Converse & Co., Hartford, Conn. 
 
 Wood sash: R. Joslyn, South Manchester, Conn. 
 
 Roof bolts : Plants’ Manufacturing Co., Plantsville, Conn. 
 Roofing slate : Cook, Overfield & Snedeker, New York. 
 
 Tin roof : B. C. Bacon, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Turbine wheel : Dwight Cushman, Hartford, Conn. 
 
 Steam boiler and pump : Pitkin, Brother & Co., Hartford, 
 Conn. 
 
 Steam radiators : H. B. Smith & Co., Westfield, Mass. 
 
 Steam and gas pipe : H. P. Blair, Hartford, Conn. 
 
 Bath tubs and closet bowls : Morris, Tasker & Co., Phila- 
 delphia, Pa. 
 
 Wrought-iron window guards: Bancroft & Co., Philadelphia. 
 Coal: White & Loveland, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Doors and bedsteads : Hubbard & Burrows, Middletown, Conn. 
 Registers: Tuttle & Bailey Manufacturing Co., Boston, Mass. 
 Locks and knobs : Mallory, Wheeler & Co., New Haven, Conn. 
 Gas fixtures : Tucker Manufacturing Co., Boston, Mass. 
 
 There is now on hand, with which to operate this season, 
 of cut stone about one-third of the amount required, and of 
 yellow pine for joists, etc., nearly enough to complete the 
 northern wing. 
 
 The estimates of last year, which, being unexpectedly 
 called for, were prepared in one night without the assistance 
 of the architect, have failed to meet the requirements of your 
 building, owing mainly to the large item of labor. While the 
 act creating the office of superintendent makes it the duty of 
 that officer to procure the plan and personally superintend 
 the erection of the hospital building (which you are aware I 
 have done to the extent of my ability), it could not have 
 been intended that I should be wholly responsible for the cor- 
 rectness of all the estimates of the details of the building, — a 
 matter out of the range of the usual duties of a physician. 
 The estimates offered with so short a time for mature prepar- 
 
49 
 
 ation in June last, were known by all those who had the 
 matter more immediately under their notice to have been 
 prepared under pressure ; yet they were believed fully by me 
 to be adequate for the purposes proposed, except so far as a 
 few items, not very materially affecting the total, were 
 reduced by those of the trustees who saw the draft. I had 
 no expectation of the estimates being printed and relied upon 
 as absolutely adequate, and as if they were the conclusions of 
 experienced builders. I now see that it was a grave mistake 
 not to have taken several days and submitted our whole calcu- 
 lations and value of materials on hand to your architect for 
 an authorized opinion. 
 
 By your direction payments have been made as far as the 
 funds would permit. All the outstanding liabilities on 
 account of building operations amount to forty-one thousand 
 six hundred dollars ($41,600) as per tabulated statement 
 rendered. 
 
 To complete the center building and northern wing and 
 other necessary work remaining to be done, and to meet the 
 debts already contracted, the further sum of one hundred and 
 sixty-two thousand three hundred and eighty-four ($162,384) 
 dollars will be required. 
 
 The hospital farm has during the year been a source of 
 profit. About seven hundred dollars were received for pas- 
 ture land, and about fifty tons of hay cut for our own use. 
 As yet nothing has been attempted in the way of laying off 
 and ornamenting the grounds for the patients, a thing highly 
 important with all institutions for the” insane. Nor have 
 enclosures been made in connection with the building for the 
 safety and increased comfort of the patients. The hope is 
 entertained that during the coming season much may be done 
 in this direction. 
 
 Of the urgent necessity for a hospital in Connecticut many 
 who will read these pages are fully aware. There is, however, 
 a large number to whose mind this claim presents itself as of 
 no serious and positive obligation. I would respectfully and 
 earnestly urge all such to spend one single day in visiting the 
 4 
 
50 
 
 scenes of misery found wherever the insane are confined in 
 jails or almshouses. 
 
 With the completion of your hospital on its original plan, 
 in which various forms of innocent recreation are to be pro- 
 vided, much of this suffering and misery can be alleviated. 
 
 Already numerous applications for admission have been 
 received from all parts of the State, showing conclusively that 
 this great work was not commenced prematurely. As the 
 number of patients increases the cost of keeping them will be 
 proportionally diminished, — the expenses of heating, lighting, 
 cooking, etc., not being much greater for two hundred than 
 for one hundred. It is estimated that the average expense of 
 keeping one hundred patients, at the present high rate of 
 prices for the necessaries of life, will be four and one-half 
 ($4.50) dollars per week. This includes board, washing, 
 mending, lodging, medicine, and attendance, and various 
 other expenses incident to the curative means adopted in our 
 practice. 
 
 In conclusion, gentlemen, I desire to express my grateful 
 sense of obligation for the encouragement you have afforded 
 me amid the labors and anxieties of the past year. With an 
 earnest desire to promote the interests of the institution, and 
 with firm resolution to insure its success and usefulness in 
 the future by executing, to the extent of my ability, your 
 philanthropic designs, this report is respectfully submitted. 
 
 A. M. SHEW, Superintendent. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., April 1, 1868. 
 
51 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, Treasurer General Hospital for the Insane, 
 in account with the State of Connecticut. 
 
 DR. 
 
 To amount on hand April 1, 1867, $202.97 
 
 “ balance appropriation, 1866, ... 10,000 
 
 “ amount “ 1867, 150,000 00 
 
 “ “ received of town of Middletown on account of dock 
 
 and work on road, 980 92 
 
 “ amount received for rent, etc., 912.86 
 
 “ “ borrowed on individual notes given by the trustees, 28,964.38 
 
 $191,061.12 
 
 CR. 
 
 By salaries of officers $2,333.34 
 
 “ land, 1,185.62 
 
 “ stationery, postage, and revenue stamps, 259.04 
 
 “ furniture, fixtures, and safe. 253 85 
 
 “ fuel and lights, 417.19 
 
 “ lumber, lime, cement, hair, paints, oil, putty, wood, sash, 
 
 and doors, 25,485.37 
 
 “ brick and sand, 8,714.41 
 
 “ stone, 6,763.26 
 
 “ slate, lead, sheathing, and putting on roof, and tinner’s bill, 
 
 roofing, conductors, and putting on, 5,294 78 
 
 “ Trustees’ expenses (traveling), 177.56 
 
 “ Superintendent’s board, 621.41 
 
 “ iron sash, arch plates, work on sash patterns, shafting, 
 blacksmitliing, iron beams, lightning-rods, blacksmith 
 
 shop and tools, roof and stage bolts, piping, etc , 4,131.38 
 
 “ shovels, hoes, picks, saws and saw tables, boring machines, 
 
 locks, screws, registers, soil pans, etc., 926.59 
 
 “ boiler, steam pump, pipe and fittings, radiators and hair felt, 5,600.36 
 
 “ horses, wagons, sleighs, harnesses, hay and feed, mowing 
 
 machine and rake, 3,039.18 
 
 “ water-works and land damages, 17,630.00 
 
 “ transportation, 2,302.78 
 
 “ pay of employes, 101,099.73 
 
 “ Architect’s accounts, plans, etc., sewer pipe, fence postsand 
 stage poles, dock, derricks, bell, rent, hose, printing, ad- 
 vertising, insurance, etc., 4,542 48 
 
 44 amount, 282.79 
 
 $191,061.12 
 
 Middletown, April 1, 1868. 
 
 I hereby certify that I have examined the vouchers and accounts of the 
 Treasurer, of which the above is an abstract, and found them correct. 
 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, Auditor. 
 
 Middletown, April 22, 1868. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 
 
 The Board of Trustees of the General Hospital for the 
 Insane of this State, in presenting their third annual report, 
 beg leave respectfully to state that since their last report the 
 north wing of the hospital, designed for female patients, and 
 the center or main building, containing the offices, apartments 
 for superintendent, assistant physician, steward, apothecary’s 
 shop, etc , and last, but not least, the chapel, have been nearly 
 completed, with the exception of the latter. A good portion 
 of out-door work, such as grading, stone-work, etc., has 
 been done ; but for the details of all this we would respect- 
 fully refer your honorable body to the report of the superin- 
 tendent, which is full and precise in its details. 
 
 The funds so liberally appropriated to the institution have 
 been expended for the purposes and objects set forth in our 
 last annual report. 
 
 The disbursements for current expenses and building oper- 
 ations for the year past amount to $192,696.93. The bills 
 and vouchers for all work done, articles purchased, salaries 
 paid, and all other expenses are on file in the Comptroller’s 
 cffice, and may be examined by any one interested in so 
 doing. 
 
 There have been already received into the hospital, of all 
 classes and both sexes, two hundred and sixtv-eight (268) 
 patients, of whom two hundred and nine (209) remain. Of 
 these, one hundred and seven (107) are males, and one hun- 
 dred and two (102) are females. We copy these statistics 
 from the superintendent’s report simply to show in how brief 
 a period all the available apartments of the institution have 
 
53 
 
 been occupied, and how important it will be for the State, at 
 no distant time, to extend the accommodations of the hospital 
 for the large number of this class of patients who still remain 
 unprovided for. All the central arrangements of the hospital 
 were designed for more than double the number of those now 
 enjoying its benefits, and the cost of carrying out the original 
 plan will be very much less in proportion than for the parts 
 already completed. 
 
 Should the legislature see the need of further accommoda- 
 tions, as is painfully evident to the trustees, and be willing 
 during this session to make an appropriation for this object, we 
 ought to say that it will be impracticable to make use of much 
 of the sum appropriated until the spring of 1870, although it 
 would be a great advantage to the State for the trustees to 
 know that they had control of a sufficient basis upon which 
 to make contracts for work to be begun at the earliest practi- 
 cable time, as, with the models already erected, contracts can 
 safely be made with responsible parties. 
 
 The liberality of a few gentlemen has provided a reading- 
 room, library, and other means of occupation and recreation ; 
 and so with regard to the chapel, private benevolence has 
 gone far to complete this highly important adjunct to a 
 hospital for insane persons. To the same sources is due the 
 possession of a fine organ, which was purchased by private 
 donations. 
 
 There has been very little active disease among the patients 
 during the past year ; on the contrary, owing to the salubrity 
 of the location, the abundant supply of pure water, the 
 absence of any local or neighboring causes of malarious 
 disease, in addition to the good care and strict attention paid 
 by the superintendent and his assistant, the general health 
 of the inmates has been unusually good. A few deaths 
 have occurred, for the causes of which we would refer to the 
 superintendent’s report. 
 
 Since the last annual meeting of the board of trustees, 
 April 15, 1869, the number in the hospital is 226, and there 
 are on file and waiting for admission sixteen applications. 
 
54 
 
 In regard to financial matters, as already stated, the entire 
 amount of the large appropriation made by the General 
 Assembly at its last session has been expended, and there 
 are unpaid bills to the amount of $18,543.28. We regret 
 that this should be so, but we are unable to see how the 
 result could have been otherwise, inasmuch as the estimates 
 for the amount needed to complete the north wing and center 
 building were based upon the experience of 1867, at which 
 time, as is well known, mechanical labor of all kinds was 
 sixteen per cent, lower than last year. This unexpected 
 advance, which could not have been foreseen, caused a 
 difference of several thousands of dollars in our building 
 expenses. We can cordially say, that the superintendent 
 has been most anxious and remarkably successful in his 
 endeavors to reduce the expenditures, and conduct the busi- 
 ness of the hospital in such way as would most promote 
 its welfare, and the best interests of the State, and we most 
 cheerfully bear our testimony to his untiring zeal, watchful- 
 ness, and exertion in behalf of the great public charity which 
 is placed in his charge. We are pleased also to express our 
 satisfaction with the efficient and faithful manner in which 
 the assistant physician and other officers have discharged 
 the various and often exhausting duties with which they 
 have been entrusted. 
 
 The board would respectfully recommend to the legislature, 
 that the law of the State in relation to payments by the 
 towns be so amended that the bills of the hospital for the 
 support of the insane poor be paid quarterly, in advance, 
 as is the case in regard to “ indigent ” and private patients. 
 
 Referring to the action of the last General Assembly in 
 regard to providing accommodations “ as soon as practi- 
 cable” for insane convicts, the board would state, that owing 
 to want of funds and time, no special or distinct provision 
 has been made for this class of patients. Our center and 
 north buildings were not finished until the first of March; 
 and the carpenter’s shop, which the trustees had thought of 
 remodeling and adapting for this purpose, was in constant 
 
55 
 
 use up to that date, at which time our funds were exhausted. 
 Three men previously discharged from State Prison have been 
 sent here from the towns, two of whom have been discharged 
 from the hospital, cured. 
 
 The increasing wants of the hospital occasioned by the 
 large additions to its family, require additional facilities for 
 the cultivation and preservation of the products of the farm 
 thereto attached. It is proposed, therefore, to develop all its 
 capabilities for the use of the patients. To do this most 
 economically, a barn sufficiently large to provide shelter for 
 stock, tools, and implements, storage for hay, grain, fruits, 
 and roots, should be built. Such a building, constructed of 
 wood in the most suitable and economical manner, is esti- 
 mated to cost about $8,000. We think it ought to be 
 generally understood, that the hospital, aside from the cost 
 of its construction, is already, with less than two hundred 
 and fifty patients, self-supporting; and that an increased 
 number, provided there were any room or accommodations 
 for them, would assure this condition against all ordinary 
 contingencies. 
 
 The thanks of the board are due, and are hereby tendered, 
 to many friends — some of them connected with the press — 
 for liberal donations of books, pictures, and papers. All 
 these furnish entertainment and occupation to the patients ; 
 and it is not too much to say, that they sometimes contribute 
 in no inconsiderable degree to the grand object of the 
 hospital, viz . , the recovery of those who are committed to its 
 care. The names of these benefactors of our charge will be 
 found at length in the superintendent’s report. 
 
 In conclusion, the board of trustees would congratulate the 
 legislature, and the people of the State generally, upon the 
 successful results of this noble charity, which have thus far 
 been obtained. Time, in its onward course, will confirm and 
 extend these, and will show more and more conclusively the 
 necessity of such an institution. It will also justify, and 
 more than justify, the liberal and enlightened policy which 
 has characterized the legislation and the public sentiment 
 
56 
 
 of Connecticut for four years past. We would moreover 
 express the fervent hope that “ a work begun in a spirit 
 of so much and such commendable liberality,” may ever 
 continue to enjoy the fostering care and the unwavering 
 favor and protection of the State government. Much, very 
 much, has been done, but more remains to do, and we would 
 therefore respectfully and earnestly invite your early atten- 
 tion to the subject of completing the hospital in accordance 
 with the original design. 
 
 When this is done, and the whole number for whom this 
 institution was intended shall be accommodated, there will 
 still be large numbers of this unfortunate class of sufferers, 
 for whom no provision will have been made. 
 
 We have the honor herewith to submit our report, and 
 with it that of the superintendent and treasurer. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 JAMES E. ENGLISH, 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LEYERETT E. PEASE, 
 S. G. WILLARD, 
 
 Windham “ 
 New London “ 
 Middlesex u 
 New Haven u 
 
 Hartford County . 
 
 New Haven . 
 
 Tolland 
 
 B. W. TOMPKINS, 
 WM. B. CASEY, 
 
 R. S. PELLOWES, 
 
 CURTIS T. WOODRUFF, 
 
 Fairfield u 
 Litchfield “ 
 Middletown . 
 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 BENJ. DOUGLAS, 
 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 Middletown, April, 1868. 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 In presenting my report as superintendent of the State 
 institution under your care for the year now past, and ending 
 March 31, 1869, it may be well to consider, first, the medical 
 and statistical history of the hospital ; and secondly, the 
 building operations of the past twelve months. 
 
 Agreeably to the promise in your last annual report, and 
 to the announcements published in all Connecticut daily and 
 weekly papers during the month of April, the hospital was 
 regularly opened for the admission of male patients on Thurs- 
 day, April 30, 1868, just thirteen months after the first work 
 was begun in excavation of the site. 
 
 It must be a source of gratification to those philanthropic 
 gentlemen, who, by votes in the General Assembly, and by 
 other valuable services, have been instrumental in establish- 
 ing, on a liberal scale, a State hospital for insane of all 
 classes, to know that their action has been promptly appre- 
 ciated by the people of Connecticut, as shown by the follow- 
 ing record. 
 
 There have been admitted during the eleven months to this 
 date, two hundred and sixty-eight (268) patients ; one hun- 
 dred and sixty-five (165) males, and one hundred and three 
 (103) females. 
 
 In the act of incorporation, provision is made for three 
 classes of patients : pauper, indigent, and private ; one 
 hundred and sixty-eight (168) pauper patients, seventy-six 
 (76) indigent patients, and twenty-four (24) private patients 
 have been under treatment. Of this whole number, twenty- 
 five (25) were discharged recovered, eleven (11) were dis- 
 charged much improved, six (6) were discharged not 
 improved, two (2) were found to be not insane, and of course 
 
53 
 
 immediately sent from the hospital, and fifteen (15) died, 
 leaving the number in hospital to-day two hundred and nine 
 (209), of whom one hundred and seven (107) are males, and 
 one hundred and two (102) are females. It has been the 
 experience of all new State institutions of the kind, that its 
 first occupants in undue proportion are aged persons, and old 
 chronic cases, and death are unusually frequent. In this 
 respect we have been no exception to the rule. 
 
 TABLE SHOWING THE AGES OF ALL CASES ADMITTED. 
 
 Under 20 years, 
 
 
 
 Males. 
 
 4 
 
 Fem. 
 
 1 
 
 Total. 
 
 8 
 
 Between 20 and 30 years, . 
 
 
 
 . 38 
 
 17 
 
 55 
 
 “ 30 and 40 “ 
 
 
 
 . 40 
 
 25 
 
 65 
 
 “ 40 and 50 “ 
 
 
 
 . 31 
 
 27 
 
 58 
 
 “ 50 and 60 “ 
 
 
 
 . 23 
 
 7 
 
 30 
 
 “ 60 and 70 “ 
 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 21 
 
 39 
 
 “ 70 and 80 “ 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 11 
 
 “ 80 and 90 “ 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 Total , 
 
 
 
 . 165 
 
 103 
 
 268 
 
 TABLE SHOWING DURATION OF INSANITY PREVIOUS TO 
 ADMISSION. 
 
 
 Males. 
 
 Fem. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Less than 3 months, 
 
 . 36 
 
 5 
 
 41 
 
 Between 3 and 6 months, . 
 
 . 11 
 
 6 
 
 17 
 
 “ 6 and 12 “ 
 
 . 12 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 “ 1 and 2 years, 
 
 . 13 
 
 8 
 
 21 
 
 “ 2 and 5 “ 
 
 . 26 
 
 12 
 
 38 
 
 “ 5 and 10 “ 
 
 . 19 
 
 11 
 
 30 
 
 “ 10 and 20 “ 
 
 . 22 
 
 17 
 
 39 
 
 “ 20 and 30 “ 
 
 .8 
 
 3 
 
 11 
 
 Over 30 years, 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 Unknown, . 
 
 . 17 
 
 32 
 
 49 
 
 Total, 
 
 . 165 
 
 103 
 
 268 
 
 From these tables it will be seen that little hope of 
 
 recov- 
 
 ery can be entertained respecting a large proportion of those 
 already admitted. General debility, advanced age, and long 
 duration of disease have been the most common character- 
 istics; twenty -two aged, paralyzed patients were brought to 
 us enfeebled and helpless ; two were blind, and one each had 
 
59 
 
 lost a leg and an arm. As the hospital wards are already 
 filled to their utmost capacity, and several applications for 
 admission are now on file, I deem it but just to inquire what 
 additional provision should be made ? In order to secure to 
 the people of this State the benefits of the hospital to all who 
 need its care, a large extension to the buildings should be 
 made at the earliest practicable day. Recent cases of 
 insanity always claim the first attention, and should be 
 treated as promptly as those suffering from any other acute 
 disease. Economical considerations, if no other, dictate the 
 reasonableness of this course. The experience of the past 
 fifty years proves that of all recent cases of insanity brought 
 under treatment during the first three months, eighteenths 
 are restored to health and reason before the expiration of 
 the year, while not more than two-tenths recover when 
 several months are allowed to pass before the patient is 
 placed under systematic hospital treatment. Another fact 
 that should have its due weight in estimating the value of 
 hospital treatment is, that patients who recover after a long 
 period of insanity, are more liable to a return of the disease. 
 
 TABLE SHOWING THE NATIVITY OF THOSE ADMITTED. 
 
 Connecticut, . 
 New York, 
 Massachusetts, 
 Rhode Island, 
 Virginia, 
 
 North Carolina, 
 
 Pennsylvania, 
 
 Vermont, 
 
 New Jersey, . 
 
 Ireland, 
 
 Germany, 
 
 Scotland, 
 
 England, 
 
 Cuba, . 
 
 Prussia, 
 
 Unknown, 
 
 Colored, 
 
 Males. Fem. Total. 
 
 96 50 146 
 
 9 8 17 
 
 3 1 4 
 
 3 1 4 
 
 1 1 2 
 
 1 0 1 
 
 1 0 1 
 
 0 1 1 
 
 0 1 1 
 
 34 26 60 
 
 5 2 7 
 
 2 0 2 
 
 1 3 4 
 
 0 1 1 
 
 0 2 2 
 
 9 6 15 
 
 3 0 3 
 
 165 103 
 
 Total, 
 
 268 
 
60 
 
 TABLE SHOWING CIVIL 
 
 CONDITION OF THOSE 
 
 Males. 
 
 ADMITTED. 
 
 Fem. Total. 
 
 Single, 
 
 . 84 
 
 34 
 
 118 
 
 Married, 
 
 . 62 
 
 32 
 
 94 
 
 Widowed, 
 
 . 15 
 
 18 
 
 33 
 
 Unknown, 
 
 4 
 
 19 
 
 23 
 
 Total, 
 
 . 165 
 
 103 
 
 268 
 
 TABLE SHOWING OCCUPATION OF MALE PATIENTS 
 ADMITTED. 
 
 Farmers, . 
 
 . 45 
 
 Shipcarpenter, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 Laborers, 
 
 . 18 
 
 Sail maker, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Machinists, 
 
 . 7 
 
 Carriage maker, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Carpenters, 
 
 . 6 
 
 Student, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Sailors, 
 
 . 5 
 
 Telegraph operator, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Mechanics, 
 
 . 6 
 
 Pilot, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Merchants, 
 
 . 4 
 
 Carman, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 Shoemakers, 
 
 . 4 
 
 Blacksmith, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Clerks, 
 
 . 4 
 
 Knitter of Hosiery, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Harness makers, . 
 
 . 3 
 
 Druggist, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Quarrymen, 
 
 . 3 
 
 Cabinet maker, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 Sash and Blind makers, . 
 
 . 2 
 
 Lawyer, 
 
 1 
 
 Barbers, . 
 
 . 2 
 
 Clergyman, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Tinsmiths, 
 
 . 2 
 
 Superintendent of Factory, . 1 
 
 Spinners, . 
 
 . 2 
 
 Book dealer, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Hostlers, . 
 
 . 2 
 
 Pump maker, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 Landlord, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Ship merchant, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Physician, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Moulder, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Tailor, 
 
 1 
 
 Printer, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 Table-waiter, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Paper maker, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Express agent, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 Foundryman, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Bookkeeper, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Wheelwright, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 Manufacturer of silver plate, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Currier, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 Teacher, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 Chemist, 
 
 . 1 
 
 Grocer, . 
 
 . 1 
 
 No employment, 
 
 . 17 
 
 Total, 
 
 . 165 
 
 TABLE SHOWING THE SUPPOSED CAUSE OF INSANITY OF 
 
 Intemperance, 
 
 ALL CASES ADMITTED. 
 
 Males. 
 . 12 
 
 Fem. 
 
 0 
 
 Total. 
 
 12 
 
 Over exertion, 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 Epilepsy, 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
61 
 
 
 Male. 
 
 Fem 
 
 Total. 
 
 Exposure while in the army, 
 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Religious excitement, 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 Business anxieties, 
 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 Death of friends, 
 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 Disappointed affections, 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 Physical injury, 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 111 health, 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 Spiritualism, . 
 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 Hard study, . 
 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 Sunstroke, 
 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 Paralysis, 
 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 Typhoid fever, 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 Inflammation of the brain, . 
 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 Hereditary predisposition, . 
 
 
 24 
 
 9 
 
 33 
 
 Syphilis, 
 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 Masturbation, 
 
 
 11 
 
 0 
 
 11 
 
 Puerperal, 
 
 
 0 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 Domestic difficulties, 
 
 
 0 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 Fright, 
 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Jealousy, 
 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Unknown, 
 
 
 80 
 
 55 
 
 135 
 
 Total, 
 
 
 105 
 
 103 
 
 268 
 
 I report the admission 
 
 of two patients who were not 
 
 insane : one, an idiot boy twelve years of 
 
 age, 
 
 was 
 
 sent by 
 
 the Judge of Probate of the Waterbury district, under a 
 mistaken impresssion that idiocy forms a phase of insanity. 
 As other provision has been made by the State for the recep- 
 tion of this class of unfortunates, and as injury to the insane 
 would result from contact with a class so entirely depressing 
 in its influence, the boy was by your direction discharged 
 unconditionally, although he remained a few weeks in the 
 hospital, waiting for his friends to make other arrangements 
 for him. 
 
 The other case was of a nervous, irritable, quick, good- 
 tempered man, who from eccentric habits and peculiar 
 physique might easily be mistaken for an insane person. 
 After carefully considering the facts of this case, and 
 reporting them to you, he was by your direction discharged, 
 and I learn has since conducted himself in a manner to fully 
 justify your action. 
 
62 
 
 The general health of the patients during the past year has 
 been remarkably good. No deaths have occurred as results 
 of acute or endemic disease, and while epidemics have pre- 
 vailed in the surrounding districts, we may report immunity 
 from all contagious or pestilential affections. This happy 
 result is largely due to a new building, improved methods of 
 ventilation, and an abundant supply of pure spring water. 
 
 Of the fifteen deaths reported during the year, two were 
 from paralysis. One of these received spinal injury several 
 years ago, while working on the dyke at Hartford, since 
 which time he had been steadily declining until death relieved 
 him of pain and suffering. The second was a well-marked 
 case of reflex-paralysis, a class of diseases so ably described 
 by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell of Philadelphia. The loss of motion 
 followed direct inguinal hernia in an excitable German, aged 
 sixty- five. 
 
 Death occurred as the result of general paresis, in three 
 male patients, all of whom had the characteristic symptoms 
 peculiar to this insidious disease. One was the proprietor of 
 a popular inland hotel : his delusions were of an exalted 
 character respecting wealth and position. During the last 
 few weeks preceding death, his imaginary income increased 
 from eight hundred to eight millions of dollars per day, and 
 he would make the most lavish promises to all around him. 
 Another strong hallucination that all of the patients were his 
 sons and daughters, continued to the last. Of two deaths 
 from senile debility, one, aged eighty, was brought to the 
 hospital in a helpless condition, and only survived forty 
 days; the second, aged seventy-one, came covered with foul 
 ulcers ; his delusions were of an exhilarating nature, and up 
 to the time of death, which occurred forty-three days after 
 admission, he was always found by attendants and physicians 
 either singing or whistling. We have to report two deaths 
 from tuberculosis, an unusually small proportion of the num- 
 ber of insane under treatment. 
 
 Epilepsy was the cause of the death of a young man, aged 
 twenty-two. While under treatment the convulsions were 
 
63 
 
 controlled by the steady and persistent use of bromide of 
 potassium. 
 
 Death from exhaustion caused by inanition, occurred in a 
 male patient aged fifty-five years. Before coming to the hos- 
 pital he persistently refused food, and was supported by 
 forced alimentation. I would remark that we have two 
 patients at the present time who have been artificially nour- 
 ished for three months. 
 
 One patient, aged forty-five, was brought to the hospital in 
 an unconscious condition, convulsed tetanically, who survived 
 five days. One death resulted from apoplexy. A post- 
 mortem examination disclosed blood and blood-clots in all 
 the ventricles. I report one death by suicide ; also one death 
 by violence. The facts of this sad case are, that on opening, 
 at the early hour of six o’clock, an associate dormitory in the 
 female department, where five “ quiet dements ” had been 
 sleeping, the attendants found one patient in a dying condi- 
 tion from injuries received at the hands of a room-mate. 
 She died in about five hours afterward. The regular night- 
 watchmen had been his rounds only a half-hour before, and 
 found all quiet, which, with other circumstances, goes to show 
 that the violence could have occurred but a short time previ- 
 ously. A coroner’s inquest was held, and a verdict rendered 
 in accordance with the facts. 
 
 In all hospitals for the insane it is the practice to group 
 patients of certain morbid propensities. It is the result of 
 experience that they exert a salutary check on each other- 
 Since the time that the northern wing was opened on the 
 first of March, the female patients have arrived in large num- 
 bers daily, and it was impracticable to-have immediate knowl- 
 edge of each particular case. The patient who inflicted the in- 
 jury has the appearance of being entirely inoffensive, and is 
 unconscious of having committed the dreadful and fatal 
 deed. 
 
 Up to the present time the means of affording amusements 
 to convalescent patients have been limited, owing to the un- 
 finished and exposed condition of the grounds. We were 
 
64 
 
 able during the summer months to have walking-parties of 
 from five to thirty persons, under the care of attendants, on 
 every pleasant day ; others have engaged in field and garden 
 labors, while some have chosen more exhilarating sports, as 
 base ball, etc. A much-needed want for the recreation of 
 patients during inclement weather was supplied by the liberal 
 contributions of a few gentlemen. There is also a library 
 and reading-room always open to patients, with about three 
 hundred volumes, gifts of benevolent ladies of Middletown, 
 to whom acknowledgments are made on another page. 
 
 Religious services have been held every Sabbath afternoon 
 at three o’clock, much to the advantage, comfort, and benefit 
 of the patients, an unusually large proportion of whom have 
 been present at the services. Acknowledgments are due to 
 the reverend gentlemen of Middletown and surrounding 
 places, who have cheerfully devoted their time to this benevo- 
 lent purpose. 
 
 With the completion of the plastering and flooring of our 
 beautiful chapel, which has just been done through the liber- 
 ality of two of your number, will be inaugurated a series of 
 religious and intellectual entertainments, from which we an- 
 ticipate much benefit. 
 
 Early in the year I availed myself of a rare opportunity to 
 purchase a fine church organ at a greatly reduced price, and 
 have in response to applications made to personal friends, 
 and others who feel a deep interest in this institution, re- 
 ceived about $1,000 of the $1,200 required to pay for the 
 same. Our thanks are due to the following named gentle- 
 men who have contributed to this praiseworthy object: 
 
 George H. Norman, 
 Isaac Anderson, 
 
 Dr. James K. Bates, 
 Addison Hutton, 
 
 Hon. Benjamin Douglas, 
 George Gillum, 
 
 Messrs. Brainard & Co , 
 W. T. Gleason, 
 
 Newport, R. I. 
 New Haven, Conn. 
 Watertown, N. Y. 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 Portland, Conn. 
 
 it u 
 
 U it 
 
65 
 
 H. P. Blair, 
 
 Messrs Hubbard Bros., 
 
 Messrs. Barrows & Hubbard, 
 
 Messrs. Southrnayd & Gardiner, 
 
 O. Vincent Coffin, 
 
 Robert G. Pike, 
 
 W. S. Camp, 
 
 E. F. Sheldon, 
 
 D. W. Camp, 
 
 In addition to this useful gift, the following donations have 
 been received during the year : 
 
 A fine seven-octave piano, forty valuable books and 
 pamphlets, and one hundred dollars to purchase books for 
 the library, from Mrs. S. D. Hubbard ; a complete set of 
 Dickens’ works, Globe edition, and a number of green-house 
 plants from Miss Clarke ; two large engravings from Mrs. 
 Benjamin Douglas ; an exquisitely tinted illumination, 
 together with a number of books, from M. B. Copeland ; a 
 complete set (16 vols.) of the New American Cyclopedia, 
 published by D. Appleton & Co., New York, from H. L. 
 Brainerd, Haddam, general agent for Connecticut; books 
 and plants from Miss Tompkins; two engravings from E. 
 Rockwell; the New York Daily Sun , illustrated magazines, 
 papers and periodicals from C. E. Putnam ; fifty Bibles from 
 the Middletown and Vicinity Bible Society ; plants in pots 
 from Miss Woodward ; valuable specimens for the museum 
 from Geo. Stearns. In addition to the above a large number 
 of interesting books have been received from Miss Fanny 
 Russell, Miss Mary Roberts, Miss Mary J. Edwards, Hon. J. 
 Hotchkiss, R. S. Fellowes, Dr. Woodward, Dr. Casey, Dr. 
 Blake, Wm. S. Camp, and from three other persons, whose 
 names were not obtained. From New Haven, we have two 
 beautiful hanging baskets for the wards, the gift of Mrs. E. 
 C. Reed ; also several valuable framed pictures from R. S. 
 Fellowes, who also, it gives me pleasure to mention, bore the 
 entire expense of plastering the chapel, at a cost of about 
 seven hundred dollars. 
 
 5 
 
 Hartford, Corm. 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 a a 
 
 a a 
 
 a a 
 
 a a 
 
 a a 
 
 a a 
 
 a a 
 
66 
 
 Two valuable Spanish fowls were presented by Samuel 
 Jackson of Portland ; two fine pigs by Dr. Pliny Earl, 
 Superintendent Northampton Lunatic Hospital, and J. H. 
 Tieman of New York has supplied us gratuitously with 
 laundry blue. 
 
 We are under obligations to the newspaper press for the 
 subjoined list of papers received during the year : 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, .... Hartford, Conn. 
 
 “ Evening Post, . . . . “ “ 
 
 “ Weekly Times, .... “ “ 
 
 The Religious Herald, . . . . “ “ 
 
 New Haven Evening Register, . . . New Haven, Conn. 
 
 “ “ Daily Palladium, ... “ “ “ 
 
 Loomis’ Musical Journal, . . . . “ “ “ 
 
 The Constitution, ..... Middletown, “ 
 
 Sentinel and Witness, . . . . “ “ 
 
 Norwich Gazette, ..... Norwich, 
 
 “ Weekly Courier, . . . “ “ 
 
 “ Daily Advertiser, . . . “ 
 
 Norwalk Weekly Gazette, . . . Norwalk, “ 
 
 New London Chronicle, .. . . . New London, “ 
 
 Meriden Daily Republican, . . . Meriden, 
 
 Litchfield Inquirer, .... Litchfield, “ 
 
 Winsted Herald, ..... Winsted, “ 
 
 Tolland County Journal, .... Rockville, 
 
 BUILDING OPERATIONS. 
 
 Standing at this point which is removed from the com- 
 mencement by a period of only two years, we can now report 
 the completion of the hospital, with the exceptions hereafter 
 named, so far as authorized by legislative appropriations 
 
 Referring to the accompanying plan, it will be seen that a 
 center building, two intermediate and two return wings con- 
 stitute the main building ; in the rear are placed the laundry, 
 boiler-house, and shops. In your last report to the General 
 Assembly was given a detailed description of the southern 
 wing. As the northern wings have been finished after the 
 same general plan, with but minor changes in the arrange- 
 ment of rooms and appurtenances, a repetition of the descrip- 
 tion would be superfluous at the present time; it only remains 
 
G7 
 
 for me now to direct your attention to the center building. 
 The dimensions of the center building are sixty feet in width, 
 one hundred and twenty feet in depth, and four stories in 
 height. The first or basement floor traversed the entire 
 length by a hall twelve feet in width, is separated into one 
 large and one small kitchen, one scullery, two dining-rooms, 
 two rooms for housekeeper and assistants, one store-room, 
 and two rooms with closets adjoining for steward’s family. 
 The large kitchen is furnished with a French range thirteen 
 feet in length, a steak-broiler, two eighty and four forty-gal- 
 lon iron kettles, and two twenty-gallon copper-jacketed coffee 
 kettles, all of which were manufactured by Messrs. Bram- 
 hall & Dean of New York. 
 
 The second or principal story, which is only entered from 
 the front, contains on the north a room for the meetings of 
 the board of trustees, a reception room for female patients, 
 an apothecary shop, and apartment for the assistant physi- 
 cian ; on the south the superintendent’s office, clerk’s office, 
 reception room for male patients, and matron’s room. One- 
 half of the third floor is finished as a chapel, which is forty- 
 two feet in width, fifty-eight feet in length, and twenty-two 
 feet in height, with ceilings arched on the four sides. The 
 superintendent’s rooms are also on this floor. 
 
 The fourth or Mansard roof story contains rooms for the 
 domestics, a bath, and four spare rooms. Between this and 
 the roof there is a large attic, which may at some future time 
 be finished for an amusement hall. 
 
 Agreeably to your original plan, four hydraulic washing 
 machines of Hamilton E. Smith’s patent were placed in the 
 laundry, and have been in successful operation, to the entire 
 satisfaction of all concerned. During the month of August 
 your committee contracted for a small trunk engine, and two 
 wrought-iron sectional boilers, manufactured by Messrs. John 
 B. Root & Co., of New York. The distinctive advantages 
 claimed for these boilers are safety from destructive explo- 
 sion, highest economy of fuel, and durability. An experience 
 of five months have fully justified the expectations of your 
 committee respecting these boilers. 
 
68 
 
 In the month of July a contract was entered into with par- 
 ties at Albany, N. Y., to furnish planed and matched white 
 pine boards, with which to form our permanent inclosures. 
 During the time since intervening, this material has been 
 seasoning and is now in fine condition to be used. For this 
 purpose the sum of $2,000 will be needed. Two thousand 
 dollars ($2,000) will be required to finish and furnish the 
 chapel as heretofore described. The sum of two thousand 
 eight hundred dollars ($2,800) will be needed to complete 
 the small porch of the northern wing, and the main porch of 
 the center building. 
 
 In response to your report, the General Assembly promptly 
 voted the sum of $200,000, as follows : $41,000 to pay out- 
 
 standing bills ; $50,000 to cover the amount previously se- 
 cured on trustees’ notes ; $15,000 to purchase furniture, and 
 $94,000 to finish the center building, northern wings, laundry 
 and boiler-house. This large sum has been wholly expended, 
 and we still have outstanding liabilities to the amount of 
 $18,543.28. 
 
 LIST OF CREDITORS. 
 
 Burrows & Hubbard, Middletown. 
 
 New York Laundry Manufacturing Company. 
 
 E. K Bancroft & Co., Philadelphia. 
 
 John B. Root & Co., New York. 
 
 I. L. Mott Iron Works, New York. 
 
 U. S. Spring Bed Company, Springfield. 
 
 Tuttle & Bailey Manufacturing Company, New York. 
 
 Bowditcli & Co., New Haven. 
 
 Mallory, Wheeler & Co., New Haven. 
 
 Morris, Tasker & Co., Philadelphia. 
 
 Charles Douglas, Hartford. 
 
 Burkett & Ives, Hartford. 
 
 Talcott & Post, Hartford. 
 
 II. Woodward, Middletown. 
 
 B. C. Bacon, Middletown. 
 
 H. B. Smith & Co., Westfield, Mass. 
 
 Slialer & Hall Quarry Company, Portland. 
 
 Middlesex “ “ “ 
 
 Brainerd & Co. “ “ “ 
 
 Hubbard Brothers, Middletown. 
 
 H. P. Blair, Hartford. 
 
 Addison Hutton, Philadelphia. 
 
69 
 
 To you, gentlemen, who are familiar with all the details of 
 our last year’s work, I need hardly explain why there should 
 exist any discrepancy between the estimates and the actual 
 results. The estimates were based on the experience of 1867, 
 at which time mechanical labor of all kinds was sixteen per 
 cent, lower than during the past year, as shown by vouchers 
 at this office. This advance, which could not have been fore- 
 told, caused a difference of many thousands of dollars in our 
 building expenses. In the management of the affairs of the 
 institution under your direction, involving the expenditure of 
 so large a sum of money, the superintendent has endeavored 
 to conduct his business so that in all things the interest of 
 the State should be carefully guarded. Believing that the 
 hospital was not started to build up any particular town or 
 district, but rather that the interest of the tax-payers re- 
 quired that purchases should be made on the most advan- 
 tageous terms possible, he has, in nearly all cases, purchased 
 at wholesale, in open market, and in no instance has a dol- 
 lar of the public money been expended when the expenditure 
 was not needed, or for which a full equivalent was not 
 received. 
 
 The disbursements for current expenses and building opera- 
 tions for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1869, amounted to 
 one hundred and ninety-two thousand six hundred and ninety- 
 six dollars and ninety-three cents ($192,696.93). 
 
 Salaries of officers, ...... $4,081.87 
 
 Pay of mechanics and laborers, ..... 62,191.76 
 
 Pay of house employes, ...... 5,284.78 
 
 Stationery, postage, revenue stamps, and blank books, . 449.14 
 
 Furniture and fixtures, . . . ... . 16,426 62 
 
 Fuel and lights, ....... 6,953.92 
 
 Lumber, lime, cement, hair, paints, oil, putty, wood, sash, and 
 
 doors, ........ 27,444.70 
 
 Stone, brick, and sand, ...... 22,333.33 
 
 Slate, lead, sheathing, and putting on roof, tinner’s bill, roof- 
 ing conductors, and putting on, . - . 4,478.88 
 
 Trustees’ expenses (traveling), ..... 156.02 
 
 Superintendent’s board, ...... 324.93 
 
70 
 
 Iron sash, arch plates, work on sasli patterns, shafting, black- 
 smithing, iron beams, lightning rods, roof and stage bolts, 
 piping, etc., ....... $3,451.73 
 
 Shovels, hoes, picks, saws and saw-tables, boring machines, 
 
 locks, screws, registers, soil pans, etc., . . . 2,522.37 
 
 Boiler, steam pump, pipe and fittings, radiator and hair felt, 10,712 49 
 
 Horses, wagons, sleighs, harness, hay and feed, mowing 
 
 machines and rake, manure, etc., .... 1,921.64 
 
 Water- works, . . . . . . 4,632.11 
 
 Architects’ accounts, plans, etc., printing, advertising, insur- 
 ance, etc., ....... 1,909.71 
 
 Bread stuffs, ....... 2,887.67 
 
 Meat, fish, and eggs, . . . . . .2,761.55 
 
 Butter, ........ 2,147 33 
 
 Groceries, ........ 2,391.54 
 
 Clothing, ........ 1,011.70 
 
 Live stock, ....... 1,464.00 
 
 Freight and transportation, ..... 3,465.54 
 
 Drugs and medicines, ...... 369 05 
 
 Undertaker’s bill, ....... 161.75 
 
 Miscellaneous expenses, traveling, telegrams, etc., . . 66180 
 
 $192,696.93 
 
 I would respectfully suggest that the best interests of the 
 State would be promoted by a change of the law, so that the 
 bills of the hospital for town poor be paid in advance, as is the 
 case of indigent and private patients. 
 
 During the past year a small part of the hospital land has 
 been under garden cultivation, producing a considerable quan- 
 tity of vegetables. The greater portion of the farm was 
 leased to the former owners for the sum of $600, while we 
 had not the adequate force or arrangements to till it. With 
 the present large additions to the hospital family, and the 
 necessarily increased demand for milk and vegetables of all 
 kinds, it will now be advisable to cultivate all the land be- 
 longing to the institution. I earnestly recommend the erec- 
 tion of a barn large enough to provide shelter for stock, stor- 
 age for hay, grain, and roots of all kinds used for the diet of 
 our patients. Economy, as well as necessity, require an ad- 
 ditional $8,000 for this purpose. 
 
 Acknowledgments are due to the officers associated with 
 
71 
 
 me in this great public charity for the efficient and faithful 
 manner in which they have performed the duties of their 
 several positions. 
 
 I should also be derelict to duty did I not in closing ex- 
 press my commendation of the valuable services of those who 
 are employed in the immediate care of the insane. As they 
 have to bear with the irritability and often abusive language 
 of the patients, their duties are not only laborious, but pecu- 
 liarly trying, and for this reason they are deserving of far 
 more praise then they generally receive from the public. 
 
 Permit me in conclusion to express my grateful sense of 
 obligation to the members of the board for their oft experi- 
 enced counsels and confidences in these laborious and respon- 
 sible duties. Relying upon their ready assistance in the 
 future, and with unfaltering trust in a Divine Providence, I 
 look forward with hope to the duties of another year. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 A. M. SHEW, Superintendent . 
 Middletown, Conn., March 31, 1869. 
 
72 
 
 TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 The following statement of the fiscal concerns of the General Hospital 
 for the Insane of the State of Connecticut, for the year commencing April 
 1, 1868, and ending March 31, 1869, is respectfully submitted to the board 
 of trustees : 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance in the treasurer’s hands April 1, 1868, . . $282 79 
 
 Amount borrowed on individual notes given by the trustees, 20,000.00 
 Appropriation of the State of Connecticut, . . . 200,000.00 
 
 Interest allowed on the anticipated payment of the $50,000 
 
 notes given by the trustees, .... 207 41 
 
 Revenue account from the hospital, .... 16,777.71 
 
 $287,267.91 
 
 PAYMENTS 
 
 Amount of individual notes given by the trustees, 
 Interest paid on notes given by trustees, 
 
 Amount of superintendent’s orders, 
 
 Balance in the treasurer’s hands, March 81, 1869, 
 
 $50,000.00 
 328.61 
 185,914.99 
 1,029 31 
 
 $237,267.91 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, Treasurer . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., March 31, 1869. 
 
 I hereby certify that I have examined the vouchers and accounts of the 
 treasurer, of which the above is an extract, and found them correct. 
 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, Auditor . 
 
 Middletown, April 28, 1869, 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 
 
 The trustees of the General Hospital for the Insane 
 make to your honorable body the fourth annual report of the 
 institution under their charge. 
 
 The annexed report of the superintendent, with tables of 
 statistical details, presents clearly the history of the hospital 
 for the year ending 31st of March, and the accompanying re- 
 port of the treasurer shows the financial condition of the in- 
 stitution at that date. 
 
 From the report of the superintendent will be seen the 
 pressing need of more rooms to accommodate the insane of 
 this State. 
 
 The extension of the building in two wings, according to 
 original approved plans, which have been presented to the 
 legislature in lithographs in previous reports, and are again 
 copied in this, would furnish the needed room. 
 
 An additional report, with full particulars of cost of such 
 extension, may be brought to your notice during the session. 
 
 The administration of the affairs of the institution, both 
 medical and economical, has been satisfactory. We are 
 gratified to commend the faithfulness and efficiency of those 
 in official positions. 
 
 We are called to record the first breach in our number by 
 death. Wm. B. Casey, M.D., late member of this board for 
 Middlesex county, died in the latter part of March. Dr. 
 Casey was intimately connected with all of the measures of 
 locating, building, and organizing the hospital. His warm 
 interest in the work and useful counsels will long be 
 remembered. 
 
74 
 
 We regret to mention that our associate, Rev. Curtiss T. 
 Woodruff, member for Fairfield county, has removed from 
 the State. Mr. Woodruff has been indefatigable in his duties 
 as trustee, and has faithfully acted from the beginning of the 
 work as secretary of the board. He has been present tit 
 nearly every meeting, inspiring all with his own cheerful 
 energy. 
 
 In order to profit by the lowest prices of the markets in 
 the very considerable purchases required for so large an in- 
 stitution, it is needful to buy with ready cash. To do this, 
 and thus to keep the commercial credit of the State hospital 
 at the highest point, several of the trustees united to provide 
 a cash capital of $25,000, which sum was borrowed on the 
 notes of individuals, members of the board, for the uses of 
 the hospital, from two savings banks in Middletown. The 
 advantage of such a money provision will be evident to all. 
 
 A finance committee, compose of members from Middle- 
 town, meet monthly, or oftener, to order supplies and direct 
 payments of all moneys. 
 
 Your trustees respectfully recommend that a law be passed 
 ordering payments in advance , by the State, for the State’s 
 proportion of the amounts paid for board, etc., of pauper and 
 indigent patients, and also by the towns for their proportions 
 for town paupers. Payment in advance is already required 
 bylaw from friends of indigent patients for their proportions, 
 and also from private patients. It sometimes happens that 
 bills for board at the end of the quarters are not promptly 
 met. When several small sums are thus withheld, the aggre- 
 gate forms an amount which it is inconvenient for a new in- 
 stitution like ours to be kept out of. 
 
 The places on the board made vacant by the decease of the 
 member for Middlesex county, and by the resignation of the 
 member for Fairfield county, need to be filled by the legisla- 
 ture. 
 
75 
 
 The terras of service of the member for New London 
 
 county and of the member for Windham county expire with 
 this year. We respectfully ask that they be re-chosen. 
 
 MARSHALL JEWELL, 
 S. G. WILLARD, 
 
 J. TRACY, 
 
 R. S. FELLOWES, 
 
 Hartford. 
 
 New London County. 
 Windham “ 
 
 New Haven “ 
 
 CURTISS T. WOODRUFF, Fairfield 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, Litchfield 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, Hartford 
 
 L. 3. FULLER, Tolland 
 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, \ 
 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, \ Middletown. 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, ) 
 
 April, 1870. 
 
REPOET OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I have the honor herewith to make to you the annual 
 report of patients admitted and discharged at this hospital, 
 and to present statistical tables, beginning March 31, 1869, 
 and ending April 1, 1870. 
 
 This period embraces the first entire year of systematic 
 classification and treatment of both sexes in the two wings 
 of the institution, and has terminated in a manner to awaken 
 renewed thankfulness and gratitude to Almighty God. The 
 general health of the officers, employes, and patients has been 
 remarkably good ; neither epidemic or endemic disease has 
 affected us, and we can report immunity from any case of 
 suicide or homicide. The number of persons benefited by 
 treatment in the institution has steadily increased ; its use- 
 fulness in the community has perceptibly extended, and by a 
 careful system of economy, the hospital has met its ordinary 
 expenses, leading its officers to believe that the low price of 
 board established by you is one which will not need to be 
 changed for a long time. All the bills of the institution to 
 1st of April have been paid. Its only obligation is to a num- 
 ber of the board of trustees, who joined in providing a certain 
 sum or capital to furnish means for cash purchases. 
 
 At the date of the last report there were remaining two 
 hundred and nine (209) patients, of whom one hundred and 
 seven (107) were males and one hundred and two (102) were 
 females. 
 
 There have been admitted during the twelve months to 
 this date, one hundred and thirty-four (134) patients; seventy- 
 eight (78) males and fifty-six (56) females. 
 
 Of this whole number, three hundred and forty-three (343), 
 
77 
 
 forty-three (43) were discharged recovered, eighteen (18) 
 were discharged much improved, twenty-seven (27) were dis- 
 charged not improved, twenty-one (21) died, and two were 
 found not to be insane, leaving the number in hospital to-day 
 two hundred and thirty-two (232), of whom one hundred and 
 fourteen (114) are males and one hundred and eighteen (118) 
 are females. The daily average during the year is *^25.27. 
 Of the three classes for whom provision is made in the act of 
 incorporation there are at present one hundred and sixty-five 
 (165) pauper patients, fifty-seven (57) indigent patients, 
 and ten (10) private patients. In accordance with the spirit 
 of the law regulating admissions, the superintendent is 
 bound to act impartially in receiving all classes, irrespective 
 of condition, giving always preference to persons in the order 
 of application. This just rule has in a few instances been a 
 source of trial to the officers, and of disappointment, as well 
 as extra expense, to town authorities. 
 
 No one can regret more than the officers of the hospital its 
 inability to receive all from the State who apply to this State 
 institution. The demand for increase of accommodation is 
 daily felt to be a pressing one. On the 31st of March there 
 were sixty-two (62) applications on our files for admission 
 which could not be received from mere want of sleeping-room, 
 and we know of many who would apply if there were a 
 chance of their getting in. We are in the condition of a 
 railroad company in possession of a good track, sufficient 
 locomotives, well-built stations, and some cars,* but not enough 
 to carry all the passengers who apply. As in the case sup- 
 posed, only car-room is needed; so in our case only chamber- 
 room is needed. 
 
 We have, as you know, kitchen accommodations and head- 
 ing and water power enough, and all the organization and 
 auxiliaries for five hundred patients, but room only for a 
 few over two hundred. That I do not overstate the probable 
 number requiring places in your hospital, let me say that by 
 the New York State Commissioner’s report there ought to be 
 in this State one insane person to every four hundred and 
 
78 
 
 fifty of the inhabitants. With a population of six hundred 
 and fifty thousand inhabitants, this estimate would occasion 
 the need of accommodations in the State of Connecticut for 
 over fourteen hundred insane. By the calculations of other 
 States, the number would be thirteen hundred patients. 
 But taking only one thousand as our calculation for the 
 number in this State, we now have room for two hundred 
 and thirty. In the excellent Hartford Retreat, under the 
 superintendency of that able veteran in this specialty, Dr. 
 Butler, there are rooms for one hundred and fifty, leaving 
 more than six hundred unprovided for. How long the pros- 
 perous State of Connecticut will be willing to allow this dis- 
 proportion between the numbers demanding aid of the hospi- 
 tals and the room accommodations provided, the General 
 Assembly will wisely judge. 
 
 Experience shows that treatment in early stages of the 
 disease is attended with success in a majority of cases, while 
 only a small proportion are restored to health and reason 
 when several months are allowed to elapse before the patient 
 receives systematic hospital treatment. Your superintendent 
 has repeatedly been obliged to delay the admission of persons 
 in this early stage of insanity, from one to three months, 
 because the hospital wards were already crowded to their 
 utmost capacity. As is the case with all newly-opened State 
 institutions, this hospital forms no exception in having a 
 large proportion of aged persons, — old chronic cases, who 
 will probably require the care of this or a similar institution 
 during their remaining lifetime. Chronic cases often require 
 the most attention, and when at large are the most annoying 
 to the public. This is especially true of cases of periodical 
 insanity and epileptic mania. 
 
 During the year past a few cases of temporary insanity, 
 resulting from improper use of alcoholic stimulants, have 
 been sent to the hospital by legal authority. These persons 
 are not, in the general acceptation of the term, insane ; but, 
 as they require some form of restraint, for their own good as 
 well as that of their friends and the public, and as the State 
 
79 
 
 lias not made a separate provision for them, the officers of 
 this hospital have felt obliged to admit all such in the regular- 
 order of application. 
 
 Twenty-one deaths occurred during the year. There were 
 in April three (3), in May one (1), in June one (1), in July 
 three (3), in August three (3), in October two (2), in 
 November four (4), in February three (3), and in March 
 one (1). Thus the number of deaths during the year equals 
 6 1-8 per cent, of the whole number under treatment. The 
 disproportion of deaths between the sexes is noticeable, as 
 only three have occurred among the women, the average 
 number of whom in the hospital exceeds that of the men. 
 
 In the cases that have terminated fatally, we observe an 
 undue proportion of deaths soon after admission. The ex- 
 citement of removals, and the fatigue of journeyings, etc., are 
 often prejudicial to insane patients. It is a matter of deep- 
 est importance that discrimination on the part of those who 
 remove patients to the hospital be conscientiously, calmly, and 
 wisely exercised. In deciding when to send, the judgment of 
 a physician should always be obtained by friends and officials. 
 This precaution would often prolong the lives of those whom 
 they seek to benefit. 
 
 During the year one man, aged seventy, was brought to the 
 hospital soon after an apopletic attack, and survived but two 
 days. Another, with the same serious disease, lived only 
 six days. A third, aged thirty-six, exhausted by acute 
 mania, died on the sixth day after admission. Had this case 
 been brought earlier, the probability is that the disease would 
 by treatment have been arrested ; but he should not have been 
 removed at the time he was. Another, aged sixty-nine, hav- 
 ing wearied out the attentions of friends, was brought to 
 live with us only seven days. And another, aged forty-five, 
 sent under legal authority when nearly worn away by acute 
 pain, the result of schirrhus of the pylorus, survived twelve 
 days. The last of this class, aged sixty-seven, exhausted by 
 chronic mania, and confined to his bed from the day of admis- 
 sion, died in two weeks. 
 
80 
 
 I firmly believe that in all of these cases the excitement 
 and fatigue resulting from the journey to the hospital, not 
 only hastened the time of death, but also destroyed whatever 
 hope of recovery there may have been. It seems as though 
 the anxiety of friends and common sense would suggest to 
 thoughtful persons the importance of rest and quietness in 
 such a condition of the disease, and prevent any removals in 
 such crises. 
 
 Of the other fifteen deaths, two were the result of phthisis, 
 two of general paresis, two of exhaustion of chronic mania, 
 and one each of pneumonia, carbuncle, debility, inanition, 
 cerebral effusion, senile decay, and strangulation in an 
 epileptic paroxysm. 
 
 In this connection I ought, perhaps, to state a fact not 
 sufficiently understood, that in the treatment of mental dis- 
 orders little reliance is placed on the action of drugs. The 
 prevailing favorable influence in the treatment of insane per- 
 sons consists in removal from the influences previously 
 surrounding them at home which may been active in causing 
 the disease. Attempts of friends at control tend only to 
 increase the inherent sense of arbitrariness while in the 
 accustomed rooms and home. A powerful maniac, who has 
 been the terror of family and community, will ordinarily 
 quietly submit to the rules of an institution, and be guided 
 and influenced by a kind word from an intelligent attendant 
 who is an entire stranger. The earlier in the disease that 
 this change is made, the greater are the chances of speedy 
 and permanent recovery. The very fact of being a stranger 
 among others having each peculiar delusions and habits, 
 awakens new trains of thought and feelings, which end in a 
 kind of self-examination and self-control with subsequent 
 improvement. I have repeatedly been told by patients who 
 had recovered, that their first consciousness of deviation 
 from a supposed sane condition, was induced by comparisons 
 of themselves with the insane companions in the wards. 
 Apprehensions generally entertained by the inexperienced, 
 that a mild case of derangement would be intensified by con- 
 
81 
 
 tact with a large number similarly affected, is not confirmed 
 in experience. On the contrary, in well-regulated hospitals, 
 where attention is given to the classification of patients, 
 to regularity in exercise, eating, sleeping, and amusements, 
 beneficial changes are often soon recognized by the patients 
 themselves, indicating that restoration to health has begun. 
 
 In these progressive stages of convalescence, too much 
 praise can hardly be awarded to competent attendants, who 
 act the part of friends, directing and encouraging the feeble 
 intellect by kind and gentle acts, even when at first coldly 
 received and perhaps unappreciated for months. It is 
 during this stage that patients need to have their minds 
 diverted and occupied by various amusements, or by light 
 employments, chosen wisely to meet their characters. Our 
 institution as yet is able to offer but few of the recreative 
 amusements or employments possessed by older hospitals. 
 
 In the last report of the “ Pennsylvania Hospital for the 
 Insane,” at Philadelphia, an institution erected and sup- 
 ported by Christian benevolence, without the aid of the 
 commonwealth, mention is made, that “ the pleasure grounds, 
 embracing at the two departments almost one hundred acres 
 of beautifully undulating land, with their fine trees and 
 various improvements, and having nearly four miles of 
 carriage-drives and as much brick or board walks, are 
 invaluable as adjuncts in the proper, managements of an 
 institution for the insane, and scarcely any, no , matter what 
 may have been their mental or physical condition, have ever 
 been here for any length of time without deriving positive 
 benefit from their regular and daily use.” 
 
 In addition to the above outdoor attractions, much has 
 been done by Dr. Kirkbride within the past few years to 
 afford varied evening and indoor entertainments. A large 
 hall, adapted for lectures, concerts and gymnastic exercises, 
 was provided mainly by the managers, at a cost of several 
 thousands of dollars, and is in constant use. A large stock 
 of photographic pictures, engravings, paintings, museum 
 articles, books, and games, with billiard rooms and bowling 
 6 
 
82 
 
 alleys, are the improved methods and appliances used in 
 restoring to health this unfortunate class of afflicted hu- 
 manity. Other hospitals than the one mentioned are now 
 adopting these useful accessories to medical treatment. 
 
 We are encouraged with the progress made during the 
 past twelve months in our own building and grounds. The 
 number of books has much increased and the engravings, 
 photographs, and lithographs which enliven our halls, speak 
 of the friendly interest of generous citizens of this and other 
 cities of this State. Beautiful plants, a fern-case and three 
 aquaria attract patients, as they enter halls which are per- 
 haps to be occupied by them as their homes for months. A 
 few games of harmless nature are provided, and the billiard- 
 room invites those who are sufficiently restored to under- 
 stand and enjoy the play. One evening each week is devoted 
 to music and social enjoyments, participated in by patients 
 and attendants under the direction of the officers. During 
 the winter, some friends, amateur performers, kindly fur- 
 nished several vocal and instrumental concerts. Our ac- 
 knowledgments for these are formally made in another 
 place. 
 
 On the evening of the 24th December, our beautiful chapel 
 was decorated tastefully. The exercises, at which were 
 present more than two hundred of our patients, consisted in 
 the reading of poetry, music, and in the distribution of 
 presents from a Christmas-tree which had been prepared for 
 the occasion. A more extended programme of lectures, con- 
 certs, and amusements has been prepared for the coming 
 year, and it is hoped that our means for a liberal increase in 
 this direction may increase from year to year. 
 
 Satisfactory progress in completing a variety of unfinished 
 work, which, owing to want of funds, remained over from 
 the previous year, has been made. At the head of this list 
 in the order of importance, stands the chapel. This room, 
 forty-four feet in width, fifty-seven feet in length, and 
 twenty-two feet in height, was finished and furnished with 
 the necessary furniture and fixtures, and it is all that could 
 
83 
 
 be desired as an audience room. Before its completion, 
 weekly religious services were held in one of the halls occu- 
 pied by patients ; but since, the chapel has been regularly used 
 on the Sabbath, to the advantage and comfort of our patients. 
 Acknowledgments are gratefully and sincerely due to the 
 reverend gentlemen of Middletown and vicinity, who have 
 cheerfully and regularly conducted the services during the 
 year. 
 
 In my last report your attention was directed to the im- 
 portance of making provision for the protection of our stock 
 and preservation of the farm products. Economy and 
 necessity combined to require an additional appropriation 
 for this purpose of eight thousand dollars, which was 
 promptly voted by the last General Assembly. In August 
 last, plans and specifications were procured, and contracts 
 entered into with responsible parties to furnish timber and 
 other building materials, and the building begun with pros- 
 pect of early completion, but an unavoidable delay of six 
 weeks was caused by the severe storm in October, which, it 
 will be remembered, occasioned much damage and an unpre- 
 cedented flood through the Connecticut valley. Owing to 
 this unexpected casualty, the contractor was hindered in the 
 work until late in the autumn. By employing a large gang 
 of men, with his personal supervision, he completed the barn 
 in a satisfactory manner during January. 
 
 The barn is situated on a slope two thousand feet in the 
 rear of the hospital, and has a sub-cellar for pigs and manure, 
 a commodious, well sheltered, and ventilated cellar (three 
 sides above ground) to accommodate about forty cows, and a 
 superstructure of wood fifty-six feet in width, ninety feet in 
 length, and twenty-three feet in height, for the storage of 
 hay, grain, and farming implements. 
 
 Owing to the exposed condition of our grounds surround- 
 ing the hospital, much annoyance has been experienced ; but 
 an early completion of the permanent inclosures, which were 
 commenced and nearly finished during the last season, will 
 obviate this and secure to patients the desired seclu- 
 
84 
 
 sion. With this needed protection we expect to allow all of 
 our patients the freedom of the grounds much of the time 
 during the pleasant months of the year. 
 
 Ample space for exercise is afforded to the most excitable 
 patients, in two large yards which have been inclosed in 
 connection with the lower halls. 
 
 In the month of August a contract was made for the com- 
 pletion of the main porch of the center building and of the 
 small porch of the north wing. 
 
 Our farmer, Mr. Clinton B. Weatherbee, has had under 
 cultivation the larger part of the hospital farm, which, with 
 the pastures and meadows, has produced a total of products 
 valued at five thousand dollars, and of which a list is 
 appended : 
 
 Hay, 
 
 88 tons. 
 
 Lettuce, 
 
 
 Corn fodder (say), 
 
 10 “ 
 
 
 Beets, green, 
 
 18 bushels. 
 
 Corn, 
 
 300 bushels. 
 
 Melons, 
 
 500 lbs. 
 
 Potatoes, 
 
 1,450 
 
 ( c 
 
 Winter squash, 
 
 3 tons. 
 
 Carrots, 
 
 125 
 
 c t 
 
 Pumpkins, 
 
 4 “ 
 
 Beets, 
 
 36 
 
 < t 
 
 Radishes, 
 
 200 bunches. 
 
 Onions, 
 
 13 
 
 a 
 
 Cabbage, 
 
 252 heads. 
 
 Turnips, 
 
 300 
 
 (t 
 
 Peaches, 
 
 1 bushel. 
 
 Parsnips, 
 
 15 
 
 ( c 
 
 Pears, 
 
 7 “ 
 
 Beans, white, 
 
 n 
 
 tt 
 
 Apples, 
 
 21 “ 
 
 “ string, 
 
 26 
 
 t < 
 
 Celery, 
 
 1,000 lbs. 
 
 “ pole, 
 
 28 
 
 it 
 
 Yeal, 
 
 120 “ 
 
 Peas, 
 
 18 
 
 tc 
 
 Pork, 
 
 4,434 “ 
 
 Sweet corn, 
 
 188 
 
 1 1 
 
 Eggs, 
 
 657 doz. 
 
 Cucumbers, 
 
 26 
 
 tt 
 
 Chickens, 
 
 325 lbs. 
 
 Tomatoes, 
 
 42 
 
 tt 
 
 Milk (grass made), 
 
 11,648 quarts. 
 
 Summer squash, 
 
 100 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 Mr. Weatherbee reports the weight of the hogs butchered, as follows : 
 279, 500, 312, 300, 300, 406, 360, 311, 341, 305, 250, 270, 601; total, 4,434 
 pounds. 
 
 Aside from the actual cash value of these products, oppor- 
 tunity for labor has been afforded to some of our patients, and 
 has been of substantial benefit to a number of convalescents 
 who have found healthful employment during the summer 
 months. I mention particularly the instance of a nervous, 
 excitable monomaniac, who chafed under the usual restraints 
 
85 
 
 of hospital life, but was comparatively quiet, contented, and 
 happy when allowed the freedom of the farm. 
 
 This is one of the practical and incidental benefits of farm 
 work in hygienic treatment. It is doubted whether the labor 
 of the insane can be made pecuniarily profitable. Experi- 
 ence thus far shows that a small proportion only of the entire 
 number are physically strong enough to endure continuous 
 manual labor. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 
 
 We are under renewed obligations to the newspaper press 
 for the subjoined list of papers received during the year : 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, 
 
 “ “ Post, .... 
 
 “ Weekly Times, 
 
 The Religious Herald, 
 
 Conn. General Advertiser, . 
 
 New Haven Evening Register, . 
 
 Morning Journal & Courier, 
 Weekly Palladium, 
 
 Loomis’s Musical Journal, 
 Watson’s Art Journal, 
 
 The Constitution, .... 
 Sentinel and Witness, .... 
 Norwich Daily Advertiser, . 
 
 “ Weekly Courier, . 
 
 Norwalk Weekly Gazette, . 
 
 Meriden Daily Republican, 
 
 Tolland County Journal, 
 
 The Winsted Herald, .... 
 The Spirit of Missions, 
 
 Forney’s Weekly Press, 
 
 Litchfield Inquirer, .... 
 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 
 New Haven, Conn. 
 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 ( c ii 
 
 Norwich, “ 
 
 1 1 a 
 
 Norwalk, “ 
 
 Meriden, “ 
 
 Rockville, “ 
 
 Winsted, “ 
 
 New York, N. Y. 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 Litchfield, Conn. 
 
 If those having the control of newspapers in our State 
 could see how eagerly these daily and weekly visitors are 
 looked for, and how much they do to promote the comfort 
 and welfare of our patients, it would not be necessary for 
 me to appeal for their assistance. 
 
 It is a source of gratification to the superintendent to 
 report an increasing disposition on the part of the public to 
 manifest their interest in this benevolent work, by contribu- 
 
86 
 
 tions of various kinds for the wants of the patients. During 
 the year we have received many tokens of this kind : seventy- 
 five dollars to purchase books for the library from u a lady 
 friend ” ; a beautiful rustic stand and basket of plants from 
 Mr. Wm. E. Hubbert; four trees from Prof. Johnston ; plants 
 and flowers from Miss Tompkins; also from Miss Payne; 
 five dollars and a steel engraving in gilt frame entitled, u Old 
 Age,” from Mrs. Samuel C. Hubbard ; a fine large engraving 
 from Mr. W. W. Wilcox; three large engravings from Mr. 
 R. L. de Zerig; one hundred lithographs from that untiring 
 friend of the insane, Miss Dix; twelve exquisitely tinted 
 chromos from Mr. Addison Hutton of Philadelphia, Pa. ; a 
 complete set of croquet from Mr. Samuel C. Hubbard ; a 
 barrel of apples and twelve quarts of whortleberries from 
 Mr. William S. Camp; one black walnut writing-desk from 
 Mr. E. F. Sheldon ; one large aquarium from Mr. Benjamin 
 Douglas; agricultural reports from T. S. Gold, Esq., Secre- 
 tary of the State Board of Agriculture; fifty Bibles from the 
 Middletown and vicinity Bible Society; fifty prayer books 
 from the New York Bible and Prayer Book Society, through 
 the Rev. Mr. Thorne, many valuable reports and medical 
 works from Dr. John R. Lea of Hartford; religious papers 
 from Mr. J. J. Whitney of Winsted. 
 
 In addition to the above, a large number of interesting 
 books, papers, magazines, and games have been received 
 from Miss Mary Roberts, Miss Russell, Prof. D. C. Gilman, 
 Mrs. Fellows, Mr. A. M. Smith, and Mr. Birge; from Mr. C. 
 E. Putnam, the New York Daily Sun, illustrated maga- 
 zines, papers, and periodicals. 
 
 We are indebted to Mr. Samuel C. Hubbard, and to a 
 number of ladies of Middletown, for the strawberry festival 
 enjoyed by our patients on the afternoon of July 3d ; to the 
 Wesleyan University Glee Club for a delightful vocal concert; 
 and to Mr. Parsons and friends of New Britain for a pleas- 
 ant evening entertainment. 
 
 The institution is also under deep obligations to the resi- 
 dent officers for their continued and efficient services during 
 
87 
 
 another year. Without their zealous co-operation the super- 
 intendent would be unable to properly execute your philan- 
 thropic designs. 
 
 The attendants and other employes whose duties are at all 
 times laborious and peculiarly trying, deserve special men- 
 tion, and it gives me pleasure to speak thus favorably of 
 nearly all who have been with us during the year. 
 
 In behalf of those who are incapable of expressing their 
 obligation to your board for the continued interest you have 
 manifested in their welfare, I acknowledge their indebted- 
 ness, while I thank you for the support which you have given 
 the superintendent and other officers in administering the 
 affairs of this noble charity. A. M. SHEW, 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., March 31st, 1870. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 
 
 The trustees of the general hospital for the insane would 
 respectfully present to your honorable body their fifth annual 
 report. 
 
 During the year past, by the divine blessing, the institu- 
 tion under their care has been quietly, steadily, and very 
 successfully performing the work for which it is chartered. 
 
 The report of the superintendent, giving careful and 
 minute statements of the interior affairs of the hospital, is 
 herewith submitted. 
 
 High praise is due to him and to his assistants for their 
 kind, skillful, and conscientious performance of the laborious, 
 difficult, and very responsible duties of their offices. They 
 have succeeded admirably in carry out the design of making 
 this, in every respect, a first-class institution. 
 
 The report of the treasurer to the trustees is also appended. 
 It shows the finances of the hospital to be in good condition. 
 The income has been sufficient to meet the current expenses. 
 
 The trustees have met quarterly and by committee much 
 oftener. A portion of the resident trustees have made 
 monthly visits to the hospital to examine its finances, inspect 
 the premises, and consult with the superintendent for its 
 general interests. 
 
 The abundant produce of the farm, which has been well 
 cared for, lias added largely to the health and comfort of 
 the patients. 
 
 A high board fence, much needed to protect the grounds 
 near the hospital from intrusion, as also the patients from 
 strolling visitors and idlers, has been in part constructed. Its 
 completion has been delayed by the strenuous opposition of 
 certain interested persons, who have thus far prevented the 
 
89 
 
 fulfillment of the pledge, which was made to the trustees 
 before they located the buildings and secured by vote of the 
 town of Middletown, by which a street little used and run- 
 ning across the hospital property between the main buildings 
 and the barn was closed. Much inconvenience and trouble 
 have resulted. 
 
 In the last annual report it was said, u In order to profit by 
 the lowest prices of the markets in the very considerable 
 purchases required for so large an institution it is needful to 
 buy with ready cash. To do this, and thus to keep the com- 
 mercial credit of the State hospital at the highest point, 
 several of the trustees united to provide a cash capital of 
 $25,000 ; which sum was borrowed on the notes of individ- 
 uals, members of the board, for the uses of the hospital, 
 from two savings banks in Middletown. The advantage of 
 such a money provision will be evident to all. 
 
 By authority conferred by the legislature of 1870 the 
 trustees have sold, for thirty- five hundred dollars, to the 
 Valley Railroad Company and to the town, of Middletown, 
 the right of way through the part of the hospital farm bor- 
 dering on the river ; five hundred of which were appropriated 
 to build fences thereby made necessary, and three thousand 
 towards paying the twenty-five thousand borrowed last year. 
 
 The number of patients constantly in the hospital crowd 
 it to its utmost. There are now registered seventy-four 
 applications for admission, in behalf of persons needing the 
 benefit of its treatment, some of whom, though in a suffering 
 condition, must wait their turn till the eyes of their friends 
 are weary with watching, and their hearts are sick through 
 hope deferred. Patients who should have found at 
 once a place here, because there was no room for them have 
 been carried out of the State to Northampton and Brattle- 
 boro, until those institutions can receive no more. In some 
 other cases the cost of securing proper care elsewhere has 
 been consuming the substance of the fatherless. 
 
 Numerous painful facts, which have come to the knowledge 
 of the trustees, confirm the propriety of humane action of 
 
90 
 
 the several legislatures, which since 1805 have legislated for 
 the benefit of the citizens of Connecticut who might suffer 
 the ills of a mind diseased. 
 
 They acted with a wise regard to economy in founding and 
 fostering this institution, since early attention secured the 
 restoration to health of a large number of insane persons, 
 who would become incurables if neglected. But there is 
 pressing and sorrowful necessity that the building should be 
 enlarged according to the original plan, at the earliest prac- 
 ticable day. 
 
 The experience of the past thirty years affords reasonable 
 ground for the belief that the number of persons in the 
 State needing treatment for insanity, for a long time to 
 come, will increase year by year. That number is already 
 so great that the hospital, if enlarged by two wings, would 
 have none too much room for their accommodation. 
 
 In order to do all that was possible, with present means, 
 for the poor, for whom at most there is sufficient room, during 
 the year, in receiving applicants, patients of that class have 
 had the preference. This condition of things is a hardship 
 to persons of moderate means, who need the benefits of 
 hospital treatment, but are neither paupers nor indigent. 
 
 The remedy is in the hands of the legislature. The prop- 
 erty-holders of the State have cheerfully paid for an institu- 
 tion of great utility and value ; but it is yet incomplete and 
 there is not enough room for all the town and State patients. 
 Most of those, who have been taxed to build it, if they 
 needed, could not have its care for themselves or their 
 children. 
 
 The trustees believe that prompt measures should be 
 taken to remedy this evil, by adding the present year to the 
 hospital the two wings contemplated in the original plan as 
 shown in the engraving accompanying this report. Insanity 
 is no respecter of persons. No man can be certain that dis- 
 ease or accident will not at a future day render him, or some 
 one very dear to him, dependent for restoration to soundness 
 of mind upon the best counsel that science can furnish, com- 
 
91 
 
 billed with facilities for wise care, which only a hospital of 
 the best kind can supply. Some severe suffering has been 
 endured the past winter which could have been escaped, 
 could the sufferers have found shelter in the Hospital. Nor 
 is there cause to believe that less pain and misery will be 
 borne by the insane in years to come, than in the past, until 
 the State shall make suitable provision for their wants. 
 
 The trustees are encouraged to believe there is a growing 
 conviction among intelligent people in Connecticut, and else- 
 where, that the pecuniary interests of the State, as well as 
 humanity and true charity, unite in demanding that the best 
 possible provision be made, at public expense, for the care 
 and recovery of all who are afflicted with insanity. The 
 danger to property and life from insane persons unrestrained, 
 the wretchedness which comes to those who are improperly 
 or unskillfully restrained in poorhouses, or in private build- 
 ings, and the increased probability that what would other- 
 wise be a transient disease will, by improper treatment, be a 
 life-long malady, are powerful arguments for a liberal and 
 enlightened policy. 
 
 “ The Association of Medical Superintendents of American 
 Institutions for the Insane,” during its annual session held 
 at Hartford, in June last, by invitation visited the Hospital. 
 
 An editorial report of the visit in the Oourant * used this 
 language : “We need only say that the visitors, who are the 
 best judges of such a thing in the country, expressed them- 
 selves as extremely well pleased with it [the Hospital]. 
 Some of the most eminent of them, whose indorsement is 
 the highest sanction, said privately that they knew of no 
 other institution in the country where the objects sought in 
 such an institution had been better obtained. They said that 
 the construction showed great forethought and knowledge of 
 all the requisites, and a most judicious expenditure of money. 
 We may not improperly quote Dr. Ray as of this opinion. 
 
 “ Dr. Kirkbride thought the institution exceedingly cred- 
 itable to the State, and remarked that it was evident the 
 
92 
 
 money had been well and carefully expended. The splendid 
 situation was much admired.” 
 
 The trustees are unanimous in the opinion that no hos- 
 pital of equal excellence and capacity to accommodate 
 patients has been erected since the war for less money. 
 Thus far it has only cost about seventy-five cents on an aver- 
 age to each inhabitant of the State. 
 
 When it is remembered that there is more than one 
 religious society in the State, not of great wealth, which has 
 within a few years erected for itself a house of worship cost- 
 ing from one-fourth to one-third as much as the State has 
 paid for the Hospital ; and that a single school district in 
 Hartford has expended for its schoolhouse half as much ; 
 and that single manufacturing companies have erected mills 
 and furnished them with machinery, at a much greater cost ; 
 it is evident that the expense for this institution, in which 
 above half a million of people have an interest, has not bur- 
 dened them. 
 
 The law requires that the price of board shall be kept at 
 its cost to the institution. Cash purchases very considerably 
 lessen the cost of provisions. But if towns delay payment 
 when bills are due, and the State only pays at the end of the 
 quarter, the difficulty of buying for cash is increased. 
 
 The trustees would recommend that the law be amended 
 so that the State bills be paid monthly, instead of quarterly, 
 as at present. 
 
 The gentleman elected last year to fill a vacancy in the 
 Board of Trustees from Fairfield County, finding himself 
 unable to attend to the duties of the office, has tendered his 
 resignation. 
 
 The official term of the members of the Board from New 
 Haven and Middlesex Counties expires this year. The ser- 
 vices of the present members have been so valuable to the 
 
93 
 
 Hospital and to the State that we would respectfully ask their 
 reappointment. 
 
 JAMES E. ENGLISH, New Haven. 
 
 R. S. FELLOWES, New Haven County. 
 
 HENRY WOODWARD, Middlesex 
 
 , Fairfield “ 
 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, Litchfield 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, Hartford 
 L. S. FULLER, Tolland “ 
 
 S. G. WILLARD, New London “ 
 
 J. D. BATES, Windham “ 
 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, \ 
 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, [ Middletown. 
 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, ) 
 
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Gentlemen : — The closing of another year of Hospital 
 history brings with it the duty of presenting a summary 
 of the events of the twelve months to the 1st of April, 1871. 
 The blessing of God has been over us during this period, and 
 I am permitted to report general good health for the year 
 among officers, employes, and patients. No unusual sickness 
 has invaded our household, and we have been exempt from 
 those accidents not uncommon to institutions filled with per- 
 sons in all the various stages of insanity. 
 
 A fair proportion of those committed to our care have been 
 restored to health, while much has been done to ameliorate 
 the condition of that larger proportion of chronic cases now 
 occupying the wards. 
 
 A want of system in tabulating hospital details and results 
 made difficult the comparison of the reports of the various 
 institutions of this country ; hence the Association of Super- 
 intendents of American Institutions for the Insane, at their 
 annual meeting at Hartford in June last, recommended a 
 form for presenting statistical tables, which form will be fol- 
 lowed in this report. 
 
 At the date of the last report there were remaining two 
 hundred and thirty-two (232) patients, of whom one hundred 
 and fourteen (114) were males and one hundred and eighteen 
 (118) were females. 
 
 During the twelve months since there have been admitted 
 forty-nine (49) males and twenty-six (26) females, seventy- 
 five in all — making the number under treatment for the 
 year three hundred and seven (307), one hundred and sixty- 
 three (163) males and one hundred and forty-four (144) 
 females; — of these were discharged: 
 
95 
 
 Recovered , twenty (20) , 
 Improved , sixteen (16), 
 Unimproved , ten (10), 
 
 Died , twenty -one (21), 
 
 fourteen (14) males and six (6) females 
 
 eleven (11) 
 five (5) 
 eleven (11) 
 
 and five (5) “ 
 
 and five (5) “ 
 
 and ten (10) “ 
 
 Inebriates , three (3), 
 
 Remaining at this date one hundred and nineteen (119) 
 males and one hundred and eighteen (118) females, two 
 hundred and thirty-seven (237) in all. The daily average 
 during the year is 283.69. 
 
 Of the three classes for whom provision is made in the Act 
 of Incorporation, there are at present one hundred and sev- 
 enty-five (176) pauper patients, fifty-eight (58) indigent pa- 
 tients, and four (4) private patients. 
 
 This simple statement of the proportions of these three 
 classes (which varies very little from the statement of last 
 year) is a complete confutation of the unjust assertions 
 which were made in the General Assembly, viz., that the 
 present buildings were adequate to accommodate all the in- 
 sane poor, if rich and paying patients were excluded. With- 
 out attempting to discuss the question which is suggested re- 
 specting the injustice of excluding from public institutions 
 erected at the public expense persons who are able to main- 
 tain themselves, I desire simply to report that of the ten self- 
 supporting patients of last year, two have since become pau- 
 pers, two have recovered, one was removed to another 
 institution, and one died, leaving the four private patients 
 mentioned above. 
 
 The law of the State regulating admissions requires the 
 superintendent to receive applications, without regard to 
 their relation to classes, in the order of their application ; 
 but he has steadily during the past year endeavored to dis- 
 suade the friends of all who had means of their own from 
 making application for admission to our over-crowded wards. 
 
 At this date there are seventy-four (74) applications be- 
 yond our capacity. The officers are informed, too, of many 
 who would apply if there was a prospect of an immediate 
 reception. We are doing all we can to meet the wishes of 
 friends and officers of towns to accommodate those for whom 
 
96 
 
 they apply. The number of applications has sometimes 
 exceeded 100 beyond our ability to receive. 
 
 A serious consequence of the present policy pursued by the 
 State in affording accommodations only to a limited number 
 of its insane, will be a gradual but steady increase of' the 
 number of chronic cases, and it is easy to calculate that in a 
 few years it will cost more money to support the chronic in- 
 sane than it would no to finish this building in accordance 
 with the original design, and thus be able to receive promptly 
 all cases in the early stages of the disease, when they are 
 more readily cured and more likely to be soon returned to 
 their vocations and families. 
 
 Of recent cases admitted to the Hospital since 'its opening 
 three years ago, eighty-eight have been restored to health 
 after an average stay of fifteen weeks and two days. Thus 
 eighty-eight recent cases cost the State and towns only 
 $6,724.96, and are now a part of the producing population 
 of their several communities ; while the first eighty-eight 
 chronic cases have already been here an average of 151 
 weeks each and cost the State and towns $57,640.00, and yet 
 remain non-producers, to be an expense probably during their 
 lives. 
 
 In a population as large as that of Connecticut, experience 
 shows that about 250 new or acute cases of insanity will an- 
 nually occur, the majority from the laboring and active 
 classes of life. These, to be rightly dealt with, in view of 
 their cure and restoration to their several kinds of profitable 
 labor, need hospital accommodations at once. It is so well 
 known as to be almost needless to repeat that insane patients 
 cannot be, advantageously to themselves or community, 
 treated in almshouses or at their own homes. 
 
 In view of the number of insane already existing in the 
 State, and of the annual increase to be expected, is it econ- 
 omy or humanity to further delay such increase of accommo- 
 dations as shall enable all to receive medical and experienced 
 treatment, and thus be restored, after a few months, to their 
 full duties to society ? 
 
97 
 
 It seems a hard case to the officers of such towns as have 
 not heretofore had occasion to send a patient to the hospital 
 to have their first application refused simply for want of 
 room when they know that other towns have for three years 
 availed themselves of its means of protection and treatment 
 for their cases. Connecticut has one hundred and sixty-four 
 (161) towns; one patient from each would nearly fill the 
 hospital. Some of the larger towns have 12, 15, and 20, or 
 even more patients already here. 
 
 The present policy, if pursued, will ultimately circum- 
 scribe if not wholly defeat the very object intended in the 
 creation of a State hospital. If we were to make immediate 
 room for the recent cases which apply it would involve the 
 necessity of returning to the several almshouses all the 
 chronic cases ; but would your officers be justified in doing 
 so, or would the State sanction such a retrograde movement ? 
 Would not legislators wisely say, “it is far better to double 
 the present capacity of this hospital by carrying out the 
 original plan of the building ” ? 
 
 As a belief seems to be entertained in some sections of the 
 State that exceeding liberal provision has already been made 
 for the Connecticut insane, I take occasion to make a few ex- 
 tracts from reports, and give a few facts from other States. 
 
 From the report of the directors and superintendent of the 
 West Virginia Hospital for the Insane for 1867 : 
 
 “ Massachusetts, with five large hospitals within her 
 borders, is providing a sixth ; New York, with five large pub- 
 lic and some excellent private hospitals, has just resolved to 
 erect two more that will each cost nearly, if not quite, a mil- 
 lion of dollars. New Jersey, small, but brave in duty, with 
 one of the best hospitals in the world, lias just resolved to 
 provide for all its insane, and is enlarging at an expected cost 
 of from two to three hundred thousand dollars. Pennsylva- 
 nia, with five hospitals of large size and some smaller ones, 
 is enlarging its western hospital and building a new one at 
 Danville. Maryland, with two excellent hospitals, is now 
 building two more that, when finished, will cost together over 
 7 
 
98 
 
 half a million of dollars, one of them being from private 
 munificence entirely. Ohio, with five excellent hospitals 
 (one devoted to the , colored insane), has just resolved to en- 
 large two of them to more than double their present capacity, 
 and also to erect a sixth equal to any of the others, the cost 
 of which is estimated at from one-half to three-fourths of a 
 million of dollars. Kentucky has two and means 6 to pro- 
 vide for every insane person within her limits.’ ” 
 
 Since 1867 nearly all of the above plans have been con- 
 summated, and others, not then contemplated, have been 
 formed and buildings begun and in process of completion. 
 
 A report presented to the fourth annual meeting of the 
 Rhode Island Hospital concludes as follows : 
 
 ‘•It is objected by some that hospitals are expensive. Of 
 this we are aware ; but are not streets and bridges very ex- 
 pensive ? Are not our private residences, our churches, and 
 other edifices very expensive ? The practical question is not 
 whether a hospital costs a large sum of money, but whether 
 it is worth what it costs, whether the money is judiciously 
 expended. No great institutions dispensing their blessings 
 from generation to generation can be established without 
 costing money. But what nobler use for money than to es- 
 tablish them ? How trifling, ignoble, and evanescent are the 
 objects of many of our expenditures compared with the 
 founding of a great institution for the relief of the suffering, 
 for the healing of the sick, and for the exemplification of a 
 true Christian benevolence for centuries to come ? ” 
 
 From the West Virginia Hospital Report before referred 
 to, I copy a tabular statement of several hospitals for the in- 
 sane, with cost of buildings, etc., remarking only that all 
 these were built before the late war and consequent advent 
 of high prices, and it would be a moderate estimate now to 
 add fifty per cent, to the prices then ruling : 
 
99 
 
 NAME, &c. 
 
 Capacity. 
 
 Cost. 
 
 Cost for 
 Patient. 
 
 New York State Asylum, Utica, 
 
 440 
 
 $517,400 
 
 $1,185 
 
 Maryland Hospital, Baltimore 
 
 130 
 
 213,600 
 
 1,443 
 
 McLean Asylum, Somerville, Mass.,. . . . 
 
 200 
 
 321,000 
 
 1,605 
 
 Penn. Hosp. for Insane, Philadelphia,. . 
 New “ “ “ “ 
 
 240 
 
 330,000 
 
 1,377 
 
 250 
 
 325,000 
 
 1,300 
 
 New Jersey Asylum, Trenton, 
 
 250 
 
 250,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 Maine Hospital for Insane,. 
 
 175 
 
 150,700 
 
 861 
 
 Mt. Hope institution, Baltimore, 
 
 120 
 
 200,000 
 
 1,666 
 
 Butler Hospital, Providence, R. I., 
 
 110 
 
 116,000 
 
 828 
 
 Lunatic Asjlum, Taunton, Mass., 
 
 250 
 
 210,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 Michigan Hospital, Kalamazoo, 
 
 288 
 
 340,000 
 
 1,180 
 
 Northampton Hospital, Mass , 
 
 250 
 
 335,000 
 
 1,340 
 
 Iowa State Hospital, Mt. Pleasant, 
 
 250 
 
 359,666 
 
 1,440 
 
 Average cost per capita before the war, 
 “ “ “ “ with 50 per cent, 
 
 added for increased prices, since the 
 war 
 
 
 
 1,248 
 
 1,872 
 
 
 
 
 Multiply the above average, $1,872, by 200, the number of 
 patients which the present buildings are intended to accom- 
 modate (although now occupied by 287 patients), and the re- 
 sulting figures are $374,400, so that thus far the cost of our 
 hospital has been within the average. But one important 
 fact should be kept in view, viz.: that all of the out-buildings, 
 consisting of bakery, laundry, sewing department, boiler- 
 house, shops, and barn, have been constructed with the view 
 to provide for from 400 to 500 instead of 200 patients ; hence 
 future extensions will be required simply to accommodate 
 patients. 
 
 Proposals from responsible builders were placed in your 
 hands last year offering to erect one or two wings similar to 
 those already completed and occupied for the sum of $75,000 
 each. Adding this amount of $150,000 to the cost of the 
 buildings, $375,000, the total will be $525,000, which will 
 provide accommodations for from 400 to 500 patients at a 
 cost of less than $1,250 each, which we have already found 
 to have been the expense of similar building previous to the 
 war. With this addition to our present capacity your hos- 
 pital could accommodate the chronic insane and also open 
 its doors promptly to all recent cases. 
 
100 
 
 Daring the year 31 patients from this State have been 
 treated at Northampton, Mass., and 30 at Brattleboro, Yt. 
 By this generous action on the part of sister States much 
 suffering has been alleviated and some recent cases cured 
 that might otherwise have become chronic. But we can no 
 longer hope to meet the wants of the State in this direction. 
 Your superintendent was officially notified in February that 
 the hospitals of Massachusetts could receive no more patients 
 from out of the Commonwealth. A similar announcement 
 comes to us from Vermont. 
 
 General Results . 
 
 Twenty-one ("21) deaths occurred during the year. There 
 were in April two (2), in May two (2), in June one (1), in 
 July one (1), in August one (1), in September five (5), in 
 October one (1), in November three (3), in December two 
 (2), in February one (1), and in March two (2). The num- 
 ber of deaths equals 6.84 per cent, of the whole number 
 under treatment. The respective ages were 49, 80, 45, 88, 
 49, 37, 24, 28, 70, 39, 70, 36, 36, 29, 45, 35, 55, 68, 41, 67 ; 
 thus the average age would be 49.55 years. The proportion 
 of deaths between the sexes is about equal, eleven (11) hav- 
 ing occurred among one hundred and sixty-three (163) male 
 patients and ten (10) among one hundred and forty-four 
 (144) female patients. Nearly all of these cases were 
 chronic, the disease having existed in one for more than 
 forty years. 
 
 During the year a valuable use of a comparatively new 
 remedy, the hydrate of chloral, has been made in the treat- 
 ment of some forms of insanity. 
 
 Having administered it to as many as one hundred persons 
 of both sexes, of various ages and constitutional tendencies, 
 we have no hesitation in saying, 1st, that it is the most sure 
 and powerful of all the sleep-producing remedies known to 
 the profession ; 2d, that it has little if any other influence 
 than that just mentioned ; 3d, that it is better suited to the 
 excited than the depressed forms of insanity ; 4th, that the 
 
101 
 
 dose may vary from fifteen (15) to sixty (60) grains; 5th, 
 that a watery solution loses strength on exposure to light 
 even when placed in a ground-glass stoppered bottle. Sleep 
 induced by an ordinary dose of chloral seemes to be natural 
 and refreshing. The patient is easily aroused, but usually 
 speaks of being cold. If continued for several weeks a slight 
 inflammation of the eyelids manifests itself, and in one case 
 of violent chronic mania where doses of sixty grains had 
 been given as often as three times a day for several months 
 the bowels became slightly irritable. We have found it 
 specially useful in early stages of acute mania. 
 
 Some physicians assert that sleep induced by this agent is 
 unnatural and useless, and that it does not shorten the 
 attack. My experience has not been sufficient to answer the 
 objection, but reasoning a priori I cannot but believe that 
 even a few hours sleep repeated day after day must in the 
 end benefit patients. This remedy is valuable in the treat- 
 ment of that class of chronic cases found in every hospital 
 for insane, who seem to be oppressed with sleepiness during 
 the day, but toward night become wakeful and irritable, 
 talking and singing boisterously. In one remarkable case of 
 this kind we had the satisfaction of rapid and complete 
 recovery soon after the use of chloral. 
 
 Special Pathologist. 
 
 In my last report I suggested the importance of the 
 appointment of a special pathologist whose duty would be to 
 make thorough scientific autopsies in important cases. The 
 time of the resident medical officers is so occupied by regular 
 and often perplexing daily duties in a large institution, that 
 they have not sufficient leisure to thoroughly examine and 
 analyze the morbid results of insidious and doubtful cases of 
 mental derangement. 
 
 Recognizing the importance of such examinations, you 
 promptly and unanimously appointed to this office Dr. E. 
 C. Seguin of New York, who brings to the work energy and 
 ability, as well as the experience of several months as an 
 
102 
 
 assistant to the distinguished Brown-S£quard. Some of the 
 results of the investigations by Dr. Seguin are herewith 
 reported. 
 
 Outdoor Improvements. 
 
 As fully as we could, we have continued the improvements 
 on the grounds, fences/and buildings. The summer of 1870 
 was unusually dry and afforded a rare opportunity for sub- 
 soil drainage. The labor of several convalescent patients, 
 under the direction of an attendant, laid about 4,000 feet of 
 Boynton’s best drain-tile, which is now carrying off from the 
 grounds a continuous two-inch stream of water. 
 
 Considerable work has also been done by them in grading 
 and sodding the grounds adjoining the south wing; also in 
 constructing a macadamized road to the barn buildings. 
 Capacious root-cellars, storing 4,000 bushels of vegetables, 
 have also been made, and about 90 rods of permanent fence 
 corresponding with that previously erected. By continuing 
 these improvements from year to year, we hope by and by 
 to have graded and laid out in a picturesque manner the 
 grounds surrounding the hospital, without calling upon the 
 State for an appropriation for this purpose. 
 
 Farm. 
 
 Under the judicious management of Mr. Clinton B. 
 Weatherbee, portions of our farm, hitherto unused, have 
 been brought under cultivation, increasing the receipts from 
 this source nearly two thousand ($2,000) dollars as com- 
 pared with those of former years. When it is remembered 
 that the drouth of last year probably lessened the production 
 of farm and garden crops by a third, this statement will be a 
 satisfactory one. Much remains to be done before our land 
 will be under the state of cultivation we aim for. Several of 
 the fields need ditching and under-draining ; bushes and 
 stones aie to be removed and fences reset. In these improve- 
 ments we intend to use, as far as is wise, the labor of conva- 
 lescents, thus doing them good, while a substantial benefit 
 enures to the hospital. Most insane persons are disinclined 
 
103 
 
 to manual labor, or owing to their mental and physical con- 
 dition cannot apply themselves to it. A few, however, are 
 peculiarly devoted to some chosen occupation, while others 
 are useful in aiding the sane in the performance of the 
 various kinds of work about a large institution. To all such 
 the judicious bestowal of special privileges and favors as a 
 reward therefor tends to encourage them in the right direc- 
 tion ; but the primary object of the labor of the insane should 
 be their own improvement, mental and physical. 
 
 FARM PRODUCTS. 
 
 Hay, 
 
 Corn Fodder (dry), 
 
 Corn, 
 
 Oats, 
 
 Rye, 
 
 Broom Seed, 
 
 Potatoes, . 
 
 Carrots, 
 
 Beets, 
 
 Onions, 
 
 Turnips, 
 
 Parsnips, . 
 
 Beans (white), 
 
 Beans (string), 
 
 Beans (pole), 
 
 Peas (green), 
 
 Sweet Corn, 
 
 Cucumbers, 
 
 Tomatoes, . 
 
 Summer Squash, . 
 
 Winter Squash, 
 
 Lettuce, 
 
 Beet Greens, 
 
 Radishes, . 
 
 Peppers, . . ^ 
 
 Pie-plant, . 
 
 Melons, 
 
 Broom Brush, 
 
 Beef, 
 
 Yeal, 
 
 Pork, 
 
 Calves (sold), 
 
 Pigs (sold), 
 
 77 tons, 
 
 $1,925.00 
 
 18 “ 
 
 90.00 
 
 400 bush., 
 
 400.00 
 
 125 “ 
 
 81.25 
 
 200 “ 
 
 200.00 
 
 40 “ 
 
 13.20 
 
 1,020 “ 
 
 1,020.00 
 
 80 “ 
 
 48.00 
 
 50 “ 
 
 45 00 
 
 60 “ 
 
 120 00 
 
 27 “ 
 
 13.50 
 
 15 “ 
 
 7.50 
 
 6 “ 
 
 18.00 
 
 27 “ 
 
 54.00 
 
 19 “ 
 
 38.00 
 
 26 “ 
 
 52.00 
 
 164 “ 
 
 164.00 
 
 17* “ 
 
 25.00 
 
 37 “ 
 
 55.50 
 
 45* “ 
 
 67.50 
 
 4 tons, 
 
 220.00 
 
 4 bush., 
 
 8.00 
 
 21 “ 
 
 21.00 
 
 a* “ 
 
 5.00 
 
 3 “ 
 
 6.00 
 
 460 lbs., 
 
 16.10 
 
 915 “ 
 
 13.72 
 
 550 “ 
 
 66.00 
 
 420 “ 
 
 50.40 
 
 100 “ 
 
 12.00 
 
 6,257 “ 
 
 750.84 
 
 
 93.64 
 
 
 326.00 
 
104 
 
 Rent of Pasture, 
 Cabbages, . 
 Apples, 
 
 Cider, 
 
 Milk (grass fed), 
 Wood, 
 
 Straw, 
 
 Celery, 
 
 Total value, 
 
 4,500 
 32 bbls., 
 34 “ 
 
 12,320 qts., 
 
 6 cords, 
 15 tons, 
 
 The weight of the hogs butchered is as follows: — 
 895, 405, 432, 314, 297, 312, 417, 325, 385, 427, 398, 437. 
 
 $64.40 
 
 225.00 
 80 00 
 
 102.00 
 985.60 
 
 30.00 
 
 375.00 
 
 75.00 
 
 $7,963.15 
 
 411, 427, 405, 470, 
 Total, 6,257 lbs. 
 
 Financial Condition . 
 
 Referring to the steward’s detailed statement which is 
 herewith submitted, it will be seen that the hospital received 
 from all sources (including cash on hand and balance with 
 treasurer at the beginning of the year) the sum of $62,139.16, 
 and that the total expenditures for the support of the insti- 
 tution during the same period amounted to $61,028.90, leav- 
 ing a balance in our favor of $1,110.26. 
 
 Your superintendent is fully convinced that the regular 
 hospital revenue will be sufficient to meet all the wants 
 of the institution so long as provisions and other necessary 
 articles remain at present prices. 
 
 I find in the last annual report of the Minnesota Hospital 
 for the Insane the following table of expenses of several hos- 
 pitals, showing the weekly cost in each and the average 
 in all. 
 
 Pennsylvania Hospital for Insane, Pliila., .... $8.68 
 
 Government Hospital, Washington, D. C., . . . . 7.88 
 
 Northern Ohio, Newburg, O., . . . . .7.17 
 
 Nashville Hospital, Tenn., ...... 6.40 
 
 Longview, Hamilton County, O., . . . . 5.98 
 
 Illinois Hospital, Jacksonville, ..... 5.87 
 
 Southern Ohio, Dayton, O., . . . . . . 5.61 
 
 New York State Asylum, Utica, . . . . .5.53 
 
 West Virginia Hospital, Weston, . . . . 5 42 
 
 Central Ohio, Columbus, . . . . . .4.80 
 
 Northampton Hospital, Mass., ..... 4.78 
 
 Dixmont Hospital, Pittsburg, . . . . 4 57 
 
105 
 
 Wisconsin Hospital, Madison, ..... $4.48 
 
 Pennsylvania State Hospital, Harrisburg, .... 4.38 
 
 Staunton Asylum, Virginia, . . . . • .4.30 
 
 Eastern Kentucky, Lexington, . . . . .4.13 
 
 Average weekly cost, ...... $5.65 
 
 Acknowledgments . 
 
 We have received the following newspapers and magazines 
 during the year, for which we are under renewed obligations. 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, . 
 
 
 . Hartford, Conn. 
 
 “ Evening Post, . 
 
 
 i i i i 
 
 “ Weekly Times, . 
 
 
 ii i i 
 
 The Religious Herald, 
 
 
 a a 
 
 Conn. General Advertiser, 
 
 
 a a 
 
 New Haven Evening Register, . 
 
 
 . New Haven, “ 
 
 “ “ Morning Journal and Courier, 
 
 f t a ct 
 
 “ “ Weekly Palladium, . 
 
 
 ft 1 1 it 
 
 Loomis’ Musical Journal, 
 
 
 it tt a 
 
 The Constitution, . 
 
 
 . Middletown, “ 
 
 Sentinel and Witness, 
 
 
 “ “ 
 
 Norwich Daily Advertiser, 
 
 
 . Norwich, 
 
 “ Weekly Courier, 
 
 
 ii ii 
 
 Norwalk Weekly Gazette, 
 
 
 . Norwalk, “ 
 
 The Bridgeport Republican and Standard, 
 
 . Bridgeport, “ 
 
 Meriden Daily Republican, 
 
 
 . Meriden, 
 
 Westport Advertiser, 
 
 
 . Westport, “ 
 
 Windham County Transcript, 
 
 
 * 
 
 Litchfield Inquirer, 
 
 
 . Litchfield, 
 
 Forney’s Weekly Press, . 
 
 
 . Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 New York Semi- weekly Times, . 
 
 
 . New York City. 
 
 Watson’s Art Journal, 
 
 
 “ “ “ 
 
 Illustrated Christian Weekly, 
 
 
 n a <t 
 
 American Messenger, 
 
 
 . American Tract Society. 
 
 Moore’s Musical Record, . 
 
 
 . Manchester, N. H. 
 
 The Galaxy, 
 
 
 . New York. 
 
 The Hearth and Home, 
 
 
 a ' a 
 
 The Atlantic, 
 
 
 . Boston, Mass. 
 
 Godey’s Lady’s Book, 
 
 
 . Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 The many contributions of various kinds received during 
 the year indicate an increasing disposition on the part of the 
 public to interest themselves in this benevolent work : 
 
 From Hon. Robbins Battell one hundred and fifty dollars, 
 
106 
 
 “to be used as most needed for the amusement and enter- 
 tainment of patients ” ; fifteen dollars from “ a lady friend,” 
 to purchase trees ; plants, flowers, and flower stands from 
 Mrs. Benjamin Douglas ; a large basket of grapes from Mrs. 
 Henry G. Hubbard ; also from "Rev. Mr. Thorne a basket of 
 pears and packages of papers; several books from Mrs. 
 Samuel C. Hubbard, Miss Russell, and M. B. Copeland ; a 
 parlor croquet board from Miss Fellowes ; a complete file of 
 the London Illustrated News for the year 1870 from Mrs. 
 Fellowes ; Circular No. 4, 1870, from the Surgeon-General 
 U. S. Army ; valuable public documents from Hon. S. W. 
 Kellogg, M.C. ; several fine steel plate engravings from J. W. 
 Bradley, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa. ; regular files of California 
 papers from William Shew, Esq., of San Francisco ; illus- 
 trated papers and magazines and the New York Daily Sun 
 from Mr. C. E. Putnam. 
 
 In addition to the above, a fund has been contributed re- 
 cently, by sixty individuals each donating five dollars, to 
 which we hope to add enough to purchase a large stereopti- 
 con with suitable slides, and several hundred books for our 
 library. 
 
 We are indebted to a number of ladies and gentlemen 
 in Middletown and to Mr. Parsons and friends of New 
 Britain for two delightful musical entertainments ; also to 
 Prof. Hibbard for one of his inimitable readings, which was 
 universally enjoyed by our patients. 
 
 To the several clergymen of this vicinity who have kindly 
 conducted our chapel services throughout the year, we owe a 
 peculiar debt, not in our power to cancel. The most that I 
 can do, I do cheerfully, and that is to make this public ac- 
 knowledgment of their services. 
 
 I cannot close this imperfect report of the past year with- 
 out once more expressing the deep obligation I am under to 
 those who are associated with me in this arduous work, for 
 their continued and efficient services. 
 
 No changes have occurred among the officers, and but few 
 among the attendants and other employed persons. I am 
 
107 
 
 sometimes surprised at this when I remember what a labori- 
 ous and peculiarly trying life is allotted to all those who 
 devote themselves to the care of the insane. It is in your 
 power, gentlemen, to lighten these burdens in the future as 
 you have done in the past by your constant support and en- 
 couragement, manifested by frequent visits to the institution 
 and the personal interest you take in the welfare of those 
 who are committed to its care. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ABRAM MARVIN SHEW, 
 
 Superintendent. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., March 31, 1871. 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 The following statement of the fiscal concerns of “ The General Hospi- 
 tal for the Insane, of the State of Connecticut/’ for the year commenc- 
 ing April 1, 1870, and ending March 31, 1871, is respectfully submitted to 
 the Board of Trustees: 
 
 Receipts. 
 
 Balance in the Treasurer’s hands, April 1, 1870, . . $2,851.35 
 
 Revenue account from the Hospital, .... 61,419 65 
 
 Amount received from Connecticut Valley Railroad Company, 3,500 00 
 
 $67,771.00 
 
 Payments. 
 
 Amount of Superintendent’s orders, .... $63,883.15 
 Amount paid on notes, signed by members of the Board, . 3,000.00 
 
 Balance in the Treasurer’s hands, March 31, 1871, . . 887.85 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, 
 
 $67,771.00 
 
 Treasurer. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., March 31, 1871. 
 
 We hereby certify, that we have examined the vouchers and accounts 
 of the Treasurer, of which the above is an abstract, and find them correct. 
 
 BENJ. DOUGLAS, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 
 Auditors. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., April 15, 1871. 
 
 J. D. Atherton, Steward, in account with The General Hospital for 
 Insane. 
 
 1870. Dr. 
 
 April 1st, To balance in bank, . . . . . $9.69 
 
 “ To cash on hand, ..... 209.82 
 
 1871. 
 
 March 31st, To cash received as revenue (deposited with 
 
 Treasurer), ..... 61,419.65 
 
 To cash from Valley Railroad Company, for 
 
 fencing purposes, .... 500.00 
 
 $62,139.16 
 
109 
 
 1870. Cr. 
 April, By vouchers, 
 
 May, 
 
 June, “ 
 
 July, 
 
 August, “ 
 
 September, “ 
 
 October, “ 
 
 November, “ 
 
 December, “ 
 
 1871. 
 
 January, “ 
 
 February, “ 
 
 March, “ 
 
 . $4,780.44 
 
 4.679.23 
 
 4.963.61 
 5,984.73 
 4,955.06 
 4,566.31 
 5,839.48 
 
 5.684.62 
 4,850.53 
 
 6.700.23 
 
 4.883.63 
 3,141.03 
 
 887.85 
 
 222.41 
 
 Balance in bank, 
 Cash on hand, 
 
 $62,139.16 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable , the General Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut : 
 
 The Trustees of the “ General Hospital for the Insane of 
 the State of Connecticut,” in presenting their sixth annual 
 report, ending 31st March last, acknowledge, with gratitude 
 to God, the good which has been effected in the institution, 
 its freedom from marked and contagious diseases, and the 
 very small percentage of deaths within its walls, during the 
 year past. 
 
 They refer with satisfaction to the able reports of. the super- 
 intendent and others, submitting herewith, in which receipts, 
 disbursements, products of farm, statistics, etc., are fully set 
 forth. 
 
 It will be seen from Dr. Shew’s statements, with what 
 pleasure he hails the completion of the women’s wing, already 
 begun under a special committee of the State, and expected 
 to be ready for occupation by the 1st of January, 1873, — and 
 how earnestly he pleads for an appropriation for the men’s 
 wing, in order that the evils of the present overcrowded con- 
 dition of the building, and of too long delay in receiving 
 patients, may be remedied by increased accommodations. 
 
 The remarks of the superintendent in relation to insane 
 convicts, to the placing them in same wards with those in- 
 nocent of crime, and to making provision for separate accom- 
 modation for them, deserve serious attention. 
 
 It is known to many members of the legislature that a town 
 road has existed just to the east of the hospital buildings, 
 dividing the property belonging to the State. The town of 
 Middletown, equally with the trustees and officers of the hos- 
 pital, united in an opinion of the benefit which would enure 
 from closing said road, and bringing the grounds adjoining 
 the institution within one enclosure. 
 
Ill 
 
 To effect this amicably, and set aside any local opposition, 
 it was needful to acquire control of about fourteen acres of 
 land, and three dwelling-houses thereon. Shortly before the 
 close of the session of 1871, negotiations for the purchase 
 were brought to a point, and the tract of land which had 
 been the cause of preventing the junction of the two parts of 
 the Hospital grounds, came into the possession of the trus- 
 tees. Consultation with certain leading members of the 
 legislature and officers of the State, to whom the matter had 
 been explained, confirmed the action of the trustees, and they 
 vere assured that an early appropriation would be recom- 
 mended, with winch to cancel the notes of hand given indi- 
 vidually by members of the board, upon which notes was 
 borrowed the money to buy this land for the State. But in 
 the press of legislative business, at the winding up of the ses- 
 sion, the providing of the means was unfortunately omitted. 
 
 The trustees respectfully ask an early appropriation of 
 seventeen thousand five hundred dollars and the interest 
 on the notes given by the individual members of the board. 
 
 The town of Middletown has voted to close this road, and 
 has for the convenience of the public, opened another road 
 west of the hospital. 
 
 The houses purchased have been altered, and a partial trial 
 of the “ Cottage System ” lias been made, comments on which 
 will be found in the superintendent’s report. It does not 
 appear to be as economical a system as the “ Congregate,” 
 nor as acceptable generally to the patients. 
 
 The special committee on the affairs of the hospital, ap- 
 pointed in 1870, made their printed report to the General 
 Assembly of 1871, and among favorable notices, approved 
 warmly of the wisdom, and even “ generosity ” of individuals 
 of the board, who had, on their private credit, provided 
 twenty-five thousand dollars, as a working capital for the 
 business department of the institution, with which cash pur- 
 chases could be made of supplies, etc., absolutely needed by 
 the Hospital. That committee reported in favor of an ap- 
 propriation with which to retire the individual notes given 
 for the benefit of the State of Connecticut. That appropria- 
 
112 
 
 tion was not made — those notes yet remain in the possession 
 of two savings banks in the city of Middletown. The trustees 
 respectfully ask that the retiring of these notes may be made 
 early practicable by a prompt vote of the money by your hon- 
 orable body. The benefit of such a ready-cash capital, afford- 
 ing means to purchase at cash rates, secure discounts on 
 supplies, and preserve a high financial credit for the institu- 
 tion, will be apparent to every member of the legislature. 
 Every cent thus saved and gained has been saved and gained 
 for the State — yet it has been done by individual respon- 
 sibility. 
 
 The trustees are well satisfied with the interior working of 
 the hospital, and feel in their hearts to commend highly the 
 officers and employes, by whose agencies the work is done. 
 
 It is hoped that the legislature, as a body, or by their Com- 
 mittee on Humane Institutions, in their fostering oversight 
 of this great organ of the humanity and charity of the State, 
 will, at an early day of the session, visit the hospital and so 
 be prepared by personal knowledge to do what shall, in their 
 good judgment, be for the best interests of the State in this 
 direction. 
 
 In the regular order, the terms of service of two members 
 of the board expire each year — the places of those from 
 Fairfield and Litchfield counties are to be filled. 
 
 Very respectfully submitted, 
 Marshall Jewell, 
 Robbins Battell, 
 Samuel Lynes, M.D., 
 H. Sidney Hayden, 
 Lucius S. Fuller, 
 Samuel G. Willard, 
 Joseph D. Bates, 
 Richard S. Fellowes, 
 Henry Woodward, 
 Benjamin Douglas, 
 Julius Hotchkiss, 
 Joseph Cummings, 
 
 Hartford. 
 
 Norfolk. 
 
 Norwalk. 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Tolland. 
 
 Colchester. 
 
 Danielsonville. 
 
 New Haven. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
"REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Gentlemen: With the close of another year it becomes 
 my duty to submit the sixth annual report of the General 
 Hospital for the Insane of the State of Connecticut. 
 
 The tables herewith presented are carefully drawn from 
 our permanent records, and will show the result of the last 
 year’s labors, as well as a statistical history of the institution 
 from its opening in April, 1868. 
 
 To those who by frequent visits have been informed of the 
 general condition of the institution, it may seem needless to 
 recapitulate details which have attended the usual professional 
 and other labor here performed. 
 
 It should be remembered, however, that the annual report 
 of a public institution ought to furnish to the public a sum- 
 mary of such facts as are of interest to every citizen in the 
 commonwealth ; and that these facts, so familiar with us, 
 will, in the general distribution, reach a large number of 
 readers who are not conversant with the character and aims 
 of an institution for the insane. 
 
 Results already attained during the brief history of this 
 hospital furnish direct evidence of its usefulness. Applica- 
 tions for admission constantly increase, and are already far 
 beyond the capacity of the present structure. 
 
 To meet these demands I appeal to you for an enlarged 
 building, increased accommodations, and the continuance of 
 your hitherto hearty and generous encouragement. 
 
 On the 31st of March, 1871, there were in the institution 
 two hundred and thirty-seven (237) patients, of whom one 
 hundred and nineteen (119) were males and one hundred and 
 eighteen (118) were females. During the last twelve months 
 there have been admitted fifty-six (56) males and thirty-six 
 
 8 
 
114 
 
 (36) females, ninety-two (92) in all, making the number under 
 treatment for the year three hundred and twenty-nine (329), 
 one hundred and seventy-five (175) males and one hundred 
 and fifty-four (154) females. Of these were discharged : 
 
 Recovered , seventeen (17), eleven (11) males, six (6) females. 
 
 Improved, eleven (11), seven (7) “ four (4) “ 
 
 Unimproved , twenty-four (24), fourteen (14) *' ten (10) “ 
 
 Died , fifteen (15), nine (9) “ six (6) “ 
 
 Remaining at this date one hundred and thirty-four (134) 
 males and one hundred and twenty-eight (128) females, two 
 hundred and sixty-two (262) in all. The daily average dur- 
 ing the year is 242.64. No other testimony is needed to 
 prove the wise forethought of those who, only six years ago, 
 were most urgent in their efforts to establish a general hos- 
 pital for the insane of Connecticut. 
 
 It will be noticed that ninety-two (92) patients were 
 admitted, thus making the total number of persons under 
 treatment greatly in excess of any previous year. The appli- 
 cations for the same period were 178. 
 
 The painful fact of these numerous applications, however, 
 does not afford an exact criterion of the increasing demands 
 for such an institution. 
 
 The selectmen of towns and probate judges, knowing that 
 the house is overcrowded, have made application only for 
 such persons as were unmanageable at home; your officers 
 are informed of many who would apply if there were a pros- 
 pect of immediate or early reception. 
 
 The act of incorporation provides for the admission of 
 three classes of patients, viz. : the town poor, the indigent, 
 and private or self-supporting patients. By subsequent reso- 
 lution of the General Assembly, the officers of this hospital 
 were directed to receive and hold such insane convicts as 
 might, by due process of law, be transferred from the State 
 Prison at Wethersfield. 
 
 Of these four classes there are at present one hundred and 
 eighty -four (184) pauper patients, seventy (70) indigent 
 patients, two (2) private patients, and six (6) insane 
 convicts. 
 
115 
 
 This simple statement bears evidence to the fact that the 
 people of Connecticut desire to protect first the afflicted poor, 
 and then those who are alfie to bear a part or the whole of 
 the expense of their support. But is it generally known that 
 the policy adopted in 1866 to provide for the insane of Con- 
 necticut has been only partially carried out ? Do the people 
 of this commonwealth understand that, while accommodations 
 have been provided for about two hundred and fifty patients, 
 there are at least as many more cases knocking at our doors 
 for admission ? I am sure that the urgent appeals, the pitiful 
 stories of suffering and danger daily brought to the notice of 
 your superintendent, if heard in the legislative halls, would 
 move to pity the hardest hearts. 
 
 At the last session of the General Assembly an appropria- 
 tion was made for the erection of another wing, for the 
 accommodation of one hundred and twenty-five female 
 patients. Work on it is vigorously prosecuted, and it is 
 expected the building will be opened on or before January 1, 
 1878. With this large addition to the present building, 
 rooms will be provided for all female patients without previ- 
 ous application. I trust the need will be apparent to the 
 General Assembly to provide the amount to erect a corres- 
 ponding wing on the south side, for the reception of male 
 patients, to carry out the plan of the hospital. The building 
 would then have ample accommodations to meet the demands 
 of the State for the next few years. 
 
 It is perhaps not generally known that the present policy 
 of the State is to receive patients in the regular order of appli- 
 cation, which mode virtually excludes, at the time of greatest 
 need, acute cases — requiring imperatively immediate hospi- 
 tal care — from the benefits of prompt, systematic treatment. 
 
 By referring to table No. xxvn, it will be seen that there 
 are at this date two hundred and forty-two (242) chronic 
 cases in our wards (our inheritance of old almshouse treat- 
 ment), and only twenty (20) whose restoration to health may 
 be hopefully anticipated. 
 
 By studying table No. xiv, you perceive that of five hundred 
 
116 
 
 and sixty-nine (569) patients admitted since the institution 
 was opened, three hundred and forty-eight (348) were brought 
 to us after the disease had existed more than one year, and 
 two hundred and ninety-two (292) of these more than two 
 years. Under these circumstances our tables cannot show 
 a large percentage of recoveries. The hospital is doing its 
 allotted work none the less usefully by providing for the 
 chronic insane, a majority of whom are troublesome and 
 dangerous to the community when at large. 
 
 It is undoubtedly true that the State has already provided 
 ample accommodations for nearly all of this class, — facts in 
 our possession showing that only a few deranged persons 
 remain in the almshouses.* 
 
 Every consideration, then, of sound policy, true economy, 
 and wise philanthropy would seem to require that the com- 
 paratively small additional appropriation needed to finish the 
 hospital should be made to relieve the sufferings of those 
 remaining in the almshouses, as well as to promptly provide 
 for the admission of recent cases, as they constantly occur. 
 
 The following words from my last annual report are none 
 the less true to-day, and hence will bear repetition : 
 
 U A serious consequence of the present policy pursued by 
 the State in affording accommodations only to a limited num- 
 bers of its insane will be a gradual but steady increase of the 
 number of chronic cases, and it is easy to calculate that in a 
 few years it will cost more money to support the chronic 
 insane than it would now to finish this building in accordance 
 with the original design, and thus be able to receive promptly 
 all cases in the early stages of the disease, when they are 
 more readily cured, and more likely to be soon returned to 
 their vocations and families.” 
 
 “ In a population as large as that of Connecticut experience 
 shows that about 250 new or acute cases of insanity will 
 annually occur, the majority from the laboring and active 
 
 * While writing this I have received an application from New Haven 
 for accommodations for “ over twenty insane persons ” “now in the alms- 
 house,” and for “ several more ” “ at institutions out of the State.” 
 
117 
 
 classes of life. These, to be rightly dealt with, in view of 
 their cure and restoration to their several kinds of profitable 
 labor, need hospital accommodations at once. It is so well 
 known as to be almost needless to repeat, that insane patients 
 cannot be, advantageously to themselves or the community, 
 treated in almshouses or at their own homes.” 
 
 During the past few years the question of the proper care 
 and treatment of insane criminals has attracted the earnest 
 attention of philanthropists and thoughtful people of all lands 
 interested in the improvement of prisons. 
 
 Recognizing the fact that prison walls, close cells, and 
 constant confinement are not compatible wdth the welfare of 
 deranged persons, the legislature of the State of New York, 
 in 1858, made an appropriation for the erection at Auburn 
 of an asylum for insane convicts. The building is commodi- 
 ous, well planned, and organized as other state institutions, 
 and to it are sent insane convicts and persons charged with 
 crime where insanity is suspected. 
 
 Some other States with smaller population have amended 
 their statutes so as to authorize the governor, after being 
 satisfied of the insanity of convicts, to send them to state 
 hospitals. In 1869 the committee on prisons of the general 
 assembly of this State reported the astounding fact that there 
 were several insane convicts at Wethersfield, closely confined 
 in damp cells, without suitable provision for comfort or 
 treatment. 
 
 Acting upon this information, the following resolution was 
 promptly adopted : 
 
 Resolved by this Assembly : That the trustees of the General 
 Hospital for the Insane of the State of Connecticut are hereby 
 required and directed to make suitable provision for the 
 reception of said insane convicts into the institution under 
 their care and direction.” 
 
 The two additional resolutions specify the manner in 
 which the spirit of this resolution shall be carried out. 
 
 In compliance with the provisions of this act, eight prison- 
 ers have been sent to us from Wethersfield, one of whom 
 
118 
 
 died, and one eloped, leaving six the present number of this 
 class in the hospital. 
 
 Without attempting to discuss the question as to the justice 
 or injustice of placing criminal insane in contact and hourly 
 association with innocent persons, I would suggest a plan by 
 which ample justice may be done to both classes without 
 subjecting the institution to ungenerous criticism. 
 
 An appropriation of five thousand ($5,000) dollars would 
 enable you to reconstruct and furnish a stone building situated 
 in the rear of the hospital, which has heretofore been used 
 for shop purposes. This building was erected with the 
 ulterior view of being used for some such purpose; it is of 
 stone, 27x52 feet, two stories in height with a Mansard roof. 
 It could be arranged to accommodate twelve patienls of this 
 class, securing for them humane hospital treatment while 
 separated from the larger body of innocent persons occupying 
 our wards. 
 
 When friends and relatives of patients come to visit them, 
 the first remark often made is, U I hope my brother is not in 
 a ward with criminals” A negative reply can generally be 
 given, but occasionally, I am obliged to confess that the per- 
 son referred to is not only the companion, but also, in our 
 crowded building, the room-mate of criminals. 
 
 The good people of Connecticut, ever ready to respond to 
 the calls of the suffering, have decided to provide humanely 
 for these poor creatures ; but I cannot believe that they wish 
 to have the present unsatisfactory arrangement perpetuated 
 for want of the expenditure of so small a sum, which would 
 remove all objections. 
 
 During the past four months we have had an opportunity 
 of making a partial trial of the u Cottage System.” Two 
 dwelling-houses situated a few rods south of the main build- 
 ing, on the land recently purchased for the hospital, were 
 refitted and furnished in a plain manner for the occupation 
 of fourteen (14) male and sixteen (16) female patients, 
 selected from the class of quiet chronic cases. The build- 
 ings are simple wooden structures, heated by coal stoves and 
 
119 
 
 lighted by common oil lamps. Every precaution possible has 
 been taken, and yet they are liable to be burned at any 
 moment. The only means of ventilating these houses is by 
 opening windows and doors. 
 
 The plan was not adopted from choice ; it was resorted to 
 as a temporary measure to provide immediate accommoda- 
 tions for thirty poor insane persons until the permanent wings 
 of the hospital could be erected. 
 
 Sufficient time has elapsed to convince me that under more 
 favorable circumstances, the “ Cottage System” can be made 
 to play an important part in connection with a regularly or- 
 ganized hospital. There is a certain air of social comfort, 
 more like the ordinary home life, pervading these cottages, 
 than can be found in the wards of a hospital. I have already 
 witnessed a favorable change in the conduct and disposition 
 of one noisy, troublesome, chronic patient since her removal 
 to the cottage for females, leading us to entertain the hope 
 that she will eventually recover. But, on the other hand, I 
 find that very few of these u would be willing long to ex- 
 change the activities and the social good cheer of the larger 
 numbers for the monotony and dullness of the isolated cot- 
 tage.” The system, I believe, can be applied only to a limited 
 number. A few cottages substantially constructed of brick 
 or stone, situated sufficiently near the main building to be 
 properly heated by steam and lighted by gas from the com- 
 mon center, would be a desirable addition to our present 
 methods of caring for the insane. With this arrangement 
 the superintendent would, from day to day , transfer to the 
 cottages such patients as he found in condition to require 
 fewer restraints upon their personal liberty. 
 
 WATER SUPPLY. 
 
 The supply of water for a hospital should be pure, abund- 
 ant at all seasons, and of the proper chemical composition to 
 adapt it to the various uses of a public institution. In this 
 respect your location possesses superior advantages. Perhaps 
 a brief description of the reservoir and connecting pipes will 
 aid those who are locating similar institutions. 
 
120 
 
 At a distance of one and a half miles from the building, is 
 an interesting geological range of hills, known as the “ White 
 Rocks.” These hills are nearly destitute of soil and vegeta- 
 tion, but thousands of springs bubble forth from crevices in 
 the rock, unite and form streams of considerable size, which 
 pass into the Connecticut River through a number of ravines. 
 On one of these streams, known as “ Trout Brook ” or u But- 
 ler’s Creek,” a reservoir covering about two acres, was formed 
 by making a substantial dam across the ravine. This dam 
 or embankment is one hundred and fifty (150) feet in length, 
 fifteen (15) feet in width across the top, with a slant each 
 way of eighteen (18) inches to every twelve (12) inches per- 
 pendicular. The inner slope is covered with broken stone ; 
 the top is four feet above high water mark. A large waste 
 canal, cut in the rocks on one side of the dam, carries off sur- 
 plus water. The bottom of the reservoir was thoroughly 
 grubbed of vegetable matter and soil before being used. The 
 average depth of water is about four (4) feet ; elevation above 
 the ground floor of the hospital seventy-four (74) feet. From 
 this reservoir a six-inch iron pipe conveys the water to the - 
 building. At suitable low points “ blow-offs” were put in 
 the main pipe, by which sediment can be removed. 
 
 The quality of the water is unexceptionable and in ordinary 
 seasons of sufficient quantity to supply several institutions of 
 this size. During the greater portion of the year the amount 
 of water passing off through the waste canal would be con- 
 sidered sufficient for a good mill privilege. 
 
 GENERAL RESULTS. 
 
 Fifteen (15) deaths occurred during the year. There were 
 in April one (1), in May one (1), in August one (1), in Sep- 
 tember two (2), in November three (3), in December one (1), 
 in January three (3), in February two (2), and in March one 
 (1). Thus it will be seen that the rate of mortality, calcu- 
 lated upon the whole number treated, is 4.55 per cent. The 
 average age was 51.8 years. Nine (9) deaths occurred among 
 one hundred and seventy -five (175) male patients, and six (6) 
 
121 
 
 among one hundred and fifty-four (154) female patients. A 
 large proportion of the deaths were due to the slow and grad- 
 ually debilitating influence of diseases of the nervous system 
 long continued. Only three patients died of acute disease. 
 
 We have continued the use of chloral in nearly all cases of 
 wakefulness and irritability, and have had the satisfaction of 
 witnessing marked improvement in some and complete recov- 
 ery in others. Our experience during the past twelve months 
 would seem to substantiate the conclusions previously arrived 
 at and explained in my last report. Other medicinal reme- 
 dies have of course been used as necessity required. 
 
 We have found the thermometer of practical value in the 
 treatment of diseases of the nervous system. A greater 
 familiarity with its uses will, I am sure, place it among the 
 most valuable instruments of practical diagnosis. 
 
 Your pathologist, Dr. Seguin, has made a critical examina- 
 tion in a case of general paresis (that most formidable of all 
 diseases), the results of which are fully set forth in his re- 
 port herewith transmitted. Similar carefulness and com- 
 pleteness of examination of a few of such cases would un- 
 doubtedly throw much light upon a field of physiological and 
 pathological domain hitherto nearly unexplored. 
 
 During the year much has been done in the way of general 
 improvements that will bear a passing notice. A substantial 
 post and board fence has been made to enclose our reservoir 
 — the result of labor performed mainly by patients and at- 
 tendants. Three hundred (300) young apple, pear, and plum 
 trees were purchased in October, and carefully transplanted ; 
 also a large number of raspberry and gooseberry and currant 
 bushes and several varieties of grape vines. The first cost 
 of these is trifling in comparison with the profitable results 
 hoped for in years to come. Roads and walks have been 
 made and ornamental trees and shrubs started around the 
 building; much more remains to be done in this direction, 
 and healthy employment can be given for years to such of our 
 inmates as are suited to out-door labor. 
 
 Several large storerooms have been finished off in the base- 
 
122 
 
 ment of the center building, into which the general supplies 
 are received. The ventilating flues from the rooms in the 
 intermediate wing which previously terminated in the attic, 
 discharging their contents through one large opening, have 
 been prolonged independently, in stacks of six flues above the 
 roof, thereby increasing their efficiency, while lessening danger 
 from fire. It is proposed to continue a similar much-needed 
 improvement in the south wing. 
 
 The high board fence referred to in my last report has been 
 completed, with the exception of a few rods, where it is to 
 cross the old highway recently closed by a vote of the town. 
 To insure protection against intrusion on the grounds of the 
 hospital, a small building is needed near the principal en- 
 trance, to be occupied by a man of small family, whose duty 
 would be to keep in order the roads and walks, to open and 
 close the gate for visitors, and prevent the incursion of cattle 
 and damage to grounds and crops from the carelessness of 
 those neglecting to close the gate. It is evident that such an 
 arrangement wrnuld prove a great convenience to the hospital 
 and to the public. 
 
 Mr. Clinton B. Wetherbee continues the supervision of the 
 hospital farm. Referring to a subjoined list of products, it 
 will be seen that his labors have been successful and 
 profitable. 
 
 The total of valuation is about the same as that of last 
 year. A comparison of quantities, however, shows the pleas- 
 ing fact that last year’s crops were nearly double those of any 
 corresponding period. As all products of the farm are used 
 in the institution, the quality and quantity are of far greater 
 importance than the market price. The increase in quantity 
 is attributable to a favorable season, additional labor of patients 
 and improved condition of the land. It is our aim to grad- 
 ually bring under tillage all parts of the farm, and by a sys- 
 tem of drainage and use of the house sewage, to enrich and 
 improve land which has been heretofore of little value. 
 
 I am not able to report the exact number of days’ labor 
 performed by convalescent and quiet chronic patients. Ap- 
 
123 
 
 predating the restorative value of systematic out-door em- 
 ployment, I have endeavored to encourage those who desire 
 to work, or whom we judge would be benefited by light occu- 
 pation. During the summer season from fifteen (15) to 
 thirty (30) male patients assisted on the farm ; many more 
 were regularly engaged about the grounds and buildings. A 
 fair proportion of the female patients were occupied in the 
 sewing-room, laundry, and kitchen, and much of the routine 
 work on the wards was performed even by others who needed 
 to be judiciously watched. 
 
 
 
 FARM PRODUCTS. 
 
 
 Hay, 
 
 
 
 
 67 tons, 
 
 $2,010.00 
 
 Corn fodder (dry), 
 
 
 
 21 “ 
 
 105.00 
 
 Corn, 
 
 
 
 
 530 bushels, 
 
 ‘487.60 
 
 Oats, 
 
 
 
 
 92 
 
 61.64 
 
 Broom seed, 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 15.84 
 
 Potatoes, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 2,250 
 
 1,125.00 
 
 Carrots, 
 
 
 
 
 260 
 
 130.00 
 
 Beets, 
 
 
 
 
 110 
 
 99.00 
 
 Onions, 
 
 
 
 
 327 
 
 294.30 
 
 Turnips, 
 
 
 
 
 690 
 
 207.00 
 
 Beans (string), 
 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 78.00 
 
 Beans (pole), 
 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 92.00 
 
 Peas (green), 
 
 
 
 
 361 “ 
 
 73.00 
 
 Parsnips, . 
 
 
 
 
 25 *'* t 
 
 12.50 
 
 Sweet corn, 
 
 
 
 
 121 
 
 108.90 
 
 Cucumbers, 
 
 
 
 
 117 
 
 146.25 
 
 Tomatoes, . 
 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 80.00 
 
 Summer squash, 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 17.00 
 
 Winter squash, 
 
 
 
 
 . 4,600 lbs, 
 
 115.00 
 
 Lettuce, 
 
 
 
 
 21 bushels, 
 
 25.20 
 
 Beet greens, 
 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 33.00 
 
 Radishes, . 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 7.00 
 
 Pie plant, . 
 
 
 
 
 281 “ 
 
 28.50 
 
 Melons, 
 
 
 
 
 . 3,100 lbs., 
 
 62.00 
 
 Broom brush, 
 
 
 
 
 520 “ 
 
 31.20 
 
 Beef, 
 
 
 
 
 13 cwt., 
 
 110.00 
 
 Yeal, 
 
 
 
 
 . 150 lbs., 
 
 15.00 
 
 Pork, 
 
 
 
 
 . 5,242 “ 
 
 366.94 
 
 Roasting pig, 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 7.00 
 
 Calves (sold). 
 
 
 
 
 
 60.40 
 
 Pigs (sold), 
 
 
 
 
 
 159.00 
 
 Rent of pasture, 
 
 
 
 
 
 194.13 
 
124 
 
 Cabbage, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 4,500 
 
 $180.00 
 
 Asparagus, 
 
 
 
 
 1 bushel, 
 
 5.00 
 
 Strawberries, 
 
 
 
 
 171 qts., 
 
 84.20 
 
 Cherries, 
 
 
 
 
 2 bushels, 
 
 4 00 
 
 Apples, 
 
 
 
 
 9 bbls., 
 
 36.00 
 
 Cider, 
 
 
 
 
 8 “ 
 
 64.00 
 
 Milk (grass fed), . 
 
 
 
 
 . 15,840 qts., 
 
 950.40 
 
 Wood, 
 
 
 
 
 18 cords, 
 
 90.00 
 
 Fence posts, 
 
 
 
 
 64 
 
 19.20 
 
 Straw, 
 
 
 
 
 9 tons, 
 
 162.00 
 
 Celery, 
 
 
 
 
 
 25.00 
 
 Turkeys, 
 
 
 
 
 812 lbs., 
 
 68.64 
 
 Chickens, . 
 
 
 
 
 404 “ 
 
 68.68 
 
 Eggs, 
 
 
 
 
 566 doz., 
 
 175.00 
 
 Total, 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 $8,289 52 
 
 Weight of hogs, 485|, 477|, 452/394, 450, 386, 564, 449, 567, j 
 
 502, 515. 
 
 Average weight, 476 T 6 T . 
 
 FINANCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 The regular hospital revenue has been sufficient to meet 
 the current want of the institution during the year. 
 
 Prom the treasurer’s report and steward’s detailed state- 
 ment herewith submitted, it will be seen that the hospital re- 
 ceived from all sources (including cash on hand and balance 
 with treasurer at the beginning of the year) the sum of $76,- 
 809.40, and that the total expenditures during the same 
 period were $75,573.32, leaving a balance with treasurer and 
 cash on hand of $1,236.08. 
 
 Favorable contracts at low rates have already been made 
 for the coal needed during the next twelve months. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 
 
 The subjoined list of newspapers and magazines has been 
 received during the year, for which we are under renewed 
 obligations : 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, Hartford, Conn. 
 
 “ Evening Post, “ 
 
 “ Weekly Times, “ 44 
 
 Iteligious Herald, “ “ 
 
 Conn. General Advertiser, . “ “ 
 
New Haven Evening Register, 
 
 “ Morning Journal and Courier, 
 
 “ Weekly Palladium, 
 
 Conn. Herald and Weekly Journal, 
 Whitney’s Musical Guest, 
 
 Watson’s Art Journal, 
 
 New York Semi -weekly Times, 
 
 The Constitution, 
 
 Sentinel and Witness, 
 
 Norwich Daily Advertiser, 
 
 “ Weekly Courier, 
 
 Bridgeport Republican and Standard, 
 Meriden Daily Republican, 
 
 Westport Advertiser, 
 
 The Tolland County Journal. 
 
 Windham County Transcript. 
 
 Moore’s Musical Record, 
 
 The Galaxy, 
 
 The Hearth and Home, 
 
 The Atlantic, 
 
 Godey’s Lady’s Book, 
 
 New Haven, Conn. 
 
 Toledo, Ohio. 
 New York. 
 
 C 6 
 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 i i t r 
 
 Norwich, “ 
 
 Bridgeport, “ 
 Meriden, “ 
 Westport, “ 
 
 Manchester, N. H. 
 New York. 
 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Many friends of the insane have continued to manifest 
 their interest by contributions of various kinds : 
 
 Mr. A. B. Gillette of Hartford added to our library a com- 
 plete set (32 vols.) of J. Fennimore Cooper’s novels, substan- 
 tially bound expressly for hospital use ; Mrs. Frederick W. 
 Hubbard, 4 bound volumes Atlantic Monthly,' 2 volumes 
 Ladies Repository, and life of Gen. Lyon ; Miss Mary Roberts, 
 6 volumes Eclectic Magazine and other books ; several books, 
 illustrated papers, puzzles, and basket of flowers from Mrs. 
 Rockwell; from the estate of Miss Jane Cooper, several volumes 
 and magazines; McLean & Co., complete set of Dickens’ 
 works, diamond edition ; Mrs. Dyson, books, engravings, and 
 maps; Charles E. Kent, Esq., several volumes Appleton’s 
 Journal, Hearth and Home, American Agriculturist, and 
 other papers ; Wm. T. Gleason, Esq., 18 books ; from a Friend, 
 of New Haven, 2 copies of Illustrated Christian Weekly; a 
 complete file of the London Illustrated News for the year 
 1871, from Mrs. Fellowes ; a Kidder’s battery from A. M. 
 Smith, Esq., of New Haven ; Rev. J. H. Bradford, Superin- 
 
126 
 
 tendent Industrial School for Girls, 12 Trophy tomato plants; 
 and many valuable tokens of interest from Mrs. Hubbard, 
 Rev. Mr. Thorne, and M. B. Copeland, Esq. 
 
 We are indebted to the South Congregational Church choir 
 of Middletown, and to Mr. Parsons and friends of New 
 Britain, for two delightful musical entertainments. 
 
 ‘Our chapel services have been conducted regularly on every 
 Sabbath afternoon during the year by the clergymen of Mid- 
 dletown and vicinity. Much interest is manifested by the 
 patients, and few interruptions occur to mar the sacredness 
 of these gatherings. 
 
 No change have occurred in the staff of officers, and but 
 few among the employed in the various positions in and 
 about the hospital. I desire to express my deep obligations 
 to all associated with me in places of trust, who have con- 
 scientiously assisted in sharing the burdens incident to hos- 
 pital life. 
 
 To the members of your board, I am greatly indebted for 
 hearty and intelligent co-operation and personal kindness. 
 The trying life of those devoted to the care of the insane here is 
 made lighter by your sympathy and care. It is our highest 
 aim to attain for this institution the greatest measure of use- 
 fulness of which it is capable. 
 
 For all our blessings and for that protection which has 
 guarded us from so many dangers, renewed acknowledgments 
 are due to an overruling Providence. Reverently invoking 
 His blessing, I again commend this institution to your con- 
 tinued oversight and to the fostering aid of an enlightened 
 commonwealth. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ABRAM MARVIN SHEW, 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., March 31, 1872. 
 
REPORT OF TREASURER. 
 
 The following statement of the fiscal concerns of “ The General Hospital 
 for the Insane of the State of Connecticut,” for the year commencing 
 April 1, 1871, and ending March 31, 1872, is respectfully submitted to the 
 Board of Trustees : 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance in treasurer’s hands, April 1, 1871, . . . $887.85 
 
 Revenue account from the hospital, .... 75,699.14 
 
 $76,586.99 
 
 PAYMENTS. 
 
 Amount of superintendent’s orders, .... $75,495.42 
 
 Balance in treasurer’s hands, March 31, 1872, . . . 1,091.57 
 
 $76,586.99 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., April 1, 1872. 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, 
 
 Treasurer. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the vouchers and accounts of 
 the treasurer, of which the above is an abstract, and find them correct. 
 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, ) 
 
 BENJ. DOUGLAS, [Auditors, 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, ) 
 
REPORT OF STEWARD. 
 
 J. Delos Atherton, Steward, 
 
 in account with the 
 
 General Hospital 
 
 for the Insane. 
 
 1871. 
 
 April 1st, to balance in bank, . 
 
 Dr. 
 
 
 $887.85 
 
 to cash on hand, 
 
 
 
 222.41 
 
 1872. 
 
 March 31st, to cash received as 
 
 revenue 
 
 (deposited 
 
 with 
 
 treasurer), 
 
 
 
 75,699.14 
 
 1871. 
 
 April, by vouchers, 
 
 Cr. 
 
 
 $76,809.40 
 
 $6,608.83 
 
 May, “ 
 
 
 
 6,11999 
 
 June, “ 
 
 
 
 4,512.31 
 
 July, “ 
 
 
 
 8,034.64 
 
 August, “ 
 
 
 
 8,543.62 
 
 September, “ 
 
 
 
 6,494.07 
 
 October, “ 
 
 
 
 7,460.76 
 
 November, “ 
 
 
 
 4,060.51 
 
 December, “ 
 
 
 
 6,656.99 
 
 1872. 
 
 January, “ 
 
 
 
 7,414.16 
 
 February, 
 
 
 
 3,922.52 
 
 March, “ 
 
 
 
 5,744.92 
 
 Balance in bank, 
 
 
 
 *1,065.27 
 
 Cash on hand, 
 
 
 
 170.81 
 
 
 
 
 $76,809.40 
 
 * Check No. 652, $26.30, drawn by the steward, had not reached the treasurer; hence an 
 apparent discrepancy to that amount between the balance in bank reported by each. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the Gceneral Assembly of the State of 
 Connecticut : 
 
 The Board of Trustees of the “ General Hospital for the 
 Insane of the State of Connecticut,” at Middletown, herewith 
 submit their seventh annual report. 
 
 In so doing they would acknowledge with devout gratitude 
 the divine goodness which has continued to bless the hospi- 
 tal and has given it a year of unusual prosperity. The benefits 
 that the patients receive from the skillful treatment and 
 healthful influences it affords are increasingly apparent. 
 
 The encouraging facts relating to the interior management 
 and successful working of this institution during the year 
 ending March 31, 1873, are set forth in the annexed report 
 of the superintendent, and its financial condition in that of 
 the treasurer. 
 
 The additional north wing, voted by the legislature of 1871, 
 has been opened for the reception of female patients, of 
 whom a large number were waiting for admission: The cor- 
 
 responding south wing, to which money was appropriated by 
 the legislature last year, has been pushed forward by the 
 commissioners as rapidly as circumstances would admit. 
 
 The houses purchased in 1871, and used as cottages for 
 quiet patients, prove a valuable auxiliary to the hospital. 
 The time may come when it will be wise to increase the 
 number of these buildings. 
 
 The street across the grounds in the rear of the hospital, 
 so long a fruitful source of trouble, has been peaceably 
 closed. 
 
 The financial condition of the hospital, as shown by the 
 report of the superintendent and of the treasurer, is such as 
 to afford satisfaction to all its friends. The care with which 
 purchases of provisions are made, the excellent and profitable 
 
130 
 
 management of the farm, the exactness of the system by 
 which the accounts are kept, — all these afford good ground 
 for confidence in the economy and skill of its administration. 
 
 The value of what may be called the working capital of the 
 hospital, as ascertained by a careful inventory, has increased 
 since April, 1872. 
 
 The superintendent and his assistants, who have remained 
 through the year, have so ably and successfully performed 
 their various and often trying duties as to deserve a contin- 
 uance of our personal regard and hearty support. 
 
 The necessity for the hospital and its firm hold upon the 
 intelligent sympathy of the citizens of Connecticut have, in 
 the year past, been more than ever apparent. Its fitness to 
 do the beneficent work of caring for the insane of the State, 
 for which it was chartered, becomes more evident as its facili- 
 ties are augmented, the large and increasing number of those 
 needing its help more reliably ascertained, and it is generally 
 understood that it possesses means, inferior to none yet dis- 
 covered, of effecting a permanent cure of its patients ; or, fail- 
 ing in that, of humanely and tenderly ministering to their 
 necessities while they remain within its walls. 
 
 No appropriation is asked for the hospital this year. 
 
 The official term of the members of this board from the 
 counties of Hartford and Tolland terminates in 1873. 
 
 Very respectfully submitted. 
 
 Samuel G. Willard, 
 Joseph D. Bates, 
 Richard S. Fellowes, 
 
 Marshall Jewell, 
 II. Sidney Hayden, 
 Lucius S. Fuller, 
 
 Hartford. 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Tolland. 
 
 Colchester. 
 
 Henry Woodward, 
 Robbins Battell, 
 
 Danielsonville. 
 New Haven. 
 Middletown. 
 
 Samuel Lynes, M.D., 
 
 Norfolk. 
 
 Norwalk. 
 
 Benjamin Douglas, 
 Julius Hotchkiss, 
 Joseph Cummings, 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
REPOET OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Gentlemen : — The Seventh Annual Report of the General 
 Hospital for the Insane of the State of Connecticut, for the 
 fiscal year ending March 31, 1873, is respectfully submitted. 
 
 The number of persons admitted and discharged and the 
 results of treatment are given in the annexed tables. 
 
 It will be noticed that three hundred and thirty-six (336) 
 persons (all from Connecticut) have received the protecting 
 care of the hospital and enjoyed its privileges during the 
 year. The number of applications for admission was one 
 hundred and ninety (190). 
 
 Of the four classes for whom provision is legally made, 
 there have been two hundred and seventeen (217) pauper 
 patients, ninety-eight (98) indigent patients, twelve (12) pri- 
 vate patients, and nine (9) insane convicts. 
 
 Referring to table No. 1, you observe that eleven (11) per- 
 sons have been discharged u Recovered.” This number in- 
 cludes only those whose restoration to health is complete and 
 positive, in whom there is no more reason to anticipate an- 
 other attack of mental derangement than in the same num- 
 ber of sane persons selected from society in general. It does 
 not include those who have recovered from the delirium 
 caused by chronic inebriety. 
 
 Under the second class “ Improved,” are numbered many 
 discharged persons whose restoration to health was con- 
 sidered complete, or assured, and who were permitted to leave 
 the hospital to make room for more urgent cases. Subse- 
 quent information has usually justified this course of action. 
 A wise precaution would, however, often dictate a longer stay 
 until the mind had become strong and accustomed to act un- 
 der the influence of new surroundings. 
 
132 
 
 Under the third class, “ Stationary,” are enumerated all 
 inebriates, whatever may have been their condition when dis- 
 charged. Some of these continue temperate for years after 
 leaving the hospital ; others resist temptation for a while but 
 finally succumb to the power of appetite and diseased organ- 
 ization. Hence it seems correct to class all such cases among 
 those who are “ Stationary.” This division also includes a 
 large number of quiet chronic cases who were removed by the 
 selectmen or judicial authorities to make room for dangerous 
 and destructive patients. 
 
 The number of deaths during the year is equal to 6.25 per 
 cent, of the total number under treatment and 7.93 per cent, 
 of the daily average. This shows a slight increase of mor- 
 tality compared with the report of last year, but is still below 
 the average death rate in hospitals for the insane. Among 
 the alleged causes of death (see Table XXII), you will note an 
 absence of specific cerebral disorders in a majority of the 
 cases. One patient was brought to the hospital in an uncon- 
 scious condition and only survived four days. Another case 
 of acute mania which was delivered at the hospital literally 
 bound from 64 head to foot” with a clothes line (an antiquated, 
 improper, and needless mode of restraint), died on the eighth 
 day. Deaths occurred in months as follows : in April one 
 (1), in May three (3), in June five (5), in August two (2), in 
 September one (1), in October one (1), in November one (1), 
 in December four (4), in February one (1), and in March two (2). 
 It thus appears that the mortality in the six warm months 
 exceeded that in the six cold months. The average age was 
 47.90 years. There were eleven (11) deaths among one 
 hundred and seventy-seven (177) male patients, and nine 
 (9) among one hundred and fifty-nine (159) female patients. 
 The causes are given in Table XXII. In my report of last year 
 your attention was directed to the fact that of two hundred and 
 sixty-two (262) patients remaining on the 31st day of March, 
 1872, two hundred and forty-two (242) were chronic cases 
 in whom the disease had lasted from two to forty years. 
 Owing to the policy of receiving patients in the regular order 
 
133 
 
 of application nearly all of the seventy-four (74) admitted since 
 that date have belonged to the same class. With the excep- 
 tion of nine (9) or ten (10), all of this number have been 
 kept from six to twelve months awaiting their chance. Re- 
 peatedly have I been obliged to deny admission to urgent 
 cases from this immediate vicinity and seek accommodations 
 for them elsewhere. It is, therefore, with profound satisfaction 
 that I anticipate the early completion of the new north wing. 
 The addition of these four wards, with accommodations for one 
 hundred female patients, will lessen our labors while in- 
 creasing our numbers. Experience teaches the advantages 
 derived from a judicious classification ; without it successful 
 treatment is almost an impossibility. Thus far in the history 
 of this institution, the success attained has been accomplished 
 under the disadvantages of an over-crowded building, and 
 hence a lack of proper classification. 
 
 At the last annual meeting of u The Association of Medi- 
 cal Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane,” 
 held at Madison, Wisconsin, the following resolutions were 
 unanimously adopted and commended to the consideration of 
 all having authority in the management of hospitals for the 
 insane : 
 
 Resolved, That this association regards the custom of admitting 
 a greater number of patients than the buildings can properly ac- 
 commodate, which is now becoming so common in hospitals for the 
 insane in nearly every section of the country, as an evil of great 
 magnitude, productive of extraordinary dangers, subversive of the 
 good order, perfect discipline, and greatest usefulness of these in- 
 stitutions, and of the best interests of the insane. 
 
 Resolved , That this association, having repeatedly affirmed its 
 well-matured convictions of the humanity, expediency, and econ- 
 omy of every State making ample provision for all its insane, re- 
 gards it as an important means of effecting this object that these 
 institutions should be kept in the highest state of efficiency, and 
 the difference in condition of patients treated in them, and those 
 kept in almshouses, jails, or even private houses, be thus most 
 clearly demonstrated. 
 
134 
 
 Resolved , That while fully recognizing the great suffering and 
 serious loss that must result to individuals by their exclusion from 
 hospitals when laboring under an attack of insanity, this associa- 
 tion fully believes that the greatest good will result to the largest 
 number, and at the earliest day, by the adoption of the course now 
 indicated. 
 
 Resolved , That the boards of management of the different hospi- 
 tals on this continent be urged, most earnestly, to adopt such meas- 
 ures as will effectually prevent more patients being admitted into 
 their respective institutions, than, in the opinions of their superin- 
 tendents. can be treated with the greatest efficiency, and without 
 impairing the welfare of their fellow sufferers. 
 
 Resolved , That the secretary be instructed to furnish a copy of 
 these resolutions to the boards of managements of the different hospi- 
 tals for the insane in the United States and the British Provinces. 
 
 May 30th, 1872. 
 
 At the present time, when so much is being said about the 
 pleas of insanity in criminal cases, it may interest the thought- 
 ful people to know that in Connecticut persons accused of 
 crime and acquitted by reason of mental derangement are 
 sent to this institution for custodial treatment. During the 
 period covered by this report, twelve (12) persons of this 
 class have been received, the majority of whom are still un- 
 der treatment. Authority for this mode of procedure is 
 found in an amendment to section two hundred and forty- 
 three (243) of the act concerning crimes and punishments, 
 and is as follows : “ Whenever any person, tried on any 
 criminal charge, shall be acquitted on the ground of insanity 
 or dementia, the court before which the trial shall be had, 
 may, if it shall deem it proper, order such person to be con- 
 fined in The General Hospital for the Insane of the State of 
 Connecticut, for such time as said court shall direct.” 
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 During the year much has been done in the way of general 
 improvements. To enumerate all in detail would require 
 considerable time and space. 1 will mention such as seem 
 
135 
 
 of special interest. Early in the season a large and substan- 
 tial coal-shed, capable of storing five hundred (500) tons, 
 was erected near the hospital wharf and Connecticut Valley 
 Railroad. By this arrangement a cargo can be unloaded 
 rapidly at any season of the year and kept under cover until 
 such time as the hospital teams can be advantageously used 
 in hauling it to the building. 
 
 Up to the present time our facilities for keeping ice have 
 been equal to about two-thirds (f) of the quantity required. 
 To meet the increased demand incident to an accession of 
 numbers it was decided to build near the hospital reservoir a 
 house of sufficient size to store seventy (70) tons. This 
 building was completed and filled during the winter. 
 
 Last October two cow-sheds, each sixty feet in length, with 
 stalls for twenty-eight (28) head of cattle, and a piggery 
 eighty feet in length, were added to the large hospital barn ; 
 also several root bins in the cellar. 
 
 Many other improvements and additions will be made as 
 soon as the funds will admit. 
 
 During the coming summer I trust that much needed work 
 in filling and grading grounds in front of the hospital, in 
 laying out walks and roads, and in starting shrubbery and 
 trees may be done. Owing to the rough and unfinished 
 condition of the land immediately surrounding the building, 
 it has been impossible to direct outdoor exercises and sports, 
 except in the mildest weather. Under these circumstances, 
 the yards connected with the wards for excitable patients 
 have been of incalculable benefit. 
 
 FARM. 
 
 The hospital farm has furnished nearly enough vegetables 
 to supply our wants. Mr. Weatherbee continues to diiect 
 this portion of labor with energy, skill, and faithfulness. Im- 
 provements have been made in fences, ditches, roads, and 
 barns. Stock has been added from time to time, as the 
 growth of the family seemed to require ; in fact, we point 
 with satisfaction to the subjoined list of farm products as 
 
186 
 
 the only statement needed to disprove the assertion that the 
 “ farm ” was an u expensive luxury.” Aside from its value as 
 a producing source, it is of incalculable advantage to a large 
 proportion of chronic male patients, affording them an oppor- 
 tunity for healthful outdoor employment, such as they could 
 not have in any other way. The all-important question in 
 the management and treatment of the insane after the acute 
 stage is how to properly occupy their time and attention dur- 
 ing the months of convalescence or years of chronic derange- 
 ment. It is during this period that the mental faculties 
 either become stimulated into healthful action, or depressed 
 into a state of lethargy and indifference, which soon tends 
 towards dementia. Public opinion will not now sanction the 
 course here suggested, but I believe the time is not far dis- 
 tant when all superintendents will be required to prescribe 
 work and employment for their patients, as they now do 
 medicines and amusements. 
 
 Hay, 
 
 Corn fodder (dry), 
 Corn, 
 
 Oats, 
 
 Rye, 
 
 Potatoes, 
 
 Carrots, 
 
 Beets, 
 
 Onions, 
 
 Turnips, 
 
 Beans (strings), 
 Beans (pole), 
 
 Peas (in shell), 
 Parsnips, 
 
 Sweet Corn, 
 Cucumbers, 
 Tomatoes, . 
 Summer squash, 
 Currants, 
 
 Winter squash, 
 Lettuce, 
 
 Beet greens, 
 
 FARM PRODUCTS. 
 
 83 tons, 
 
 32 “ 
 
 565 bushels, 
 137 
 97 
 
 . 2,161 
 208 
 178 
 85 
 740 
 
 454 4 4 
 
 50 
 44 
 34 
 
 684 “ 
 
 184| “ 
 
 110 
 
 39 
 
 4 
 
 24 tons, 
 
 124 bushels, 
 80 
 
 $2,075.00 
 112 00 
 254.25 
 82.20 
 
 97.00 
 1,836.85 
 
 104.00 
 
 89.00 
 
 119.00 
 
 296.00 
 68.25 
 
 75.00 
 
 88.00 
 
 17.00 
 
 68.50 
 206 64 
 
 110.00 
 
 39.00 
 2.00 
 
 100.00 
 
 12.50 
 
 80.00 
 
13T 
 
 Pie plant, . 
 
 
 889 lbs., 
 
 $ 22.22 
 
 Melons, 
 
 
 3,640 “ 
 
 72.80 
 
 Cabbages, . 
 
 
 8,000 “ 
 
 560.00 
 
 Asparagus, . 
 
 
 1| bushels, 
 
 7.00 
 
 Strawberries, 
 
 
 95 qts., 
 
 19.00 
 
 Cherries, 
 
 
 1 bushel, 
 
 2 00 
 
 Pears, 
 
 
 12 
 
 24.00 
 
 Apples, 
 
 
 73 bbls. , 
 
 146.00 
 
 Cider, 
 
 
 61 “ . . 
 
 152.50 
 
 Milk (grass fed), 
 
 
 16,418 qts., 
 
 985.08 
 
 Straw, 
 
 
 18 tons, 
 
 288.00 
 
 Yeal, 
 
 
 137 lbs., 
 
 20.00 
 
 Pork, 
 
 
 7,721 “ 
 
 540.47 
 
 Calves (sold), 
 
 
 
 161.25 
 
 Pigs (sold), . 
 
 
 
 53 00 
 
 Calf skins, . 
 
 
 
 8.00 
 
 Pent of pasture, 
 
 
 
 86.90 
 
 Roast pigs, . 
 
 
 
 5.00 
 
 Celery, 
 
 
 
 35.00 
 
 Turkeys, 
 
 
 36Hlbs., 
 
 79.42 
 
 Chickens, 
 
 
 42 “ . . 
 
 8.40 
 
 Eggs, 
 
 
 64 doz. (30 cts.), 
 
 19.20 
 
 Total, • . 
 
 
 . 
 
 $9,246.63 
 
 Weight of hogs, 353, 475, 477, 
 
 345, 365, 563, 601, 602, 785, 
 
 507, 453, 
 
 442, 420, 483, 403, 447. Total, 7,721 lbs. 
 Average weight, 482 9-16. 
 
 COTTAGE SYSTEM. 
 
 I can conscientiously and gladly confirm what our last re- 
 port contained on this subject. In spite of the crude and 
 disadvantageous way in which we are making trial of it, the 
 results are favorable. It will be pleasant to the friends of 
 the insane to know that in the woman’s cottage, containing 
 as the average of the year past about fifteen (15), almost 
 wholly of the demented class, there has been no special sick- 
 ness, no quarreling, and their being thus grouped under 
 sagacious attendants has developed a power of setting them- 
 selves to work which has surprised us. For example, 64 
 pairs of stockings have been knit, 84 towels and 140 yards 
 of toweling have been hemmed for our new north wing, 52 
 handkerchiefs and 30 bed-spreads were hemmed, and much 
 
138 
 
 repairing done ; and all this from our most mentally wrecked 
 ones. 
 
 It shows that with wise attendants much happiness may 
 be brought by suitable employments, even to such wretched 
 ones, besides giving substantial results for the institution. 
 The very success with our imperfect little two cottages 
 makes me long for the day when it will be in your power to 
 order the erection of more structures adapted expressly to 
 the wants of the men and women who would be benefited 
 by the cottage system. 
 
 A TRANSFER HOME. 
 
 All having care of convalescent insane are conscious of 
 the powerful effect of what I may call a sense of timidity, 
 which operates on patients who are so well recovered as to 
 reflect on the prospect of their leaving the wards, and en- 
 tering again the scenes of an active world. Many instinct- 
 ively shrink from going away ; as they reflect on the position 
 out of which they have come and forward to busy events, it 
 is no wonder they feel sensitively all the expected question- 
 ings and actions of the renewed contact with acquaintances 
 and friends. It is just here that I am made to feel a want 
 for our institution, namely, what I have called, for lack of a 
 better name, a transfer home, where these convalescents 
 could be transferred, to remain from a week to a month, to 
 remove the tinge of delusions, and in getting used to sane 
 companions, and in recovering the tone of mind, heart, spirit, 
 and manners in view of an early return to their occupations 
 and homes. As inflammation of the eyes requires confine- 
 ment in a darkened room, and on the removal of the evil 
 light is gradually introduced, so as not to wound but to 
 strengthen the delicate visual organs, so in diseases of the 
 brain, in recovering from them, there are stages of freedom 
 to be attained even slowly, until the full restoration. 
 
139 
 
 RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES. 
 
 By referring to the detailed statement herewith submitted, 
 you will observe that the hospital received from all sources 
 (including balance with treasurer and cash on hand April 1, 
 1872) the sum of seventy-nine thousand, seven hundred and 
 ninety-three dollars and thirty-eight cents ($79,798.38), and 
 that the total expenditures during the same period were 
 seventy-seven thousand, nine hundred and eighty-one dollars 
 and fifty-six cents ($77, 981.56), leaving a balance with treas- 
 urer and cash on hand of $1,811.82. 
 
 Religious services have been conducted regularly every 
 Sabbath afternoon during the year by the clergymen of Mid- 
 dletown and vicinity. About one-half of all the patients are 
 in condition to attend and enjoy these exercises. In their 
 behalf, I desire thus publicly to acknowledge the obligation 
 we are under to those gentlemen who have gratuitously and 
 at much personal inconvenience rendered this service. 
 Much has been done during the year by officers, employes, 
 and friends to amuse and instruct those committed to our 
 care. Many valuable slides were added to the collection, 
 and the stereopticon was used one evening in the week, ex- 
 cept when the time was occupied by lectures, readings, or 
 concerts. The usual dancing parties have been continued 
 during the cool season of the year. 
 
 To the Rev. C. M. Loomis we are indebted for an interest- 
 ing lecture on South Western Africa, illustrated by drawings 
 and the exhibition of implements and weapons used by the 
 natives. 
 
 To Mr. Barnabee and troupe for one of their inimitable 
 musical entertainments. 
 
 To Prof. Franklin and friends for an “ Old Folks Concert.” 
 
 The billiard room has continued to be a resort for some of 
 our patients. 
 
 During the summer a base ball club was organized from 
 among officers and employes, which was sufficiently skilled to 
 play matched games with clubs from other towns. As the 
 ball ground is located a few rods from the hospital, this sport 
 
140 
 
 attracted and interested the south wing patients, and thus 
 helped to while away many summer afternoons. 
 
 Hon. T. S. Gold, secretary of State Board of Agriculture, 
 furnished nine volumes of reports, for which we are under 
 renewed obligations; also to A. B. Gillette of Hartford, fora 
 complete set of Scott’s novels, handsomely bound ; to Geo. F. 
 Prior of Middletown, several volumes of magazines and 
 books; to Messrs. Thorne, Copeland, Hubbard, Putnam, 
 McLean, Rockwell, and Finney, for similar favors ; Mrs. 
 Fellowes of New Haven has continued to furnish the London 
 Illustrated News, which I have had bound for permanent use. 
 
 To the publishers of the subjoined list of newspapers, re- 
 ceived gratuitously, I would return thanks. Among our 
 readers are many persons who watch for their “ daily ” with 
 as much eagerness as do men in other conditions of life. I 
 trust that other papers may be added to the list during the 
 year. 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, . 
 
 “ Evening Post, . 
 
 “ Weekly Times, . 
 
 The Religious Herald, 
 
 Conn. General Advertiser, 
 
 New Haven Evening Register, 
 
 “ “ Morning Journal and Courier, 
 
 “ “ Weekly Palladium, . 
 
 Conn. Herald and Weekly Journal, 
 
 The Constitution, Weekly, 
 
 Sentinel and Witness, 
 
 Norwich Daily Advertiser, 
 
 “ Weekly Courier, 
 
 Tolland County Journal, . 
 
 Bridgeport Republican and Standard, 
 Meriden Daily Republican, 
 
 Westport Advertiser, 
 
 Whitney’s Musical Guest, 
 
 Watson’s Art Journal, 
 
 Moore’s Musical Record, . 
 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 
 < < < i 
 
 New Haven, Conn. 
 
 ( t a a 
 
 t t (i tt 
 
 a a a 
 
 Middletown, “ 
 
 Norwich, “ 
 
 a a 
 
 Tolland, 
 
 Bridgeport, “ 
 
 Meriden, 
 
 Westport, “ 
 
 Toledo, Ohio. 
 
 New York City. 
 Manchester, N. H. 
 
 During the year just drawing to a close I have been aided 
 in this arduous work by many officers and employes whom it 
 would be a pleasure to mention by name with words of com- 
 
141 
 
 mendation for their constant, untiring, and self-sacrificing 
 devotion to their several duties. To all such I am under 
 heartfelt obligations. Others, from lack of natural fitness or 
 want of proper self-respect and self-control, have found by 
 experimental knowledge that other fields of labor were better 
 adapted to their several idiosyncrasies. With all such I have 
 endeavored to deal kindly, firmly, and justly, always placing 
 the best interests of the hospital first and foremost. It can 
 never be considered as any mark disrespect, when an individ- 
 ual is not likely to gain credit or give satisfaction in a 
 station, to give him an opportunity to embrace another pur- 
 suit better calculated to advance his own interests. 
 
 At your meeting in October you saw fit to increase your 
 superintendent’s duties and responsibilities in a manner 
 which I trust has contributed to the efficiency and better 
 management of the hospital. For this new mark of confi- 
 dence, and for your cordial and intelligent co-operation dur- 
 ing another year, I am truly grateful. Humbly invoking the 
 blessings of Divine Providence, I again commend this insti- 
 tution to your continued oversight. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 A. M. SHEW, 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., March 81 , 1878 . 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 The following statement of the fiscal concerns of “The General Hos- 
 pital for the Insane of the State of Connecticut,” for the year commencing 
 April 1, 1872, and ending March 31, 1873, is respectfully submitted to the 
 
 Board of Trustees. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance in treasurer’s hands, April 1, 1872, .... $1,091.57 
 
 Amount received from State treasurer (appropriation), . . 39,500.00 
 
 Revenue account from the Hospital, 86,834.29 
 
 Total, $127,425.86 
 
 PAYMENTS. 
 
 Amount paid Savings Banks for notes given by 
 
 the trustees, $39,500.00 
 
 Less interest refunded, 553.38 $38,946.62 
 
 Amount of superintendent’s orders 86,895.26 
 
 Balance in treasurer’s hands, March 31, 1873, . . . 1,583.98 
 
 Total, $127,425.86 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, 
 
 Treasurer. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., April 1, 1873. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the vouchers and accounts of 
 the treasurer, of which the above is an abstract, and find them correct. 
 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, ) 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, j 
 
 Auditors. 
 
SUPERINTENDENT’S FINANCIAL 
 REPORT. 
 
 DEBTOR. 
 
 1872. 
 April 1. 
 
 To balance in bank, .... 
 
 $1,065.27 
 
 “ 
 
 To cash on hand, .... 
 
 170.81 
 
 Oct and 
 
 To temporary loan deposited with 
 
 
 Nov. 
 
 treasurer, 
 
 9,712.08 
 
 1873. 
 
 March 31. 
 
 To cash received as revenue, deposited 
 
 
 
 with treasurer, .... 
 
 77,122.21 
 
 “ 
 
 To rebate of interest from trustees’ 
 
 
 
 notes deposited with treasurer, . 
 
 553.38 
 
 
 CREDIT. 
 
 
 April, 
 
 1872. By vouchers, .... 
 
 $8,950.39 
 
 May, 
 
 tt tt a 
 
 3,479.91 
 
 June, 
 
 tt 1 1 a 
 
 6,207.47 
 
 July, 
 
 tt tt tt 
 
 9,607.47 
 
 August, 
 
 tt << tt 
 
 3,789.43 
 
 September, 
 
 tt a it 
 
 6,851.65* 
 
 October, 
 
 tt tt a 
 
 14,991.33 
 
 November, 
 
 1 1 it a 
 
 6,198.63 
 
 December, 
 
 i t tt tt 
 
 4,863.48 
 
 January, 
 
 1873. " .... 
 
 4,278.60 
 
 February, 
 
 tt tt tt 
 
 4,509.78 
 
 March, 
 
 a a tt 
 
 4,253.44 
 
 January, 
 
 1873. Amount paid temporary loan, 
 
 5,000.00 
 
 March, 
 
 a tt tt tt tt 
 
 3,830.37 
 
 $88,623.75 
 
 $77,981.56 
 
 $8,830.37 
 
 March 31, 1873. Balance in bank, 1,583.98 
 
 “ “ Cash on hand, 227.84 
 
 Total, $88,623.75 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable , the General Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut : 
 
 The undersigned, the board of trustees of the General Hos- 
 pital for the Insane of the State of Connecticut, at Middle- 
 town, herewith present their eighth annual report. 
 
 They would gratefully acknowledge the loving protection 
 of the Heavenly Father which has guarded and blessed the 
 hospital another twelve-month. In many respects the year 
 has been to it one of real prosperity. More patients have 
 shared in its benefits than heretofore. The whole number 
 treated during the year, ending April 1, 1874, was five hun- 
 dred and twenty-four. The number remaining at that date 
 was three hundred and ninety-four. Of their condition, and 
 much else, that is of interest in their case, the report of the 
 superintendent herewith submitted contains valuable infor- 
 mation. In it will be found also important facts relative to 
 the practical working of the institution. 
 
 The farm has been well tilled and highly productive. Great 
 care has been taken to increase its fertility, to make needed 
 improvements, and to keep all the buildings in good repair. 
 
 The income of the establishment has been managed with 
 economy and skill. The thorough and exact system of keep- 
 ing accounts continues to work satisfactorily, and the bills 
 for current, as well as all other expenses, have been promptly 
 met. 
 
 The commission appointed by the Governor, in accordance 
 with the terms of the appropriation made in 1871 and in 1872, 
 have completed their labors in a manner that reflects the 
 highest credit upon those gentlemen, and additional honor 
 upon the State, which can in these days secure from its citi- 
 zens services of so great value for a work so important, pro- 
 tracted, and difficult. 
 
115 
 
 The south wing, capable of accommodating one hundred 
 and five men, was completed and formally opened for patients 
 on the 6th day of January last, in the presence of the Gov- 
 ernor, the State Board of Charities, and other distinguished 
 citizens. It has afforded a much-needed relief to a consid- 
 erable number of patients, who had been carried to hospitals 
 out of the State, and to others whose insanity is recent. The 
 north wing, opened last year for women, has been full for 
 months, and it appears certain that the south wing will soon 
 be insufficient for the number of men needing its care. 
 
 At no very distant day, as the board believes, cottages, 
 neat, attractive, and not too expensive, will be required, in 
 which a class of quiet patients can enjoy advantages of home- 
 like surroundings, and those convalescing may be better pro- 
 pared to enter again with comfort and safety the busy scenes 
 of life. This would probably be the most economical manner 
 of providing for patients when the number shall exceed the 
 present capacity of the institution. 
 
 It is due to the officers and attendants of the hospital to 
 say that they have continued to perform their daily duties in 
 a manner so conscientious and discreet, and with so much 
 tact, as to deserve a full measure of commendation and con- 
 fidence. 
 
 It is fitting in this connection to mention our common loss, 
 when, in January last, death suddenly took from the superin- 
 tendent his estimable wife, deprived the family of her 
 friendly, cheerful, and healthful influence, and the patients of 
 the enjoyment of her admirable musical gifts in conducting 
 the service of song in the chapel. 
 
 As the buildings have now been completed after the origi- 
 nal plan, and the institution is free from debt, the trustees 
 desire to say that they hold in grateful remembrance the suc- 
 cessive legislatures which gave the charter in 1866, and 
 voted always the full appropriations asked for by the board 
 to carry out the humane design of the charter — appropria- 
 tions that have in the aggregate been much larger than, at 
 the outset, any one anticipated. 
 
 10 
 
146 
 
 The good people of this State also have shown an intelli- 
 gent and generous appreciation of, and a steadily increasing 
 interest in this enterprise, as they have learned its necessity, 
 and observed its beneficent working. Nor would we fail to 
 mention the many wealthy and influential citizens who, not- 
 withstanding the cost, have, when difficulties were greatest, 
 encouraged the board to go forward, and have steadily aided 
 to insure success. 
 
 To all these we tender our hearty thanks, in behalf of 
 hundreds of afflicted men and women, who were poor and 
 ready to perish from disease and mental weakness; but who 
 have now been warmed and fed, and tenderly cared for under 
 this roof, whereby many of them have been restored to their 
 right mind. 
 
 We regard this institution as an honor to Connecticut. In 
 no State, as we believe, are patients like these receiving med- 
 ical treatment more scientific, considerate, or successful, or 
 care from attendants more intelligent, kind-hearted, and 
 faithful. 
 
 The hospital asks for no appropriation this year. We 
 would recommend that the name be changed to “ The Con- 
 necticut Hospital for the Insane.” 
 
 The official terms of the members of this board from New 
 London and Windham counties expire in 1874. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 CHARLES R. INGERSOLL, 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 JOSEPH D. BATES, 
 RICHARD S. FELLOWES, 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 SAMUEL LYNES, M.D., 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 
 New Haven . 
 Colchester . 
 Danielsonville . 
 New Haven. 
 Middletown . 
 Norfolk . 
 Norwalk . 
 Windsor. 
 Tolland . 
 Middletown . 
 
 u 
 
 a 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have the honor to submit the eighth an- 
 nual report of the General Hospital for the Insane of the 
 State of Connecticut, together with comprehensive statistical 
 tables, arranged in uniformity with those adopted by “The 
 Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institu- 
 tions for the Insane.” 
 
 The official year, ending March 31, 1874, has been one of 
 peculiar interest. During this period you have witnessed the 
 completion of the hospital, so far as the plan was adopted by 
 the proper authorities, in 1866. 
 
 For the first time in its history, this institution has been in 
 condition to receive promptly all applicants of both sexes. 
 As a result the number of persons admitted and discharged, 
 and the total number under treatment exceeds that of any 
 previous year. 
 
 Referring to the tables, it will be noticed that there were 
 remaining two hundred and seventy-one (271) patients at the 
 date of the last annual report, of whom one hundred and 
 thirty-eight (138) were males, and one hundred and thirty- 
 three (133) were females ; ninety -three (93) males and one 
 hundred and sixty (160) females have since been admitted, 
 making a total of five hundred and twenty-four (524) per- 
 sons who have received custodial or curative treatment. The 
 disparity of admissions in the sexes is explained by the fact that 
 during the first few months of the official year male patients 
 could be received only when vacancies occurred by death, 
 discharge, or removal. The daily average was 339.51. Of 
 the one hundred and thirty (130) persons who were dis- 
 charged, thirty-seven (sixteen men and twenty-one women) 
 were regarded as recovered ; thirty (nine men and twenty- 
 
143 
 
 one women) were so much improved that they were permit- 
 ted to go home on trial, and have since, in nearly all in- 
 stances, become fully restored ; twenty-eight (thirteen men 
 and fifteen women) mild chronic cases were removed before 
 the completion of the new wings, to make room for others. 
 The deaths were thirty-five (eighteen men and seventeen 
 women) which is equal to 6.67 per cent, of the total number 
 under treatment. It is worthy of special remark, that one- 
 fourth of those who died had passed beyond the time allotted 
 to man, and twelve of the remaining number were between 
 fifty and seventy years of age; the average was 51.74 years, 
 which is considerably above the mean average of past years. 
 There were eighteen (18) deaths among two hundred and 
 thirty-one (231) male patients and seventeen (17) among 
 two hundred and ninety-three (293) female patients. One 
 person died two days after admission, one, three, one, six, 
 two, thirteen, two, fourteen, and one, fifteen ; but the major- 
 ity of deaths were the result of degenerative changes, inci- 
 dent to long-continued mental disease. 
 
 Referring to Table No. XXVIII, you observe that of three 
 hundred and ninety-four (394) patients remaining at this date, 
 only thirty-five (35) are considered curable. This opinion is 
 based upon the fact that in three hundred and fifty-nine (359), 
 the disease has already lasted from two to forty years. It is 
 discouraging to contemplate that such a large proportion will 
 probably continue more or less deranged during life, when 
 perhaps a majority of these might have been cured if promptly 
 submitted to hospital treatment. 
 
 It is reasonable to presume that the number of admissions 
 during the past year is a fair criterion of what may be expected 
 in future. Assuming that the discharges and deaths of the 
 next twelve months will equal those of the past, and that the 
 admissions continue in the same ratio, a little calculation dem- 
 onstrates that the hospital, which has accommodations only 
 for four hundred and fifty (450) patients will be crowded to 
 its full capacity before the expiration of another year. It 
 will then be necessary to delay admissions until vacancies oc- 
 
149 
 
 cur, or to send the quiet, harmless chronic patients to the 
 almshouse (a possibility that I shudder to contemplate) to 
 make room for acute cases who come to us from the laboring 
 and active classes of life. 
 
 At this date Connecticut may well be proud of the position 
 which she occupies in providing for her dependent classes. 
 Reliable information from town and judicial officers discloses 
 the gratifying fact that all , or nearly all, of the insane poor 
 have been removed from jails and almshouses to this institu- 
 tion, while the Retreat at Hartford, with its well-furnished 
 apartments, affords accommodations to those who are able to 
 pay liberally for care and treatment. Now, before the actual 
 pressure begins to be felt, would it not be wise to consider 
 what future provision will be required for the insane of Con- 
 necticut ? 
 
 A public institution of this kind, erected, owned, and gov- 
 erned by the State, should be open and accessible to every 
 citizen of the State who needs its protecting care. In theory 
 class distinctions are unknown ; the rich and the poor, the 
 learned and the ignorant, alike become insane and require 
 custodial treatment — in a majority of cases away from home. 
 In actual practice thus far the policy has been to favor the 
 poor and indigent. 
 
 By referring to Table No. X you observe that of the two 
 hundred and fifty- three (253) persons admitted during the 
 year two hundred and twelve (212) were supported wholly or 
 in part by the State and towns, while only forty-one (41) were 
 able to pay their own expenses. This distinction in favor of 
 the poor ig still more evident when you consider the class 
 of admissions from the opening of the hospital in 1868. Of 
 the eight hundred and ninety-six (896) admitted since the 
 beginning seven hundred and ninety -nine (799) were bene- 
 ficiaries and only ninety-seven (97) self-supporting. 
 
 It will be perceived (Table No. IY) that four persons 
 were admitted during the year who were not insane. To re- 
 lieve the fears of any nervous or over-anxious reader of this 
 report who has perhaps spent many sleepless nights in useless 
 
150 
 
 suspicions after reading “ Hard Cash ” or listening to the 
 plausible harangue of some pretentious lecturer, who by 
 touching upon this sensitive cord of the public mind succeeds 
 in filling the otherwise empty seats. I would explain that 
 one of the four was a convict from Wethersfield prison who 
 feigned insanity in order to effect a transfer to this hospital 
 in expectation that he could easily escape from his lawful 
 punishment! After a few months 5 residence here he was re- 
 turned to his proper place. The second, a boy of fourteen 
 years, after having burned several barns and a church, was 
 brought to us from the Bridgeport jail to be placed under ob- 
 servation for the purpose of determining definitely his mental 
 condition. It was soon evident that he was simply a cun- 
 ning, unprincipled lad who needed the disciplinary teaching 
 of the Meriden Reform School, to which he was duly sent. 
 The third was also a case in which a medico-legal question 
 was involved. The last of these “not insane 55 cases, a 
 woman of intemperate habits and ungovernable temper, who 
 was sent here by the town authorities, only remained two 
 days. Thus it appears that none of the four were placed 
 here “ to get rid of them. 55 On the contrary, they had com- 
 mitted crimes and were trying to evade justice. I hope the 
 time may soon come when the public will have such confi- 
 dence in the board of trustees and the resident officers of the 
 hospital that the fact of a person being detained at the insti- 
 tution for any great period of time will be accepted as con- 
 clusive proof of his or her insanity and proper detention. 
 Before leaving this subject I desire to place on record a 
 statement founded upon an experience of thirteen years and 
 embracing the care and treatment of 2,000 insane persons in 
 four different States: I have not known a case of so-called 
 “ false imprisonment 55 in a hospital or asylum, neither have 
 I had reason to suspect improper motives on the part of 
 friends or public officers. Nearly all doubts and difficulties 
 in any particular case grow out of the peculiarities of the 
 case itself and ignorance respecting the nature of insanity. 
 
 It is generally supposed that an insane person must neces- 
 
151 
 
 sarily rave, destroy, and disturb. This popular appreciation 
 of insanity is shown by the questions daily asked by visitors 
 who desire to see those patients who are “ really crazy ,” 
 meaning, of course, cases of acute mania. Persons familiar 
 with hospitals soon learn that the proportion of “ crazy ” pa- 
 tients is very small, and that the majority of all under treat- 
 ment after the acute stage has passed are more or less quiet 
 and rational, able to eat and sleep, and to do various kinds of 
 work the same as other persons. Many may have suicidal, 
 homicidal, or extravagant propensities, which are kept in 
 check by the watchful care of attendants and the regularity 
 of institution life. 
 
 A hospital is doing its legitimate work as much in this way 
 as it is when managing a dangerous and destructive maniac. 
 Those who think differently might as well claim that a phy- 
 sician should only be called to the sick when dangerously ill. 
 There are various degrees and forms of insanity, no two pre- 
 senting the same exact characteristics. The restlessness and 
 complaining spirit which is manifested by a proportion of pa- 
 tients is the result of disease, and not of confinement. This 
 is shown by the fact that at home they were even more 
 uneasy, and also that under proper treatment at hospital they 
 recover from this manifestation, wdiich is merely one symp- 
 tom of the disease. We are apt to forget that persons be- 
 come insane at home and not at the hospital, or, in other 
 words, that the causes which produced the insanity in any 
 given case were existing at home. 
 
 The cares, anxieties, and responsibilities of domestic life, 
 especially among the poor, incompatibility of temper, uncon- 
 genial work, poverty of diet, and irregular habits are all suffi- 
 cient to produce mental derangement in a person already de- 
 bilitated. Hence, when removed to hospital, where regularity 
 of diet, hours of exercise and repose, and attention to physical 
 and moral treatment can be had, restoration is the natural 
 consequence. The earlier the change is made the greater is 
 the hope of cure. Often influenced by the opinions of offi- 
 cious neighbors and irresponsible busybodies, the friends de- 
 
152 
 
 lay sending the loved one from home so long as they can 
 manage to keep her there ; finally, after months or years of 
 dallying, when the disease has become chronic, they take her 
 to a hospital and wonder why a cure is not effected. 
 
 We have been annoyed by the admission of several pa- 
 tients who were committed on the order of police courts or 
 justices of the peace. The statute which authorizes such 
 commitments is defective; it does not determine who is re- 
 sponsible for the payment of hospital bills in such cases. If 
 the selectmen were not consulted before the commitment by 
 the police court they generally refuse to acknowledge the in- 
 debtedness and refer us for payment to the Comptroller and 
 his excellency the Governor. I do not find any statute which 
 would authorize the approval of such bills. Thus far the 
 hospital has obtained payment through the approval of the 
 chief magistrate of the State. 
 
 I would suggest that an effort be made to secure the 
 enactment of a proper statute to meet the requirements 
 of such cases. 
 
 Notwithstanding the unsettled condition of financial ques- 
 tions, and the resulting uncertainty in business matters, the 
 regular income from State, towns, and individuals has been 
 sufficient to meet all our wants and to enable us to continue 
 improvements on the farm and about the buildings. The 
 plan adopted eighteen months ago of making all purchases 
 for cash works to the satisfaction of all parties. By referring 
 to the financial statement, herewith presented, you will 
 observe that the hospital received from all sources (including 
 balance with treasurer, $1,583.98, and cash on hand, $227.84, 
 April 1, 1873), the sum of ninety-two thousand eight hun- 
 dred and seventy-nine dollars and two cents ($92,879.02), 
 and that the total expenditures during the same period, as 
 per vouchers audited monthly by the finance committee, were 
 eighty-seven thousand nine hundred and eighty-four dollars 
 and twenty-nine cents ($87,984.29), leaving a balance of 
 $1,499.30 with treasurer, and $3,395.43 cash on hand. 
 
 For special details respecting farm labor and its results, I 
 
153 
 
 would refer you to some interesting facts, properly tabulated 
 by Mr. Weatherbee, who has efficiently conducted the farm- 
 ing operations during the past five years. In this connection 
 I would again bear testimony to the great value of out-door 
 labor as an auxiliary means of treatment in mental disease. 
 The old adage, respecting idle hands, applies to the occupants 
 of an institution for the insane, and I have often thought 
 that many lives were saved and minds restored to usefulness 
 by judiciously disturbing the languor which usually accom- 
 panies chronic insanity. This kind of work is not generally 
 profitable, and to develop it requires peculiar adaptation in 
 those who have the immediate care of such persons. A 
 pleasant smile and an encouraging word will sometimes 
 induce a patient to perform manual labor which, in the end, 
 may aid in his restoration to health. 
 
 It may be a matter of surprise to those who are not famil- 
 iar with the daily life and habits of the insane in hospitals, 
 to learn that a large proportion of all male patients at this 
 institution have been employed about the farm or buildings 
 under slight supervision, or were allowed the liberty of the 
 grounds, during the summer months, unattended. The fol- 
 lowing tables, showing the relative number in each year? 
 were carefully prepared by Dr. Hallock : 
 
 1869, average number present, 109. No. at large, 29. Percent, at large, 26.6 
 
 1870, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 115. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 35. 
 
 do. 
 
 do 
 
 30.4 
 
 1871, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 120. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 37. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 30 8 
 
 1872, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 131. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 55. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 42.0 
 
 An additional number, who were considered safe to be at 
 liberty, but for various reasons (lameness, old age, dementia, 
 etc.) remained in the house or airing courts, is shown by the 
 following statement : 
 
 1869, there were . . 19. 1871, there were . . 23 
 
 1870, do. . . 20. 1872, do. . . 22 
 
 By adding together the above tables, the total number who 
 were in condition to be trusted with their freedom, needing 
 no supervision whatever, so far as elopement is concerned, 
 will be as follows : 
 
154 
 
 1869, No. present, 109. No. at large, 29 added to 19, total, 48. Perct., 44.0 
 
 1870, 
 
 do. 
 
 115. 
 
 do. 
 
 35 
 
 do. 
 
 20, 
 
 do. 
 
 55. 
 
 do. 
 
 47.7 
 
 1871, 
 
 do. 
 
 120. 
 
 do. 
 
 37 
 
 do. 
 
 23, 
 
 do. 
 
 60. 
 
 do. 
 
 50.0 
 
 1872, 
 
 do. 
 
 181. 
 
 do. 
 
 55 
 
 do. 
 
 22, 
 
 do. 
 
 77. 
 
 do. 
 
 58.7 
 
 Of the number actually at liberty, without supervision, 
 only two needed restraint at intervals, on account of periodi- 
 cal excitement. 
 
 The value of custodial treatment is demonstrated by these 
 facts ; we know from actual experience that the regularity of 
 hospital life is sufficient to keep many of the above-mentioned 
 persons within the limits of self-control ; and that when re- 
 stored to full freedom at home (a frequent occurrence), they 
 soon go beyond the limits, and are returned to us in a worse 
 condition than at first. 
 
 Owing to the unfinished condition of the grounds, and the 
 presence of many workmen employed about the new wings, 
 we have not tested the question of relative trustfulness be- 
 tween males and females. My impression, formed from gen- 
 eral observation, is, that a much smaller number of the 
 latter class can be trusted with liberty. The disease appears 
 to develop more of the restless and unruly elements in her 
 organization ; she is less contented with her surroundings 
 and treatment, and more desirous of attention from officers 
 and visitors ; then, too, it is more difficult to provide employ- 
 ment adapted to each case. 
 
 I trust that you will not consider it inappropriate for me 
 to refer to the unfinished condition of the grounds immedi- 
 ately surrounding the hospital. As building operations have 
 terminated, now would seem to be the proper time to com- 
 mence the work of grading and systematically laying out the 
 walks and drives. A definite plan should be selected, and 
 the services of an experienced landscape gardener provided 
 for ; nearly all of the heavy labor can be performed by our 
 regular working force. The importance of this matter is so 
 obvious that I need not offer special reasons therefor. 
 
 A variety of evening entertainments, consisting of lectures, 
 readings, concerts, tableaux, and dramatic representations, 
 
155 
 
 have been furnished during the year. Two hundred new 
 slides were purchased and used in the stereopticon with 
 gratifying results. 
 
 It is my purpose to do all that can he done in this direc- 
 tion to relieve the tedium of hospital life. In pursuance of 
 this plan many books are added monthly to the different 
 ward libraries, and engravings hung upon the walls, when- 
 ever the funds will admit. Early in the year an arrange- 
 ment was made with the dealers to furnish daily all of the 
 
 preceding day’s papers remaining unsold. 
 
 In addition 
 
 , the 
 
 publishers of the following-named newspapers have, as here- 
 tofore, generously furnished copies regularly and gratu- 
 
 itously ; to all such our acknowledgments are due. 
 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, .... 
 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 
 do. Evening Post, .... 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. Weekly Times, .... 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Religious Herald, ..... 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Connecticut General Advertiser, . 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 New Haven Evening Register, 
 
 New Haven, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. Morning Journal and Courier, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. Weekly Palladium, . 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Connecticut Herald and Weekly Journal, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 The Constitution, ..... 
 
 Middletown, 
 
 do. 
 
 The Sentinel and Witness, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Norwich Daily Advertiser (part of year), 
 
 Norwich, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. Weekly Courier, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Tolland County Journal, .... 
 
 Tolland, 
 
 do. 
 
 Bridgeport Republican and Standard, 
 
 Bridgeport, 
 
 do. 
 
 Meriden Daily Republican (part of year), 
 
 Meriden, 
 
 do. 
 
 Whitney’s Musical Guest, 
 
 Toledo, Ohio. 
 
 
 The Sheltering Arms (monthly), . 
 
 New York City. 
 
 Watson’s Art Journal, .... 
 
 do. do. 
 
 
 In addition to these contributions, the following donations 
 have been received. 
 
 A fine set of Marryatt’s Novels, twelve volumes, from A. B. Gillette of 
 Hartford. The “Surgical and Medical History of the Rebellion/’ from 
 Dr. Samuel Lynes of Norwalk. Five dollars and a number of books from 
 Mr. Burroughs of Middletown. H. D. A Ward, Esq., contributed a 
 complete set of the New York Daily Graphic (in bound volumes), together 
 with files of old papers and magazines. As in former years, Hon. T. S- 
 Gold, Secretary State Board of Agriculture, has furnished volumes 
 of Agricultural Reports from other States. 
 
156 
 
 We are under especial obligations to the following-named 
 gentlemen for a course of seven interesting and highly in- 
 structive lectures : 
 
 President Cummings, Wesleyan University, on Foreign Travels. 
 
 Prof. Wm. North Rice, do. do. on Glaciers. 
 
 Prof. C. T. Winchester, do. do. on Oliver Goldsmith. 
 
 Dr. C. L. Loomis, Middletown, two lectures on Southwestern Africa. 
 
 Rev. J. II. Bradford, Middletown, on Temperance. 
 
 Col. B. S Pardee, New Haven, on Western Life. 
 
 Early in the summer a number of young ladies of the 
 South Congregational Church Sabbath-school formed a mis- 
 sion for the purpose of collecting flowers and arranging bou- 
 quets, to be sent to the hospital on every Saturday afternoon. 
 The interest increased until the whole school was engaged in 
 this good work ; as a result, our people received and enjoyed 
 weekly from one hundred to one hundred and fifty beautiful 
 bouquets, which were distributed in all the wards, sitting- 
 rooms, dining-rooms, and parlors. To those who have cheer- 
 fully devoted their time to this benevolent purpose, our 
 acknowledgments are due. 
 
 Since the opening, in 1868 , religious services have been 
 held every Sabbath afternoon at two o’clock, much to the 
 advantage, comfort, and benefit of the patients, a large pro- 
 portion of whom have been present at the services. No reg- 
 ular chaplain is employed. We are therefore under greater 
 obligations to the reverend gentlemen of Middletown and 
 vicinity who have devoted their time gratuitously to this 
 work. 
 
 No changes have occurred in the staff of officers. If expe- 
 rience and length of service adds to the efficiency of persons 
 engaged in ordinary avocations, it must be evident that labor 
 which requires special training and peculiar adaptation will 
 be more intelligently performed by those who have devoted 
 their best energies for years to the work. 
 
 In November an increase of numbers necessitated the 
 employment of another medical officer. Dr. Calvin S. May, 
 of New Haven, a graduate of Yale Medical School, was 
 
157 
 
 chosen to fill the place, which he has occupied since that 
 time. If thorough professional preparation and entire devo- 
 tion to the work are important qualifications, you are fortu- 
 nate in having secured the services of Dr. May as second 
 assistant physician. 
 
 I am under renewed obligations to the officers, attendants, 
 and employes who have endeavored, with ability, fidelity, and 
 tact, to secure for this institution a still greater measure of 
 usefulness. Surrounded by the peculiar difficulties incident 
 to the care of those suffering from mental and moral devia- 
 tions, it would be strange indeed if we have succeeded in 
 satisfying everybody. Our aim has been to restore health by 
 proper medical and moral treatment; failing in this, to control, 
 protect, and provide for the safety, comfort, and well being 
 of those committed to our care. 
 
 In conclusion, I desire to express my deep obligations to 
 the members of your board, who, by intelligent co-operation 
 and personal kindness, have greatly assisted in sharing the 
 burdens of another year. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ABRAM MARVIN SHEW, 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., March 31, 1874. 
 
REPORT OF TREASURER. 
 
 The following statement of the fiscal concerns of “The General Hospital 
 for the Insane of the State of Connecticut,” for the year commencing 
 April 1, 1873, and ending March 31, 1874, is respectfully submitted to the 
 Board of Trustees. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance in hands of treasurer, April 1, 1873, . . . $1,583.98 
 
 Revenue account from the hospital, .... 91,067.20 
 
 Total, . $92,651.18 
 
 PAYMENTS. 
 
 Amount of superintendent’s orders, 
 
 Balance in hands of treasurer, March 31, 1874, 
 
 Total, . 
 
 . $91,151.88 
 
 1,499.30 
 
 . $92,651.18 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 Middletown, Conn., April 1, 1874. 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, 
 
 Treasurer. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the vouchers and accounts of 
 the treasurer, of which the above is an abstract, and find them correct. 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 
 Auditors. 
 
SUPERINTENDENT’S FINANCIAL REPORT. 
 
 1873. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 April 1st. 
 1874. 
 
 To cash on hand, 
 
 To balance in bank, 
 
 , $227.84 
 
 . 1,583.98 
 
 
 March 31. 
 
 To revenue (for year), . 
 
 Or. 
 
 . 91,067.20 
 
 $92,879.02 
 
 April, 1873. 
 
 By vouchers, . 
 
 . $5,988.07 
 
 
 May, “ 
 
 ti tt 
 
 . 5,755 21 
 
 
 June, “ 
 
 << n 
 
 . 6,976.77 
 
 
 July, “ 
 
 n << 
 
 . 7,240.86 
 
 
 Aug., “ 
 
 a n 
 
 . 8,104.47 
 
 
 Sept., “ 
 
 a a 
 
 . 8,951.67 
 
 
 Oct., “ 
 
 a a 
 
 . 7,838.12 
 
 
 Nov., “ 
 
 a a 
 
 . 7,217.23 
 
 
 Dec., “ 
 
 II It 
 
 . 6,989.40 
 
 
 Jan., 1874. 
 
 it II 
 
 . 7,451.90 
 
 
 Feb., “ 
 
 II II 
 
 . 7,523.54 
 
 
 March, “ 
 
 II l( 
 
 . 7,947.05 
 
 87,984.29 
 
 Mar. 31,“ 
 
 “ Cash on hand, 
 
 
 3,395.43 
 
 
 “ Balance in bank, 
 
 
 1,499.30 
 
 $92,879.02 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable , the General Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut : 
 
 The Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane respectfully present this their Ninth Annual Report, 
 for the year ending March 31, 1875. 
 
 The records of the past year show the usefulness of your 
 institution in its care of t)05 patients to the first of April 
 instant. At that date there were 450 insane persons, from 
 all parts of the State, in the hospital. The tabular state- 
 ments, in the absence of Dr. Shew, prepared by Dr. ITallock, 
 exhibit the usual details as to patients, the phases of their 
 disease and the success attending their treatment. 
 
 During the last autumn your superintendent, Doctor Shew, 
 was seized with an illness which threatened to be serious and 
 permanent. Medical advisers and friends concurred with 
 your trustees that an absolute respite from care for some 
 months was a necessity. His record of faithful devotion to 
 the hospital, from a period before the foundations of it were 
 laid, was almost a rebuke to us that we had not earlier in- 
 sisted upon his taking his regular annual vacations. This 
 forced one was voted, by a full board unanimously. From 
 letters received from him we are encouraged to believe that 
 his relief from care will produce a permanent cure, and that 
 in June he will return to his post. 
 
 His absence would have been more seriously felt by the hos- 
 pital but for the able helpers left in charge, — Dr. Hallock and 
 Dr. May, the assistant physicians, also the matron and assist- 
 ant matron, who have all faithfully and loyally devoted them- 
 selves to carrying on the established system of the work. 
 The clerk and the farmer have been no less faithful in their 
 
161 
 
 departments, and have deservedly gained regard and con- 
 fidence. 
 
 We are the more particular to mention the above, as in 
 Dr. Sliew’s absence all have shown interest in the harmoni- 
 ous working of the hospital, worthy of praise. 
 
 The special duties of head of the institution, during the 
 absence of the superintendent, were devolved, by vote of the 
 board in December last, on our co-trustee, the Hon. H. Sid- 
 ney Hayden of Hartford County, from whom the trustees 
 have received the following communication : 
 
 “The commissioners employed in the erection of the new 
 north and south wings reported to the General Assembly of 
 1874, that after the completion of their work, there remained 
 in hand four thousand five hundred dollars. With this 
 money they proposed to erect a suitable mortuary building to 
 form a lodge and gateway at the north entrance to the hospi- 
 tal grounds on Silver street. This work has been now com- 
 pleted.” 
 
 Annexed is presented the certificate of E. W. Moore, that 
 vouchers for the full amount of the appropriation, namely, for 
 one hundred and eighty thousand dollars, have been presented 
 and found correct. 
 
 “ The commissioners having completed the lodge and gate- 
 way, advantage was taken of the delightful fall months of 
 October and November to commence the first systematic effort 
 to grade the grounds of the hospital. The plans for grading 
 have been furnished and the work will be carried on this 
 year.” 
 
 It has been very gratifying to those to whom you have in- 
 trusted this benevolent institution, to observe the lively re- 
 gard which it receives from the officers of the towns, who 
 have the duty of sending patients to it, and of punctually 
 paying the charges for their maintenance. The good which 
 the institution has done and is doing, and the evils which it 
 has averted, seem to have made a favorable impression, of 
 which we speak with high satisfaction. 
 
 His Excellency, the Governor, has placed in his message a 
 11 
 
162 
 
 number of significant statements as to the increase of insan- 
 ity generally in the world, and especially in this State. These 
 statements will rightly impress you more than any we can 
 make ; that increased accommodations are already needed is 
 only too painfully clear. 
 
 The responsibility for such increase is left to the wisdom 
 of your honorable body. 
 
 In conclusion, the trustees gratefully acknowledge the man- 
 • ifest Divine favor, which has another year crowned with 
 blessing the labors for those bereft of their reason. 
 
 The official term of the members of this board from New 
 Haven and Middlesex counties expires in 1875. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 CHARLES R. INGERSOLL, 
 RICHARD S. FELLOWES, 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 SAMUEL LYNES, M.D., 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 JOSEPH D. BATES, 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 
 New Haven. 
 
 U 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Norfolk. 
 
 Norwalk. 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Tolland. 
 
 Colchester. 
 
 Danielsonville. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 cc 
 
 u 
 
 Comptroller’s Office, State of Connecticut, 
 Hartford, May 6, 1875. 
 
 I hereby certify, that I have examined the bills and vouchers presented 
 by the commissioners, for the erection of the new north and south wings 
 of the “Connecticut Hospital for the Insane,” at Middletown, and find 
 the same amount to the sum of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars 
 ($180,000), to be correct. 
 
 E. W. MOORE. 
 
REPORT OF ACTING SUPERINTEND- 
 ENT. 
 
 I have the honor to lay before you the following report, ex- 
 hibiting the operations of the hospital for the year ending 
 March 31, 1875, together with the usual statistical tables 
 after the forms adopted by the Association of Medical Super- 
 intendents. 
 
 Number of patients at the beginning of the 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 year, 
 
 175 
 
 220 
 
 395 
 
 Admitted in the year, 
 
 122 
 
 88 
 
 210 
 
 Whole number treated, .... 
 
 297 
 
 308 
 
 605 
 
 Discharged, ....... 
 
 78 
 
 77 
 
 155 
 
 
 — 
 
 - — 
 
 — _ 
 
 Remaining, ....... 
 
 219 
 
 231 
 
 450 
 
 Average present during the year, 
 
 198.63 
 
 227.17 
 
 425.80 
 
 During the year forty-one patients were discharged recov- 
 ered, forty-four improved, thirty-four stationary, and thirty- 
 six died. 
 
 The following table shows the admissions and discharges 
 from the beginning of the hospital : 
 
 Total number of patients admitted, 1,106 
 
 Total number discharged, — recovered, .... 194 
 
 Total number discharged, — improved, 145 
 
 Total number discharged, — stationary, .... 153 
 
 Total number of patients died, 164 
 
 656 
 
 Number remaining, 450 
 
164 
 
 SUMMARY OF FACTS AND GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Of the 1,106 patients admitted since the opening of the 
 hospital, 124 have been private or paying; 336 indigent or 
 partly self-supporting ; and 646 have been of the pauper class. 
 
 The ratio of recoveries and deaths is about the same as 
 last year. 
 
 The proportion recovered of all under treatment was 
 something over six per cent.; last year it was seven per cent. 
 
 The proportion of deaths of all under care was a little less 
 than six per cent.; last year it was a trifle over six per cent. 
 
 The ratio of deaths of the average number present was 
 eight and a half per cent.; last year it was a little over ten 
 per cent. 
 
 During the past year, especially the last quarter, the 
 amount of sickness has been greater than previously ; yet 
 notwithstanding this fact the death rate is less this year than 
 last by nearly two per cent. Among the employes there has 
 also been considerable sickness, necessitating the employ- 
 ment of more than the usual amount of help. 
 
 The internal affairs of the institution have gone on 
 throughout the year uninterrupted by any accident, or other 
 event worthy of special mention. 
 
 The cottages continue to be occupied and serve a useful 
 purpose. These buildings, owing to age and original frailty, 
 require considerable yearly outlays to keep them in repair 
 and in a good sanitary condition. 
 
 The new south (male) wing, which was opened in January, 
 1874, became filled with its complement of patients in Feb- 
 ruary last, thirteen months from the date of opening. It 
 will be remembered that the new north (female) wing was 
 wholly occupied in just one year from the time it was opened, 
 and that soon after female applicants had to go upon a wait- 
 ing period or were referred to other hospitals. A like con- 
 dition of things will soon be experienced on the male side of 
 the house. So far, however, since that wing became full, 
 vacancies have occurred as fast as new patients have arrived. 
 
165 
 
 During the year there were transferred to the hospital 
 from the prison at Wethersfield, three “ insane” convicts. 
 After an extended observation, however, two of them were 
 found to be malingerers, and their cases were accordingly 
 reported upon to the Governor, who remanded them back to 
 prison. The number of insane convicts now in hospital is 
 eight. 
 
 Weekly amusements and entertainments have taken place 
 as usual. In addition to the stereopticon exhibitions and 
 dances, we have had, under the management of Dr. May 
 and Mrs. Dutton, several readings, concerts, theatricals, etc., 
 taken part in by our own employes. These have been very 
 successful and much enjoyed by the patients. 
 
 We are under obligations to Miss Chapman of Middletown, 
 for an evening entertainment of select readings ; to Messrs. 
 Coleman, Arnold, Van Buren, and Craik of the Berkeley 
 Divinity School, for a vocal concert ; to Dr. C. L. Loomis of 
 Middletown, for two interesting lectures (illustrated), en- 
 titled “The Wings of Thought;” to the Rev. Mr. Greeley 
 of New Hampshire, for two lectures on scenes and events 
 connected with our late civil war. 
 
 The publishers of the following named newspapers have 
 continued to furnish copies regularly and gratuitously : 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, 
 
 . Hartford, 
 
 Conn. 
 
 do. Evening Post, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. Weekly Times, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Religious Herald, .... 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Connecticut General Advertiser, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 New Haven Evening Register, 
 
 . New Haven, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. Morning Journal and Courier, . 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. Weekly Palladium, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Connecticut Herald and Weekly Journal, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. Weekly Journal, . 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Weekly State Journal, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 The Constitution, .... 
 
 . Middletown, 
 
 do. 
 
 The Sentinel and Witness, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 The Republican and Standard, 
 
 . Bridgeport, 
 
 do. 
 
 Connecticut Western News (most of the year), 
 
 . Salisbury, 
 
 do. 
 
 The Sheltering Arms, .... 
 
 . New York city. 
 
 Watson’s Art Journal, 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
166 
 
 The following contributions have been received : 
 
 From Rev. R. T. Thorne, Middletown, Conn., several copies weekly of 
 the Parish Visitor; Mrs. E. B. Monroe, Southport, Conn., pamphlets and 
 books; Mrs. H. S. Hayden, Windsor, 14 bound volumes Harper’s Maga- 
 zine; J. W. Bradley, Philadelphia, books and engravings to the value of 
 one hundred dollars; Mrs. Perry, Southport, Conn., papers and maga- 
 zines; Rev. Mr. Graeber, Meriden, Conn., German Bibles and books; 
 Chas. H. Kent, Kansas City, Mo., illustrated papers; Mrs. Gorham, Wil- 
 ton, Conn., four dollars cash for library of 7th hall, north; George H. 
 Hulbert, Esq., Middletown, Conn., the Independent and the Advance; 
 Mrs. Benj. Douglas, Middletown, Conn., Fashion Magazines; Col. Benj. 
 S. Pardee, New Haven, Conn., several pots of choice plants; A. Van 
 Name, Librarian of Yale College, a large number of London Illustrated 
 papers; Miss Stowe, New Haven, Conn., decorations for ward parlor; 
 Miss Green, Mass., flower vases for ward parlor; A. B. Gillette, Hart- 
 ford, Conn., three valuable fowls; Hon. T. S. Gold, Secretary State 
 Board of Agriculture, several volumes of Agricultural Reports from 
 other States. 
 
 We are under special obligation to the South Congrega- 
 tional Sabbath School “ Flower Mission ” for their very valu- 
 able weekly gift of flowers to the hospital during the past 
 summer. 
 
 Religious services have been held on every Sabbath, con- 
 ducted by clergymen of Middletown and students of the 
 Berkeley Divinity School ; also, occasionally, by students of 
 Wesleyan University. To these gentlemen we would express 
 our sincere thanks. 
 
 Rev. Father O’Brien of Middletown has on several occa- 
 sions held services on week days. 
 
 During a part of the winter Dr. Charles H. Langdon was 
 engaged as one of the assistant physicians. He left on the 
 first of March to assume a permanent situation at another 
 institution. Since that date the medical service has been 
 performed by the two medical officers present. 
 
 A report of the steward’s department will be given in de- 
 tail by the clerk. 
 
 The farm, under the management of Mr. Weatherbee, has 
 been highly productive. For details you are referred to the 
 farmer’s report herewith presented. 
 
167 
 
 The various outside matters, improvements begun, com- 
 pleted, and in contemplation, I leave to be presented by Mr. 
 Hayden, who is thoroughly conversant with them. 
 
 If not out of place, I would mention with praise the treat- 
 ment and management of the male patients by Dr. May. I 
 can speak in the highest terms of his skill, tact, and judg- 
 ment. He has also rendered valuable professional assistance 
 on the female side of the house. 
 
 In closing this imperfect report, it remains to say that to 
 Mr. Hayden are due from us, one and all, many thanks for 
 his wise counsel and aid in our work, and I may say it is 
 owing to his good judgment and watchful care over the insti- 
 tution that it has prospered as it has during the absence of 
 the superintendent. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 W. B. HALLOCK. 
 Middletown, Conn., March 31, 1875. 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 The following statement of the fiscal concerns of The Connecticut 
 Hospital for the Insane, for the year commencing April 1, 1874, and end- 
 ing March 31, 1875, is respectfully submitted to the board of trustees: 
 
 Receipts. 
 
 Balance in hands of Treasurer, April 1, 1874, . 
 Revenue Account from the Hospital, . 
 
 Payments. 
 
 Amount of Superintendent’s orders, 
 
 Balance in hands of Treasurer, March 31, 1875, 
 
 . $1,499.30 
 
 . 119,584.00 
 
 $121,083.30 
 
 . $116,674.85 
 4,408.45 
 
 $121,083.30 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, 
 
 Treasurer. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., April 1, 1875. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the vouchers and accounts 
 of the treasurer, of which the above is an abstract, and find them correct. 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 
 Auditors. 
 
SUPERINTENDENT’S FINANCIAL REPORT 
 
 Debtor . 
 
 April 1, 1874. 
 
 To Cash on hand, 
 
 . $3,395.43 
 
 
 <( < < 
 
 To Balance in Bank, 
 
 1,499.30 
 
 
 March 81, 1875. 
 
 To Revenue (for year), . 
 
 Credit. 
 
 . 118,584.00 
 
 / 
 
 $123,478.73 
 
 April, 1874. ] 
 
 By Vouchers, 
 
 . $9,330.05 
 
 
 May, ‘ ‘ 
 
 << a 
 
 . 10,820.45 
 
 
 June, “ 
 
 (< a 
 
 . 9,150.82 
 
 
 July, 
 
 a a 
 
 . 12,506.62 
 
 
 Aug., 
 
 tt n 
 
 . 8,004.64 
 
 
 Sept., “ 
 
 a a 
 
 . 8,825.52 
 
 
 Oct., 
 
 a a 
 
 . 12,320.64 
 
 
 Nov., “ 
 
 a a 
 
 . 10,380.28 
 
 
 Dec., " 
 
 n a 
 
 . 6,869.46 
 
 
 Jan., 1875. 
 
 a a 
 
 . 13,171.10 
 
 
 Feb., 
 
 a a 
 
 . 8,040.38 
 
 
 March, “ 
 
 a a 
 
 . 9,213.37 
 
 118,633.33 
 
 Mar. 31, “ 
 
 “ Cash on hand, . 
 
 
 436.95 
 
 - 31, - 
 
 “ Balance in Bank, 
 
 
 4,408.45 
 
 $123,478.73 
 
EEPOET OF TEUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable , the General Assembly of, the State of Con- 
 necticut : 
 
 The Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane 
 have now the honor to submit their tenth annual report to 
 the 31st of March, 1876, together with the interesting and 
 suggestive report of the superintendent, including tabulated 
 statements of admissions, discharges, deaths, nationalities, etc. 
 A description of the hospital and its history during its first 
 ten years, with a summary of its benevolent work, have been 
 added in a separate article by Dr. Shew. 
 
 The largest number of patients on any one day was four 
 hundred and sixty-four (464). The smallest number on any 
 one day was four hundred and forty (440). These figures 
 show that the hospital has been full — it is only just to say 
 crowded , during the whole twelve months past. 
 
 Those in charge appreciate the desire of the town officials 
 to have all of their insane accommodated, and realize how 
 natural are expressions of disappointment when, owing to the 
 crowded condition of the wards, their special cases cannot, at 
 once, on the occasion of need, be promptly admitted. 
 
 Patients are received in turn according to dates of applica- 
 tion. There are now fourteen (14) waiting for room on the 
 male side, and fifty-one (51) for the female department. 
 
 The question of the future provision of accommodation for 
 the insane is an important and interesting one to every legis- 
 lator and benevolent man. 
 
171 
 
 Daring the year Miss Dix acceded to the wishes of your 
 board for a likeness of herself, and generously gave to the 
 hospital an oil portrait, richly framed. It hangs in the 
 trustees’ room, and is a beautiful reminder of her continued 
 interest in the prosperity of the Connecticut institution, which 
 in its inception owed so much to her wise counsel and self- 
 sacrificing efforts to secure its successful organization. 
 
 A large amount of w^ork has been done in grading the 
 grounds in front of the buildings, and a much-needed enlarge- 
 ment has been made to the laundry and boiler house, which 
 has added sleeping rooms for the work people, a reading 
 room, repair shop, etc., etc. 
 
 The hospital income has sufficed to meet the ordinary 
 expenses and repairs of the institution, and to make the above 
 improvements. The report of the treasurer is appended to 
 this. 
 
 The attention of the legislature is respectfully called to the 
 fact that in some instances, the poor of a town have been 
 “ farmed,” outside of its borders, to other towns. Difficulties 
 have thereby arisen in collecting dues from contractors, and 
 several hundred dollars are in arrears, which your hospital 
 would have received but for the complications growing out of 
 the practice here complained of. 
 
 It is a satisfaction to acknowledge the almost universal 
 promptness with which the town officials have paid the bills 
 of the patients. 
 
 Our physicians and other resident officers have been faithful 
 in their duties. 
 
 It should be mentioned in this report, that there are forty 
 (40) patients, thirty-three (33) males and seven (7) females of 
 the criminal class, in the hospital. 
 
 The official terms of the members from Litchfield and 
 Fairfield Counties expire this spring. 
 
172 
 
 For the constant blessing of God, which has attended this 
 hospital during the past year, the trustees feel ever grateful 
 and encouraged. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 CHARLES R. INGERSOLL, New Haven. 
 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 SAMUEL LINES, M.D., 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 JOSEPH D. BATES, 
 RICHARD S. FELLOWES, 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, 
 
 Norfolk . 
 
 Norwalk. 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Tolland. 
 
 Colchester. 
 
 Danielsonville. 
 
 Neiv Haven. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 April 1, 1876. 
 
■REPORT OF SUPERIN TENDER T. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen: — Agreeably to custom, I herewith submit the 
 usual tables with the details and statistics of the hospital, for 
 the year ending March 31, 1876. The number of persons 
 under treatment exceeds that of any previous twelve months. 
 The general health of officers, employes, and patients has 
 been good; fewer changes have occurred among those 
 engaged in the work, and consequently more efficient service 
 has been rendered. 
 
 In keeping the records and preparing tables therefrom the 
 same rules are observed as in former years. Without these 
 precautions the tabulated statistics or any deductions based 
 upon them would be worthless. For instance, at some hos- 
 pitals it is customary to discharge a patient when he leaves 
 the building and to re-admit him on a new number whenever 
 returned. Thus an individual, suffering from periodical 
 insanity, may leave the hospital and return several times 
 during twelve months and appear on the records each time 
 as a new admission. To avoid error, it has been our custom 
 to record such cases as “home on a visit,” or “ on trial.” At 
 the end of the year the records are balanced and all persons 
 accounted for. Thus the number of admissions represents an 
 equal number of persons ; this rule applies to discharges and 
 recoveries. 
 
 At the date of the last report there were remaining four 
 hundred and fifty (450) patients, of w T hom two hundred and 
 nineteen (219) were males and two hundred and thirty-one 
 (231) were females. There have been since admitted to this 
 
174 
 
 date, one hundred and sixty-six (166) patients; one hundred 
 and eight (108) males, and fifty-eight (58) females. 
 
 Of this whole number, six hundred and sixteen (616), 
 forty-five (45) were discharged recovered, forty-six (46) im- 
 proved, thirty-two (32) stationary, and thirty-three (33) died. 
 The daily average during the year is 452.64. The smallest 
 number present on any one day was four hundred and forty 
 (440). The largest number four hundred and sixty-four (464). 
 The following table shows the number of deaths annually, 
 the percentage of average number, and percentage of whole 
 number present during each year: 
 
 Deaths and titeir Ratios, from May 1, 1868, to April 
 
 1, 1876. 
 
 Official Year. 
 
 Whole No. of 
 Patients. 
 
 Daily Average 
 No. of Patients. 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 Per Cent, on whole 
 No. of Patients. 
 
 Per Cent, on Daily 
 Average 
 No. of Patients. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-70, 
 
 343 
 
 225.17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6 12 
 
 9.32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-78, 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6.25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 339.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425 80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 The comparatively low death rate during the year is partly 
 attributable to a number of favorable circumstances, which 
 cannot always be counted on. With constantly increasing 
 numbers of chronic cases, advanced in years, and worn out by 
 long-continued maniacal excitement, we must sooner or later 
 reach the limit beyond which good nursing, favorable hy- 
 gienic arrangements and regularity of habits and diet may 
 not prolong life. By referring to the table of causes you 
 observe that nearly one-half of all deaths were the result of 
 incurable organic changes, such as Bright’s disease, general 
 
175 
 
 paresis and apoplexy. It will be observed that one hundred 
 and eight (108) men were admitted during the year, and only 
 fifty-eight (58) women. This has been owing simply to want 
 of room in the wards devoted to females in consequence of a 
 larger percentage of chronic cases and fewer recoveries. As 
 the wards allotted to men are now crowded I believe that 
 hereafter the admission will be more equally proportioned. 
 Without knowing this you might infer that mental disease 
 was more curable in one sex than in the other. Experience 
 shows that under the same influence there is little difference. 
 One fatal form of insanity, general paresis, is becoming more 
 common among men, while it rarely affects women; hence 
 we may reasonably expect more frequent recoveries, and, 
 consequently, more vacancies as well as more deaths among 
 the men than among the women. 
 
 Statutory provision is made for three classes of patients, 
 and the treatment for all is the same. 
 
 Mental Condition is the only true basis of classification. 
 Previous social standing does not protect from abnormal and 
 often repulsive mental manifestations. It is no uncommon 
 experience to have those who are refined and cultured de- 
 velop the opposite qualities when under the influence of 
 strong delusions. The friends of highly excited' patients 
 sometimes express surprise and regret that their loved ones 
 are not domiciled in a quiet ward with convalescents, where 
 books, pictures, and flowers adorn the walls and recesses, 
 giving to each an air of comfort and home-likeness which is 
 pleasant to behold. It is perhaps natural and excusable that 
 they should lose sight of the fact which is evident to all oth- 
 ers — that one excitable person would disturb and jeopardize 
 the recovery of others. Hence we have always exercised 
 the privilege of classifying patients according to their men- 
 tal condition. 
 
 Of the three classes for whom the law provides there are 
 at this date three hundred and two (302) paupers, one hun- 
 dred and thirty-five (135) indigent, and twenty-three (23) 
 paying patients. The first group includes all who are sent 
 by the selectmen of towns or the State authorities. The 
 
176 
 
 second class comprises such as have moderate means and are 
 able to pay one-half the expense of support, the balance be- 
 ing charged to the State. All such are admitted on the or- 
 der of probate judges, who are by law required to determine 
 the fact of indigency. The last group includes those who 
 are self-supporting, either personally or by friends. 
 
 Believing that a State hospital should provide primarily 
 for those who are in moderate circumstances, I have invaria- 
 bly advised applicants of the latter class to seek accommo- 
 dations elsewhere. I do not understand that the superin- 
 tendent has discretionary power in the premises, hence w T hen 
 friends insist upon admission here, I have entered their ap- 
 plication in regular order. The admissions during the year 
 were one hundred and sixty-six (166) patients, but it should 
 be borne in mind that double that number applied for en- 
 trance. The waiting period was often six months. Quite a 
 number died before their turn came; others were sent to in- 
 stitutions out of the State ; but the majority remained at 
 home or in the almshouses, to the great annoyance and sor- 
 row of friends and officials, until the period most favorable 
 for treatment had passed. Who can estimate the sum to- 
 tal of suffering, anxiety, and care incident to these delays ? 
 Neither the hospital nor its officers are responsible, yet they 
 receive the burden of blame. 
 
 The officers are deeply pained when patients are brought 
 to the hospital for whom the needed applications have not 
 been made. We have by circulars and the press and by per- 
 sonal letters tried to prevent town officers from bringing pa- 
 tients without notice, and thus save useless expense. When 
 a hospital is filled, every additional case disturbs the order, 
 destroys classification and multiplies the difficulties incident 
 to successful treatment of the insane. In the attempt to ben- 
 efit one, positive injury results to man y. The officers have 
 endeavored to make vacancies whenever practicable ; no 
 violent or highly-excited person has been refused admission 
 when a quiet chronic case could be exchanged. In this way 
 many milder patients have gone back to the town houses, 
 and others to their homes. As the hospital is now filled to 
 
177 
 
 its utmost capacity with a large proportion of cases who from 
 age, infirmity, or disease, require hospital care, the number 
 of discharges will be proportionally less, and the applications 
 for admission increasingly greater. Judging from the past 
 and from the character of those now occupying the wards, 
 we cannot reasonably expect to discharge more than one 
 hundred and fifty (150) persons during the next twelve 
 months. Experience shows that in a population of 600,000 
 there will annually occur at least three hundred new cases 
 of insanity who should receive prompt treatment. What 
 provision can be made for the remaining one hundred and 
 fifty ? 
 
 This is a vital question which should receive your earnest 
 and careful consideration. 
 
 Nothwithstanding the general financial depression, the 
 bills for board and other expenses have been promptly paid. 
 A number of patients have been sent by order of judges, in 
 compliance with Chapter Y, Title YIII, of Revised Statutes. 
 The law is defective, in that it does not explicitly deter- 
 mine who shall be responsible for the support of such cases. 
 The institution can only look to the town from which the 
 patient is admitted. If sent by order of a police court or a 
 justice of the peace, the selectmen may perhaps refuse to 
 pay the bill, and thus oblige the hospital to resort to legal 
 measures for its collection. I have reason to know that in a 
 few instances, selectmen have neglected complaints respect- 
 ing insane persons, and have allowed other parties to apply 
 to police courts rather than assume their official responsi- 
 bilities. A majority of these cases, however, come before 
 the courts charged with crime; when acquitted of the charge 
 on the ground of insanity, they are promptly transferred to 
 the hospital. During the past year seventeen persons, (16) 
 males and one (1) female have been thus admitted. Of this 
 number, one was imbecile, three epileptic, and two proved not 
 insane ; the others were ordinary cases of insanity. There 
 are also twenty-three remaining in hospital who were admit- 
 ted in former years, making a total of forty (10), thirty-three 
 
 (33) males, and seven (7) females, of the so-called class of 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 criminal insane, or about nine (9) per cent, of the entire 
 number. 
 
 A brief analysis of the nature of the crime for which they 
 were arrested may be of interest to those who are tabulating 
 facts respecting pauperism, insanity, and crime. One person 
 was arrested for throwing stones through the windows of a 
 railroad car, while in motion ; one for bigamy ; one for kill- 
 ing a neighbor’s cow T ; another for breaking house windows ; 
 two for vagrancy; two for arson ; two for breach of peace ; 
 three for theft ; five for murder ; and twenty-one for assault 
 and battery. Six of these were transferred from the State 
 Prison at Wethersfield, and their history would seem to in- 
 dicate that they were insane when tried and convicted. 
 
 Another annoyance to the hospital in the collection of 
 bills, grows out of the old but no less barbarous custom, 
 which still exists in some sections, of u farming out ” the poor 
 to the lowest bidder. By this arrangement the hospital is 
 virtually at the mercy of the contractor. 
 
 A census of the hospital population on January 1, 1876, 
 prepared by Dr. G. S. May, showing the relative proportion 
 of Americans and foreigners, and the manner of admission, 
 is of special interest. At that date there were four hundred 
 and sixty-four (464) patients, twenty-four (24) of whom were 
 Americans and self-supporting. One hundred and thirty- 
 two (132) were indigent, sixteen (16) of whom were of for- 
 eign birth, and able to pay one-half of the expense at hos- 
 pital. Three hundred and eight (308) were supported en- 
 tirely at public expense, of whom one hundred and eighty- 
 one (181) were foreigners. Thus it appears that one hun- 
 dred and ninety-seven (197) persons, or two-fifths of the 
 whole number under treatment at that date, w T ere not of 
 American birth, and only sixteen were paying anything to- 
 wards defraying their expenses. 
 
 A repulsive feature ot some forms of mental derangement 
 is the change of personal habits of individuals. Those who 
 are naturally quiet, modest, and taciturn become boisterous 
 and rude ; others who are exquisitely neat and cleanly, man- 
 ifest untidy propensities that would astonish their intimate 
 
179 
 
 friends. It has been our aim during the past year to study 
 the so-called “filthy habit” of the insane for the purpose of 
 ascertaining how much of it could be corrected by watchful 
 care, personal attention to habits and mild discipline. 
 
 The subjects of this habit may be divided into three 
 classes : Those who from paralysis or other physical causes 
 are unable to control their secretions; those who from ab- 
 sorbing delusions become unconsciously filthy; and lastly, 
 those who are partially demented, habitually lazy, or morally 
 insensible, preferring to remain untidy rather than make any 
 exertion. In a hospital population made up largely of the 
 chronic insane, there is an average of 9 per cent, who are in- 
 clined to be habitually filthy. 
 
 I am indebted to Dr. May for careful attention to this sub- 
 ject. The following statistics show the results of his labor 
 and how much can be done by watchfulness on the part of 
 attendants, and some additional care bestowed upon this 
 class by the night watchman : 
 
 Average Number Present. 
 
 Number with “Dirty Habit.” 
 
 Per Cent, of Habit. 
 
 June, 1875, 225 
 
 June, 
 
 21 
 
 June, 
 
 8.88 
 
 October, 1875, 225 
 
 October, 
 
 14 
 
 October, 
 
 6.22 
 
 November, 1875, 225 
 
 November, 
 
 8 
 
 November, 
 
 3.55 
 
 March, 1876, 230 
 
 March, 
 
 7 
 
 March, 
 
 3.04 
 
 Thus it will be seen that there were in June last twenty- 
 one men who regularly wet or soiled their beds nightly, out 
 of a population of two hundred and twenty-five. Early in 
 October the number had been reduced to fourteen, and at 
 this date there are only seven. These facts relate to male 
 patients ; we are not able to make as favorable a showing re- 
 specting female patients. Closely allied to this subject is 
 another of even greater importance. I refer to the question 
 of mechanical restraint. Experienced alienists have differed 
 respecting the amount of restraint advantageous to the wel- 
 
180 
 
 fare of the insane. Some superintendents have found it 
 necessary to employ more or less restraint in nearly all acute 
 cases, and in many chronic ; while others of equal experience 
 theoretically discard all mechanical appliances for controll- 
 ing the excitable or turbulent, and depend entirely upon me- 
 dicinal remedies and watchful attendance. Without attempt- 
 ing to discuss the merits of the question I report that our 
 experience has led us to follow a medium policy. We have 
 been governed in our course by the actual case presented. 
 In some forms of acute mania, where it seemed necessary to 
 economize all remaining strength, I have prevented its ex- 
 penditure by confining the patient to a soft bed in a quiet, 
 darkened room, alone. I conscientiously believe that this 
 method is less exciting to the patient and more humane than 
 the manual holding by nurses. The mere presence of an- 
 other person in the room will often prevent a patient from 
 sleeping. 
 
 After thus admitting the usefulness of restraint in certain 
 cases, I desire to protest against the tendency to use it in or- 
 dinary cases of chronic insanity where employment, diversion, 
 and watching would obviate the necessity for it. In this re- 
 spect we have made great progress during the past year. On 
 the first of November last, with a population of two hundred 
 and twenty-five (225) male patients, only two were subjected 
 to any form of mechanical restraint; one had his hands in a 
 leather muff to prevent the removal of bandages from his leg; 
 the other wore a camisole waist a part of the time to keep him 
 from destroying his clothing. During the past three months 
 these two men have been without restraint, and we have 
 actually conducted the hospital on the male side on the non- 
 restraint plan. I am under obligations to the officers and 
 attendants who have taken so much pains to further efforts in 
 this direction. Much of its success depends upon the charac- 
 ter of the attendants having immediate charge of the wards. 
 Kindness, regularity, and watchful attention are efficient 
 qualities in this direction. The great want in every hospital 
 is occupation ; patients who are in suitable condition to do so 
 go out with a sense of relief to farm work, to the kitchen, 
 
181 
 
 laundry or sewing room, and regard the change as diversion. 
 The object in setting a patient to work is not that he may re- 
 pay cost of treatment, but it is to aid him in casting aside 
 fancies and in returning to healthy feelings and thoughts. 
 
 It is not my purpose to discuss the labor question as it 
 relates to the insane and their hospitals. There are many 
 arguments in favor of the more general occupation of insane 
 persons. I w T ould simply report that from the opening of the 
 hospital to the present time we have endeavored to employ 
 all who were in condition, whenever suitable work could be 
 provided. Four years ago I found by actual tables that we 
 were regularly employing 24 per cent, of the hospital popu- 
 lation. Referring to the table of classification on page 13 
 you observe that one hundred and thirty-six patients are em- 
 ployed systematically. There are in addition forty persons 
 among the other classes who do their own mending and mak- 
 ing of clothes, embroidery, and fancy needle-work ; hence out 
 of a population of four hundred and fifty-four (454) persons in 
 March, when the tables were prepared, one hundred and 
 seventy-seven (ITT,) or 39 per cent, of the whole number, were 
 at various kinds of work for several hours daily. When in- 
 sanity becomes to be regarded, as it should be, a physical dis- 
 ease, like other nervous diseases, it will lose half ot the dread 
 which has surrounded it ; it will not then be hidden as a 
 crime, and the patient himself will not feel the misery of 
 avoidance and mistrust which annoy so deeply the convales- 
 cent patient. 
 
 It is difficult to get rid of old notions on the subject of 
 “ lunatics.” The popular idea is that they are raving, des- 
 perate maniacs, dangerous to approach. Visitors enter the 
 wards of an asylum with the expectation of meeting madmen , 
 and are therefore often surprised to see groups of patients sit- 
 ting in the halls or parlors, perfectly quiet, and only “ curious 
 about the curiosity of the stranger.” This favorable condi- 
 tion results simply from the regularity and the system of 
 classification in modern hospital life. Insanity does not 
 wholly alter a man’s nature ; old habits, instincts, and feelings 
 may be twisted or exaggerated, but still form a part of his 
 
182 
 
 nature as ordinarily shown. Hence when removed from 
 their surroundings and those influences which were act- 
 ing as a disturbing element, and he flnds the shelter of a com- 
 fortable hospital home, his prospects for a return of healthy 
 mental action are measurably improved. In order that you 
 may easily comprehend our condition, I have carefully pre- 
 pared the following table, in which the whole hospital popu- 
 lation is divided into eight classes, according to their mental 
 and physical condition : 
 
 
 Epileptic, Idiotic, 
 and Demented. 
 
 Infirm, Aged, and 
 Crippled. 
 
 Periodic. 
 
 Maniacal, Noisy, 
 Destructive, 
 Quarrelsome, 
 and Filthy. 
 
 Ward Workers. 
 
 Workers on the 
 Farm, Kitchen, 
 Laundry, &c. 
 
 Convalescent. 
 
 Could be taken 
 care of at home 
 or at Almshouse. 
 
 First Hall, South, 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 15 
 
 
 1 
 
 Second Hall, South, 
 
 3 
 
 . , 
 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 11 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 Third Hall, South, 
 
 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 l 
 
 3 
 
 Fourth Hall, South, 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 . . 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 , . 
 
 4 
 
 Fifth Hall, South, 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 
 1 
 
 Sixth Hall, South 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 *i 
 
 2 
 
 Seventh Hall, South, 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 Eighth Hall, South, 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 5 
 
 North Cottage 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 
 3 
 
 First Hall, North, 
 
 2 
 
 l 
 
 *3 
 
 19 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 1 
 
 Second Hall, North, 
 
 5 
 
 l 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 5 
 
 Third Hall, North, 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 *3 
 
 3 
 
 Fourth Hall, North, 
 
 1 
 
 *5 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Fifth Hall, North, 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 ‘i 
 
 18 
 
 5 
 
 *i 
 
 
 2 
 
 Sixth Hall, North, 
 
 . . 
 
 3 
 
 l 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 
 3 
 
 Seventh Hall, North, 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 
 *2 
 
 2 
 
 Eighth Hall, North, 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 South Cottage, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 Total, 
 
 33 
 
 30 
 
 17 
 
 173 
 
 60 
 
 76 
 
 12 
 
 53 
 
 An analysis of this table shows (33) patients who are 
 epileptic and idiotic; thirty (30) who are infirm, aged, and 
 crippled ; seventeen (17) who suffer from periodical mania, 
 having regular paroxysms of excitement followed by lucid 
 intervals, these are always incurable aud among our most 
 troublesome patients; one hundred and seventy-three (173) 
 are maniacal, noisy, quarrelsome, destructive, and filthy 5 
 
183 
 
 sixty (60) assist in ward work and mending; seventy-six (76) 
 go out regularly to tlie kitchen, laundry, sewing-room, or 
 farm; twelve. (12) are convalescent and will soon return to their 
 homes ; fifty-three are quiet, chronic patients, who could be 
 taken care of at home (if possessed of such a place) or at the 
 almshouse. The first four classes include two hundred and 
 fifty-three (253) persons who require constant attention and 
 hospital care. Among the class of ward workers are thirty 
 turbulent chronic cases, who need supervision and restraint; 
 there are also thirty who are improving and may recover, 
 some of whom could be provided for elsewhere. Of those 
 who labor more or less continuously out of the wards, thirty 
 (30) are turbulent, noisy, or destructive, and require constant 
 attendance, among whom are many of the criminal insane ; 
 forty of this class are quiet, chronic patients, or convalescents, 
 who are better provided for at the hospital but could be 
 taken care of at home. The division of convalescents includes 
 all who have recovered but remain a few days or weeks to 
 regain full mental vigor. 
 
 This careful analysis shows that there at this date one 
 hundred and twenty-three persons in the hospital, who, 
 wdiile under its regular influences, manifest no particular 
 demonstration that would absolutely require hospital re- 
 straint. Their insanity is of a mild character. It is from 
 this class that we are continually sending patients away to 
 make room for more urgent cases. Within the past few 
 years one hundred and fifty (150) have in this way been 
 returned to the almshouses or to their friends. I do not believe 
 the policy economic or humane in the end ; sooner or later 
 these cases return to us in a worse condition, and wdiile at 
 home often prove a burden to their poor families wdio can ill 
 afford to give up regular employment to watch and protect 
 these unfortunates. 
 
 When I have urged selectmen of towns to remove certain 
 mild cases they have invariably answered, “It is better for 
 us to support the cases at the hospital than to have their 
 families on our hands, as they generally are wdien the irre- 
 sponsible person returns home.” As in all other questions, 
 
184 
 
 there are two sides to this one, and it is often peculiarly 
 difficult to determine the best policy. 
 
 Thus, it will be seen that your hospital is over-crowded by 
 the indigent insane, a majority of whom may require its pro- 
 tecting care as long as life continues; and yet there are sixty- 
 five applications for admission more than we can accommo- 
 date. Another hospital is needed as much to day as this one 
 was ten years ago. 
 
 For details respecting farm products, I would refer you to 
 Mr. Weatherbee’s report. Under his management the farm 
 is being steadily improved and brought up to a high state of 
 cultivation. Here I may properly allude to the large amount 
 of work done last season in grading and finishing the grounds, 
 laying walks, roads, and underdrains, preparatory to planting 
 of trees and shrubbery. This work is of so much importance 
 in view of its influence upon the insane that I ask you to 
 press it forward to completion. 
 
 In a large building filled w T ith persons of destructive 
 habits, there is a continual process of w r ear and waste, which 
 must be met and corrected. It has been my policy, as you 
 know, to not only keep up the repairs but also to make im- 
 provements where experience indicated the necessity. At 
 the quarterly meeting in July, a committee was appointed to 
 reconstruct and add to the laundry building. This work has 
 been completed in a most substantial manner. Nine sleeping 
 rooms are added for the accommodation of employes; also a 
 reading-room, supplied with books and papers regularly. 
 The wooden floor which had rotted in the laundry had been 
 replaced by a smooth slate tile floor laid in cement over 
 brick arches. We have introduced one of Weston’s centrif- 
 ugal wringers; have enlarged the ironing room in connection 
 with a fire-proof room for the sad-iron heater, and in other 
 respects have greatly increased the facilities for washing and 
 ironing. All the new shafting in the laundry is supplied 
 with “ mettaline boxes ” which have thus far worked 
 admirably. Late in the autumn you decided to enlarge the 
 boiler-house and replace the worn out u Hoot boilers ” with a 
 large drop-flue boiler, similar to those already in use. A 
 
135 
 
 contract was made with H. B. Beach & Son of Hartford, 
 who have completed their work to the satisfaction of your 
 committee. To increase the draft, the main chimney was 
 carried up thirty feet to a hight of one hundred and fourteen 
 feet. While engaged in this perilous undertaking one of the 
 mason tenders was fatally injured by the accidental fall of a 
 brick which struck him on the head, causing a fracture of the 
 skull and concussion of the brain. 
 
 It is again my pleasant duty to acknowledge with sincere 
 gratitude the reception of various donations, indicative of an 
 interest in the hospital and its field of usefulness. During 
 the past three years our patients have received one hundred 
 bouquets weekly from the “ Flower Mission” connected with 
 the South Conoreo;ational Church Sabbath-scliool. Who can 
 estimate the sum total of pleasure thus delicately and fragrant- 
 ly communicated ? 
 
 We have received from George II. Hulbert, Esq., the “ In- 
 dependent ” and the “Ad vance”; Rev. R. T. Thorn, copies 
 weekly of the “Parish Visitor”; Hon. T. S. Gold, several 
 volumes of “Agricultural Reports ”; Mrs. Benjamin Douglas 
 a cabinet organ and books for Seventh Ward ; Mrs. Fellowes, 
 package of “London Illustrated News”; A. Van Name, libra- 
 rian of Yale College, large package of “ Punch ” and English 
 illustrated papers; A. M. Smith, Esq., a box of thirty books; 
 A. B. Gillette, a set of Thackeray’s novels, finely bound; Miss 
 Dix, game of buffet; Messrs. Peck and Skilton, two rustic 
 settees for front porch ; Mrs. Samuel Colt, thirty dollars for 
 books. 
 
 We are under obligations to the publishers of the following 
 named newspapers who have continued to furnish copies 
 regularly and gratuitously : 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, .... 
 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 
 “ Evening Post, - 
 
 . 
 
 “ Weekly Times, - 
 
 a a 
 
 Religious Herald, 
 
 - 
 
 New Haven Evening Register, 
 
 - New Haven, Conn. 
 
 Morning J ournal and Courier, - 
 
 i < ft 
 
 “ Weekly Palladium, - 
 
 ic a 
 
186 
 
 Connecticut Herald and Weekly Journal, 
 The Commonwealth, - 
 The Constitution, Weekly and Daily, - 
 The Sentinel and Witness, Weekly, 
 
 The Republican and Standard, 
 
 The Tolland County Journal, 
 Connecticut Western News, 
 
 Watson’s Art Journal, - 
 
 - New Haven, Conn. 
 
 ( i ii 
 
 - Middletown, Conn. 
 
 i t a 
 
 - Bridgeport, Conn. 
 
 Rockville, Conn. 
 Salisbury, Conn. 
 New York City. 
 
 Up to the present time the mechanical power for fan and 
 laundry purposes has been obtained by the use of a small 
 upright “ Root ” engine. Early in November your committee 
 made a contract with the Hartford Foundry & Machine Co. 
 for a twenty-five horse power horizontal engine of the 
 “ Woodruff & Beach” pattern. This engine was placed in 
 position in February, and has been in use about four weeks. 
 For simplicity, economy, and smoothness of motion it prom- 
 ises to maintain the high reputation which these engines have 
 everywhere acquired. The exhaust steam from it is used in 
 heating water for the laundry. The new engine-room is fin- 
 ished in a plain but neat manner, with ash and walnut woods 
 oiled and varnished, the floor being tiled with red and green 
 slate. 
 
 To you who are familiar with the daily life at this institu- 
 tion I hardly need refer to our system of amusements and 
 entertainments. Any recreation which promotes innocent 
 enjoyment, which is physically healthy and morally pure, is 
 a social influence which should be cultivated. The aim has 
 been to make our amusements attractive and instructive, and 
 of such wise frequency as to be looked forward to with pleas- 
 ure. Thus we have devoted one evening each week to music 
 and dancing ; two evenings to stereopticon exhibitions, and 
 generally one evening to lecture, concert, or reading. Last 
 autumn some of the offcers, attendants, and patients, formed 
 a minstrel troupe whose performances were very amusing 
 and acceptable. 
 
 In November the Shepard Jubilee Singers gave 11s an af- 
 ternoon concert, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. We 
 are under obligations to the South Congregational Church 
 
 / 
 
187 
 
 choir for an evening devoted to choice music ; and to Mr. 
 Stack, daughter, and friends for an instrumental concert. 
 
 Religious services, conducted by clergymen of different, de- 
 nominations, are held regularly on Sabbath afternoons at two 
 o’clock. The Rev. Father O’Brien has frequently performed 
 service in accordance with the rites of the Roman Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 During the past twelve months, no changes have occurred 
 in the staff* of officers, and but few among attendants or 
 employes. 
 
 If experience and judgment acquired by length of service 
 are desirable in ordinary pursuits, how much more valuable 
 do they become when considered in relation to services ren- 
 dered to the insane. 
 
 In consequence of the employment of many laborers and 
 mechanics in carrying forward the improvements already 
 described, considerable extra work devolved upon your clerk, 
 Mr. F. B. Weeks. As in former years, so now, he proved 
 equal to the responsibility in correctness, promptness, and 
 efficiency. I am under especial obligations to my medical 
 assistants for their continued aid and watchful care in the 
 work to which we are assigned. During the absence of 
 Dr. and Mrs. Hallock, last autumn, their duties were per- 
 formed respectively by Dr. T. B. Bloomfield and Mrs. Dutton 
 to my entire satisfaction. 
 
 By request I have prepared, and herewith submit, a history 
 of this institution during its first ten years, to this date, with 
 a description of the building. 
 
 In conclusion, permit me to express my grateful sense of 
 obligation to the members of the board for hearty and intelli- 
 gent co-operation and personal kindness. Relying upon their 
 ready assistance in the future, and with unfaltering trust in an 
 over-ruling Providence, we enter upon the duties of another 
 
 y eai * Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ABRAM MARVIN SHEW, 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., April 1, 1876. 
 
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 H OSPITAL FOR THE INSANE, 
 
 BY 
 
 ABRAM MARVIN SHEW, M.D., Superintendent. 
 
 Previous to the year 1840, the insane poor were kept con- 
 fined in the almshouses of the towns; a certain number were 
 generally well cared for in the “ Retreat at Hartford.” In the 
 year 1840 an effort was made to provide a hospital especially 
 for them. 
 
 A memorial, addressed to the General Assembly, stated 
 that the number of pauper insane was eight hundred, and 
 that there was pressing need of special provision for their 
 care. 
 
 It is a coincidence that in 1840 a site for a hospital w^as 
 selected at Middletown, about one quarter of a mile from the 
 land which was presented to the State for the same purpose 
 twenty-six years later. But a period of twenty years was 
 allowed to pass before the legislature was ready to recognize 
 the importance of providing a suitable state institution. 
 
 Mainly through the earnest and judicious efforts of Miss 
 Dix during the session of the General Assembly at New 
 Haven in 1866, an “Act to create a Hospital for the Insane 
 in the State of Connecticut” was adopted as follows: 
 
 Whereas, — The Report of the Commission appointed by this 
 Assembly in the year 1865, shows that there are seven hundred 
 and six insane persons in the State of Connecticut, of whom 
 two hundred and two are in the “ Retreat” at Hartford, two 
 hundred and four are in the almshouses ; and three hundred 
 
189 
 
 outside of both; and whereas, it is impossible to secure suitable 
 care and medical attention for this large and deeply afflicted 
 class, either in the “Retreat” or in the almshouses, or in private 
 houses ; and whereas, considerations of humanity and of true 
 economy, as well as of public welfare, and of our holy religion, 
 all alike demand that these persons should be liberally provided 
 for by the State ; therefore, 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
 Assembly convened: 
 
 Section 1 . There shall be established and maintained, at some 
 place in this State, to be selected by a board of trustees as herein- 
 after provided, an institution to be named, “The General Hospital 
 for the Insane of the State of Connecticut.” 
 
 Sec. 2. The government thereof shall be vested in a board of 
 twelve trustees, consisting of the governor, and one from each 
 county, to be appointed by the senate, and of three to be appointed 
 by the other trustees, which three shall be selected from the town 
 or vicinity in which the institution shall be located, two of whom 
 shall be so appointed and commissioned annually; and the places 
 of the two senior members, as they stand in the order of their 
 appointment, shall be annually vacated; and no trustee shall re- 
 ceive any compensation for his services, but he shall be allowed the 
 amount of expenses incurred in the discharge of the duties of his 
 office, which amount shall be examined and allowed by the Comp- 
 troller of public accounts and paid from the treasury of the state. 
 
 Sec. 3. The trustees shall take charge of the general interests 
 of the institution, ordain and execute its laws, appoint and remove 
 its officers, select a suitable location and a plan for its buildings ; 
 shall exercise a strict supervision over all its expenditures, and 
 discharge ail other functions usually devolving upon such trustees; 
 they shall have power to receive by gift or purchase a suitable 
 farm ; and receive a deed thereof, and the State treasurer shall 
 pay therefor, in case of purchase, on the warrant of the comptroller. 
 
 Sec. 4. The superintendent shall be appointed by the trustees 
 at their first or some subsequent meeting. He shall be a compe- 
 tent physician, and reside in or near the institution. As soon as 
 possible he shall procure the plan of a suitable building or build- 
 ings, which shall be approved and contracted for by the trustees ; 
 he shall personally superintend its erection and arrangements, and 
 
190 
 
 whenever one section or building shall be completed, he shall open 
 the institution for patients upon such terms and conditions as said 
 trustees shall prescribe, always giving the preference to the most 
 urgent cases, and to the people of this state. He shall be the 
 treasurer of the institution, keep full and accurate accounts of his 
 receipts and expenditures, and of the property entrusted to him. 
 All accounts, with suitable vouchers, shall be submitted to the 
 trustees, as they shall require. He shall, before entering upon his 
 duties, give a bond to the treasurer of the State, with acceptable 
 sureties, in the sum of five thousand dollars, conditional that he 
 shall faithfully account for all moneys and property received by 
 him as superintendent ; but no trustee shall be superintendent of 
 the institution. 
 
 Sec. 5. The State treasurer shall pay to the trustees, on the 
 warrant of the comptroller, such sums of money as they shall 
 require for the location and the building of the hospital, not to 
 exceed five thousand dollars at any one time, and the expenditure 
 of which shall be accounted for to the comptroller, with the 
 vouchers, before any other sum is advanced. 
 
 Sec. 6. The trustees shall hold their first meeting on the call of 
 any three of their number, due notice being given to all. 
 
 Sec. 7. Thirty-five thousand dollars are hereby appropriated to 
 carry into execution the provisions of this act. 
 
 Sec. 8. This act is to take effect immediately. 
 
 Approved June 29, 1886. 
 
 In accordance with the provisions of Section 2 of the above act ? 
 the following named persons were appointed trustees, and at once, 
 with unanimity and zeal, entered upon the important duties con- 
 fided to them. 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LEYERETTE E. PEASE, 
 BENJAMIN W. TOMPKINS, 
 Rev. SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 WILLIAM B. CASEY, M.D., 
 RICHARD S. FELLOWES, 
 Rev. CURTIS T. WOODRUFF, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, 
 
 Hartford Comity. 
 Tolland County. 
 
 New London County. 
 Windham County. 
 Middlesex Coun ty. 
 Neiv Haven County . 
 Fairfield County. 
 Litchfield County. 
 Middletown. 
 Middletown. 
 
 Rev. JOSEPH CUMMINGS, D.D., LL.D, Middletown. 
 
191 
 
 The first meeting of this board was held at Hartford, July 
 20, 1886. His Excellency, Governor Joseph R. Hawley, 
 presiding. To prevent needless delay in the accomplishment 
 of the great object to which they were appointed, committees 
 were named to visit other hospitals, to select a superintendent, 
 to procure a suitable site and plans for building, etc. 
 
 After several meetings and hearing the claims and liberal 
 propositions of other towns, the board formally and unani- 
 mously accepted about two hundred acres, which the town of 
 Middletown offered gratuitously to the State for the purposes 
 of the hospital. 
 
 It w~as subsequently made evident that the institution 
 would require a larger possession and adjoining lots; in all 
 about one hundred acres were purchased by the trustees. 
 
 The site of the present hospital is about one mile and a 
 half southeasterly of the city of Middletown, bordering on 
 the Connecticut River, is dry and healthy, easy of access by 
 land and water, commanding on all sides extended views of 
 a beautiful region — and what is of special mark, includes 
 the absolute control of a living stream called “ Butler’s 
 Creek,” which furnishes an abundant supply of pure, soft 
 water, adequate to all the requirements within the walls, and 
 sufficient for the mechanical and ornamental uses of engines 
 and fountains. 
 
 The judicious vote at their first meeting, alluded to above, 
 led the trustees to inform themselves individually of the 
 needs in detail of institutions for the relief of insane, and 
 they visited several hospitals, and so brought together facts, 
 and the experience of well-known superintendents in other 
 States, of direct value to their object. 
 
 On the 15th of October, 1866, Dr. Abram Marvin Shew, 
 then connected with the New Jersey Lunatic Asylum, was 
 appointed superintendent, and immediately entered upon the 
 duties of the office. 
 
 Upon a plateau of the farm nearest the town, excavations 
 for foundations were begun, and a permanent road to the 
 highway constructed, to facilitate the progress of the building 
 early in the following spring. 
 
192 
 
 During the winter, the superintendent was engaged in 
 elaborating the details of plans which he had submitted, and 
 which were adopted unanimously, with approval by the board 
 of trustees. Mr. Addison Hutton, architect, of Philadelphia, 
 was employed to make working drawings and occasionally to 
 inspect the construction of the building. On the 20th of 
 June, 1867, the corner-stone was laid with impressive and 
 appropriate ceremonies, by Governor James E. English, in 
 the presence of the State officers, members of the legislature, 
 and a large concourse of interested spectators. Addresses 
 were made by Governor English, ex-Governor Hawley, Dr. 
 Pliny Earle of Northampton, Mass., Rev. Dr. Cummings of 
 Wesleyan University, and Prof. Thacher of Yale College. 
 During the year the work was vigorously pushed on. The 
 carpenter shop, laundry, bake house, kitchen, boiler-house, 
 center building, first south wing, and one return wing were 
 enclosed before cold weather, and completed during the 
 winter. At a meeting of the board, Feb. 25th, held at the 
 residence of H. Sidney Hayden of Windsor (at that time 
 disabled by a painful accident), on the recommendation of the 
 superintendent, Dr. Winthrop B. Hallock was appointed 
 assistant physician, and his wife, Mrs. Mary Hallock, matron, 
 and Charles W. Galpin of Middletown, steward. 
 
 One male patient was admitted on the 29th day of April, 
 1868, although the hospital was not formally opened until the 
 next day, when twelve men w^ere received. 
 
 The daily average number of patients during the first 
 eight official years, is shown in the subjoined table : 
 
 Official Year. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1868 - 1869 , .... 
 
 79.35 
 
 6.12 
 
 85.47 
 
 1869 - 1870 , .... 
 
 110.63 
 
 114.54 
 
 225.17 
 
 1870 - 1871 , .... 
 
 119 . 
 
 118 . 
 
 237 . 
 
 1871 - 1872 , .... 
 
 124.15 
 
 118.43 
 
 242.58 
 
 1872 - 1873 , .... 
 
 132.10 
 
 132.43 
 
 264.53 
 
 1873 - 1874 , .... 
 
 146.32 
 
 193.19 
 
 339.51 
 
 1874 - 1875 , .... 
 
 198.63 
 
 227.17 
 
 425.80 
 
 1875 - 1876 , .... 
 
 225.60 
 
 227.04 
 
 452.64 
 
193 
 
 There have been admitted to this date (April 1, 1876) 
 twelve hundred and seventy- two (1,272) patients; seven 
 hundred and fourteen (714) males, and five hundred and fifty- 
 eight (558) females. Of this whole number, two hundred 
 and thirty-nine (239) were discharged recovered, one hundred 
 and ninety-one (191) were discharged much improved, one 
 hundred and eiglity-five (185) were discharged not improved, 
 one hundred and ninety-seven (197) died, leaving the number 
 in hospital to-day four hundred and sixty (460), of whom 
 tw T o hundred and twenty-seven (227) are males, and two hun- 
 dred and thirty-three (233) are females. 
 
 The first appropriation for this hospital was passed by the 
 general assembly of 1866. Additional appropriations were 
 made from year to year, and the work was steadily carried 
 forward until January, 1874, when the last w T ing was com- 
 pleted and formally opened for the reception of male pa- 
 tients. 
 
 The subjoined table shows the total amount received from 
 the State for the purchase of land, constructing of dam, res- 
 ervoir, and water-works, and for the erection and furnishing 
 of the hospital buildings. In accordance with the terms of 
 the appropriation made in 1871-1872, a commission consist- 
 ing of Hon. H. Sidney Hayden, Rev. l)r. Cummings, and 
 Cornelius Brainard, Esq., was appointed by Governor Jewell 
 to supervise the completion of the last two wings. Their 
 labors were performed in a manner that reflects the highest 
 credit upon them and honor upon the State which selected 
 them. 
 
 Official Years. 
 1866 , 
 
 1867 , 
 
 1868 , 
 
 1869 , 
 
 1870 , 
 
 1871 , 
 
 1872 , 
 
 Total, 
 
 Amount. 
 
 $ 35 , 000.00 
 
 150 . 000 . 00 
 
 200.000. 00 
 
 35 . 543.00 
 
 39 . 500.00 
 90 , 000.00 
 90 , 000.00 
 
 $ 640 , 043.00 
 
 13 
 
194 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the total sum appropriated by 
 the State for this benevolent work is six hundred and forty 
 thousand and forty-three ($640,043) dollars. Ample accom- 
 modations for 450 patients and necessary attendants are thus 
 provided at the average rate of about fourteen hundred 
 ($1,400) dollars per capita. When it is remembered that 
 the entire work was done in the most substantial manner 
 during years immediately following the rebellion, when 
 prices of labor and all building materials were greatly en- 
 hanced in value, Connecticut people may justly feel proud 
 of this favorable exhibit. 
 
 In the following description I shall endeavor to avoid con- 
 fusing details, using figures only when necessary to convey 
 an idea of size or space. The entire structure, including car- 
 penter shop, boiler-house and laundry, is of Portland free- 
 stone, laid in broken range work, two feet in thickness, with 
 tool-dressed quoins, window sills, and caps, water-table, belt- 
 ing course, and cornice, surmounted by a “ French Roof” of 
 slate and tin. 
 
 Inside the stone-wall there is a four-inch brick lining, leav- 
 ing an air space of two inches between it and the stone, to 
 insure dryness. The style of architecture is rigidly plain. 
 The elevation was designed by Addison Hutton of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 The dimensions of the center or administrative building, 
 are sixty feet in width, one hundred and twenty feet in 
 depth, and four stories in height. 
 
 The floor of the lower story is four feet above the level of 
 the ground, and a basement, seven feet six inches deep, ex- 
 tends under the whole building. The central portion of the 
 cellar corresponding to the corridors above, is used as a 
 closed air-duct in which are placed the pipes and radiators by 
 which the rooms above are warmed and ventilated. On each 
 side ample space is afforded for store-rooms, bowling alleys, 
 and a tramway to carry food from the kitchen to the dumb- 
 waiters, and the conveyance of clothing to and from the 
 laundry. The first story of the main building contains, on 
 one side an officers’ dining-room, nineteen by nineteen feet, a 
 
195 
 
 special diet kitchen, nineteen by twenty-two feet, and a large 
 store-room, nineteen by forty-two feet. On the other side 
 a room for the housekeeper, three rooms for female employes, 
 a small store-room, a bath-room, and a store-room for the 
 special diet kitchen, and a water-closet. The large store- 
 room, mentioned above, has a slate tile floor, is fitted up with 
 a sixteen foot Bramhall & Deade French range and steak 
 broiler, jacketed soup and vegetable kettles, with necessary 
 steam pipes, hot and cold w^ater, sinks, etc., required for a 
 duplicate kitchen whenever repairs or changes are needed in 
 the main kitchen. As a matter of fact it has, until recently, 
 been devoted to this purpose. The second, or principal 
 story, is reached through a portico with a flight of six steps 
 on either side to a lower landing, ten by seventeen feet, and 
 a direct flight of ten steps to the main landing, which is six- 
 teen by twenty-five feet. Four stone columns, two feet in 
 diameter and seventeen feet in height, support the heavy 
 stone cornice which is covered by a tin roof. Ornamented 
 iron railings on the sides and in front, with two gas lanterns 
 sixteen feet in height, add to the effect of the noble entrance. 
 The entrance hall is fourteen feet wide, one hundred and six- 
 teen feet long, and sixteen feet high. The first room on the 
 right is the general business office of the medical staff ; the 
 second is the clerk’s office, containing a lavatory, a store- 
 room for records and small articles, permanent desks, and a 
 fire-proof safe ; the third room is devoted to dry goods and 
 matron’s stores ; the fourth is a reception room for male pa- 
 tients, with a door opening into an alcove of one of the wards; 
 the remaining room on this southern side is occupied by the 
 assistant matron. 
 
 On the left of the entrance is the trustees’ room, a large 
 reception room for female patients, a dispensary and medi- 
 cal store-room, and rooms for the first assistant physician 
 and matron. Midway, the hall is intersected by a transverse 
 hall, with broad stairways leading to upper floors and to the 
 wards. The second stories above, in front, contain rooms for 
 the superintendent and family, and other officers ; the rear 
 of the third and part of the fourth stories form the chapel, a 
 
196 
 
 commodious room, forty-four feet wide, fifty-six feet long, 
 and twenty-two feet high, with oval recess ceiling, finished in 
 a plain and neat manner, and furnished with stationary seats 
 of ash and black walnut, a platform and lecturn of the same 
 woods. The plaster finish of this hall was contributed by 
 Richard S. Fellowes of New Haven, and the wood-work by 
 II. Sidney Hayden of Windsor. The large and beautiful 
 organ, which stands in the rear center of the chapel, was pur- 
 chased from the South Congregational church for the sum of 
 one thousand dollars, which amount was contributed by a 
 few of the superintendent’s friends. The instrument was 
 manufactured by Mr. Johnson of Westfield, Mass. 
 
 On either side of the administrative building, and at right 
 angles with it, are situated the wings, containing the accom- 
 modations for patients and their attendants. The first wing 
 is forty feet in width, one hundred and twenty-four feet in 
 length, and three stories in height, with an “ L” or return 
 wing, which also is forty feet in width, one hundred and 
 eight feet in depth, and four stories in height. The walls are 
 one foot eight inches in thickness, and have brick linings, 
 similar to that described in the center building. The corri- 
 dor and partition walls, fourteen inches in thickness, are of 
 brick, with an air space of six inches in the center, into 
 which are carried all the hot-air and ventilating flues. Cor- 
 ridors twelve feet in width and height extend the entire 
 length of the wing, with alcoves ten feet in width on each 
 side adjoining the center building, for light and air, and 
 large triple windows, from floor to ceiling, at the ends. The 
 “ L” halls are ten feet in width, and at right angles with 
 the corridors. Each ward contains a dining-room, twenty 
 by twenty-one feet, furnished with china closet, wash closet 
 with hot and cold water and dumb waiter ; a day or reading- 
 room, two associate dormitories for four and six patients, 
 eleven single rooms, two rooms for patients, seriously ill, shut 
 off by a passageway from the main corridor ; one clothes- 
 room, one front and one rear hall and stairways leading to 
 outer doors, affording a ready escape in case of fire, and a 
 large room for attendants. In each hall there is a water- 
 
197 
 
 closet and wash-room adjoining the bath-room. The water- 
 closet bowels are enameled cast-iron, funnel shape, and 
 flushed with water whenever the door is opened, by a spring 
 attachment. The waste-pipe from the closet and “ slophop- 
 per ” leads to the main soil-pipe, and this has a connection 
 with the tall chimney of the boiler-house, as hereafter de- 
 scribed. The bath-rooms are furnished with cast-iron tubs, 
 of the approved pattern of Messrs. Morris, Tasker & Co. ot 
 Philadelphia. The supply of hot and cold water and the 
 waste pass through one opening in the bottom. In a verti- 
 cal duct from the basement to upper stories, opening by a 
 door in each bath-room, is a “ pipe-closet,” connecting the 
 supply of hot and cold water with each bath-tub, accessible 
 only to the attendant. In each pipe-closet is a fire-plug with 
 one hundred and fifty feet of hose permanently attached; 
 and adjoining this a steam drying-room, containing coils ot 
 iron pipe placed under a rack upon which damp clothing, 
 bedding, or wash rags can be dried. 
 
 The above description applies to the three stories of first 
 wing. By continuing the brick corridor and partition walls 
 up within the mansard roof which covers the U L” or return 
 wing, a fourth-story ward ten feet six inches in height was 
 obtained. The arrangement of rooms corresponds to the 
 story underneath, and is particularly adapted to small classes 
 of patients who only require dormitory accommodations. 
 
 The second section or wing extends in the same direction, 
 but is set back fifty-eight feet from the front line of the re- 
 turn wing. Like that it contains in each of the three stories, 
 a central corridor, twelve feet wide, one hundred and twenty- 
 four feet long and twelve feet high, lighted at the end near- 
 est the first wing by alcoves on either side, and a large triple 
 window at the termination. The arrangement of dining- 
 room, bath-room, water-closet, clothes room, and attendants’ 
 room, is similar to that already described. There is also a 
 large parlor, rear and front stairways, fifteen single rooms, 
 and four double rooms. In addition to the regular wooden 
 doors, there is also a corrugated iron door on each story, 
 which slides into a pocket in the wall, which, when closed, 
 
198 
 
 forms a complete fire-proof shut off between the wings. A 
 fourth-story ward is arranged with similar accommodations 
 to that of the first section. 
 
 The interior part of* the building is plain and substantial ; 
 the w r ood-wook is of Georgia yellow pine, oiled and var- 
 nished. The floors throughout are laid with three and four 
 inch matched stuff, with coarse counter floors beneath, deaf- 
 ened by mortar one inch and a half in depth. The lower 
 stories are used as wards for excited patients. The rooms on 
 each side of the corridor are fitted with inside wfindow shut- 
 ters, hinged and locked, with a separate hot-air flue for each. 
 Nearly all of the hot-air flues in rooms and corridors open 
 seven feet above the floor and are guarded by locked regis- 
 ters, plain registers, or register faces. Every room has a ven- 
 tilating flue that begins near the floor, is carried up in the 
 brick walls independently of all other flues and without an 
 opening until it terminates in a chimney four feet above the 
 roof. Several years’ experience has demonstrated the de- 
 cided advantage of this arrangement over the plan commonly 
 adopted, in which the flues terminate in the attic near a ridge 
 ventilator, or in a large common duct passing horizontally 
 through the attic, the air of which escapes through windows 
 or by means of a cupola. The advantages are, independent 
 perpendicular flues with a more uniform draft from each 
 room ; and entire safety from dangers by fire. Each venti- 
 lator is in reality a fire-place or a space in which a fire could 
 be safely lighted. As a precautionary measure all of the 
 stairways are closed at the sides, and, in the recently finished 
 wings are of wrought-iron firmly anchored to the walls. The 
 rear hallways open from the lower-story wards directly into 
 four lar^e airing courts, in which shade trees have been 
 planted and summer houses erected. The single rooms for 
 patients throughout the hospital are nine feet wide, ten feet 
 six inches long, and twelve feet high. There are thirty-two 
 rooms eleven feet wide, twelve feet long, and twelve feet high, 
 which may be occupied by two patients or by a patient and 
 a special attendant. The associate dormitories vary in size 
 from ten feet six inches by eighteen feet, to twenty by 
 
199 
 
 twenty-one feet, and twelve feet high, except in the small 
 fourth-story wards previously described. The main structure, 
 exclusive of rear buildings, is lighted by four hundred and 
 seventy-four windows three feet wide and six feet high, 
 eighty windows three feet wide and nine feet high, twenty- 
 four triple windows nine feet wide and nine feet high. 
 About thirteen thousand square feet of glass were required 
 to glaze these windows, or a space to cover one hundred and 
 thirteen feet square. 
 
 The rear central building, which is sixty feet w T ide, one 
 hundred and fifty feet long, and two stories high, contains all 
 the mechanical departments, and is situated in the rear of the 
 hospital and is connected with it under ground by a double 
 passageway in which the cars convey food from the kitchen 
 and bakery, and clothing to and from the laundry. 
 
 Owing to the favorable slope in the rear, the first story is 
 on a level with the cellar of the main buildings, and includes 
 a bakery, a large kitchen and scullery, a laundry and ironing 
 room, a fire-proof room for sad-iron heater, a fan wheel for 
 forced ventilation, engine-room, engineer’s fitting-shop, and 
 lavatory and sinks. The second story embraces the sewing 
 department, large dining-room, and twelve rooms for female 
 employ6s. There are six rooms for male emplo) ; 6s over the 
 engineer’s shop, and a large sitting-room furnished with 
 books and daily papers for the use of the outdoor help. The 
 boiler-house joins this building, and has a chimney one hun- 
 dred and fourteen feet high and five feet wide at the top. It 
 contains three large drop flue boilers six feet wide and twenty- 
 four feet long. Two of these are sufficient to generate all the 
 steam required for mechanical purposes, cooking, ventilating, 
 and heating during the coldest weather. 
 
 A twenty-five horse power engine, manufactured by the 
 Woodruff’ & Beach Foundry and Machine Co. of Hartford, 
 furnishes pow T er for the fan wheel, washing machines, and 
 centrifugal wringer. The engine-roo;n has a slate tile floor, 
 and is ceiled in walnut and ash woods, oiled. The fan wheel 
 blower is five feet wide and eleven feet six inches in diameter, 
 and has eight blades bent at an angle of ten degrees ; air is 
 
200 
 
 admitted from a tower through an opening on each side; 
 moving at the rate of forty revolutions per minute this blower 
 forces a constant current of pure air through the duct under 
 the corridors, which becomes heated by the radiators and 
 passes directly to every room and hall in the entire building. 
 
 The hospital is heated by steam conducted from the boilers 
 through a five-inch wrought-iron pipe covered with asbestos, 
 to radiators (Gold’s patent) placed in the cellar air-duct under 
 the flues. By the use of these radiators put up in stacks of 
 from ten to twelve in each box, the apartments are severally 
 heated in the stories, one above another. 
 
 Experience shows that a more equal distribution of heat 
 would be obtained by having the flues from each stack of 
 radiators lead to one story ; as, in the present arrangement, 
 when the fan-wheel is not moving, the unequal length of the 
 flues creates an unequal draft by which the upper stories are 
 unduly supplied. 
 
 In an institution of this character a very important advan- 
 tage of illuminating by gas over other modes is economy and 
 cleanliness, and security against fire. During the month of 
 November, 1867, the board of trustees made an arrangement 
 with the Middletown Gas Light Company for the laying of a 
 main six-incli pipe from their works to the hospital. 
 
 In one respect the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane is 
 more favorably located than most of the older institutions. 
 At a distance of one and a half miles from the building is a 
 range of hills known as the “ White Rocks.” These hills are 
 nearly destitute of soil and vegetation, but thousands of 
 springs bubble forth from crevices in the rocks, unite, and 
 form streams of considerable size which pass into the Con- 
 necticut river through a number of ravines. On one of these 
 streams, known as “ Trout Brook” or “Butler’s Creek,” a 
 reservoir covering about two acres was formed by making a 
 substantial dam across the ravine. This dam or embankment 
 is one hundred and fifty feet in length, fifteen feet in width 
 across the top, with a slant each way of eighteen inches to 
 every twelve inches perpendicular. The inner slope is cov- 
 ered with broken stone ; the top is four feet above high water 
 
mark. A large waste canal, cut in the rocks on one side of 
 the dam, carries off surplus water. The bottom of the reser- 
 voir was thoroughly grubbed of vegetable matter and soil 
 before being used. The average depth of water is about six 
 feet ; elevation above the ground floor of the hospital seventy- 
 four feet. From this reservoir a six-incli iron pipe conveys 
 the water to the building. At suitable low points “ blow-offs’ 5 
 were put in the main pipe by which sediment can be removed. 
 The quality of the water is unexceptionable, and in ordinary 
 seasons of sufficient quantity to supply several institutions of 
 this size. During the greater portion of the year the amount 
 of water passing off through the waste canal would be consid- 
 ered sufficient for a good mill privilege. On the banks of 
 this reservoir a substantial ice-house, to store about one hun- 
 dred tons, has been erected. This abundant supply of water 
 “by gravity” enables us to dispense with costly and annoy- 
 ing tanks in the attic, and to use at all times an unlimited 
 quantity in the closets and hoppers. All of the waste water, 
 the sewage and the flowage from the roofs are conducted in 
 cement drains under ground to the rear, where they unite in 
 the main sewer, which is eighteen inches in diameter, has a 
 rapid fall, and terminates two thousand feet east .of the hos- 
 pital ; from thence the sewage is distributed over the farm 
 by means of open ditches so arranged that the flowage may 
 be turned from one field to another in rotation. Evidences 
 of the value of the plan are apparent in the increased fertil- 
 ization. The annual value of farm products averages about 
 nine thousand dollars ; a comparison of quantities from year 
 to year shows the pleasing fact of a steady increase, attributa- 
 able both to additional labor of our patients and to the im- 
 proved condition of the land. It is our aim to gradually 
 bring under tillage all parts of the farm, and by a system of 
 drainage and use of the house sewage to enrich and improve 
 land which has been heretofore of little value. 
 
 For the protection of stock and the preservation of farm 
 products, a substantial barn was erected in 1869. It is situ- 
 ated on a slope, two thousand feet to the rear of the hospital, 
 and has a sub-cellar for swine and manure, a commodious, 
 
202 
 
 sheltered, and ventilated cellar (three sides above ground), to 
 accommodate forty cows, and a superstructure of wood fifty- 
 six feet in width, ninety feet in length, and twenty-three feet 
 in height, for the storage of hay, grain, and farming imple- 
 ments ; two cow-sheds sixty feet in length with stalls for 
 twenty-eight head of cattle were added to the barn. A com- 
 modious slaughter-house with all the necessary appliances for 
 heating water, hoisting carcasses, etc., adjoins the barn-yard; 
 connected with this building is a piggery sixteen feet wide 
 and one hundred and fifty feet long, with pens for eighty 
 pigs. 
 
 During the past two years the grounds immediately sur- 
 rounding the hospital have been enclosed and improved by 
 grading and drainage. The carriage-drives and walks are 
 carefully constructed after the “ Telford” plan by Thomas 
 McClunie of Hartford, who has efficiently directed this part 
 of the work. When completed these pleasure-grounds, em- 
 bracing forty acres of beautifully undulating land, will become 
 valuable adjuncts in the proper management of the institution, 
 and nearly all, no matter what may be their mental condition, 
 will derive positive benefit from their regular and daily use. 
 
 At the principal entrance to the grounds stands a cottage 
 “ lodge 55 or gate-house of brownstone, with slate roof and 
 ornamental iron cresting;. It is arranged to accommodate the 
 family of the gate-keeper, who will have charge of the walks 
 and driveways. Our institution as yet is able to offer but 
 few of the recreative amusements or employments possessed 
 by older hospitals. A few games of harmless nature are 
 provided, and the billiard-rooms invite those who are suffi- 
 ciently restored to understand and enjoy the play. One 
 evening each week is devoted to music and social enjoyments, 
 which are participated in by patients and attendants under 
 the direction of the officers. Two evenings are occupied by 
 concerts, lectures, readings, or stereopticon exhibitions. The 
 chapel has been regularly used on the Sabbath, to the advan- 
 tage and comfort of our patients. Acknowledgments are 
 gratefully and sincerely due to the reverend gentlemen of 
 Middletown and vicinity who have cheerfully and regularly 
 
203 
 
 conducted the church or chapel services since the opening of 
 the hospital. 
 
 During the past four years a partial trial of the “cottage 
 system ” lias been made; two dwelling-houses, situated a few 
 rods south of the main building, were refitted and furnished in 
 a plain manner for the occupation of fourteen male and sixteen 
 female patients, selected from the class of quiet chronic cases. 
 The buildings are simple wooden structures, heated by coal 
 stoves and lighted by oil lamps. Our experience is that 
 under favorable circumstances, a system of cottages may be- 
 come an important part of a regularly organized hospital. 
 Cottages substantially constructed of brick or stone, situated 
 sufficiently near the main buildings to be properly heated by 
 steam and lighted by gas from the common center, would be 
 a very desirable addition to the present methods of caring 
 for the insane. The superintendent could, from day to day, 
 transfer to cottages such patients as he found to require less 
 and less restraint upon personal liberty. 
 
 During the winter of 1866 a commodious wharf was con- 
 structed on the banks of the Connecticut river, one-tliird of a 
 mile from the hospital, on land deeded to the trustees for this 
 purpose. Nearly all the stone, brick, and lumbei\used in the 
 building were landed on this wharf; also the annual supply 
 of coal. A substantial coal-shed, capable of storing five 
 hundred tons, was erected near the landing. By this 
 arrangement a cargo can be unloaded rapidly at any season 
 of the year and kept under cover until such time as the 
 hospital teams can be advantageously used in hauling it to 
 the building. 
 
 The government of this hospital is vested in twelve 
 trustees. The following named gentlemen have been officially 
 connected with the institution in this capacity. Those in 
 italics are still acting. 
 
 Ex -Gov. Joseph R. Hawley, Hartford 
 
 Ex. -Gov. James E. English, ...... New Haven 
 
 Ex. -Gov. Marshall Jewell, Hartford 
 
 Governor Charles R. Ingersoll, New Haven 
 
 II. Sidney Hayden . Windsor 
 
204 
 
 Leverett E. Pease, Somers 
 
 Samuel G. Willard, Colchester 
 
 Benjamin W. Tompkins, Norwich 
 
 Wm. B. Casey, M.D. (deceased), Middletown 
 
 Richard S. Fellowes, . New Haven 
 
 Rev. Curtiss T. Woodruff (removed to N. Y. city), . Norwalk 
 
 Robbins Battell, Norfolk 
 
 Benjamin Douglas , . Middletown 
 
 Julius Hotchkiss , Middletown 
 
 Rev. Joseph Cummings , D.D., LL D., .... Middletown 
 
 Lucius S. Fuller , Tolland 
 
 j Henry Woodicard, Middletown 
 
 Joseph D. Bates , Danielsonville 
 
 Samuel Lynes, M.D. Norwalk 
 
 The associate officers are appointed by the board of trustees 
 on the recommendation of the superintendent. 
 
 These various positions have been filled as follows : 
 
 First Assistant Physician, 
 Second Assistant Physician, 
 Steward, . . 
 
 *Steward, .... 
 Clerk, .... 
 
 Farmer, .... 
 Matron, .... 
 
 Assistant Matron, 
 
 Dr. Winthrop B. Ilallock 
 Dr. Calvin S. May 
 Chas. W. Galpin 
 J. Delos Atherton 
 Frank B. Weeks 
 Clinton W. Weatlierbee 
 Mrs. Mary Hallock 
 Mrs. Margaret Dutton 
 
 Melvin B. Copeland, cashier of the Middletown National 
 bank, was appointed treasurer in 1867, and has performed 
 the duties of that office to this date. 
 
 Recognizing the importance of thorough scientific autopsies 
 in doubtful cases the board of trustees, in 1870, appointed 
 Dr. Edward C. Seguin, of New York, special pathologist. 
 Some of the results of Dr. Seguin’s investigations have been 
 published with the annual reports. 
 
 The whole number of persons employed in the hospital is 
 seventy. 
 
 The building, including the cottages already mentioned, 
 affords accommodations for four hundred and fifty patients 
 and their attendants. 
 
 * The office of steward was abolished in 1873, and the office of clerk 
 substituted. 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT, 
 
 The following statement of the fiscal concerns of “ The General Hospi- 
 tal for the Insane/' for the year commencing April 1, 1875, and ending 
 March 31, 1876, is respectfully submitted to the Board of Trustees: 
 
 Receipts. 
 
 Balance in hands of Treasurer, April 1, 1875, . 
 
 Revenue account from the Hospital, 
 
 Amount of temporary loan, 
 
 Payments. 
 
 . $4,408.45 
 
 . 124,305.60 
 9,910.75 
 
 $138,624.80 
 
 Amount of Superintendent’s orders, includ’g paym’t of loans, $137,420.36 
 Balance in hand of Treasurer, March 31, 1876, . . . 1,204.44 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, 
 
 $138,624.80 
 
 Treasurer . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., April 1, 1876. 
 
 We hereby certify, that we have examined the vouchers and accounts 
 of the Hospital, of which the above is an abstract, and find them correct. 
 
 H, SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 
 Auditors. 
 
SUPERINTENDENT’S FINANCIAL REPORT. 
 
 Debtor. 
 
 1875. 
 
 April 1. To cash on hand, 
 
 To balance in bank, . 
 
 1876. 
 
 March 31. To Revenue (for year), 
 
 Credit. 
 
 April, 1875. By Vouchers, 
 
 May, “ “ “ 
 
 June, “ 
 
 July, “ “ “ . 
 
 August/* “ “ 
 
 Sept., “ “ . . 
 
 Oct., “ “ . 
 
 Nov., “ “ “ . 
 
 Dec., “ “ . 
 
 Jan., 1876. “ . . 
 
 Feb’y, “ “ . 
 
 March, “ “ “ . . 
 
 Mar. 31,“ “ Cash on hand, . 
 
 “ 31,“ “ Balance in bank, 
 
 $436.95 
 
 4,408.45 
 
 . 124,305.60 
 
 $129,151.00 
 
 $11,208.83 
 
 8,722.67 
 
 9,562.87 
 
 11,062.87 
 
 12,501.44 
 
 9.104.60 
 13,310.00 
 13,732.84 
 
 9.403.60 
 12,033 12 
 
 9,625.47 
 
 4,491.37 
 
 124,759.68 
 
 3,199.28 
 
 1,192.04 
 
 $129,151.00 
 
 Middletown, April 29, 1876. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the accounts and vouchers of 
 the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane and find the same to be correct. 
 Also, that for the year ending March 31, 1876, there remained in the hands 
 of the treasurer of the institution $1,192 04 in cash, and in the hands of the 
 superintendent, $3,199.28 in cash, making a total of $5,391.52 cash on 
 hand at the above date. 
 
 John S. Dobson, ) Auditors of Accounts of State 
 Green Kendrick, ) Institutions for 1875-6. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the Greneral Assembly of the State of 
 Connecticut : 
 
 The Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane 
 submit their eleventh report, together with the reports of the 
 superintendent and treasurer of the institution. 
 
 In presenting this report the trustees deem it a matter for 
 congratulation that they have never had occasion, in conse- 
 quence of serious errors or complaints, to make to your hon- 
 orable body or to the public an apology, explanations, or 
 defense of the management of the institution. It has ever 
 been open to the inspection of all properly authorized persons, 
 and all having special reasons for inquiry have received par- 
 ticular attention. Careful oversight has been exercised by 
 the trustees, and in their unannounced visits they have 
 received the kind and cordial co-operation of the officers, who 
 have always appeared as though conscious that they were 
 doing their duty, having nothing to conceal or to dread from 
 the most searching examination. The hospital still main- 
 tains its high character ; whatever improvements study or 
 experience have developed have been adopted, and its officers 
 have not been behind others in devising means for the better 
 care and improvement of the unfortunate class over whom 
 they have oversight. 
 
 During the year improvements in the buildings and grounds 
 have been carried forward, and the most of those previously 
 commenced have been completed. Improvements have been 
 made as rapidly as the means of the institution would permit. 
 They have been carefully considered, and so ordered as to 
 secure the best results. Imperfections in the buildings have 
 been remedied, and such changes made as experience has 
 
208 
 
 suggested. The policy has been to suffer no part of the 
 property to deteriorate. In all respects the buildings and 
 grounds of the hospital are in a better condition than they 
 have ever been before. Other important improvements are 
 under consideration, which will be made as soon as practica- 
 ble. Thus far no special aid for such purposes has been 
 solicited from the State. The hospital has passed the most 
 difficult and perilous period in the existence of such institu- 
 tions. Its resources are understood, systematically arranged, 
 and efficiently managed, and the trustees indulge the hope 
 that at no distant day they may be able to reduce the expenses 
 of its inmates. 
 
 Special attention is called to the statements in the able 
 report of the superintendent relative to the improvements in 
 the grounds, the employment of the insane and the means for 
 their recreation and amusement, new forms of which have 
 been introduced the past year. 
 
 It is not necessary to urge that skillful medical treatment, 
 proper food, and care as to regularity of habits, are not all 
 that should be expected of a hospital. Great, and in many 
 cases equal, benefit may be derived from judicious employ- 
 ment, varied amusements, and pleasant surroundings, such 
 as well-arranged grounds, ornamented with trees, shrubs, and 
 flowers. Influences derived from these sources powerfully 
 tend to divert the attention of the insane, to correct the mor- 
 bid action of their faculties, and give a healthy tone to the 
 activities of their bodily and mental powers. One result of 
 this institution has been the lessening of restraint, till only a very 
 few inmates, and for very special reasons, are subjected to it. 
 
 There have been admited to the hospital since it was 
 opened 1,360 persons, and as readmitted patients are not 
 counted a second time, this number indicates so many differ- 
 ent persons. Of these 212 have died, 257 have been discharged 
 as recovered, 223 as improved, and 202 discharged with no 
 special change in their condition. 
 
 In estimating the good accomplished we must not only 
 consider the lessening of the misery and the increase of the 
 
209 
 
 happiness of all the inmates, the inestimable blessings secured 
 to those restored to health and reason, but also the blessing 
 to the families and friends of the afflicted. They have been 
 relieved from the great suffering imposed upon them by their 
 difficult and perilous responsibility, the duties of which, 
 through want of information and through the pressure of 
 other duties, they were unable to discharge. To many the 
 hospital has given the joy of receiving back as alive those 
 who in a terrible sense to them were dead. 
 
 The number in the hospital at the date of this report is 466. 
 The average daily number during the year has been 456.97. 
 
 There are many applications for admission, and among them 
 seventy women. A much larger number would be enrolled 
 if any encouragement of an early admission could be given. 
 As only twenty-eight females were discharged since the last 
 report, months must pass before those enrolled can be admit- 
 ted. This state of things is every way unfortunate. Could 
 the hospital receive acute cases at the commencement of the 
 attack it would accomplish far more efficient work at much less 
 cost. After a long delay, when acute cases have become 
 chronic, not more than one-tenth recover of those who might 
 have been restored had they been placed under proper treat- 
 ment at the commencement of the attack. 
 
 In the report of the trustees of this hospital for 1868 statis- 
 tics are given showing that the cost of supporting an old 
 chronic case is about thirty-five times greater than the average 
 cost of a new case. This disparity results from the fact that 
 the recent cases are soon cured and discharged, while the 
 old or chronic cases are kept on indefinitely. Prom consid- 
 erations of humanity and economy it would appear that there 
 is an urgent necessity for additional provision for the insane 
 in our State. 
 
 The trustees and the superintendent have repeatedly urged 
 this subject on the attention of the legislature. 
 
 Considering the number to whom admission has been 
 refused, the number discharged to make room for more 
 urgent cases, the number awaiting admission, the number 
 14 
 
210 
 
 sent from this State to hospitals in other States, the large 
 number known to be in almshouses, and the number in private 
 families, we are confident there are several hundred insane 
 persons belonging to this State who need hospital treatment 
 and accommodation. 
 
 As the trustees do not deem it desirable to enlarge this 
 hospital, they earnestly urge the importance of immediate 
 provision for the erection of a new hospital, which shall fur- 
 nish accommodation for those who, in their suffering and 
 calamity, are denied a participation in the provision the State 
 has made for the insane. 
 
 The official terms of the members from Hartford and Tol- 
 land counties expire this year. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 CHARLES R. INGERSOLL, 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 RICHMOND M. BULLOCK, 
 RICHARD S. FELLOWES, 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 EZRA P. BENNETT, M.D., 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, 
 
 New Haven . 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Tolland. 
 
 Colchester. 
 
 Putnam. 
 
 New Haven. 
 
 Middletoivn . 
 
 Norfolk. 
 
 Danbury . 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
EE PORT OF SUPERIiS TEEDEjX T. 
 
 Connecticut Hospital for Insane, 
 
 Middletown, November 30, 1876. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees : 
 
 Gentlemen, — In compliance with Chapter YI, Section 1, 
 of “ Public Acts,” passed at the last session of the General 
 Assembly, the fiscal year of this institution is made to end 
 on this the 30th day of November, instead of on the 31st 
 day of March ; consequently this, the eleventh report, in- 
 cludes statistical tables of patients, details of farm products, 
 and the financial statement of a period of eight months. 
 
 As I have recently furnished an extended history of the 
 hospital during its first ten years, I need only direct atten- 
 tion briefly to some particulars regarding its progress since 
 last March. During this period the officers of the institu- 
 tion have had their ingenuity called into exercise to provide 
 accommodations for new patients. Their labors have been 
 increased from the fact that all the while the hospital has 
 been overcrowded, so that whenever a vacancy occurred there 
 were several patients waiting to occupy the vacated beds. 
 The perplexing difficulties from this crowded condition can 
 only be appreciated by those who have passed through simi- 
 lar experiences. In the endeavor to receive persons who 
 most needed hospital care, we may have unintentionally 
 caused disappointment to worthy applicants. 
 
 At the date of the last report there were in the institution 
 four hundred and sixty patients — ten more than could be 
 conveniently or safely accommodated — about equally divided 
 between the sexes. The admissions during eight months 
 have been eighty-eight, viz., fifty-nine men and twenty-nine 
 women. 
 
212 
 
 Sixty-seven have been discharged, forty-five men and 
 twenty-two women, and fifteen have died, nine men and six 
 women, leaving now on the register four hundred and sixty- 
 six patients, viz., two hundred and thirty-two men and two 
 hundred and thirty-four women. 
 
 The following table shows the number of deaths in each 
 year, the percentage of the average number, and the percent- 
 age of the whole number present during each year : 
 
 DEATHS AND THEIR RATIOS, FROM MAY 1, 1868, TO NO- 
 VEMBER 30, 1876. 
 
 Official Year. 
 
 Whole Number of 
 Patients. 
 
 Daily Average 
 Number of 
 Patients. 
 
 Deaths. 
 
 Percent, on whole 
 Number of 
 Patients. 
 
 Per cent, on Daily 
 Average Number 
 of Patients. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17:57 
 
 1869-70, 
 
 343 
 
 225 17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9.32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73, 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6 25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 339 51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425.80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 16 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876, 
 
 548 
 
 456.97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2.73 
 
 3.28* 
 
 You observe that the percentage of deaths on the whole 
 number of patients during a period of eight months is only 
 2.73. Of these six were over sixty, and two over eighty 
 years of age. One only lived six days, and another one 
 month and twenty days after admission, but the majority 
 had been residents in the hospital for some years. 
 
 The relatively large number of admissions and discharges 
 of males should not be regarded as an indication of more 
 prevalent insanity in that sex, nor of better care or more 
 skillful treatment while in the hospital. More likely is it 
 due to the fact that we have been able to admit promptly 
 nearly all male applicants, thus receiving a larger proportion 
 
 A period of eight months. 
 
213 
 
 of acute cases, who recover or die within a few months, and 
 leave vacancies for others. The chronic insane male is some- 
 what useful at home or in the community, being capable to 
 perform outdoor work, which furnishes a partial support, 
 and so by exercise he is more quiet at night and less turbu- 
 lent by day. The chronic insane woman, restricted to in- 
 door duties, has relatively fewer means of being diverted or 
 employed, and is also less liable to exposure and hardships, 
 and consequently lives longer as an insane person. These 
 natural laws working continuously for a series of years in an 
 established community like that of New England have pro- 
 duced a condition of society such as might reasonably be ex- 
 pected, viz., a larger proportion of insane women than men, 
 and a growing desire on the part of friends and public 
 officials to have them provided for in institutions expressly 
 planned for the purpose. This seems to be an explanation 
 of our experiences in 1869, when the .first wing was opened 
 for women, and the entire space occupied within one week ; 
 and again in 1872, when the new wings were completed, they 
 were filled in an incredibly short period of time with turbu- 
 lent chronic cases. 
 
 In former reports I have alluded to various means em- 
 ployed to divert, amuse, and occupy such of our patients as 
 were not in condition to engage in outdoor labor. Besides 
 our regular entertainments of music, dancing, concerts, lec- 
 tures, stereopticon exhibitions, readings, etc., which occupy 
 four evenings each week, our male patients have found pleas- 
 ure and profit in a systematic course of outdoor military 
 drilling, which was conceived as a valuable training exercise 
 for insane men, and has been carried into useful practice by 
 our worthy supervisor, Colonel Thayer. So far as I am 
 aware, this is a new feature in hospital management, and 
 you will bear with me for alluding to it with considerable 
 minuteness. 
 
 Early in the season walking parties were formed of from 
 ten to fifty persons, who would leave the grounds and spend 
 an hour or two, and sometimes a whole afternoon, in roam- 
 
214 
 
 ing about the hills gathering flowers or picking berries. As 
 the season advanced, Colonel Thayer gradually and almost 
 imperceptibly formed those from the different wards into 
 distinct companies, officered by their respective attendants. 
 These companies would go out daily and practice at military 
 evolutions. I am free to confess my surprise at the progress 
 made and at the proficiency attained by many of the chronic 
 insane who had been turbulent, restless, and noisy, or list- 
 less, desponding, and partially demented. These exercises 
 were practiced one or two hours daily by about one hundred 
 and fifty, and on Saturday afternoons a regular dress parade 
 and inspection occurred, whenever the weather was favorable, 
 at which some of the officers “ reviewed ” the “ troops”. It 
 should be borne in mind that these companies were formed 
 of men who were not considered available for farm labor, or, 
 in other words, of that large class of epileptic, maniacal, and 
 demented patients found in every hospital, who spent their 
 time in the airing courts or in the wards. 
 
 About forty per cent, of all the men are regularly em- 
 ployed on the farm and grounds. One of the results of this 
 form of military exercise and discipline was a steady increase 
 in the number of those who were able to be employed on the 
 farm, so that on pleasant days not more than a half dozen 
 men, out of a total of two hundred and thirty, would be 
 found inside the building. 
 
 Another pleasant effect of this form of amusement and 
 exercise was observable in the quietness and order which 
 prevailed in the house. The universal quietness at night 
 was equally noticeable. Rarely was a sleeping dose of seda- 
 tive medicine required ; and from records accurately kept I 
 am able to report the absence, for weeks at a time, of all 
 forms of mechanical restraint. Even now, with an over- 
 crowded house and many unfavorable cases occupying the 
 wards, only one male patient — a destructive paretic — is 
 subjected to personal restraint. Much credit is due, and I 
 cheerfully award it in this public manner, to my associates 
 and the corps of attendants who have earnestly and at con- 
 
215 
 
 siderable personal inconvenience seconded all of our efforts 
 in this direction. To properly care for the insane is at all 
 times arduous labor. It becomes doubly so when any new 
 system or method of government is being established. 
 
 In introducing this system of out-door life, the recently 
 completed lawns and Telfordized walks have afforded us 
 ample space at all times. Without these improvements it 
 would have been simply impossible to organize and drill a 
 company of men unaccustomed to military evolutions. No 
 expenditure of money since the commencement of this hos- 
 pital has been more judiciously made or thoroughly appreci- 
 ated. Those of us who have lived here during the past nine 
 years, accustomed to stumble over building debris, hum- 
 mocks, stones, and ditches, or during the greater part of the 
 year, to sink into mud ankle deep whenever a step was taken 
 out of the ordinary path, may not be considered impartial 
 witnesses ; but we can at least claim the privilege of express- 
 ing our satisfaction and pleasure at the completion of the 
 work. It has been done in the most thorough manner, and, 
 judging from universal praise, in good taste. Many years 
 will be required to plant adequately and develop with shrub- 
 bery and shade-trees the beauty of our lawn. Believing thor- 
 oughly in the advantages of pleasant out-door surroundings 
 in the treatment of the insane, I earnestly solicit you to con- 
 tinue improvements in this direction. I also request your 
 attention to the condition of the old house which has been 
 used, during the past five years, as a “ cottage ” for quiet 
 chronic male patients. Suitable repairs were made to this 
 building when first occupied ; it has served a good purpose 
 in providing a comfortable home for fifteen men. It was an 
 old house, and the repairs tlien made only strengthened for 
 a time a dilapidated shell. 
 
 The south cottage, occupied by women, is more substantial 
 and in good repair, and will be serviceable for some years. 
 There have been but few changes among the attendants 
 during the period covered by this report, and we retain the 
 experienced services of some who have for years faithfully 
 and diligently served the institution. 
 
216 
 
 The hospital farm, under its efficient management, has 
 continued a source of profit to the institution. Improvements 
 in underdraining, grading, and fence-building have been 
 made. These various kinds of out-door work afford oppor- 
 tunity to such male patients as we believed would be bene- 
 fited by the change. A larger number have been thus em- 
 ployed than during any previous year. For tabulated details 
 respecting farm products I refer you to the accompanying 
 tables. 
 
 Religious exercises, conducted by clergymen of different 
 denominations, have been regularly held in the chapel on 
 Sabbath afternoons. A service of praise, consisting of vocal 
 and instrumental music, in which all having voice or musical 
 knowledge could take part, was established early in Septem- 
 ber. Thus an hour is pleasantly spent in the chapel every 
 Sabbath evening. To many kind friends we are indebted 
 for assistance at our weekly entertainments. Under this 
 recognition I would gratefully mention the members of the 
 choir of the South Congregational Church of Middletown, for 
 a concert in April. The Middletown Dramatic Association 
 is also entitled to special mention for an evening entertain- 
 ment, consisting of music and character representations. 
 Lectures, concerts, and readings have been frequently held, 
 together with stereopticon exhibitions. Books, magazines, 
 and papers for the use of patients have been received from 
 Miss Tompkins, Mrs. Clias. E. Hall, and M. B. Copeland of 
 Middletown, Mrs. Fellowes of New Haven, and Mrs. Chas. 
 Perry of Southport. The Evangelical Knowledge Society 
 has furnished regularly six copies of the Parish Visitor . In 
 addition to the above, thirty-two persons contributed five 
 dollars each towards the purchase of books for the library. 
 We are also under obligations to the publishers of daily and 
 weekly papers in the State for gratuitous copies of their pub- 
 lications. It is again my pleasant duty to acknowledge with 
 sincere gratitude the regular reception of flowers and bou- 
 quets from the “Flower Mission” connected with the South 
 Congregational Church Sabbath-school. 
 
 
217 
 
 Before closing, I desire to express my hearty thanks to the 
 officers for their intelligent co-operation, undeviating support, 
 and personal kindness. We have labored together for many 
 years in a special field of charitable work, which is peculiarly 
 open to adverse criticism. We have been mortified, often, 
 to find that our best efforts were misunderstood, and our 
 motives questioned. This is, perhaps, inseparable from the 
 care of the insane ; yet the thought does not wholly remove 
 the mental sting caused by unjust reproaches from persons 
 whom we have carefully watched through the various stages 
 of mental derangement. This is, perhaps, a sufficient reason 
 why none of us should remain too long engaged in this field 
 of labor. Enough has been said to show that, during the 
 past eight months, a spirit of progress has been maintained, 
 and that there has continued to pervade the management of 
 the institution a healthy degree of active and vigorous life. 
 In conclusion, I desire to express my deep obligations to the 
 members of your board who, by intelligent co-operation and 
 personal kindness, have greatly assisted in sharing the bur-4 
 dens of another year. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ABRAM MARVIN SHEW, ' 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut : 
 
 The trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane 
 herewith respectfully present to the legislature their twelfth 
 annual report, together with reports of the superintendent 
 and treasurer. 
 
 The largest number in the hospital on any one day has 
 been 476. There are now 235 males and 234 females. It 
 will be seen that the hospital has been crowded during the 
 whole time. There are over 60 waiting for admission. The 
 applications are served in turn, but as the greater number 
 are for the female wards, the delay is often of months, 
 during which the illness becomes seriously worse, and in 
 some instances hopeless. The burden of the care in their 
 own homes of these mentally diseased, and the sorrow of 
 heart of their friends while waiting for special treatment 
 required, it would be difficult to estimate. Those who have 
 had to endure this trial can best do so. 
 
 It has been often stated in reports to the legislature that 
 the disease of insanity is rapidly increasing. Connecticut is 
 not worse off as to this increase than other States, nor 
 than countries in Europe. It is computed that about 400 in 
 this State are needing hospital accommodations. Modern 
 civilization, of which we are glad to boast, and which brings 
 us so much to enjoy, brings also to us many evils and un- 
 pleasant responsibilities. Insanity is one of these evils, and 
 the care of the insane one of the grave public responsibilities. 
 Insanity is a peculiar disease and the insane require peculiar 
 treatment in suitable hospitals. Safety of friends and of the 
 public demands such seclusion for them. The insane are not 
 
219 
 
 properly to be regarded as mere paupers — they are a pecu- 
 liarly afflicted class, who need more than clothing, shelter, 
 and food. During the continuance of their disease they 
 should have experienced medical care, special surroundings 
 and restraints, and comforts, suited to restore their minds to 
 healthy action. 
 
 In many cases over-work and poor food have brought on 
 the disease — the anxieties of business and family, or the 
 treadmill work of daily duties, have been too much for the 
 physical and mental constitution, and the brain becomes over 
 excited or bewildered or dangerously sluggish. The removal 
 from accustomed scenes of trouble and from the wearing 
 friction of their daily lives, is necessary to give their minds 
 rest and diversion. Medicine, good plain food with fresh 
 air and some amusements, will, in many cases, if the change 
 is promptly made, in a short stay in a hospital produce a cure. 
 
 Christianity, humanity, and true economy properly demand 
 that the State should do what individuals cannot do — pro- 
 vide suitable accommodations for the mentally diseased. 
 Incorporate and private institutions are never adequate to 
 the care of the insane of a State. 
 
 Connecticut has only one hospital and urgently needs 
 another of similar grade with every approved internal ap- 
 pliance to remedy the evil of insanity. Local and town 
 shelters for the insane have neither the means nor the skill 
 to provide suitably for them. Their support is properly a 
 general burden, and the State may, with the highest propriety 
 and for the greatest economy, provide liberally for this 
 unfortunate class. The trustees earnestly hope that the State 
 of Connecticut will make appropriation for a new hospital 
 and appoint a faithful board of trustees to erect a new hos- 
 pital, plain in architecture and a model of excellence for its 
 uses worthy of the character and standing of the State. 
 
 The general condition of health in this institution during 
 the year has been good ; the details will be found in the 
 superintendent’s report. The means devised for the occupa- 
 tion, recreation, and amusement of the inmates have had 
 beneficial influence. 
 
220 
 
 A good deal of attention has been given during the year 
 to maintaining the buildings and inside rooms and closets in 
 repair. Our construction is nearly completed, and our in- 
 come is adequate to run the institution economically. In 
 view of the widespread call for economy in the management 
 of all public institutions, and of our sincere wishes to meet 
 it, we have resolved at the December meeting to further 
 reduce the price of board from $4.50 to $4.00 from 1st 
 December, 1877, henceforth charging to the towns $2.00 a 
 week to each of their indigent patients. We shall faithfully 
 try to keep our outgoes within our income, so as not to be 
 obliged to call for any assistance from the State. In regard 
 to statements of low prices of board in some institutions in 
 other States, it should be borne in mind and widely known 
 that in some of the States which have been quoted there is 
 a separate special appropriation made at each legislative ses- 
 sion for the salaries of the officials and for the coal used in 
 the institutions. In justice to our management, this should 
 be thus publicly stated, as our schedule of cost includes every 
 expense and outlay for the institution, including salaries, 
 coal, gas, etc., etc. 
 
 It has been discussed in our meetings whether some light 
 occupation could be provided in rooms or shops supplied with 
 tools, for our able-bodied, well-disposed patients, and which 
 labor would be profitable in a money way, either by doing 
 work for which the hospital has now to pay, or of which the 
 products could be sold for its benefit. 
 
 The remedial effect of occupation in cases of mental dis- 
 ease has been frequently mentioned. No decision has been 
 reached as yet. 
 
 The term of office of the trustees of New London and 
 Windham counties expires this year, and we respectfully 
 request their re-election. We are happy to state that the 
 superintendent, Dr. A. M. Shew, who has been absent a large 
 part of the year on account of illness, has returned to his 
 post with renewed vigor and restored health, and has entered 
 on the duties of his office with his usual earnestness and skill. 
 
221 
 
 During Ins absence Dr. Calvin S. May was acting superin- 
 tendent. He managed the affairs of the hospital to the 
 entire satisfaction of the trustees, and has shown that he is 
 eminently qualified for so important and responsible a posi- 
 tion. 
 
 The blessing of God has rested upon the work committed 
 to the trustees and officers of this important branch of the 
 State charities. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 RICHARD D. HUBBARD, Hartford. 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, Colchester. 
 RICHMOND M. BULLOCK, Putnam. 
 RICHARD S. PELLOWES, New Haven. 
 HENRY WOODWARD, Middletown. 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, Norfolk. 
 EZRA P. BENNETT, M.D ., Danbury. 
 
 H. SYDNEY HAYDEN, Windsor. 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, Tolland. 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, Middletown. 
 JOSEPH CUMMINGS, Middletown. 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, Middletown. 
 
 Middletown, November 80, 1877. 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 Middletown, Nov. 30, 1877. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen, — In presenting the twelfth report of this in- 
 stitution for the fiscal year ending November 30, 1877, I 
 would direct your attention especially to the statistical pages, 
 embodying, as they do in tabular form, the results of our la- 
 bor. Four hundred and sixty-six (466) patients remained at 
 the date of the last report. One hundred and fifty-three 
 (153) have since been admitted, a total of six hundred and 
 nineteen (619) under treatment during the year, thirty-one 
 (31) of whom have died, forty-one (41) were discharged 
 cured, forty-four (44) much improved, and thirty-four (34) 
 were returned to friends or public officials without change 
 in mental condition, thus leaving four hundred and sixty- 
 nine (469) under treatment at this date. The youngest 
 persons received were two (2) males aged eighteen (18). 
 The oldest person admitted was a female aged ninety (90). 
 There are at this date residents of the hospital two (2) fe- 
 males aged ninety (90), one eighty-five (85), one eighty-four 
 (84), and three (3) males aged respectively seventy-nine (79), 
 seventy-eight (78), and seventy-four (74). The experience 
 of the past year in respect to the classes of society and kinds 
 of occupation from which the largest number of insane pa- 
 tients is derived confirm those of former years and of other 
 institutions. Twenty-one (21) farmers and twenty-six (26) 
 farmers’ wives or daughters, ten (10) laborers, and seventeen 
 (17) domestics, a total of seventy-four (74) persons out of 
 one hundred and fifty-three (153) were admitted in varying 
 
223 
 
 stages of mental disease. Thus it will be observed that those 
 kinds of employment which require physical effort without 
 corresponding mental activity produce the largest percentage 
 of cases of insanity. Undoubtedly exposure to cold, moist- 
 ure, and bad air, with deficient or unwholesome nourishment, 
 has had much to do in originating the disease in this class of 
 society. But a greater influence can be traced directly to 
 the lack of mental culture and the worry resulting from 
 a struggle with poverty and its kindred evils. I would re- 
 spectfully call your attention to the fact that the number of 
 persons charged with criminal acts and who in our courts are 
 acquitted on the ground of insanity is steadily increasing: 
 seventeen (17) of this class — fourteen (14) men and three 
 (3) women — were sent to the hospital during the year by 
 the courts. While admitting that all but one of these per- 
 sons were insane, and that one an inebriate and should have 
 hospital care, I would respectfully ask why they are permit- 
 ted to take precedence of the virtuous insane. In other 
 words, Why should they be admitted out of the regular order, 
 while perhaps fifty or more innocent persons who had made 
 the needful previous application are obliged to wait until va- 
 cancies occur? 
 
 Herewith is appended a copy of “ an act reducing the price 
 to be paid by the State for the support of indigent and insane 
 persons,” passed by the last General Assembly and duly ap- 
 proved by his Excellency Governor Hubbard on the 23d day 
 of March, 1877. By the provisions of this law the support 
 of indigent patients (not paupers) is chargeable to the towns 
 where they reside and to the friends making the application, 
 instead of to the State and friends as heretofore. No change 
 is made respecting town paupers other than reducing the 
 amount paid by the State from two dollars and fifty cents to 
 two dollars. 
 
 The following table of deaths and their ratios will show 
 the percentage in each year since May 1, 1868: 
 
224 
 
 Deaths and their Ratios from May 1, 1868, to Nov. 30, 1877. 
 
 Ui 
 
 03 
 
 0> 
 
 >> 
 
 as 
 
 Ph 
 
 <4-1 
 
 o 
 
 6 
 
 o 
 
 <u 
 
 si 
 s jj 
 
 aj ♦-> 
 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 
 <D 
 
 la 
 
 5! 
 
 e » 
 
 Q. 
 
 ^o5 
 
 •5-g 
 
 'C c 
 
 c ©.! 
 Z ti 
 
 *3 
 
 o 
 
 Wbolc 
 
 tienti 
 
 . 03 
 
 go 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total. 
 
 3 3 
 o . 
 f_ o 
 
 o Z 
 
 o £ 5 
 P % o 
 
 1868-69 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-70 
 
 343 
 
 225.17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9.32 
 
 1870-71 
 
 307 
 
 237 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6 71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6.25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74 
 
 524 
 
 339.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75 
 
 605 
 
 425.80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 16 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5 35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876 
 Dec. 1, 
 
 548 
 
 456.97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2.73 
 
 3.28 
 
 ’76-Nov. 
 30, '77 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5.01 
 
 6.69 
 
 Nineteen (19) men and twelve (12) women died during 
 the year, nine of whom — an unusually large number — had 
 tuberculosis (consumption) in some of its forms; two of the 
 others were apoplectic and three were cases of paresis. The 
 general health of the patients has been good ; nearly all the 
 deaths have been the result of chronic and exhausting affec- 
 tions rather than of acute disorders. Referring to table No. 
 1 , which gives a correct movement of the hospital population, 
 you observe that forty-one (41) persons have been discharged 
 “ recovered.” I am quite sure you can rely upon the correct- 
 ness of this table. It has always been our aim to exclude 
 doubtful cases and include only those who had shown positive 
 evidence of mental restoration. Among the forty-four (44) 
 persons reported discharged improved were several who had 
 recovered, but the period of convalescence had been too brief 
 to insure beyond a doubt continued mental health. It may 
 reasonably be asked why they were allowed to leave the hospi 
 tal when perhaps a longer residence of only a few weeks would 
 have fully established their mental equilibrium. Two rea- 
 sons can be giyen — the overcrowded condition of the hospi- 
 tal and the urgent appeals for the admission of new cases. I 
 
225 
 
 do not believe the policy of discharging convalescent patients 
 at an early period is advisable or economical. Although 
 considered fully restored, the brain and nervous system of 
 these patients are generally in a sensitive condition, like that 
 of the lungs or other organs after acute disease. A few 
 weeks (sometimes a few days) longer residence at the hospi- 
 tal would place them beyond the danger of relapse. An 
 early return to the home circle and silent influences which 
 may have had much to do in causing insanity in the first 
 place endangers their mental health. But it is difficult, often 
 impossible, to make relatives understand this fact. They 
 come to visit their afflicted friends and find them quiet, ra- 
 tional, and perhaps anxious to return home. The patient 
 acknowledges that he has been “ out of his mind,” but is now 
 “ all right,” and fears that the noise of the wards and daily 
 association with other patients will have an unfavorable in- 
 fluence. The argument seems plausible and appeals strongly 
 to the judgment of anxious friends, who readily consent to 
 the wishes of the patient, even when reminded of the fact 
 that it was certain influences at home which excited the dis- 
 ease and that the patient had recovered his mental health in 
 the very wards and amid the surroundings which he now 
 fears may make him insane. One of the responsible duties 
 devolving on the medical officers is in connection with the 
 discharge of this class of convalescents and to know just 
 how to act, and when. The natural impulse would tend us to 
 coincide with the wishes of the patient and friends, even after 
 sad experience has taught us the necessity of caution. When 
 a patient remains in hospital several months after recovery 
 or until the habit of health is fully established, he rarely re- 
 lapses into insanity. It is, therefore, a source of regret to 
 us when, having reluctantly sanctioned the removal of a pa- 
 tient, he soon returns in a worse condition than when first 
 admitted. Referring again to table No. 1, you observe that 
 we report thirty-four (34) patients as discharged “ station- 
 ary ” — meaning so many persons who were admitted in 
 a state of chronic melancholia, dementia, or mania, and hav- 
 
 15 
 
226 
 
 ing occupied our beds for a longer or shorter period, are re- 
 turned to their homes or to the almshouses to make room for 
 more urgent cases. 
 
 Since the hospital was opened in 1868, we have discharged 
 (see table No. 2) two hundred and thirty-six (286) patients of 
 this class, or in other words, of two evils we have chosen the 
 lesser, and have given preference to acute cases. I need 
 hardly ask you to approve this course, because it has in every 
 such instance been sanctioned on the ground of necessity. 
 No stronger proof can be adduced to show the pressing need 
 of greater accommodations for the insane in Connecticut 
 than the facts here given. This hospital is dangerously 
 overcrowded, convalescing patients are sent home before their 
 recovery is established, chronic cases are returned to the 
 almshouses to make room for urgent cases, about seventy ap- 
 plicants are waiting to be admitted, and, according to the re- 
 port of the special commission last year, there are about four 
 hundred (400) insane persons waiting in the various town re- 
 ceptacles, who need, and ought to have, better accommoda- 
 tions. These stern facts (established by unchallenged evi- 
 dence) appeal directly to the sympathy and conscience of 
 every citizen. They are so important and irresistible that I 
 am led to ask you again, Can we in any way do more than 
 we are already doing to meet the demands of the times ? To 
 crowd the present overcrowded buildings would hardly be 
 justifiable, or reasonable. It would be simply a “ make-shift ” 
 attempt to benefit a few at the expense of many, and would 
 endanger the already limited chances for curative treatment. 
 The question naturally arises, Would it be advisable to en- 
 large the present hospital buildings by the addition of wings? 
 You are aware that I have often expressed a decided opinion 
 in opposition to this proposition, and nothing has occurred to 
 change my views. All experience shows that the best results 
 are obtained in smaller hospitals, and there is a growing con- 
 viction among the most experienced alienists, that a mistake 
 has been made of late years in allowing our hospitals to be- 
 come expensive in construction, large receptacles, unwieldly 
 
227 
 
 in the number of inmates, and hence often unsatisfactory in 
 professional management. No one can reasonably expect a 
 physician, no matter how eminent or capable, to do as well in 
 the detail care of five hundred (500) patients, as he would 
 with half that number. And the same principle applies — 
 although not with the same force — to the other departments. 
 The friends of patients have reason to expect that the medi- 
 cal superintendent will know all about the peculiarities of 
 each case, no matter how many are under his treatment. 
 He may have capable assistants who can attend to the detail 
 treatment of individual cases, and keep the record books ; 
 but it is his duty to know the facts and be ready to converse 
 intelligibly about them. Another serious objection to large 
 hospitals may be found in the largely increased number of 
 employes necessary to their care, and the increased liability 
 to their irregularities which may naturally occur. The only 
 argument worthy of notice thus far advanced by the advocates 
 of large institutions is, that the patients can be supported at 
 less expense per capita. In these times of financial distress 
 and uncertainty this argument will receive careful attention. 
 Without attempting to discuss it, I would simply report that 
 in practice we find a decided advantage, pecuniarily, in hav- 
 ing a large number of patients; but the disadvantages of les- 
 sened personal attention to individual cases, liability to acci- 
 dents and irregularities, and the greatly increased responsibil- 
 ity resting upon the resident officers, outweigh the pecuniary 
 gain. If a hospital with two hundred and fifty (250) patients 
 could be maintained at the same cost per capita as one with 
 accommodations for four hundred and fifty (450), no one 
 would be found to advocate the latter. 
 
 It has been suggested by the friends of the insane poor that 
 additional buildings could be erected on the hospital farm. 
 That these buildings should be simple inexpensive structures, 
 yet permanent and adapted to the purpose of affording suita- 
 ble accommodations to the quiet chronic cases who might be 
 transferred from time to time from the present hospital; 
 or, in other words, that the present building would be- 
 
228 
 
 come the receiving hospital, affording accommodations for 
 about four hundred (400) acute or recent cases. When 
 the medical officers become satisfied that any given case 
 had reached a chronic condition, he or she could be sent 
 to the other building, there to be maintained as long as the 
 friends or officials of the town thought desirable. In care- 
 fully examining the present hospital population, I find about 
 one-half of the whole number who could be thus provided for 
 at less expense as to the cost of buildings. 
 
 Admitting the pressing need of greatly increased accom- 
 modation for the insane of Connecticut, this would seem to 
 be a peculiarly favorable time to carry out the project. 
 Building materials of all descriptions are from thirty (30) to 
 fifty (50) per cent, lower than when this hospital was erected. 
 Skilled labor can be obtained at low cost and in sufficient 
 quantity to insure its speedy completion. From a careful 
 survey of the whole ground, including information from 
 architects and builders, it is reasonable to conclude that 
 another hospital for four hundred (400) patients could be 
 erected and furnished at a cost not to exceed $200,000, or 
 at the rate of $500 per capita. I have already said that the 
 only reason urged for the establishment of institutions for the 
 chronic insane is, that they will provide for these people at 
 less expense. Admitting the force of this argument so far 
 as it relates to cost of buildings, it is but fair to ask the advo- 
 cates of this system how they are going to cheapen their care? 
 Is it not by providing inferior officers and employes, fewer 
 attendants, and less care? Would it not be necessary to 
 lessen the quality and quantity of food ? In fact, to substi- 
 tute something inferior in all respects. Would you crowd 
 them into smaller space, lessen ventilation, cheapen in 
 warmth and clothing ? The advocates of this system intend 
 that the patients should work for their own advantage, and 
 this labor will be the element peculiar to this system. 
 
 This would seem to imply that labor has not already been 
 an element of treatment in our hospital. You are aware 
 that we have for years employed about forty per cent, of the 
 
229 
 
 patients committed to our care. In my humble opinion we 
 should be perpetrating a wrong by extracting from these de- 
 bilitated sick people the strength that will contribute more 
 largely to their support. In experience we find that about 
 one-third of all chronic insane have barely the circulation to 
 enable them to sustain a miserable physical life, and others, 
 with all the food of the best quality you can give them, have 
 scarcely sufficient vitality to walk about the wards and yards 
 for exercise. And yet these are the people, we are told, who 
 should support themselves largely by their own labor. Con- 
 siderations of humanity as well as of experience seem to in- 
 dicate that we should endeavor to obtain work from each pa- 
 tient only so far as it would be for the benefit of his health 
 and strength, looking only to his own good. It is only of late 
 that these questions have been seriously brought forward. 
 In former periods of the world’s history, this disease was con- 
 sidered a manifestation of evil spirits — a possession of the 
 devil — hence the unhappy victims were consigned to rigid 
 confinement in loathsome cells. The general public did not 
 trouble itself about their care and treatment so long as they 
 were safely imprisoned ; and even the friends of these un- 
 happy mortals endeavored to blot out the remembrance of 
 their existence. Near the close of the last century that noble 
 Christian physician Pinel had the moral courage to strike off 
 the chains from fifty-three of the most violent patients con- 
 fined in the Bicetre at Paris, and restored them to light and 
 liberty. From that period to the present there has been con- 
 tinual progress in the methods of providing for the insane ; 
 until now the old Bedlam, with its narrow halls and darkened 
 cells, has given place to our cheerful, commodious, and well- 
 ventilated modern hospital. The present century has wit- 
 nessed the abolition of nearly all kinds of mechanical 
 restraint, and the substitution of moral means, persuasion, 
 gentleness, and kindness. It was formerly the custom to 
 name these places especially provided for the insane Bedlams, 
 madhouses, or asylums; but with the advance in medical 
 science, a practical knowledge of insanity as a disease of the 
 
230 
 
 brain, with its prospects of cure, has led to a change of no- 
 menclature, hence the name hospital, a place where ex- 
 hausted mental powers are recruited, and their operations 
 gradually readjusted to new interests and occupations. Here 
 are combined the restraining influences of new surroundings, 
 new acquaintances and modes of life, together with all of the 
 best appliances for professional treatment. 
 
 Notwithstanding the feeling of distrust that still pervades 
 society, there is a constantly growing desire on the part of 
 the friends and public officials to avail themselves of the hos- 
 pital accommodations already provided. The policy of pro- 
 viding for the insane away from their homes may be consid- 
 ered as adopted. The real question is, Shall we continue 
 the present hospital system and extend and increase the 
 existing institutions, or engraft upon it some special plan 
 for taking care of the chronic insane ? It seems to me 
 that combining in the same establishment the characteristics 
 of hospital and asylum, profits both classes of patients. 
 To some extent a separation of. the recent from the chronic 
 cases is desirable, hence a further classification is one of 
 the ends to be aimed at. Institutions expressly for incura- 
 bles have been tested faithfully in Germany under the 
 most able medical men, yet the system has not been ex- 
 tended. The first provision for the insane in any community 
 should be made for the recent cases. They present the 
 greatest probability of recovery under hospital treatment, 
 and have the strongest claims upon our sympathies. Ex- 
 perience everywhere shows that it is more economical to 
 place acute cases in hospitals at an early period, thus hasten- 
 ing recovery, lessening expense, and preventing them from 
 becoming a public charge for life. In former reports I have 
 referred to the benefits to be derived from outdoor employ- 
 ment of those who are physically able, and systematic exer- 
 cise of those who are not able to work. 
 
 Two years ago, we organized the male patients and attend- 
 ants into companies for daily military exercises. This has 
 been continued and extended, so as to include a morning 
 
231 
 
 dress parade on pleasant days, at which one of the medical 
 officers receives a daily report from each ward or company, 
 showing the number of men at work on the farm or garden, 
 number at parade, number and names of those excused from 
 exercise, remaining in ward, etc., etc. 
 
 It would frequently be found that out of a population of 
 240 males, only half a dozen remained in the house on 
 account of acute disease or feebleness. After parade the 
 companies separate for longer or shorter walks about the 
 country. It is a noticeable fact that with this freedom from 
 restraint, and almost unlimited opportunites for escape, no 
 patient eloped. 
 
 One of the marked results of having our male patients out 
 of doors so much of the time has been improvement in 
 health, a quiet house at night, and no necessity for the use 
 of sedative or hypnotic doses at bedtime. An examination 
 of the watchman’s book reveals the fact that during the past 
 six months only two doses have been administered during 
 the night. Another result of these influences, working 
 silently among our people, has been an almost total abolition 
 of mechanical restraint. Rarely has it been necessary to use 
 the camisole, or wristlets, or muff. 
 
 The following table shows the total amount, in days and 
 hours, and the different forms of restraint used during the 
 year. 
 
232 
 
 RESTRAINT TABLE.- MALES.— DEC. 1, 1876 — DEC. 1, 1877. 
 
 Total number males treated during year, .... 324 
 
 Total number males restrained during year, ... 24 
 
 Total duration of restraint for 24 males, . . . 125.60 days 
 
 Proportion of the year during which restraint was used, . .34 
 
 Form of Restraint. 
 
 Days. 
 
 Hours. 
 
 No. of 
 Patients. 
 
 Causes. 
 
 Seclusion (not in- 
 cluding sleeping 
 hours), 
 
 35 
 
 12*' 
 
 15 
 
 Quarrelsomeness, Strik- 
 ing, Extreme Mischievous- 
 ness, Determination to Dis- 
 robe, Threats and Boister- 
 ous Conduct, Maniacal 
 Excitement, Attempt at 
 Elopement, Repeated At- 
 tempts at Homicide. 
 
 Muff (leather), 
 
 41 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 Destruction of Clothing 
 and Furniture, Pounding 
 on Doors, Masturbation, 
 Violence, a Paroxysm of 
 Recurrent Mania. 
 
 Anklets (leather), 
 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 Kicking. 
 
 Wristlets (leather), 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 Striking Patients, Mis- 
 chievousness, General Mis- 
 conduct. 
 
 Wristlets and Ank- 
 
 
 
 
 
 lets, 
 
 4 
 
 
 1 
 
 Extreme Violence. 
 
 Tied to Seat, 
 
 4 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 Mischievousness, Upset- 
 ting Everything in the 
 Ward. 
 
 Tied in Bed, 
 
 4 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 Destruction of Every- 
 thing within reach and 
 ExtremeRestlessness, W ild 
 Excitement. 
 
 Confined in Cov- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ered Bed, 
 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 Upsetting Bedding. 
 
 Camisole, 
 
 22* 
 
 
 1 
 
 Destruction of Clothing. 
 
 
 121* 
 
 98* 
 
 38* 
 
 
 * The total in column third (38) does not correspond to the total number 
 of males restrained (24), because the same patients were at different times 
 subjected to different forms of restraint. 
 
 “Day ” is used as meaning 24 hours. 
 
 Day as distinguished from night — 12 hours. 
 
233 
 
 Thus it will be seen that only twenty-four of 324 patients 
 were subjected to any form of seclusion or restraint, and the 
 whole time amounted to only 125-^ days, or to express 
 it in another way would be to state that only one man was 
 restrained, and he only one-third of the time. I regret my 
 inability to make an exact report respecting the female 
 patients. But it is gratifying to be able to note a marked 
 improvement in this side of the house. Owing to the fact 
 that insane women from habit and inclination take less out- 
 door exercise, and are by nature more “ nervous ” than men, 
 I doubt our ability to reduce the amount of restraint to the 
 small minimum shown in the above table, but it is our pur- 
 pose to accomplish all that is possible. 
 
 It gives me pleasure to commend all attendants of both 
 sexes, who have cheerfully seconded the efforts of the officers 
 in this direction. 
 
 Since the date of your last report, an ice-house with ca- 
 pacity for 400 tons, and room for storing butter and fresh 
 meat, has been erected adjacent to the other rear buildings. 
 The farm barn has been reslated and repainted. A shed 
 with stalls for five carriages, to shelter horses and drivers 
 which are waiting, from the inclement weather, is about 
 completed. A fine concrete walk has been laid to the lodge. 
 Other useful repairs and improvements are being constantly 
 made, and it is our desire to keep the buildings in a state 
 of complete preservation. During the winter it will become 
 necessary to do considerable internal patching and painting 
 of walls and woodwork, but this will not require any addi- 
 tional force of mechanics. 
 
 FINANCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 Referring to the financial statement herewith appended, 
 it will be seen that the revenue received was $119,540.04, 
 which, added to balance on hand at the date of the last 
 report, made a total of $120,500.72. The expenses for the 
 year have been $116,021.38, leaving a balance of $4,479.34. 
 I would respectfully recommend that you reduce the weekly 
 
234 
 
 charge for board and treatment to four dollars. With the 
 same judicious economy that has always been followed and a 
 continuance of the present prices, the amount to be derived 
 from this revenue will enable us to pay all expenses. 
 
 ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 I have often alluded in former reports to the advantages 
 to patients and employes of regular amusements, and would 
 only add that we have been able to provide some form of en- 
 tertainment on three evenings each week for about eight 
 months of the year. These consist of lectures, concerts, 
 stereopticon exhibitions, dances, and tableaux, with an occa- 
 sional dramatic performance. For the most part we are 
 dependent upon home talent, but always gladly accept assist- 
 ance from friends or the public. In this connection I would 
 gratefully acknowledge our indebtedness to the following- 
 named persons who have assisted in this good work : 
 
 A reading by II. H. Johnson. 
 
 A concert by Messrs. Pearne, Franklin, Parsons, and Bacon. 
 
 A concert by the Misses Spencer, Miss Wilcox, Mr. Ingra- 
 ham, and Mr. Guilford. 
 
 The Faust Club of Middletown for one concert and orches- 
 tral accompaniment for our own theatricals. 
 
 A sleight-of-hand performance by Mr. Ingraham and Mr. 
 Jack. 
 
 A variety entertainment by “ the Guy family.” 
 
 Tableaux, etc., by “the Earnest Workers” of the South 
 Congregational Church. 
 
 Donations were received as follows : 
 
 Four chairs for piazza from Hon. H. S. Hayden. 
 
 Two boxes of books and pamphlets from E. B. Monroe, 
 Southport. 
 
 Large package of illustrated papers from the librarian 
 of Yale College. 
 
 A valuable book for nurses from Miss Dix. 
 
 Eight copies of Agricultural Reports from Mr. T. S. Gold, 
 secretary. 
 
235 
 
 One violoncello from Mr. George W. Holton, Vermont. 
 One horse chestnut tree and plants from Miss Crofut, 
 Middletown. 
 
 Newspapers were gratuitously received as follows : 
 
 The Courant, Daily, 
 
 The Post, Daily, . 
 
 The Register, Daily, 
 
 The Winsted Herald, Weekly, . 
 
 The Daily News, Daily, . 
 
 The Palladium, Weekly, 
 
 The Times, Weekly, 
 
 The Living Issue, Weekly, 
 
 The Bridgeport Standard, Weekly, 
 The Tolland County Journal, Weekly, 
 The Sheltering Arms, Monthly, . 
 
 The Connecticut News, Weekly, 
 
 The Constitution, Weekly, 
 
 The Sentinel and Witness, Weekly, 
 Call and Citizen, Semi-weekly, . 
 
 Hartford. 
 
 Hartford 
 
 New Haven. 
 
 Winsted. 
 
 Hartford. 
 
 New Haven. 
 
 Hartford 
 
 New York. 
 
 Bridgeport. 
 
 Rockville. 
 
 New York. 
 
 Salisbury. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Meriden 
 
 Since the date of my last annual report some changes 
 have occurred in the staff of resident officers. Owing to im- 
 paired health, early in the year, Dr. Winthrop B. Hallock 
 tendered the resignation of his office as first assistant physi- 
 cian and Mrs. Hallock that of matron — positions which they 
 had successfully filled since March, 1868, to take effect on 
 the first of last July. Dr. Calvin S. May and Mrs. Margaret 
 Dutton were respectively promoted to fill the vacancies. Dr. 
 James Olmstead of New Haven was appointed second, and 
 Dr. William E. Fisher, third assistant physician. Miss 
 H. E. Holmes received the appointment of housekeeper. 
 The other positions are filled by the same officers who have 
 become so eminently well qualified by their services in. 
 former years. Owing to the absence of your superintendent 
 during nine months of the year, the labors of all of the resi- 
 dent officers were somewhat increased. 
 
 Grateful acknowledgments are tendered to each and all 
 for efficient services cheerfully rendered ; and especially to 
 Dr. May, who officiated as acting superintendent to your 
 entire satisfaction. 
 
236 
 
 Constant employment among the insane is peculiarly 
 arduous, and in some respects unpleasant. There is no sep- 
 aration between living and working. The burden cannot be 
 laid aside with the setting of the sun, but continues on 
 through the night ; hence those who from natural tempera- 
 ment, habit, or experience, can happily perform the duties, 
 should be retained without too special regard to the cost of 
 services. It would seem invidious to name individually, 
 when so many are engaged, those who by long and faithful 
 service have made themselves almost invaluable to the hos- 
 pital, and yet I desire to officially acknowledge their worth, 
 and my personal appreciation of their work. 
 
 In conclusion, gentlemen, I desire to express my grateful 
 sense of obligation for the encouragement you have always 
 afforded me amid the labors and anxieties of hospital life. 
 With an earnest desire to promote the interests of the insti- 
 tution, and with firm resolution to insure its success and use- 
 fulness in the future by executing, to the extent of my 
 ability, your philanthropic designs, this report is respectfully 
 submitted. 
 
 ABRAM MARVIN SHEW, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 
 
 The Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane have the honor to present to your honorable body 
 their thirteenth annual report. 
 
 That there is so little outside of the annexed reports of the 
 superintendent and treasurer to report upon specially and to 
 call your attention to, is satisfactory evidence of the salutary 
 and beneficial working of the institution generally, and of the 
 experience gained during past years in the management of 
 its several departments. 
 
 At the beginning of this year the number of patients was, . 468 
 
 The number of patients since received, 161 
 
 ' The number of patients discharged, from whatever cause, . 148 
 
 The number of deaths, ........ 40 
 
 The number of all patients now in hospital, . . . . ' 481 
 
 Average of number since the year began, 474.17 
 
 We are happy to state that the alterations in the old car- 
 penter’s shop are nearly completed. When the change is 
 made there will be rooms for about twenty-five (25) patients 
 of the most unruly classes, including convicts. 
 
 While feeling a deep sense of gratitude that the State of 
 Connecticut has already done so much for the insane, and 
 that during a period of twelve years so many of its citizens 
 have (in their affliction), received the benefit of its benevo- 
 lent and Christian liberality, your board, in special charge of 
 this one agency of the State for good, cannot but keenly re- 
 gret that the capacity of this hospital for accommodation is 
 quite inadequate to the increasing calls for aid of those who 
 need the protecting care of the State, pending illness from 
 insanity. 
 

 238 
 
 This board, as well as the several governors of the State 
 who have in succession presided over it, and have advocated 
 so cordially in their messages its recommendation for in- 
 creased provision, have been urgent in the past years, and 
 are no less so now, in asking your honorable body to weigh 
 well its responsibility for the care of the insane, and for re- 
 lieving the necessity for more rooms for them somewhere. 
 
 The number now on the book of application waiting for admission is, 
 
 females, 86 
 
 The number distributed from the State in the hospitals of Kew 
 
 England by the order of the governor, is, .86 
 
 The new hospital of the State of Massachusetts, at Dan- 
 vers, which is under the care of Dr. May, lately a physician 
 with us, has received eleven (11) from Connecticut. This 
 new building is the fifth hospital for insane erected by the 
 State of Massachusetts, which has also municipal and private 
 institutions for the same class. If Connecticut is to do as 
 much in this line as Massachusetts, in proportion of popula- 
 tion and wealth, she should have at least three hospitals. 
 
 The report of the farm will doubtless be of interest to 
 many in the legislature. The required work on the farm is 
 to a considerable degree done by chronic and recovering 
 patients. 
 
 We respectfully call the attention of the legislature to the 
 effect of the working of a part of a late law of the State, re- 
 quiring towns to pay for board of their pauper insane at the 
 hospital, two dollars and a half ($2.50), irrespective of 
 changes in the prices of board which may be made at the 
 institution. 
 
 The unequal division of the weekly rate of board, $2.50 to 
 the town and only $1.50 to the State, will inevitably tempt 
 the officers of some of the towns to again avail themselves of 
 the wretched poor-house, instead of sending their insane 
 where care and cure are possible. 
 
 Just so far as this is done will the State of Connecticut be 
 exhibited as stepping back from the front line of benevolence, 
 which for some years she has been nobly abreast of. Just 
 
239 
 
 so far will it be a retrogression to the position she unfor- 
 tunately occupied for so long before her Christian philanthropy 
 established, at a large expense, a well-appointed and suitable 
 hospital for the insane. Her design in so doing will so far 
 be frustrated. Complaints of misery and mischief, unheard 
 since 1866, will be of necessity and rightfully renewed. 
 
 Your board, therefore, respectfully request such a modifica- 
 tion of the objectionable part of the late law as will equalize 
 the charges of board of the patients between the State and 
 the towns. 
 
 Owing to the reduction generally of provisions and house- 
 hold material, and to the fact that the main expenditures in 
 repairs and improvements have been made, it is proposed to 
 make a weekly reduction of twenty-five (25) cents from the 
 price of board, making it, from the first of December, 1878, 
 $3.75 per week instead of $4.00. 
 
 The board lias been well pleased during the year with the 
 intelligent and interesting services of the various officers and 
 employes of the institution. During the absence in the sum- 
 mer vacation of the superintendent, who was married at the 
 beginning of it, the principal administration devolved on Dr. 
 Olmstead, who acquitted himself in its duties with courteous 
 dignity and professional credit in the responsible position. 
 
 Dr. Shew was in Europe for a few weeks, during which he 
 visited fourteen hospitals for insane, as will appear in his 
 report. 
 
 It was a part of the original plan of the center building to 
 have a hall for amusements in the upper story. Lectures, 
 concerts, readings, display of magic lanterns, etc., are all, in 
 course, resorted to, to make agreeable changes in the monot- 
 onous lives of those whom mental diseases compel to be con- 
 fined within our walls. Only those who are really familiar 
 with the routine, and with the privations incidental to what 
 may be likened to a “ garrison” or “ barrack ” life, can ap- 
 preciate the enthusiastic interest which is shown by both 
 patients and employes in preparing for these simple entertain- 
 ments. The refreshing effect of these amusements indoors is 
 
240 
 
 enjoyed by the great family of both sexes, and corresponds 
 to the outdoor exercises which most of the men enjoy. 
 
 The terms of office of the trustees from New Haven and 
 Middlesex counties expire with the year, and their re-election 
 is desired. 
 
 Dr. Samuel Lynes of Norwalk, for some years a member 
 of the board, died July 29th, much regretted by all who were 
 associated with him in his official position here, as by the 
 public generally. 
 
 In the uneventful but prosperous work done in your insti- 
 tution, the board are thankful that the blessing of Heaven 
 has rested upon it. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 RICHARD D. HUBBARD, 
 
 RICHARD S. FELLOWES, 
 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 EZRA P. BENNETT, M.D., 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 
 RICHMOND M. BULLOCK, 
 
 E. B. NYE, M.D., 
 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 
 JULIUS HOTCHKISS, 
 
 Hartford . 
 
 New Haven . 
 
 Middletown . 
 
 Norfolk. 
 
 Danbury. 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Tolland. 
 
 Colchester. 
 
 Putnam. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 u 
 
REPORT OF SUPERIRTERDERT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane , — 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 The close of another official year brings with it the pleasing 
 duty of preparing for you a history of the institution during 
 the twelve months just expired. 
 
 In reviewing the events of this period we find abundant 
 cause for gratitude to an overruling Providence for the 
 absence of all epidemic diseases, for immunity from accidents, 
 for additions to our means of administering to the comfort 
 and welfare of those committed to our care, and for other 
 blessings which have constantly surrounded us. 
 
 At the close of last year there were remaining in the 
 hospital four hundred and sixty-eight (468) patients — an 
 equal number of each sex. There have since been admitted 
 one hundred and one (101) males and sixty (60) females. 
 These numbers represent so many different individuals. It 
 has always been our custom to report a person but once in our 
 tables within a fiscal year, and all of the statistics herewith 
 appended are made upon a basis of persons, and not of patients 
 or admissions. 
 
 Of the one hundred and sixty-one (161) persons received, 
 ninety-five (95) came for the first time to this or any hospital ; 
 fifty (50) for the second ; thirteen (13) for the third ; two 
 (2) for the fourth, and one (1) for the sixth time. 
 
 The three oldest persons received were aged respectively 
 seventy-eight (78) and seventy-six (76) years. The three 
 youngest persons admitted were aged eleven (11), sixteen (16), 
 and sixteen (16) years. Total number present during the 
 year, six hundred and twenty-nine (629). 
 
 There were discharged as “ recovered” twenty (20) males 
 and twelve (12) females, thirty-two (32) persons; nineteen 
 16 
 

 242 
 
 (19) of whom were in the hospital for the first time, ten (10) 
 for the second time, two (2) for the third time, and one (1) 
 for the fourth time. 
 
 Forty (40) persons — twenty-six (26) males and fourteen 
 (14) females — were discharged much improved. This class 
 includes many who had recovered, or were so nearly restored 
 that they were sent home to make room for more urgent 
 cases. They should properly be classed with those of the 
 first group, who are reported as having recovered; but the 
 liability to relapse is so much greater when convalescent 
 patients are taken home at an early period that we have 
 always classed such with the doubtful ones, even at the 
 expense of a creditably sounding report. 
 
 The number of deaths was forty (40), nearly all the result 
 of chronic disease. Pulmonary consumption proved fatal in 
 nine (9) cases, apoplexy in four (4), and that most unconquer- 
 able of all forms of disease, general paresis, in five (5). Two 
 of those who died were eighty (80) years of age, one ninety 
 (90), and one ninety-three (98); the average of all was fifty- 
 three and one-fourth (53.25) years. 
 
 The following table gives in a condensed form a mortuary 
 history of the hospital since its opening : 
 
 Deaths and their Ratios, from May 1, 1868, to Nov. 30, 1878. 
 
 Official year. 
 
 Whole number of 
 patients. 
 
 Daily average 
 No. of patients. 
 
 Men. 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Per cent, on whole 
 No. patients. 
 
 Per cent, on daily 
 average number 
 of patients. 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85 47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5 59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-70, 
 
 343 
 
 225.17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9 32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4 55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73, 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6.25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 239.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425.80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452 64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876, 8 mos. 
 
 548 
 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2 73 
 
 3.28 
 
 Dec 1, ’76, 
 
 
 456.97 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nov. 30, ’77, 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5.01 
 
 6.69 
 
 1877-78, 
 
 629 
 
 474.17 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 6.36 
 
 8.43 
 
243 
 
 At the beginning of this year the hospital was overcowded 
 and uncomfortable. None of the officers considered it judi- 
 cious to increase the number of beds or curtail the conveniences 
 of those already here. But 1 am reluctantly obliged to report 
 that we close the year with four hundred and eighty-one (481) 
 patients. This gradual and almost imperceptible increase 
 in numbers resulted from the natural desire which we all 
 feel to accommodate the urgent cases which are brought to 
 the hospital without warning or previous application. 
 
 Your officers perceive the distress of sorrowing friends, 
 who have no means of providing for an acutely maniacal case, 
 and hastily prepare a bed in one of the halls, day-rooms, or 
 dormitories. After such a bed is once occupied it is almost 
 an impossibility to remove it. Only those who have had 
 hospital experience can appreciate this gradual growth in 
 numbers. 
 
 The hospital was originally intended and fitted for the 
 comfortable accommodation of but four hundred and fifty 
 (450) patients, two-thirds of whom it was supposed would be 
 chronic cases, and for whom dormitories were provided in 
 lieu of single rooms. A large number of quiet, incurable 
 patients, whose condition offered no prospect of benefit from 
 longer treatment in a hospital, were removed to make room 
 for more urgent cases; and at no time has the hospital 
 failed to open its doors to this class of the afflicted poor 
 when such exchanges could be effected. 
 
 A natural consequence of this policy has been a constantly 
 increasing proportion of what may be called the turbulent 
 population of the hospital, requiring more vigilance, patience, 
 and labor on the part of those having the care and supervision. 
 Notwithstanding this liberal policy, which has permitted your 
 hospital to be overcrowded, I am reluctantly obliged to report * 
 that the list of applications for the admission of pauper and in- 
 digent female patients has steadily increased, until eighty-six 
 (86) names are regularly entered on our application book on 
 the last day of November. In the natural course of events 
 an average of eight (8) removals of female patients, by recov- 
 
244 
 
 ery or death, will occur every month ; hence those who apply 
 for admission now can probably be received next July or 
 August. This deplorable lack of accommodations for females 
 is not new or recent. It has existed ever since the hospital 
 was opened. Repeated demands for more room have been 
 made by your honorable board, by the chief executive of 
 the State, and by commissioners appointed expressly to 
 ascertain the needs and necessities of the State, and yet years 
 have passed without positive relief. 
 
 The facts already cited seem to indicate that public officials 
 are ready to send patients to the hospital whenever their 
 attention is called to proper cases. Is it not strange that the 
 family friends — those who are related by blood and kinship 
 — should often stand in the way and prevent the early 
 removal of an insane relative until weeks and months have 
 passed, and the patient has become hopelessly deranged, or 
 too unmanageable to be longer retained at home ? 
 
 It is but a few weeks since a man was received from a 
 neighboring town who had been insane several years, and 
 kept at his brother’s house, confined by a chain fastened to a 
 staple in the floor and an iron collar about his neck. Since 
 admission to the hospital he has been quiet and harmless, 
 and able to perform some labor about the grounds. 
 
 In attempting to provide for as many patients as possible, 
 I have, with your approval, made arrangements with two 
 families residing near the hospital to receive, as boaiders, a 
 few mild cases from time to time. In this way one male and 
 four female patients have been provided for. While receiv- 
 ing family care they are still under the supervision of the 
 medical officers of the hospital, and attend entertainments 
 and divine service regularly in the hospital chapel. To what 
 extent this policy can be pursued is still undetermined. 
 Our experience would lead to the conclusion that it is safe 
 and advisable only in mild cases of long standing, where no 
 benefit can be expected from the medical or moral treatment 
 usually pursued while at the hospital. 
 
 Desiring to relieve our overcrowded wards, you decided to 
 
245 
 
 remodel the old carpenter shop so as to adapt it to hospital 
 purposes. At a special meeting of the board in May, a com- 
 mittee was appointed and ‘instructed to procure plans and 
 carry forward this work. The original building was a sub- 
 stantial stone structure, twenty-seven (27) feet wide, fifty-two 
 (52) feet long, and three stories in height, with an addition 
 on the eastern side which could be easily finished as closets 
 and bath-rooms. In this building brick walls have been 
 carried up throughout, so as to form twenty-seven (27) single 
 rooms, nine (9) on each floor, with clothes-rooms, closets, 
 and halls. An addition of sixteen (16) feet made at one 
 end will furnish a dining-room on the first floor and two day- 
 rooms above. The building is heated by steam from iron 
 radiators in the basement, a hot-air flue leading directly to 
 each room. Every room lias also a ventilating flue, conduct- 
 ing directly up and out above the roof. When these changes 
 shall have been completed, good accommodations will be 
 afforded for twenty-four (24) turbulent, destructive, or filthy 
 patients, each one having a warm, strong, well-ventilated, 
 single room. The building is situated one hundred and 
 seventy (170) feet on the rear of the hospital wards, but 
 only one hundred and fifteen (115) feet from the large 
 kitchen. 
 
 It is the purpose to transfer to this detached building the 
 criminal insane, together with such noisy patients as may dis- 
 turb others, and thus relieve the whole house. 
 
 A new brick building, fifty (50) feet in length, twenty (20) 
 feet in width, and two stories in height, was erected during 
 the summer, to be used as a carpenter’s shop, in place of the 
 remodeled building. It is situated near the boiler-house, and 
 at a convenient distance from the main buildings. It is fur- 
 nished with buzz and gig saws, turning lathes, mortising 
 machine, and a small engine for power. The second story is 
 used as a store-room and drying closet. The lower floor is 
 devoted to mechanical purposes. Here the carpenter work 
 and repairing of furniture for the whole institution is econom- 
 ically executed. The entire cost, including engine and 
 machinery, was $2,500. 
 
246 
 
 One of the most important improvements made during the 
 year was the construction of a new dock, to replace the one 
 donated to the hospital twelve (12) years ago by the town 
 of Middletown, and which had become almost worthless by 
 long usage and the action of spring freshets. To avoid, like 
 disastrous action in future, it was decided to fill the entire 
 space with refuse stone from the Portland quarries. The 
 new dock has a river frontage of one hundred (100) feet and 
 cost $900. All of the coal, stone, brick, and other building 
 materials is landed at this dock, at a distance of one-half 
 mile from the hospital. 
 
 In the matter of general improvements, the past year has 
 been a busy one. Among those worthy of note I would men- 
 tion extensive repairs at the old North Cottage, including a 
 new floor in the living rooms, the removal of a partition to 
 enlarge the capacity of the south dormitory, relaying of the 
 cellar drain-pipe, building a permanent stone stairway and 
 entrance to the cellar, and painting the cottage on the out- 
 side. 
 
 In September, your committee on “ Amusement Hall” 
 decided unanimously to push the work forward, and it is at 
 this date so nearly completed that we can already appreciate 
 the advantages it will afford us in our course of winter enter- 
 tainments. Up to the present time we have reluctantly used 
 the chapel for such purposes. Hereafter it can be sacredly 
 devoted to religious services. The new hall is situated in the 
 attic of the center building. It is seventy-three (T8) feet in 
 length, thirty-one (31) feet in width, and fifteen feet, six 
 (15' 6") inches in height, well heated and ventilated, with 
 seating capacity for four hundred (400) persons. The stage 
 is twenty (20) feet in width, and thirty (30) feet in depth, 
 with drop curtains and side wings painted from simple but 
 pleasing designs. 
 
 The usual force of mechanics has been employed in keep- 
 ing the hospital in thorough repair. In a population of four 
 hundred and eighty (480) sane persons the ordinary “ wear 
 and tear ” would be no inconsiderable item of expense. 
 
247 
 
 Those who are familiar witli the propensities of the insane 
 will comprehend how much larger the item of repairs be- 
 comes when providing for a hospital population. 
 
 During the year the walls and ceilings throughout seven 
 (7) wards were covered with three coats of best oil paint, and 
 all the wood-work varnished. Some simple bright lines and 
 stencil designs were placed on the ceilings, adding much to 
 the general effect, with only slight additional expense. In 
 all of these improvements considerable assistance was ren- 
 dered by convalescent patients. 
 
 Early in the season our worthy supervisor designed a rustic 
 summer house, which was subsequently erected by attend- 
 ants and patients. This structure, one hundred and forty 
 (140) feet in length and fourteen (14) feet in width, is divided 
 into ten (10) subdivisions, with seats in each for twenty (20) 
 persons. Climbing vines were cultivated at the ends and 
 sides. At a short distance was placed a flag-pole sixty-five 
 (65) feet in height, and around it a rustic band stand covered 
 by canvass. A strong permanent swing and exercising bars 
 were also erected, and a platform for dancing. Here many 
 an hour was pleasantly passed daily, while listening to the 
 music of the band, or resting after the simple military evolu- 
 tions of the morning. 
 
 In response to personal solicitation, a few friends contrib- 
 uted a sum sufficient to purchase instruments and music for 
 the hospital band. Under the leadership of Col. Thayer the 
 musicians, who are regularly employed attendants, have 
 steadily improved, until considerable proficiency has been 
 attained. Good music has been furnished to lead the daily 
 exercises and games, and an outdoor concert on two even- 
 ings of each week during the summer. I am convinced that 
 so large an element of music, amounting to at least two hours 
 daily, in connection with the regularity and discipline of the 
 outdoor military evolutions, has proved not only pleasant, 
 but decidedly profitable to patients as well as employes. 
 Under these various influences many feeble-minded and par- 
 tially demented patients have been awakened to new life and 
 
248 
 
 energy, while others arc prevented from sinking into hopeless 
 imbecility. 
 
 All of this class have been kept out of doors at least five 
 hours daily — not in close airing courts, but on the lawn and 
 about the rustic house, or in long walks about the country. 
 
 On every pleasant afternoon more than one hundred (100) 
 persons from all parts of the hospital would assemble on 
 the front lawn to enjoy a game of foot-ball, while the band 
 discoursed lively music. These simple statements respecting 
 the daily life at a hospital are given to illustrate how much 
 more humane is the custodial care of the insane at a hospi- 
 tal than elsewhere. 
 
 I believe I am correct in saying that the chief aim and 
 study of medical superintendents during the past quarter of 
 a century has been to reduce to the minimum the amount of 
 restraint required in asylums, and to substitute labor, exer- 
 cise, and amusement in its stead. It is absurd to assert that 
 all restraint is unnecessary and must be abolished. If it 
 were a fact, where would be the necessity for building hos- 
 pitals ? Should not the patients be at home and at liberty ? 
 
 An experience of fifteen (15) years in the care of more 
 than three thousand (3,000) insane persons, together with 
 considerable observation in this and foreign countries, and a 
 careful study of the literature relating to the insane, con- 
 vinces me that one of the most efficient elements in the 
 treatment and restoration of insane persons may be found in 
 the regularity of hospital life, and the moral restraint therein 
 exercised. Nearly all deranged persons lack will force to 
 balance, correct, and control perverted mental action. 
 Unless their abnormal thoughts are directed and corrected, 
 morbid habits of thought will become fixed and permanent. 
 No one doubts the efficacy of properly directing the growth 
 and development of the mental faculties in healthy child- 
 hood ; of exercising suitable control over wayward youth ; 
 and but few will question the wisdom of similar supervision 
 over those who, from disease, are unable to reason correctly 
 and act properly. Admitting, then, that removal from home 
 
249 
 
 influences and the substitution of properly directed control 
 at a hospital is advantageous and necessary in a majority of 
 cases (not all,) let us for a moment inquire how far this 
 supervision can be confined to purely moral means. In other 
 words, is it ever necessary to resort to mechanical restraint 
 in the treatment of the insane ? 
 
 This is one of those questions which cannot be answered 
 by a simple affirmative or negative. A few years ago (not 
 now) the English alienist would unhesitatingly have an- 
 swered, mechanical methods of control are unnecessary. At 
 the same date the American alienist conscientiously believed 
 that some forms of mechanical protection were absolutely re- 
 quired in hospital practice. 
 
 Paradoxical as it may seem, both of these positions were 
 untenable. Here, as in other debatable questions, the ex- 
 tremes were not correct. Experience has shown, on the one 
 hand, that asylums can be conducted without mechanical 
 appliances; and, on the other, that there are some insane 
 patients who are more humanely restrained, who make quicker 
 and better recoveries, at less expense and trouble, when con- 
 trolled by mild mechanical appliances, than when subjected 
 to the seclusion of padded rooms or personal holding by at- 
 tendants, under the so-called u non-restraint ” system intro- 
 duced by Hill or Connolly into the English asylums. The 
 result has been a modification of views on both sides, and 
 the thoughtful, conscientious alienist of to-day exercises a 
 more healthy supervision over his patient by following 
 neither the one extreme nor the other, but a happy mean. 
 It is a fact easily substantiated by statistics that during the 
 past ten (10) years American superintendents have steadily 
 lessened the amount of mechanical restraint in hospital use, 
 until now ninety (90) of every one hundred (100) patients 
 sent to hospitals return to their homes restored, or remain 
 at the institution in a condition of chronic insanity, without 
 having been subjected to any form of mechanical restraint. 
 It is only used in extreme cases of acute disease, where re- 
 pose in bed is considered indispensable, or for protection in 
 
250 
 
 well pronounced homicidal or suicidal patients. Some 
 American alienists conduct their institutions without even 
 making use of any appliance other than careful watching 
 and medicinal agencies. Dr. H. P. Stearns, in his report of 
 the Hartford Retreat for the year 1877, on page 27 uses the fol- 
 lowing language : “ They [waistcoats, wristlets, camisoles, man- 
 acles, muffs, etc.] are eminently unscientific, and should be dis- 
 pensed with as far as possible. It has been my aim to care- 
 fully and earnestly study each case coming under my obser- 
 vation with this in view, and I am happy to be able to report 
 that we have succeeded in passing the year without the use 
 of any of these means of mechanical restraint.” 
 
 In my recent brief visit to European institutions I saw in 
 use the same mechanical appliances that are found in Amer- 
 ican hospitals, viz ., camisole waists, leather wristbands, and 
 “ protection beds ” ; and in one asylum the shower-bath — 
 a form of “ mechanical medication” which I have not found 
 in any American asylum — was in daily use, with good re- 
 sults, according to the testimony of the assistant physician. 
 With one exception, the medical officers in charge of British 
 asylums conversed with me freely respecting the moderate 
 use of mechanical protection in preference to personal 
 seclusion or manual restraint by attendants. The impres- 
 sion gained by these interviews and personal inspection of 
 institutions confirmed the statement already made, viz., that 
 during the past few years a strong and general reaction in 
 favor of the moderate use of mechanical protection in the 
 treatment of the insane had taken place. This is conclus- 
 ively shown in the published statements of leading foreign 
 alienists. Thus Dr. Blandford, in his excellent manual for 
 students, says : “At the suggestion of the Commissioners in 
 Lunacy, I have employed mechanical restraint.” A leading 
 article in the Medical Times , on “The Insane and their 
 Management,” referring to acute maniacs, insane epileptics, 
 and general paralytics, declares “ restraint in some form or 
 other is necessary.” Among other well-known names of 
 those who approve of the use, in certain exceptional cases, 
 
251 
 
 of some simple form of mechanical restraint, may be men- 
 tioned Dr. W. A. F. Browne, the late Dr. Forbes Winslow, 
 Dr. Murray Lindsay, and Dr. Ashe of Dublin. 
 
 In an article on “ The Theory and Practice of Non-Re- 
 straint in the Treatment of the Insane,” published in the 
 j Edinburgh Medical Journal , April and June, 1878, Dr. W. 
 Lander Lindsay, superintendent of the Murray Royal Insti- 
 tution, at Perth, says : “ Among the general results of my 
 own observation, correspondence, and reading are these : 
 The use of mechanical restraint is advocated by at least 
 ninety (90) per cent, of physicians engaged in lunacy prac- 
 tice throughout the world. Mechanical restraint forms an 
 occasional feature of treatment in those asylums which have 
 the noblest history and the highest reputation. In other 
 words, it constitutes an essential feature in the most 
 modern, most enlightened, most humane treatment of the 
 insane.” 
 
 I have asked your indulgence in making the foregoing 
 remarks respecting restraint, because I believe the public 
 have been misled by some recent American writers and 
 teachers, who have apparently endeavored to compliment 
 the foreign, especially the English asylums, at the expense 
 of our own institutions. After many years’ experience in 
 the one, and no inconsiderable freedom in visiting the other, 
 I would remark : 
 
 1st. That the foreign institutions are more substantially 
 constructed than our own ; or, in other words, that the 
 buildings cost more. This is seen in the stone floors, and 
 fire-proof stairways, and thick walls, and turreted roofs. 
 
 2d. The foreign asylums are not so well furnished as the 
 American, and there is less of the home-like, comfortable 
 appearance which many of our institutions have. 
 
 3d. Less attention is paid to heating and ventilation. 
 Many of the English asylums have simply old-fashioned fire- 
 places, protected by iron cages ; and one superintendent told 
 me frankly that he knew nothing about ventilation or its 
 principles — “ that belonged to the engineer.” 
 
252 
 
 4th. The same forms of mechanical restraint are in use 
 in both continents. The only difference seems to be that in 
 England they 41 abolish the name but retain the thing — re- 
 straint — while here we retain the name, but virtually abol- 
 ish the thing.” In confirmation of this statement, I would 
 simply mention the fact that at Han well, near London — the 
 scene of Connolly’s labors — I saw more in the way of 
 “ bolts and bars,” 64 coercion and confinement,” in one day, 
 than can be found at this institution in any ten days. And 
 the babel of noise and confusion in one of the male wards 
 exceeded anything in my previous experience. From the 
 moment I had passed the well-guarded lodge, by permission 
 of the uniformed gate-keeper, through the locked front door, 
 had waited twenty minutes in the large, uncarpeted, and 
 sparsely furnished visitors’ room, until a uniformed turnkey 
 was ready to accompany me through the wards, halls, 
 kitchen, and store-rooms, an uncomfortable feeling of restraint 
 and utter helplessness took possession of me, and remained 
 with me until I was once more outside the high walls. It 
 was the same sort of feeling that one experiences in visit- 
 ing a penal institution. Yet this was Hanwell, the scene of 
 Connolly’s life-work — an institution which has been held up 
 as a model to be copied, and about which so much has been 
 written. 
 
 Perhaps I have said enough to indicate that I am an ad- 
 vocate of the moderate use of mechanical protection in the 
 treatment of the insane, or, in other words, to employ or 
 apply what I consider the 64 best thing for a given patient 
 under given circumstances ,” without reference to the creeds 
 of other people. Each case is studied individually. It would 
 be unwise to restrain nineteen (19) of every twenty (20) 
 patients, because they do not require it. It would be equally 
 unwise not to restrain the twentieth, who is destructive, dan- 
 gerous, and turbulent. Safety and moral discipline require 
 it no less than the general good of the large majority who 
 are quiet and orderly. 
 
 This properly brings me to speak of the results attained 
 
253 
 
 in this institution. By our system of daily reports we are 
 able to record the exact number of hours or days and the 
 form of restraint to which any patient is subjected, and the 
 reason for it. From these tabulated reports it appears that 
 only thirty-two (32) out of three hundred and thirty-five 
 (335) males were subjected to any form of seclusion or re- 
 straint, and the whole time amounted to only five hundred 
 and ninety-six and one-fourth (59b J) days; or, to express it 
 in another way, would be to state that one man was restrained 
 all the year, and another seven (7) months and twenty-one 
 (21) days. This is the sum total of restraint among men, 
 with a daily average present of 236.11. 
 
 In my last annual report I stated that insane women, from 
 habit and inclination, take less outdoor exercise, are by 
 nature more u nervous,” and consequently require more 
 attention and restraint than men. Among the chronic 
 insane there seems to be also a greater propensity to destroy 
 clothing and to expose the person. Hence, our tables show 
 that more individuals of this sex were restrained or in seclu- 
 sion ; and the whole time amounted to eighteen hundred and 
 eighty-six (1,886) days. Using the same form of statement 
 as above, it appears that five women were secluded or in re- 
 straint all the year, and one other for two months and one 
 day, with a daily average of 238.06. 
 
 Among the most common causes for its application, I 
 would mention extreme mischievousness, determination to 
 disrobe, repeated attempts at homicide, repeated attempts at 
 suicide, maniacal excitement, masturbation, and destruction 
 of clothing. One male patient was slowly but surely wast- 
 ing his enfeebled frame by persistently standing. Here we 
 found a covered bed, or, as it has been unjustly called, “ the 
 Utica Crib,” of not only practical service but a real necessity. 
 In this covered bed the patient could be comfortably kept in 
 a horizontal position on a soft mattress, entirely free from 
 other restraint. 
 
 In former reports I have referred to the amount of labor 
 performed by patients, and its beneficial influence in promot- 
 
254 
 
 ing primarily the health and vigor of the body, and second- 
 arily that of the mind. In performing the daily household 
 labor in kitchen, laundry, and bakery, a number of women 
 and some men find regular employment. A still larger 
 number of men are engaged in farm and garden work. Our 
 daily reports show that fifty-five (55) per cent, of the men 
 
 and forty (40) per cent, of the women were 
 
 regularly occu- 
 
 pied during the 
 
 greater part of each day. 
 
 The following 
 
 table shows the 
 
 exact per cent, of each sex 
 
 during 'the past 
 
 six months : 
 
 LABOR TABLE. 
 
 Females. Males. 
 
 June. 
 
 42 
 
 .56 
 
 J uly, 
 
 43 
 
 .57 
 
 August, 
 
 38 
 
 .58 
 
 September, 
 
 37 
 
 .54 
 
 October, . 
 
 36 
 
 .55 
 
 November, 
 
 35 
 
 .52 
 
 In the twelfth annual report I gave an account of some 
 forms of military exercises, in which nearly all of our male 
 patients who were not at work engaged daily for one or two 
 hours. This system has been perfected and extended, so 
 that during any pleasant forenoon not more than half a 
 dozen male patients could be found in the building, and these 
 the helpless and sick. After the morning evolutions these 
 companies would walk about the town and country for miles, 
 and it is gratifying to report that no one eloped while enjoy- 
 ing this freedom, and there were only three or four attempts. 
 I am pleased to know that this experiment of larger liberty 
 for the insane meets your hearty concurrence and approval. 
 
 EXERCISES AND ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 It has been already mentioned that nearly all of the inmates 
 of this hospital are kept out of doors several hours daily dur- 
 ing the pleasant months of spring, summer, and autumn, and 
 that a band concert is enjoyed by all on two evenings of each 
 week. Experience and observation show that the quietude 
 and good order of the household is promoted by these vari- 
 
255 
 
 ous methods of occupying the insane. Their general effect 
 tends to revive self-respect, recall and awaken enfeebled in- 
 telligence, and correct eccentricities. As additional aids 
 during the long winter evening, a programme of exercises 
 has been more successfully carried out than heretofore. 
 Lectures, concerts, stereopticon exhibitions, and dances 
 occur regularly, so that three evenings of every week are 
 agreeably filled up. A brief synopsis will indicate the nature 
 and variety of these entertainments better than a lengthy 
 description : 
 
 Two lectures on Africa, Rev. C. L. Loomis, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 One lecture on Geology, E. J. Hulbert, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 One lecture on Sandwich Islands, Dr. Shew. 
 
 Three lectures on The Talmud, Rev. Dr. Coit, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 The Destruction of Jerusalem, Rev. Dr. Coit, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 The Jews in Spain, Rev. Dr. Coit, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 One lecture on A Night in London One Hundred Years Ago, Prof. C. 
 T. Winchester, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 One lecture on German Life, Prof. W. O. Atwater. 
 
 One lecture on London, Dr. Shew. 
 
 One lecture on Windermere and Edinburgh, Dr. Stearns, Hartford, 
 Conn. 
 
 One lecture with Oxyhydrogen Microscope, Prof. A. A. Starr, New 
 York city. 
 
 One lecture on Drinking Water and its Impurities, Dr.' Chamberlain, 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 
 Two select readings, by Walter Church, New Haven, Conn. 
 
 One select reading by Rev. Mr. Bradley, Boston, Mass. 
 
 One select reading by Alfred M. Lamar, New York city. 
 
 One select reading by Prof. Hibbard, New Britain, Conn. 
 
 One select reading by Mr. Merrill, Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Twenty assemblies, music and dancing. 
 
 One masquerade party, dancing. 
 
 One exhibition of danciug by Mr. Spencer’s class. 
 
 Five stereopticon exhibitions, Drs. Olmsteadand Fisher. 
 
 One concert, Hospital Minstrel Troupe. 
 
 One concert, Mr. A. A. Cole and friends. 
 
 One concert, officers and attendants. 
 
 Three evenings, tableaux and farces. 
 
 One evening, two farces, performed by the Misses Gilman, Ludham, 
 and Hulbert, and Messrs. Warner, Huske, Copeland, and Snively. 
 
 As in former years, the Sabbath afternoon services have 
 been regularly conducted by pastors of churches in the 
 
256 
 
 neighborhood, to all of whom my grateful acknowledgments 
 are tendered. 
 
 On the 29th of last July one-half of the inmates of this 
 institution enjoyed a novel holiday. Two hundred and 
 twenty-nine (229) patients — one hundred and sixty-one 
 (161) males and sixty-eight (68) females — representing all 
 the wards in the house, enjoyed a sail down the river and 
 out on the Sound. They were accompanied by a sufficient 
 number of attendants and officers, were gone all day, and on 
 returning not the slightest disorder was reported, and no, 
 greater accident than the loss overboard of an old straw hat. 
 
 FARM. 
 
 An examination of Mr. Weatherbee’s tabulated report, 
 herewith appended, shows a largely increased production of 
 farm and garden vegetables over that of any previous year. 
 The amount of each product is derived from actual weighing 
 or measurement. The sum total of value does not equal 
 that of some former years when prices were higher. This 
 does not, however, diminish the value to the hospital, as all 
 of the products are consumed. The farm is now well stocked, 
 and is being improved from year to year by sub-soil drainage 
 and the use of sewage and the removal of stones, old walls, 
 and brush. Much of this labor is performed by convalescent 
 and quiet chronic patients, under the direction of our farmer. 
 
 FINANCIAL STATEMENT. 
 
 Referring to the clerk’s balance sheet, herewith appended, 
 you observe that the regular receipts have enabled us to con- 
 duct the hospital another year ; to make the needed repairs 
 and improvements without diminishing the diet tables or in- 
 creasing the price of board. The total revenue for the year 
 amounted to $112,665.08, and the expenses $111,276.69. 
 Thus it will be seen that, notwithstanding the extensive per- 
 manent improvements made this year, and an increased 
 daily average of eleven (11) patients, the expenses have been 
 $4,744.69 less than the preceding year. The price per week 
 
257 
 
 to all town and indigent patients was four (4) dollars, and 
 it should be remembered that this sum covered all expenses, 
 including salaries and pay. 
 
 We have, at this date, thirty-four (34) paying patients 
 who are supported by friends, to whom the charge is five (5) 
 dollars per week. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 
 
 We are again indebted to Mr. T. S, Gold, secretary of 
 State Board of Agriculture, for copies of valuable reports 
 from other States. Also to a number of gentlemen friends 
 who contributed a fund for the purchase of music and band 
 instruments. 
 
 Newspapers were gratuitously received as follows : 
 
 Tlie C our ant, Daily, 
 
 The Post, Daily, , 
 
 The Register, Daily, 
 
 The Winsted Herald, Weekly, 
 
 The Palladium, Weekly, . 
 
 The Times, Weekly, 
 
 The Living* Issue, Weekly, 
 
 The Bridgeport Standard, Weekly, 
 The Tolland County Journal, Weekly, 
 The Sheltering Arms, Monthly, 
 
 The Connecticut News, Weekly, 
 
 The Constitution, Weekly, 
 
 The Sentinel and Witness, Weekly, 
 The Religious Herald, 
 
 Hartford 
 Hartford 
 New Haven 
 Winsted 
 New Haven 
 Hartford 
 New York 
 Bridgeport 
 Rockville 
 New York 
 Salisbury 
 Middletown 
 Middletown 
 Hartford 
 
 Since your last annual meeting two changes have occurred 
 in the staff of resident officers. Dr. Calvin S. May tendered 
 the resignation of his office as first assistant physician, which 
 he had so creditably filled, to accept the superintendency of 
 the new Massachusetts Hospital for the Insane at Danvers. 
 
 Dr. James Olmstead was promoted to fill the vacancy. 
 Dr. William E. Fisher was also advanced, and Dr. Charles 
 E. Stanley received an appointment as third assistant. 
 
 The other positions are filled by the same officers who 
 have efficiently served the State for several years. I am un- 
 der especial obligations to all for cordial co-operation in this 
 arduous labor. This imperfect summary of the results of 
 17 
 
258 
 
 another year’s hospital work, 1 would, in conclusion, submit 
 as my thirteenth annual report. It is now more than twelve 
 (12) years since you invited me to act as your executive 
 officer in establishing the Connecticut Hospital for the In- 
 sane. At that date the land, now inclosed, graded, and 
 ornamented, was simply pasture land ; the hospital buildings 
 existed only on paper and in the hearts of those who, through 
 faith, hope, and unity of purpose, believed that the common- 
 wealth of Connecticut would no longer permit her afflicted 
 sons and daughters to languish in jails and unwholesome 
 almshouses. These have been active, earnest years of perse- 
 vering labor, during which some of the early helpers have 
 passed on to their reward. But most of us remain to see in 
 the completion and organization of your hospital the con- 
 summation of early expectations. For the cordial support 
 you have always afforded me in the important trust commit- 
 ted to my charge, I shall ever feel grateful. Soliciting the 
 continuance of your earnest help, and the blessing of an 
 overruling providence, I look forward with hope to the duties 
 of another year. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 A. M. SHEW, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., Nov. 30, 1878. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 
 
 In presenting to your honorable body their fourteenth 
 annual report, the trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for 
 the Insane may happily congratulate the State on the pro- 
 pitious results of the year closing December 1, 1879, as con- 
 nected with this institution. It has been a year of quiet and 
 busy action, satisfactory in character and good results. The 
 blessing of God has rested on the efforts made for the resto- 
 ration and welfare of the 614 persons who have been in the 
 hospital as patients. Of this whole number only 19 have 
 died — a death rate below our average in former years, and 
 much below that of similar institutions. The result is to be 
 in part attributed to the faithful medical executives, to those 
 who, aiding them, have cared for the cleanliness of the pa- 
 tients, their wards and rooms, also to the regular exercise, 
 steadily improving diet, and the pure air of a healthy situa- 
 tion, together with the attention given to proper ventilation 
 within doors. All of us know that often with the best inten- 
 tioned plans and careful oversight, our enterprises will turn 
 out untowardly, but this year has been one of signal freedom 
 from such mishaps, as well as from epidemics and other evils. 
 One has only to pass through the wards to see that a tone of 
 general healthiness exists among the patients, of whom there 
 have been 618 in the buildings at one time. 
 
 The price of board, during the year, has been 18.75. It is 
 to be hoped that the rise in provisions and materials, now 
 going on over the whole country, will not necessitate an ad- 
 vance upon this price. It is our aim to so administer the 
 
260 
 
 affairs of the institution as to make it a self-supporting one, 
 believing that that plan is in accord with the wishes of the 
 legislature. 
 
 Soon after the sending in of our thirteenth report one of 
 our board, formerly lieutenant-governor of the State, the 
 Hon. Julius Hotchkiss, was called away after a short and 
 painful illness. He was buried at Middletown on the 26th 
 of December, 1878 ; the resolutions on our record commended 
 warmly his great faithfulness and eminent usefulness in the 
 work of your hospital. 
 
 Dr. J. W. Alsop of Middletown was chosen to the vacant 
 office of “ local trustee.” 
 
 An additional reservoir, about one-fourth of a mile above 
 the old one on Butler Creek, has been constructed during 
 the year. The experience of a shortness of water supply in 
 1870 (and threatened deficiencies in other periods) made it 
 evident that there was need of more storage room for water 
 for use in times of severe drouth, and especially if additional 
 buildings were to be erected by the State on the grounds 
 adjoining the present buildings. The flowage of the new 
 reservoir is about three acres — the depth of w^ater at the new 
 dam is about fifteen feet — there is now a head of about 160 
 feet, which is fully adequate to cover with water the highest 
 parts of the hospital buildings. The work was begun in 
 March, and finished in November, at a cost of about $2,000. 
 To have all the advantages of this increased supply of water 
 it is requisite to connect the new reservoir with the old one, 
 and to have 10 hydrants, so placed around and outside the 
 buildings, which are about 1,000 feet in length, as to be used 
 promptly in event of fire. There have been in this country 
 twelve hospitals for insane destroyed by fire within the past 
 twelve or fourteen years. It is to be remarked just here, 
 that in every one of these, there was what was supposed to 
 be efficient protection against fire, but in every one the pro- 
 tection was prepared for the interior of the building — none 
 of them had exterior hydrants. The expense of so many feet 
 of heavy six-inch iron pipe, with the needed hydrants and 
 
liose, is the only objection to their being immediately ordered. 
 While it is supposed that every precaution against lire within 
 the walls is already taken, a delay in making the connection 
 proposed might cost the State a large sum of money and haz- 
 ard the lives of the inmates of the institution. 
 
 During the year there have been completed and paid for, 
 without asking the aid of the State, an “ amusement hall ” 
 for the patients, seating 400 persons, an u annex,” with 24 
 beds in single rooms for the most excitable and unruly pa- 
 tients, and a dwelling for the engineer ; also an addition of 
 twenty-four stalls for cows in the farm barn. There have 
 been placed new slating and felting upon the roof of the cen- 
 ter building ; concrete walks connecting hospital and “ annex 
 repairs have been made to fences ; cellar walls have been re- 
 laid under the cottages, etc., etc., details of which will be 
 found in the superintendent’s report. 
 
 There has been a larger number of patients than during 
 any previous year. The number at this date is 510. 
 
 For the second time, a pleasant variation from ordinary 
 modes of benefiting the patients was a steamboat excursion 
 to the seashore, on the 2d of August last. Three hundred 
 patients, attendants, and officers embarked 'at 8 a. m., 
 steamed to Niantic, and returned by moonlight at 10 p. m. 
 The hospital band played for them on the river and sound. 
 There was nothing to disturb harmony during the whole 
 trip. It was greatly enjoyed. We who are free to go or 
 come as we choose may think it a small matter to mention a 
 day’s steamboat excursion, but a moment’s reflection on the 
 condition of these “ mental invalids ” will show all that it 
 was a “ great thing ” to them. It was worth all the cost of 
 the experiment, $65, to know that so large a number of 
 insane people could be gathered together on the deck of a 
 vessel for fourteen hours, and that literally nothing of an 
 unpleasant nature should occur. 
 
262 
 
 The treasurer’s and the superintendent’s reports will show 
 the financial, statistical, and economical condition of the 
 hospital. 
 
 We have been called to sympathize deeply with our super- 
 intendent in the loss of his wife. Mrs. Shew’s funeral was 
 attended by the board on the 23d of September. 
 
 Seven cases (two of them fatal) of diphtheria have oc- 
 curred during the year. Only one patient, and she a “ con- 
 valescent,” had the disease. She recovered of that terrible 
 disease. Lest any local cause should exist for this evil, one 
 of the medical members of the board was appointed as a 
 committee to make thorough examination, with a competent 
 plumber and assistants. He spent two or three days in 
 critical observations of the sewer connections of the build- 
 ings and surroundings. We are happy to say that it was 
 the unanimous opinion that no source of evil existed in our 
 institution. In two of the seven cases the parties had been 
 exposed in visits where the disease had developed in a friend 
 or neighborhood. Its presence on our healthy site is to be 
 attributed to atmospheric influences, which obviously are be- 
 yond our power to control. 
 
 As their duty to the many unfortunate sufferers from in- 
 sanity, and to the interests of the State seemed to require, 
 the trustees heartily approved and earnestly commended the 
 report of the special commission appointed by his Excellency 
 the Governor, which recommended to the legislature of last 
 year that an appropriation be made and work immediately 
 begun on additional buildings, to accommodate the increas- 
 ing number of patients. The need of such buildings is now 
 greater than ever. Had the appropriation been made then, 
 much suffering might have been evaded or alleviated, and, 
 owing to the now increased cost of materials and labor, from 
 twenty to forty thousand dollars have been saved to the 
 treasury of the State. 
 
263 
 
 The terms of service of the members for Litchfield county 
 and for Fairfield county expire this year. We cordially re- 
 quest their reappointment for a new term. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 CHARLES B. ANDREWS, Litehjield. 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, Norfolk. 
 
 EZRA P. BENNETT, M.D., Danbury. 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, Windsor. 
 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, Tolland. 
 
 SAMUEL Gr. WILLARD, Colchester. 
 RICHMOND M. BULLOCK, Putnam. 
 RICHARD S. FELLOWES, New Haven. . 
 HENRY WOODWARD, Middletown. 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, “ 
 
 JOSEPH W. ALSOP, M.D., 
 
 E. B. NYE, M.D., 
 
REPOET OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen, — I present herewith tabulated reports of hospi- 
 tal work for the fiscal year ending November 80, 1879. You 
 have already learned, at your monthly and quarterly visita- 
 tions, particulars respecting the daily transactions of the 
 year. It remains for me now to generalize the results, 
 directing attention only to facts and suggestions of special 
 interest. 
 
 As a whole, the year has been one of quiet, laborious work, 
 affording satisfactory evidences of professional and general 
 attention to details, without which disorder and deterioration 
 would be manifest. The only remarkable feature of the 
 year, which I would especially emphasize, was the uniform 
 good health of the whole household, and the unprecedentedly 
 small mortality. This appears all the more remarkable when 
 you consider the classes, condition, and ages of those compris- 
 ing our hospital population. It should be remembered that 
 nearly all patients are brought to us in a debilitated condition 
 from physical disease, loss of sleep, or neglect ; many having 
 hereditary tendencies to nervous disorders, others advanced 
 in life, and all mentally deranged. To build up the physical 
 system, properly classify mentally, and provide medical 
 and moral treatment suited to each individual case, and all 
 collectively, is a work of no small magnitude. 
 
 The year began with 481 patients, 241 males and 240 
 females. There have since been admitted 1(53, 75 males and 
 88 females, making a total of 644 present during the twelve 
 months. Of this number 45 have recovered, 38 have been 
 discharged much improved, 37 mild cases were exchanged 
 
265 
 
 for more excitable ones, and 19 have died ; leaving 510 
 present at the close of the year, of whom 246 are males and 
 264 females. 
 
 It will thus be seen that your hospital has treated a larger 
 number of patients by 15 than during any previous twelve 
 months, and that the total number of admissions since May 
 31, 1868, when the institution was opened, is 1,837. These 
 figures represent so many different persons — that is, no 
 individual receives an admission number more than once in a 
 fiscal year. If discharged and readmitted, he takes his old 
 register number. This explanation seems necessary, and the 
 system it represents indicates exact truthfulness in our 
 statistics. 
 
 I report the number of those who have recovered this year 
 as 45 ; 37 of these were recoveries from a first attack ; 2 
 from a second ; 4 from a third ; and 2 from a fifth in former 
 years. 
 
 Undoubtedly many who were classed as “ much improved,” 
 have been permanently restored. In fact we know this to be 
 true of some ; but prefer to underestimate rather than over- 
 estimate the total when so many elements of uncertainty 
 enter into the calculations. I have already alluded to the 
 small number (niueteen) of fatal cases. Five deaths were 
 the result of that incurable and most serious of all forms of 
 nervous disease, general paralysis. Four deaths were the 
 result of natural decay in old people, all of whom had passed 
 the age of 78. One female died from cancer of the breast. 
 Many attempts at suicide by melancholy patients were made 
 during the year, only one of which was successful. One male 
 patient, a quiet, harmless old man, who for years had taken 
 his afternoon nap on the hay mow in the farm barn, was 
 fatally injured while asleep by another quiet chronic patient 
 who has for a long time labored with the farm hands and was 
 considered harmless. There was only one death from pul- 
 monary consumption and from apoplexy. The average age 
 of all who died was 55.68 years. 
 
 Deaths occurred in months as follows : In December 3, in 
 
266 
 
 January 1, in February 1, in March 2, in April 0, in May 4, 
 in June 1, in July 1, in August 1, in September 1, in October 
 1, and in November 8. 
 
 The following table shows the number of deaths each year, 
 the percentage of the whole number, and of the average 
 number present : 
 
 Deaths and their Ratios from May 1, 1868, to Nov. 80, 1879 
 
 OFFICIAL YEAR. 
 
 Whole Number of 
 Patients. 
 
 Daily Average No. of 
 Patients. 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 Per cent, on Whole 
 No. of Patients. 
 
 Per cent, on Daily 
 Average No. of Pa- 
 tients. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-70, 
 
 343 
 
 225.17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9.32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72,... 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73, 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6.25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 239 51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425.80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876, 8 months,. . . . 
 
 548 
 
 456.97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2.73 
 
 3.28 
 
 Dec. 1, 1876, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nov. 30, 1877, 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5 01 
 
 6.69 
 
 1877-78, 
 
 629 
 
 474.17 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 6.36 
 
 8.43 
 
 1878-79, 
 
 644 
 
 498.34 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 2.95 
 
 3.81 
 
 I have to report seven severe cases of diphtheria occurring 
 at irregular dates during the past eight months, two of which 
 proved fatal and a third resulted in death from paralysis of 
 the heart after convalescence had been fully established and 
 the patient up and about. An interesting fact in the devel- 
 opment of these cases is, that strong, healthy, sane persons 
 were attacked, only one case having occurred among the 
 patients, and that one in a convalescent who was passing 
 the time out of doors. All of these cases, excepting the 
 first two, appear to have been sporadic, occurring without 
 exposure to others, and at long intervals of time and in per 
 
267 
 
 sons living in different buildings. One of the severest cases 
 was that of a vigorous male attendant, who for four years 
 had had charge of one our of cottages, situated 780 feet away 
 from the hospital and not connected with the sewer. Re- 
 membering all of these facts, and the marvelously healthy 
 condition of our patients, it is. illogical to suppose that the 
 • disease resulted from imperfect sewerage. On the contrary, 
 as these cases occurred among people who were well and out 
 of doors, and as other sporadic cases happened in South 
 Farms simultaneously, it is reasonable to attribute the poison 
 to atmospheric influences prevailing over a large district of 
 of the town. The following table, carefully prepared from 
 the ward daily reports, shows that the average number of 
 patients was 498.34. The average number persons sick in 
 bed was 5.71 — only a fraction over one in every one hundred 
 patients. No other evidence is required to prove the general 
 healthfulness of this location and the good sanitary condition 
 of the institution : 
 
 
 MALES. 
 
 FEMALES. 
 
 Average Number 
 Taking Medicine. 
 
 Average Number 
 Sick in Bed. 
 
 Average Number 
 Working. 
 
 Average Number 
 of Patients. 
 
 Average Number 
 Taking Medicine. 
 
 u 
 
 0) 
 
 & 
 
 5 '-3 
 
 3 a> 
 
 o.S 
 5 « 
 
 % OQ 
 <! 
 
 Average Number 
 Working. 
 
 Average Number 
 of Patients. 
 
 December, 
 
 21.19 
 
 1.74 
 
 117.92 
 
 242.25 
 
 25.32 
 
 3.74 
 
 88. 
 
 240.45 
 
 January, 
 
 23.41 
 
 2.03 
 
 113.74 
 
 242.90 
 
 25.45 
 
 3.61 
 
 92.07 
 
 241.48 
 
 February, 
 
 24.85 
 
 1.71 
 
 111.75 
 
 244.28 
 
 33.71 
 
 3.39 
 
 96.58 
 
 241.71 
 
 March, 
 
 23 67 
 
 2.25 
 
 120.34 
 
 244.41 
 
 31.71 
 
 6.09 
 
 100.84 
 
 242.38 
 
 April, 
 
 24.60 
 
 2.03 
 
 118.03 
 
 244.66 
 
 29.80 
 
 5.43 
 
 105.80 
 
 248.86 
 
 May, 
 
 23.70 
 
 3.58 
 
 120.70 
 
 244.10 
 
 31.96 
 
 2.09 
 
 104. 
 
 252.58 
 
 June, 
 
 21.80 
 
 .90 
 
 129.96 
 
 244.13 
 
 30.08 
 
 6.06 
 
 105.04 
 
 257.83 
 
 July 
 
 22.00 
 
 .77 
 
 132.77 
 
 246.54 
 
 31.87 
 
 3.58 
 
 103.37 
 
 259.41 
 
 August, 
 
 22 54 
 
 .96 
 
 124.28 
 
 245.41: 
 
 35.30 
 
 3.35 
 
 88.93 
 
 261.54 
 
 September, 
 
 21.36 
 
 .26 
 
 134.88 
 
 244.20 
 
 30. 
 
 4 20 
 
 98.50 
 
 267.63 
 
 October, 
 
 23.58 
 
 .43 
 
 145.85 
 
 246.41 
 
 34.19 
 
 4.80 
 
 103.59 
 
 266.90 
 
 November, 
 
 21.10 
 
 1.00 
 
 138.28 
 
 245.63 
 
 31.90 
 
 4.60 
 
 81.86 
 
 264.43 
 
 For the year, 
 
 22.81 
 
 1.47 
 
 125.70 
 
 244.57 
 
 30.94 
 
 4.24 
 
 97.38 
 
 258.76 
 
268 
 
 This table also gives the exact number of patients who 
 were constantly employed. The importance of occupation 
 in the treatment of the insane cannot be overestimated. 
 During the acute stage but little can be done in this direction. 
 But after acute symptoms have subsided, occupation 
 improves the physical condition and prevents the formation 
 of indolent habits, even if it cannot restore full mental 
 activity. Every hospital contains a varying number of the 
 old, feeble, and lame, amounting to one-third of the whole 
 population. You observe that nearly fifty per cent, of the 
 women, and more than that number of men, were kept con- 
 stantly at work on the farm, in the garden, laundry, kitchen, 
 sewing-room, or about the wards. We have thus made use 
 of nearly all of the available force. The erection of some 
 plain, cheap greenhouses would enable us to interest some 
 others, and continue the work during the winter months, and 
 in this way beautify the wards with flowers and plants when 
 most needed. Nearly all of the improvements about the 
 grounds, and a part of the work at the new reservoir, were 
 made in this way. 
 
 This table also shows that only ten per cent of the whole 
 number were taking medicine regularly. This is a fair aver- 
 age in a State hospital, where three-fourths of the patients 
 are chronic cases. It is absurd to insist upon “ dosing ” men 
 and women who are physically strong and able to be at work. 
 These persons require, are benefited by, and sometimes 
 cured by moral treatment. They only need medicine when 
 attacked by intercurrent ailments. I deem this fact worthy of 
 mention because some “ reformers” have of late insisted that 
 too little professional work is being done in hospitals ; that the 
 number of assistant physicians should be largely increased, 
 etc., etc. I am convinced that this reasoning is fallacious, 
 and results from lack of practical experience with insanity. 
 If all insane persons were sent to hospitals immediately, or 
 within three months of the attack, a larger number would re- 
 quire constant professional care and medical treatment, and, 
 undoubtedly, many more would recover. It should be re- 
 
269 
 
 membered, however, that three-fourths of all admissions are 
 chronic cases, in which the functional or acute physical dis- 
 turbance lias passed away, leaving the mental habits (if I 
 may use the term) of insanity. Such cases require custodial 
 care, and all of the methods embraced in so-called “ moral 
 treatment ” which experience shows to be more useful in re- 
 storing mental equilibrium than drugs and medicines. 
 
 It is for these and other equally good reasons that the 
 principle of adding to every regular hospital for the insane a 
 group or groups of plain, substantial buildings for the quiet 
 chronic patients has been adopted in some States, and rec- 
 ommended in others. I believe the principle to be correct in 
 theory and most economical in practice. Experience shows 
 that a well-planned hospital for acute cases costs more than 
 $1,000 per patient, while these supplemental buildings can 
 be added at about one-half the sum. To these can be trans- 
 ferred the quiet chronic patients who require less professional 
 care and fewer attendants. At the same time, they would 
 have the advantages derived from chapel privileges, system- 
 atic entertainments, and the general oversight of the parent 
 hospital. 
 
 It is to be regretted that this plan, which was considered, 
 approved, and recommended to the last General Assembly by 
 a commission of eminent men, was not promptly adopted. 
 The plan of buildings submitted by this commission provided 
 for 250 patients. Responsible builders were ready to con- 
 tract for the same at $120,000. The rapid advance in cost 
 of material and labor will necessitate a much larger sum now. 
 But I trust that conscientious men of all parties, the friends 
 of the insane, and believers in the humane care of this 
 afflicted class, will unite in an earnest effort to secure what 
 seems to be the most reasonable and economical method of 
 providing suitable buildings for all of the insane poor of Con- 
 necticut who are still indifferently cared for in the jails and 
 almshouses. In this connection I should reiterate the fact, 
 painfully evident to selectmen and others w T ho have urgent 
 cases to provide for, that at all times during the past three 
 
270 
 
 years, applicants have had to wait from two to three months 
 until their turn could be reached, simply because at all times 
 the hospital was dangerously overcrowded. No human mind 
 can estimate the sum total of care, suffering, and solicitude 
 resulting from this delay. I am sure, however, that if the 
 most skeptical objector were obliged to stand at the door of 
 this hospital for one month and answer the urgent appeals, 
 hear the affecting stories of distress, see the helpless victims 
 of mental disease, and after all be obliged to turn a deaf ear, 
 he would be most thoroughly converted to favor any reasona- 
 ble plan for making further provision for this dependent 
 class. 
 
 It is evident to the most casual observer that the public 
 are not wholly satisfied with the present condition of the in- 
 sane. The objectors assert with reason that it is unjust to 
 provide good accommodations for a part, while as many 
 more, equally worthy, are languishing in almshouses. Some 
 people would abolish asylums and let each family provide as 
 best they could for their afflicted members. Others advocate 
 a system of cottages, pavilions, or colonies like Gheel, or the 
 promiscuous boarding out of insane people, overlooking the 
 fact that all of these supplemental plans have been tried — 
 have proved more or less useful as auxiliary measures, but 
 have failed to meet the great requirements of governmental 
 system. And still others have gone to the extreme of assert- 
 ing that we are all insane, or that no one is insane, and that 
 it is unjust to deprive any one of his liberty for this cause. 
 These persons talk loudly about the abuses in asylums, and 
 would place the officers on a par with the criminal keepers of 
 old Bedlam in the sixteenth century. Disagreeable as it may 
 be for the conscientious Christian workers in this humane 
 field to remain quiet under such unjust accusations, I am not 
 sure that it is on the whole an evil ; for it stimulates all to best 
 endeavors, and throws around the insane every necessary 
 safeguard. In this connection it may not be inappropriate 
 for me to briefly review the history of the insane and their 
 treatment from the earliest times. This will serve to show 
 
271 
 
 not only how much more skillfully and humanely they are 
 provided for now, but also some of the causes which led to 
 these favorable results. Insanity has existed from the earli- 
 est periods. Some forms of mental disorder are delineated 
 in the Old Testament. The 1 Greek writers mention cases of 
 mental aberration, and the Egyptians had temples and 
 priests dedicated to the care of the insane. But Hippocrates 
 was the first physician who seemed to have any true concep- 
 tion of the real nature of insanity. It was not until the sixth 
 century that any attempt was made to provide for deranged 
 persons in asylums. To the Monks of Jerusalem is awarded 
 the honor of having built the first hospital for the care of 
 their fellows whose minds had become affected. 
 
 A century later, the fame of St. Dympna had extended 
 over Europe, and the insane were taken to her shrine at 
 Gheel, Belgium, in the expectation of being restored to men- 
 tal health. In time, a colony grew up around Gheel, com- 
 posed of the chronic insane living in the houses of the peas- 
 ants. Having its origin in romance and superstition, it has 
 continued eleven hundred years, and developed into a great 
 system of governmental care of two thousand of the quiet 
 chronic insane. To the Spaniards belongs the credit of hav- 
 ing established the first asylum in Western Europe. In the 
 year 1409, a begging friar, Jofre Gilanext, feeling much for 
 the fate of the poor lunatics who wandered about the streets 
 and fields of Valencia, founded a hospital for their care, the 
 u Cara de Orates.” During the next two centuries the insane 
 were considered possessed by evil spirits. Their treatment 
 was ignorant and barbarous. The Franciscan monks used to 
 whip daily those under their charge, and many were burned 
 and put to the rack under the theory of witchcraft and devil- 
 craft. In the year 1547 the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethle- 
 hem, near London, was established for the reception of the 
 insane. This building was known as Bedlam, a name cele- 
 brated in the history of lunacy, and unfortunately still ap- 
 plied to some asylums. The first asylum (St. Luke’s) exclu- 
 sively for the insane was founded in 1751 by a few benevolent 
 
272 
 
 gentlemen of London. It is evident to the careful student of 
 history that up to the close of the last century the insane 
 were considered unworthy of public care. 
 
 The founding of the few asylums already mentioned tends 
 rather to confirm this opinion, as they were exceptional and 
 principally custodial in government. As a rule, when the in- 
 sane were not entirely neglected, they were incarcerated in 
 jails or poorhouses, where they were kept in chains under the 
 control of convicts. From this period to the latter part of 
 the eigthteenth century little progress was made. Dr. W. 
 A. F. Brown thus describes the condition of the insane in 
 England at that period : u The building was gloomy, low, 
 
 and confined, without windows to the front, every chink 
 barred and grated — a perfect gaol. As you enter, a creak 
 of bolts and the clank of chains are scarcely distinguishable 
 amid the wild chorus of shrieks and sobs which issue from 
 every apartment. Your conductor has the head and visage 
 of a Carib, carries a whip and a large bunch of keys, and 
 speaks in harsh monosyllables. The first common room you 
 examine — measuring twelve feet long by seven wide, with a 
 window which does not open — is for women. Ten of them 
 with no other covering than a rag around the waist, are 
 chained to the wall, loathsome and hideous ; but, when ad- 
 dressed, evidently retaining some of the intelligence and much 
 of the feeling which in other days ennobled their nature. 
 And if you ask where these creatures sleep, you are led to a 
 kennel, eight feet square, with an unglazed air-hole eight 
 inches in diameter; in this, you are told, five women sleep. 
 The floor is covered, the walls bedaubed with filth ; no bed- 
 ding but wet, decayed straw is allowed ; and the stench is so 
 insupportable that you turn away and hasten from the 
 scene.” 
 
 That this is no overdrawn picture, is proved by reference 
 to the condition of the insane in France in the year 1792, 
 when the great and good Pinel struck off the chains from 
 fifty-three of the most violent patients confined in the Bicetre 
 at Paris, and restored them to light and liberty. The history 
 
273 
 
 of this glorious achievement is found in a memoir read by the 
 son of Pinel before the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences: 
 “ Having repeatedly importuned the government to issue a 
 decree permitting him to unchain the maniacs at the Bicetre, 
 he went in person to solicit what had been refused to his writ- 
 ten representation. With courage and resolution he urged 
 the removal of this cruel abuse. At length, M. Couthon, 
 member of the commune, yielded to the importunate argu- 
 ments of Pinel, and consented to meet him at the hospital to 
 witness these first experiments, as well as to assure himself 
 that this was not a stratagem to give liberty to political of- 
 fenders. Couthon proceeded, himself, to question the pa- 
 tients, but received only abuse and execrations, accompanied 
 by terrible cries and the clanking of chains. Retreating 
 from the damp and filthy cells, he exclaimed to Pinel, ‘ Do as 
 you will ; but you will be sacrificed to this false sentiment of 
 mercy ! 9 Pinel delayed no longer; he selected fifty, who he 
 believed might be released from their chains, without danger 
 to others. The experiment commenced with an English 
 captain whose history was unknown ; he had been in chains 
 forty years ! As lie was thought to be one the most danger- 
 ous, having killed at one time an attendant with a blow from 
 his manacles, the keeper approached him with -caution. The 
 chains were removed, and the cell door left open. He raised 
 himself, but fell ; this effort was repeated again and again ; 
 the use of his limbs so long constrained nearly failed ; at 
 length, with trembling and tottering steps, he emerged from 
 his dark dungeon. His first look was at the sky ! ‘All!’ 
 cried he, 4 how beautiful.’ The remainder of the day he was 
 constantly moving to and fro, muttering continually excla- 
 mations of pleasure. At night he voluntarily returned to his 
 cell, which had been cleaned and furnished with a bed. 
 
 In the short period of a few days, Pinel released from 
 their chains fifty-three maniacs.” 
 
 Where in the annals of history is recorded a more cour- 
 ageous or a nobler act? This brave physician, alone, unsup- 
 ported, and fearless, did more to elevate and ennoble this 
 18 
 
274 
 
 branch of science than all who had gone before him. We 
 do not wonder that a celebrated artist should have seized 
 upon his event as a worthy study for a masterpiece ; or that 
 the painting while hanging in the French department of the 
 Paris Exposition, should have been continually surrounded 
 by a throng of eager visitors. 
 
 Notwithstanding the success which attended Pinel’s labors, 
 the reform which he instituted was slow in its advances, 
 and we find many years after his death,* chains in common 
 use in the treatment of the insane on the continent of Europe, 
 outside of the great university cities, and in Great Britain. 
 
 “ In 1815 patients were chained to the walls of the best 
 asylums of London. f At Fonthill thirteen out of fourteen 
 were in irons, and in another asylum there was one towel to 
 170 patients.” In 1822, in some countries, jails were used 
 as asylums without change of structure. 
 
 At Bethnal Green in 1827, with 500 inmates, patients were 
 chained to their cribs and confined from Saturday evening 
 till Monday morning in order to give their attendants a Sun- 
 day holiday. 
 
 No physician or surgeon was in charge, but an apothecary 
 made visits two or three times a week. At Lincoln Asylum 
 39 of the 92 patients were continuously restrained. But it is 
 unnecessary to multiply examples from the official records. 
 Enough has been said to show that like all great reforms the 
 improvement in the condition of the insane was slow and al- 
 most imperceptible until the labors of Pinel and Esquirol in 
 France, Tuke, Gardiner Hill, and Conolly in England, and 
 Rush, Wyman, and Todd in America, had shown to the world 
 that the humane care of the insane was not only possible, 
 but also necessary and economical. It must ever be gratify- 
 ing to us as Americans to remember the part our country has 
 exercised in this good work. For a period of nearly half a 
 century, it is generally conceded that American alienists 
 were more prompt in adopting and more thorough in execut- 
 
 * Dr. Folsom, Disease of Mind, page 10. 
 \ Dr. Folsom, page 13. 
 
275 
 
 ing principles of reform, than those of the older established 
 communities of Europe. 
 
 At the time when Conolly had only begun his great work 
 in England, Miss Dix was directing the attention of the legis- 
 lature to the deplorable condition of the insane in the poor- 
 houses and jails of Massachusetts. 
 
 In 1837, Dr. Browne of Edinburgh, said : “ In some parts 
 of America there appears to be an ample realization of all 
 that I have wished to inculcate as necessary to place the 
 lunatic in that condition which is most conducive to his hap- 
 piness and recovery.” Writing from England in 1841, Dr. 
 Edward Jarvis said: “ Most of the American asylums are 
 doing more for the cure of insanity than any others in the 
 world.” 
 
 From that period to the present there has been constant 
 progress. This half century has witnessed the abolition of 
 nearly all kinds of mechanical restraint, and the substitution 
 of moral persuasion, gentleness, and kindness together with 
 more intelligent treatment, based on clinical and pathologi- 
 cal studies. 
 
 The old Bedlam, with its narrow halls and its darkened 
 cells, has given place to our cheerful, commodious, and well 
 ventilated modern hospital. Even in the old- asylum build- 
 ings great improvements have been introduced ; and the per- 
 sonal comfort of the patients is more and more an object of 
 solicitude and study. 
 
 The introduction of amusements, entertainments, and 
 mechanical occupations, gatherings for religious exercises, 
 readings and recitations, systems of regular exercise by walk- 
 ing and working, are but a few of the means embraced in the 
 moral treatment at every well-regulated asylum. 
 
 Careful inspection of the best hospitals in England, and a 
 few in Germany and France, has convinced the writer that 
 the construction, organization, and general management at 
 hospitals in the United States compare favorably with the 
 best in Europe. 
 
 The improvement in asylum buildings has been so marked 
 
276 
 
 that many conscientious alienists believe that the expensively 
 constructed hospitals in New York and Massachusetts are 
 unwarranted, in view of the purposes for which they are 
 created — an opinion in which I heartily concur. All im- 
 provements and any expense that will add to the health or 
 comfort of the insane are justifiable. A due regard should 
 be paid to durability, security, and safety from fire. But 
 ornate architectural embellishments and lavish expenditures 
 in finish and furnishings, are not justifiable in our State hos- 
 pitals. Simplicity and convenience in plan, and durability 
 in construction should bg the controlling considerations. 
 
 In his last annual report the president of the New York 
 State Board of Charities justly observes : 
 
 “The various recipients of public beneficence may be properly 
 divided into two classes, viz.: the curable, or those likely to be re- 
 stored to society under proper treatment, and thus rendered self- 
 sustaining; and the incurable or permanently dependent. The 
 needs of these two classes differ widely. For the first, a greater 
 outlay for buildings, securing extended classification and hospital 
 convenience, becomes necessary ; and some public policy, as well 
 as considerations of humanity, warrant the employment of such 
 remedial and corrective agencies as are designed to effect recovery. 
 The second, or incurable class, require custodial accommodations 
 only and the buildings for these should be designed at the lowest 
 possible cost consistent with their proper oversight and care. The 
 buildings should be plain, comfortable, and durable, and properly 
 adapted to their purposes, but without ornamentation or embellish- 
 ment.” 
 
 This brief retrospect shows that, compared with any period 
 of the past, the insane of to-day are receiving humane care in 
 the spirit of intelligent, Christian kindness. 
 
 In searching for the causes which have led to these im- 
 provements, we recognize three distinct periods of time, and 
 certain elements of professional labor as most important fac- 
 tors. In the first period, extending to 1792, the insane were 
 considered unworthy of sympathy, because of their supposed 
 possession of devils or evil spirits. Hence their care was left 
 
277 
 
 to criminals and rough keepers, without the supervision of 
 medical men. The second period extends from 1792 to 1830, 
 during which time the old asylums were remodeled, new ones 
 erected, and all organized on the same basis as general hos- 
 pitals for sick or surgical cases. A steward was placed in 
 charge of the general management, while attending physi- 
 cians — not resident — visited the patients and prescribed for 
 their ailments. This was a great stride towards perfection 
 and resulted in positive good to the insane. But the experi- 
 ences of this period were sufficient to show that it was nec- 
 essary to go one step farther. The superintending physicians 
 must reside in the building — live with their patients — have 
 hourly communication with them to know their thoughts and 
 delusions, before they could exercise full medical and moral 
 control. Hence another radical change in the organization 
 of hospitals took place, and the third period began. Super- 
 intending physician were appointed, having full control, un- 
 der a board of trustees and managers, of the professional and 
 general affairs of the institution. Their time was devoted to 
 the work. Attendants and employes held office only during 
 good behavior. Improvement soon became manifest in the 
 general morale of the institution. Home life was developed, 
 and, in short, hospitals were elevated to the rank of homes 
 for the insane, governed on the same broad principles as 
 those which are necessary to success in the management of 
 railroads, manufacturing concerns, ships, or armies. The 
 principle of a responsible head with undivided authority suc- 
 ceeded that of limited authority. 
 
 The results have been manifest during the past half cen- 
 tury, in the almost total abolition of mechanical restraint, 
 greater freedom, the introduction of amusements, exercise 
 games, and labor as auxiliary to medical treatment. During 
 this period medical men in charge of hospitals have vied with 
 one another in effecting reforms ; and it is owing largely to 
 their individual efforts that the insane of this age enjoy so 
 many privileges. Ambitious on the one hand to enlarge 
 these privileges, they are conservative on the other in wish- 
 
278 
 
 ing to check visionary projects. Investigation of this sub- 
 ject will convince any unprejudiced mind, that they, and not 
 the extremists, are the true friends of the insane. Undoubt- 
 edly much remains to be accomplished. The field of labor 
 is large and the workmen few. But in the future, as in the 
 past, intelligent experience should be the controlling 
 influence. 
 
 At the date of the last annual report the work of remodel- 
 ing the old stone carpenter’s shop into a cottage for the most 
 excitable and noisy female patients had progressed sufficiently 
 to warrant a brief description of the building. This annex, 
 as it has been called, was opened on the 26th day of March, 
 since which time twenty-four patients have been well cared 
 for, each one having a single room at night, and three attend- 
 ants in charge. Transfers are made as necessary, and it has 
 served a good purpose, although causing additional care and 
 anxiety to the officers. 
 
 During January last the amusement hall in the fourth 
 story of the center building was completed. The body of the 
 hall will seat 400 persons. The stage is large and well fur- 
 nished with simple scenery designed to represent rooms, 
 landscapes, and streets. During the winter season no less 
 than fifty- three evenings were pleasantly passed in dancing, 
 witnessing plays, or listening to readings, concerts, and 
 lectures. 
 
 The following table shows the nature and variety of the 
 entertainments : 
 
 One Lecture on Heredity — Dr. Comings, New Britain. 
 
 One Lecture on English Literature — Green Kendrick, Esq., 
 W aterbury. 
 
 One Lecture on Travels in England — Rev. John S. Bayne, 
 Portland. 
 
 One Lecture on Man in his Relations to Modern Inventions — 
 Rev. Mr. Tabor, Middletown. 
 
 One Lecture on Africa — - Rev. C. L. Loomis, Middletown. 
 
 One Lecture on The Adirondacks — Rev. C. L. Loomis, Mid- 
 dletown. 
 
279 
 
 One Lecture on Vesuvius — Prof. William North Rice, Middle 
 town. 
 
 One Select Reading — Prof. Hibbard, New Britain. 
 
 Thirteen Assemblies — Music and Dancing. 
 
 Fourteen Stereopticon Exhibitions — Drs. Shew, Olmstead, and 
 Fisher. 
 
 One Concert — Faust Musical Society, Middletown. 
 
 Two Concerts — Home talent, assisted by Misses Mathewson, 
 Derby, and Camp, and Mr. Camp. 
 
 One evening, Minstrels — Hospital Troupe. 
 
 One evening, Minstrels — Young Gentlemen’s Club, Middletown. 
 
 One Concert and Farce — Wesleyan University Students. 
 
 One evening, Mrs. Jarley’s W ax Works and a Farce — Home 
 talent. 
 
 One evening, Prestidigitation — Mr. E. A. Parsons, Middletown. 
 
 One evening, Comedy, Our Boys — Mr. Elmer and Friends, 
 Middletown. 
 
 Five evenings, Dramatic Entertainments — Home talent. 
 
 One evening. Comedy — Portland Dramatic Association. 
 
 Three evenings. Drama — T. A. B. Society, Middletown. 
 
 I am under deep obligations to the officers and employes, 
 who have cheerfully devoted their personal efforts to this 
 object ; and especially to the gentlemen and ladies of Middle- 
 town who have again and again cheerfully responded to our 
 call for musical assistance, dramatic entertainments, and 
 lectures. 
 
 During the summer months the hospital band, under Col. 
 Thayer’s direction, played at least two hours daily, while the 
 feeble and most excitable patients — in fact, all who were not 
 at work — were exercising or resting under the large rustic 
 arbor. On two evenings each week the band has given out- 
 door concerts in front of the north wings. 
 
 The exercises in marching and other military evolutions 
 have been continued. Considerable worthy emulation was 
 created by Dr. Olmstead’s promise of a handsome banner to 
 the company (each ward forming a company) that should 
 obtain the greatest proficiency in marching, the award to be 
 made by some impartial military judge. It is worthy of 
 
280 
 
 record that the banner was fairly won by the company from 
 our ward o.f most excitable patients, under the care of attend- 
 ants Jaquith and Fowler. 
 
 One of the most important improvements made since your 
 last report is that of a new reservoir. It is situated on But- 
 ler’s Creek, 2,000 feet above the present reservoir. The dam 
 is 210 feet long, 17 feet high in the center, with an outer 
 slope of one and one-half feet horizontal to one foot vertical, 
 and with an inner slope of two feet horizontal to one foot 
 vertical. The inner slope is carefully covered with rip-rap. 
 
 The 12-inch iron waste-pipe and 6-inch iron supply-pipe 
 are supported on a foundation of stone masonry laid in 
 cement. The gates are placed in a strong brick house below 
 the toe wall of the dam. This work has furnished employ- 
 ment to many of our quiet chronic patients during the pleas- 
 ant summer weather. By this means we secure a large sup- 
 ply of reserve water, to be used in case of severe drouth. 
 The reservoir covers about three acres, with a capacity of 
 4,466,800 gallons. 
 
 I would respectfully recommend that an iron pipe be laid 
 from this reservoir to connect with the pipe now leading to 
 the hospital, thereby obtaining a head of 160 feet. As 
 additional security against fire, I recommend that a water- 
 main and hydrants be placed around and outside the hospital 
 buildings. Every ward now contains a supply-pipe and 150 
 feet of hose always attached and in place. But there are no 
 outside appliances. 
 
 In the way of general repairs and improvements, I would 
 mention additions to the farm barn, building 1,200 feet of 
 high picket fence, a house for the engineer, re-slating the 
 center roof, laying concrete walks to the annex, grotfting 
 vegetable cellars, painting the walls throughout four wards, 
 refitting closets, etc., etc. Continual oversight is needed to 
 keep all of the rooms and passageways in good repair, in a 
 large building occupied by irresponsible persons. 
 
I 
 
 281 
 
 FARM. 
 
 Reference to the farmer’s report shows that the year has 
 been productive of good results for the labor expended. The 
 yield of vegetables was large and of good quality, but the 
 prevailing rot almost ruined the potato crop of 4,000 bushels. 
 
 FINANCIAL STATEMENT. 
 
 By referring to the treasurer’s report and my financial 
 statement herewith appended, it will be seen that the total 
 revenue for the year was fill, 985. 96. The sum total of 
 payments was $111,733.75. To get the actual cost of sup- 
 port per week for each patient we must deduct $13,258.30, 
 which sum was paid for purposes not actually entering into 
 
 the cost of support, as follows : 
 
 Refunded to patients when discharged, . . . $134.52 
 
 Paid for insurance of buildings, . . . . . 652.25 
 
 Paid for land (new reservoir), . . . . . 462.24 
 
 Paid for burial expenses, . . . . . . 124.10 
 
 Paid for construction, new buildings, .... 11,885.19 
 
 $13,258.30 
 
 Making this deduction I find that the average weekly cost 
 of support of each patient was $3.80, and this includes board, 
 medical treatment, salaries, clothing, and repairing, in fact, 
 everything. The abstract on page 45 gives a classified list 
 of all expenditures. Thus it will be seen that, notwith- 
 standing the extensive permanent improvements made this 
 year, and an increased daily average of twenty-four (24) 
 patients, the expenses have been only $457.06 more than the 
 preceding year. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 
 
 Mr. T. S. Gold, secretary of State Board of Agriculture, 
 kindly furnished valuable reports from other States. A box 
 of books and pamphlets for the hospital library was received 
 from Mrs. E. B. Monroe of Southport. Messrs. Sumner & 
 Hazen of Middletown also presented five volumes. One pair 
 
282 
 
 of cymbals for the hospital band came from Mr. Pickering of 
 Portland, and four barrels of apples from Mr. E. Buckman 
 of North Woodstock. Mr. Borgelt of Middletown tastefully 
 decorated with frescoes the proscenium of the new amuse- 
 ment hall. 
 
 The officers and employes of the hospital subscribed $100 
 toward the amount required to purchase a Steinway piano 
 for the new hall. The following named persons also con- 
 tributed to the fund: Benj. Douglas, Henry G. Hubbard, 
 
 Dr. J. W. Alsop, Mrs. S. D. Hubbard, J. H. Bunce, C. M. 
 Newton, Geo. H. Hulburt, J. N. Camp, 0. Vincent Coffin, W. 
 W. Wilcox, Hon. James E. English, Mrs. F. A. Russell, Mrs. 
 E. N. Colt, Mrs. Wolcott Huntington, Seth H. Butler, H. E. 
 Weeks, E. F. Sheldon, E. B. Smith, Geo. F. Prior, H. S. 
 White, H. J. Johnson, Edward Payne, T. E. F. Randolph, A. 
 B. Gillett, S. Stearns, Jr., Messrs. Pelton & King, Coles & 
 Atkins, Southmayd & Gardiner, I. L. Coe & Son, Clark & 
 Tryon, Talcott & Post, Smith, Northam & Robinson, E. 
 Loveland, and B. A. Simmons. Grateful acknowledgments 
 are due to each and all for their kind remembrance. 
 Newspapers w T ere gratuitously received as follows : 
 
 The Courant, Daily, .... 
 
 The Post, Daily, .... 
 
 The Register, Daily, .... 
 
 The Winsted Herald, Weekly, . 
 
 The Palladium, Weekly, . 
 
 The Times, Weekly, .... 
 
 The Bridgeport Standard Weekly, 
 
 The Tolland County Journal, Weekly, 
 The Sheltering Arms, Monthly, 
 
 The Connecticut Western News, Weekly, 
 The Constitution, Weekly, 
 
 The Sentinel and Witness, Weekly, . 
 
 The Religious Herald, Weekly, 
 
 The Weekly Witness, Weekly, . 
 
 Hartford 
 Hartford 
 New Haven 
 Winsted 
 New Haven 
 Hartford 
 Bridgeport 
 Rockville 
 New York 
 Salisbury 
 Middletown 
 Middletown 
 Hartford 
 New York 
 
 Where success in management depends largely on the 
 intelligence and fidelity of associate officers having the 
 immediate oversight, it is gratifying to report that the vari- 
 ous responsible positions are still occupied by the officers 
 
283 
 
 who have efficiently performed these duties in the past. 
 Only one change has occurred. Miss Holmes tendered her 
 resignation August 1st. Mrs. Weatherbee was appointed 
 assistant matron or housekeeper to fill the vacancy. 
 
 Tn conclusion, I desire to express my deep obligation to all 
 who are associated with me in hospital work, to the mem- 
 bers of your board, who by intelligent co-operation and per- 
 sonal kindness, have greatly assisted in sharing the burdens 
 of another year, and to a kind heavenly Father, who has 
 blessed our labors in the past. 
 
 Reverently invoking His aid and blessing in the future, 
 
 I have the honor to be 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 A. M. SHEW, 
 Superintendent . 
 
 December 1, 1879. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 
 
 The trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane 
 have the honor to present herewith their fifteenth annual 
 report, with the reports of the superintendent and treasurer, 
 etc. 
 
 Your attention is respectfully invited to that part of the 
 superintendent’s report which alludes to the new buildings 
 and additions in connection with the existing annex hospital, 
 as well as to the alterations and improvements which are 
 rendered needful by the extension of the annex hospital and 
 consequent increase of the number of the patients. You will 
 observe that changes are necessitated for the supply of food 
 from increased population, as well as for laundry and work- 
 shop accommodations, and for adequate protection from fire. 
 
 You are therefore asked for an appropriation of $10,000, 
 our first application for several years, viz. : 
 
 $3,000 for protection from fire (outside of buildings). 
 
 $3,000 for purchases of additional cows, and erection of a 
 barn for them. 
 
 $2,000 for needed workshops. 
 
 $2,000 for additional laundry apparatus. 
 
 As detailed in superintendent’s paper. 
 
 The total number of patients who have been treated during 
 the year has been 651. Number remaining 30th Nov., 1880, 
 
285 
 
 528, of which were 251 men and 277 women. Total of 
 deaths for the year, 30. 
 
 General health has prevailed, and the deaths have occurred 
 from maladies usual to the hospital, in which it is ever the 
 same painful story of diseases of that delicate and easily 
 deranged part of the human system — -the brain — diseases 
 proceeding from the many varying conditions of men’s lives; 
 neglect of ordinary sanitary laws of living ; indulgence of 
 passions; overwork. The well-known disappointments and 
 harrassments of commercial, professional, religious, and 
 domestic conditions are all constant factors in producing 
 insanity, even when hereditary predisposition is not taken 
 into account. 
 
 There come to your hospital, from time to time, very sad 
 instances of mental decay which are a lesson to us who have 
 to know about them. Melancholy, indeed, is it to see a 
 decline from professional activity and prosperity; from some 
 eminent position in the scientific world as a respected teacher; 
 a fall, with loss of intellect, which brings a poor, imbecile 
 old man the inmate of your walls, without whose protection 
 he would soon pass in helpless misery to a miserable death, 
 while, by your bounty, his declining days are succored in 
 cleanliness and with provident care. 
 
 Temporary accommodations have been recently made in 
 separate buildings for 20 women and for 30 men. Those most 
 unlikely to give trouble have been moved to these buildings, 
 making room in the hospital proper for new cases immedi- 
 ately needing medical care. 
 
 In addition to these there are applications for admission of 
 80, 60 of which number are for men. 
 
 We wait with deep interest the delivery to your board of 
 the new hospital now in course of construction, under the 
 care of the State committee appointed by the Governor. 
 
286 
 
 The terms of service as trustees of the members from 
 Hartford and Tolland counties expire at this time. Their 
 reappointment is respectfully asked. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 CHARLES B. ANDREWS, 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 RICHMOND M. BULLOCK, 
 RICHARD S. FELLOWES, 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 EZRA P. BENNETT, M.I)., 
 JOSEPH W. ALSOP, M.D., 
 E. B. NYE, M.D., 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 
 Litchfidd. 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 Tolland. 
 
 Colchester. 
 
 Putnam. 
 
 New Haven. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Norfolk. 
 
 Danbury. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen — 
 
 This fifteenth report covers the fiscal year commencing 
 December 1, 1879, and closing November 30, 1880. 
 
 The period has been one of quiet, active labor, free from 
 exciting incidents, pestilence, or unusual sickness. When 
 measured by the number of changes in the population, and 
 the character of cases presented for treatment, it shows 
 progress in legitimate hospital work. 
 
 There were, at the commencement of the year, five hun- 
 dred and ten patients. Applications were made for the 
 admission of three hundred and seven. Only one hundred 
 and forty-four of these could be admitted for want of room. 
 The number received would have been much less than report- 
 ed but for our practice of returning to friends or placing out 
 all who could be so disposed of without disadvantage to 
 themselves. This custom reduces the list of those reported 
 recovered, and swells the list of those reported improved. 
 Candor compels us to tabulate as simply improved many 
 persons who would be reported as fully restored to health if 
 they could have remained a short time longer. Such in- 
 stances come to my notice where the subsequent history shows 
 firm mental health. 
 
 The following table exhibits, in condensed form, the 
 movements of the population : 
 
288 
 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Number at the beginning of the year, 
 
 246 
 
 264 
 
 510 
 
 Admitted in the year, 
 
 73 
 
 71 
 
 144 
 
 Total present in the year, 
 
 319 
 
 335 
 
 654 
 
 Discharged — recovered, 
 
 11 
 
 19 
 
 30 
 
 improved, 
 
 15 
 
 14 
 
 29 
 
 stationary, 
 
 26 
 
 11 
 
 37 
 
 died, . 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 Remaining at the end of the year, . 
 
 251 
 
 277 
 
 528 
 
 Average present during the year, . 
 
 250 68 
 
 263 95 
 
 514.63 
 
 \ 
 
 Six hundred and fifty persons received treatment during 
 the year. The number of admissions — one hundred and 
 forty-four — represents so many different individuals. No 
 person is admitted or discharged more than once during the 
 official year. Thirty persons were discharged fully restored 
 to health. Twenty-five of these were recoveries from a first 
 attack, four from a second, and one from a fifth. It is rea- 
 sonable to expect that some of the thirty may again require 
 hospital care. 
 
 Nearly all of the twenty-nine reported improved , when dis- 
 charged, were hopeful cases, with such evidences of mental 
 stability as to warrant their being sent home “ on trial,” to 
 make room for more urgent cases. Occasionally one of these 
 is returned, but generally the trial results in their remaining 
 at home. 
 
 Three male patients were discharged as not insane. One 
 of these came from Wethersfield prison; another was sent 
 to the hospital by the Hartford police court, and the third 
 was simply an inebriate, who remained until the alcohol had 
 evaporated. 
 
 Thirty-four quiet chronic cases were removed by town 
 officials to make room for more urgent ones. The custom is 
 justifiable by reason of the claim which recent cases have to 
 early treatment. But it is none the less depressing to wit- 
 ness the return of demented and often helpless invalids to 
 the ordinary almshouse. It will be a source of gratification 
 to be able to retain all such cases as soon as the new build- 
 
2S9 
 
 ings are completed. The usefulness of a hospital is shown 
 as much in taking proper care of the chronic and often help- 
 less lunatics, as in the cure of the few acute cases which find 
 entrance. The record is, perhaps, less brilliant, but none the 
 less important, in the estimation of Christian philanthropists. 
 
 I have already referred to the prevalence of general good 
 health. The number of deaths was thirty, or 5.82 per cent., 
 of the total number under treatment. Only once — the year 
 immediately preceding this, which was exceptionally low — 
 have I been able to report so small a death rate. Ten of the 
 thirty w r ere more than sixty years old, and five had passed 
 beyond the allotted period of life. One female, aged sixty, 
 was brought to the hospital in a dying condition, too feeble 
 to raise her head from the pillow, and the left lower limb 
 covered with gangrenous sloughs. Death came as a blessed 
 relief on the third day. 
 
 Another, aged forty, was kept alive three days by the lib- 
 eral use of stimulants. Why the authorities should have 
 taken the responsibility of moving either of these patients, in 
 their extremely exhausted condition, is beyond my compre- 
 hension. Death was caused by apoplexy in three ; by epi- 
 leptic convulsions in three ; by pulmonary consumption in 
 three ; by Bright’s disease of the kidneys in two ; by cardiac 
 thrombosis in one ; by aneurism of the internal carotid artery 
 in one ; by cerebral softening in one ; by general paralysis in 
 one ; by senile decay in three ; and by acute mania in one. 
 The average age of all who died was 48.46 years. Deaths 
 occurred in months as follows : 
 
 In December 4, in January 2, in February 2, in March 0, 
 in April 0, in May 3, in June 4, in July 3, in August 5, in 
 September 2, in October 2, and in November 3. The follow- 
 ing table shows the number of deaths each year, the percent- 
 age of the whole number, and of the average number present: 
 
 19 
 
290 
 
 Deaths and their Ratios, from May 1, 1868, to Nov. 80, 1880. 
 
 Official 
 
 Whole 
 
 number 
 
 Daily aver- 
 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 
 Per cent, 
 on whole 
 
 Per cent, on 
 daily aver- 
 age number 
 of patients. 
 
 Year. 
 
 of 
 
 patients. 
 
 age number 
 or patients. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total. 
 
 number of 
 patients. 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17:57 
 
 1869-70, 
 
 343 
 
 225.17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9 32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73, 
 
 336 
 
 264 53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6.25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 239.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425 80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876, 8 mos., 
 Dec. 1, ’76, 
 
 548 
 
 456.97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2.73 
 
 3.28 
 
 Nov. 30, ’77, 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5 01 
 
 6.69 
 
 1877-78, 
 
 629 
 
 474.17 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 6.36 
 
 8 43 
 
 1878-79, 
 
 644 
 
 498.34 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 2 95 
 
 3.81 
 
 1879-80, 
 
 654 
 
 514.63 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 4.58 
 
 5.82 
 
 The average number of patients present during the year 
 was a fraction less than five hundred and fifteen — seventeen 
 more than during the next preceding year. 
 
 Your attention is called to tables IX and X, which show 
 by whose order patients are admitted. One hundred and 
 twenty-three were sent by order of judges of probate courts ; 
 eight by judges of the superior court; four by judges of the 
 police courts ; eight by order of His Excellency Governor 
 Andrews, and one by bonds furnished by friends. 
 
 Table X shows how they were supported, viz . : eighty- 
 eight by the State and towns (paupers) ; forty by the State 
 and friends (indigents) ; fifteen by the State alone, and one 
 by friends. At this date five hundred and twenty-six of the 
 five hundred and twenty-eight patients are chargeable to the 
 State and towns. Only two are supported entirely by friends. 
 It thus appears that the institution is providing for the chari- 
 table patients, while those who have means must seek accom- 
 modations elsewhere. While a State hospital should always 
 give preference to the poor, strict enforcement of the rule 
 excluding all paying patients does injustice to many worthy 
 persons of limited means who would rather make great per- 
 sonal sacrifices and pay the entire expense — four dollars per 
 
291 
 
 week — than to apply for assistance to the town or State. I 
 trust that when the new buildings are opened all distinctions 
 as to class may be removed. 
 
 It has been said that statistics are not reliable as a basis 
 from which to deduce general truths. This may be true 
 respecting some forms of deductions, but it does not hold 
 true respecting all. 
 
 For instance, table IV in the appendix gives the age at 
 which 1,914 patients became insane. A study of this table 
 proves that insanity is, pre-eminently, a disease of middle 
 life. 
 
 Thirteen hundred and thirteen, about three-fourths of the 
 whole number, became insane between twenty and fifty years 
 of age. It is during the period of greatest domestic activity 
 and business enterprise, when the intellectual faculties and 
 the emotions are most powerfully and continuously excited, 
 that the human mind becomes deranged. Now, if death or 
 recovery followed speedily, as in other diseases, the State 
 would not be called upon to provide for insane persons. But, 
 unfortunately, insanity is a disease which tends to chronicity-. 
 In other words, after the acute stage has been passed, insan- 
 ity tends to prolong life, and its subjects not only cease to be 
 producers but become consumers during a long period of 
 time. You observe in table XXVI that nearly one-half of 
 the 528 patients remaining at the end of the year were over 
 fifty years of age. Many of these have been inmates of the 
 institution since its opening, thirteen years ago, and they 
 show fewer evidences of the flight of time and the approach 
 of age than do those who have had the laborious care of 
 them. 
 
 A careful study of this aspect of insanity has led to the 
 conclusion that the prevalent notion respecting the rapid in- 
 crease of mental diseases is at least questionable. Two facts 
 should be remembered when considering this subject: Popu- 
 lation is rapidly increasing, and the care and treatment of 
 insane persons is so much more humane than formerly, that 
 their life is measurably prolonged. Society, by its benevo- 
 
292 
 
 lent care, is providing for this accumulation. It can be 
 sho^n by actual records that the proportion of new or recent 
 cases occurring in this State during the past year bears about 
 the same relation to the total population as did the number 
 of new cases to the population twenty years ago. The ap- 
 parent increase is developed by the generosity of the State 
 in providing for five hundred of its wards, who were then 
 scattered about the State in numerous almshouses. There 
 has been a steadily increasing tendency on the part of public 
 officials and the friends of the insane to place them under 
 hospital treatment. Of the numerous cases classed under 
 the heads of chronic melancholia, epilepsy, histero-epilepsy, 
 and imbecility, now sent to hospitals, not one in ten was thus 
 provided for twenty years ago. All of these facts should be 
 remembered when considering the question of apparent 
 increase. 
 
 How to properly provide for this large dependent class is 
 a question of greatest moment. Differences of opinion exist 
 among experienced alienists. Many still maintain that ex- 
 pensive hospitals should be erected to accommodate all, irre- 
 spective of class or condition. Without attempting to dis- 
 cuss this question at length, I would suggest that extreme 
 views are generally untenable, and that a solution of the 
 problem may be found in following a medium course. 
 
 Such a plan is being pursued in New York state, at Ovid. 
 The success of the experiment at the Willard asylum, of 
 erecting plain but substantial supplemental buildings on the 
 grounds near to the main asylum, led the commissioners in 
 this State to recommend a similar plan, which is now being 
 carried out. At a short distance from the central hospital 
 there is being erected a group of brick buildings in which 
 provision will be made for 262 of the more quiet chronic pa- 
 tients, who require little medical attention. In general, the 
 plan contemplates receiving and treating all acute and all 
 turbulent cases in the hospital proper ; from time to time the 
 quiet chronic patients will be transferred to the new build- 
 ings, where good custodial care can be maintained at less 
 
293 
 
 expense. The plan has worked so well at Willard, that it 
 seems to be the best solution yet proposed of this most 
 troublesome problem. 
 
 To facilitate the early reception of some of those patients 
 who were waiting, we have recently remodeled and furnished 
 a farm house, situated one-half mile to the rear of the hospi- 
 tal, which affords good accommodations for twenty quiet 
 female patients. This makes the third “ cottage ” in use. 
 Two have served a good purpose during the past ten years. 
 All of these are plain farm houses, heated by stoves, and 
 lighted by ordinary lamps. The doors are unlocked , and 
 windows unguarded , except by the ordinary green blinds, 
 which were on the houses when used by sane families. 
 
 I mention this merely as a matter of record, in view of the 
 fact that so much is being said about the “ uselessness of 
 bars and bolts.” We have for ten years treated insane 
 patients in two “ open ” cottages. To reason from this that 
 all patients could be thus cared for would be illogical. It 
 should be remembered that these patients are selected from 
 five hundred, on account of their quiet, harmless condition. 
 
 If all deranged persons were of this class, and had homes, 
 the State would not be called upon to provide for them. Un- 
 fortunately, a majority of insane persons are more or less 
 turbulent and unmanageable at home ; hence they require 
 the restriction of liberty which a hospital affords. Their 
 own welfare demands it no less than the claims of society. 
 The wise provision which is here made for their security 
 permits a much larger amount of personal liberty than 
 could possibly be allowed at home. 
 
 In this connection I may be pardoned for repeating a fact, 
 which has been referred to in former reports, that mechan- 
 ical restraint is used at this institution only by direction of 
 the physician, to prevent serious accidents. 
 
 A record of the name, cause, and duration is carefully 
 kept. This record shows that less than one per cent, are in 
 any way restrained or secluded. Periods of several weeks 
 pass without the necessity for using any restraining appar- 
 
294 
 
 atus, and then, perhaps, we will have a half dozen patients 
 all at one time who require it. 
 
 Under authority of the finance committee, I have taken 
 the Silver Mine farm for a period of five years, at $100 per 
 year, and am now furnishing the large boarding-house to 
 receive thirty quiet males. This, with the farm-house and 
 the two cottages, will make four “ cottages,” in which we 
 can treat seventy-eight quiet patients. The land at the 
 Silver Mine farm is valuable only as additional pasturage. 
 
 Since your last annual meeting, the annex has been 
 devoted to the object for which it was prepared : namely, to 
 provide for the insane convicts and the criminal insane. It 
 has twenty-four single rooms, two day rooms, a dining-room, 
 three bath-rooms, closets, and the necessary store-rooms. It 
 is situated 250 feet to the rear of the main hospital ; is 
 heated by steam and lighted by gas. Three attendants are 
 always in charge. Since last March eleven male convicts 
 have been transferred from the Wethersfield prison. Nearly 
 all of these have been kept at work about the grounds during 
 the summer months. Two, whose terms of sentence had 
 expired, have recovered, and another one has been returned 
 to the prison as “ not insane.” 
 
 In my last annual report I mentioned the completion of 
 an additional reservoir, covering two and one-half acres. 
 The severe drought of the past summer and the use of a 
 large amount of water in the erection of the new hospital 
 has tested the supply and shown the wisdom of having an 
 additional reservoir. Without it we should have exhausted 
 the main reservoir. With it we were able to use water 
 everywhere freely and continuously. 
 
 While on this subject, permit me to again direct your 
 attention to the importance of having greater facilities for 
 extinguishing fire by means of outdoor hydrants. Your 
 building is well planned and protected so far as the internal 
 arrangements are concerned ; brick walls extend from foun- 
 dation to roof, in the corridors, halls, stairways, and rooms ; 
 all ventilating flues are carried in brick out of the roof 
 
295 
 
 as separate chimneys ; floors are everywhere deafened by 
 two inches of mortar ; iron doors separate the wards ; one 
 hundred and fifty feet of water hose is ready for use in every 
 ward, and nearly two hundred pails of water stand ready on 
 all landings and space-ways ; several fire extinguishers are 
 placed at convenient points about the building. But the 
 recent terrible catastrophe at the Minnesota Hospital for the 
 Insane, in which many lives were lost, shows the importance 
 of having ample provision made for outside protection. 
 
 A line of six-inch water-pipe should extend around the 
 hospital, with at least twenty-four hydrants placed at equi- 
 distant points. 
 
 As the water supply is abundant, it would only be neces- 
 sary to connect the new reservoir with the main water-pipe 
 at the old, to give at all times one hundred and fifty feet 
 head. This pressure would throw several streams of water 
 over the highest point of the center building. The estimated 
 expense for pipe, hydrants, and hose is $2,150. 
 
 You have wisely maintained insurance on the hospital 
 buildings to the amount of about $200,000. This involves an 
 annual expense of $500, which has thus far been paid out of 
 current receipts. As the institution receives no income 
 other than that derived from the board of patients, should 
 so large an amount be diverted for insurance ? Should not 
 the subject be brought to the attention of the General 
 Assembly, and have it definitely decided whether the State 
 will insure its own buildings or continue the present system? 
 
 Improvements. — - When it was decided to locate the new 
 hospital on the grounds south of the present buildings, it 
 became necessary to remove the fruit trees and shrubbery to 
 a new garden spot. This w^ork, involving some expense, 
 was done mainly by the labor of convalescent and quiet 
 chronic patients. 
 
 Early in the season a new arbor was erected on the lawn 
 near the north highway, for the accommodation of the female 
 patients. It is built of cedar, one hundred and twenty feet 
 in length, twenty-four feet in width, separated into nine sec" 
 
296 
 
 tions, with seats for one hundred and fifty persons. At the 
 west end is an elevated band-stand, and near at hand four 
 large self-acting wooden swings. Here many of our patients 
 have passed the summer evenings pleasantly, while listening 
 to the hospital band. 
 
 Improvements in grading, laying of walks, and road-build- 
 ing have continued. A large permanent horse-barn was 
 erected. It will thus be seen that the plan heretofore pur- 
 sued of maintaining the hospital in a healthy state of repair, 
 together with needed improvements, has been continued 
 during the past year. 
 
 In view of the increase of numbers by at least two hundred 
 and fifty patients in the new hospital, it will become neces- 
 sary to add twenty five cows to the live stock and to erect 
 another farm-barn for their protection. This will necessitate 
 an appropriation of $8,000. 
 
 Year by year we are able to employ more inmates on the 
 farm and about the domestic labors of the house. The daily 
 ward reports show that sixty per cent, of all are employed 
 during the summer, and forty-five per cent, during the 
 winter. The farmer’s report, herewith presented, shows a 
 steady increase of annual products as one of the results, and 
 the quietness of the wards and general good health of the 
 patients another and more important outgrowth of employ- 
 ment. The erection of a few large, plain shops would en- 
 able us to continue through the winter the employment of 
 many who are now idle. For this purpose an appropriation 
 of $2,000 could be profitably invested. 
 
 During the autumn months, under your instruction, I have 
 had erected a new laundry building of sufficient dimen- 
 sions to provide for the largely increased laundry work. It 
 will be necessary to purchase four new washing-machines, 
 pulleys, belts, shafting, and fixtures, at an expense of $2,000. 
 When these are in place, work can go on in the new laundry 
 while the old apparatus is being moved. The extent and 
 importance of this branch of work is understood when it is 
 remembered that the average number of garments passing 
 
297 
 
 through the laundry weekly is now 10,000, and will increase 
 to 15,000 when the new hospital is in full operation. Valu- 
 able assistance is rendered by thirty patients in washing, 
 ironing, and handling. 
 
 Following the custom of former years, we have continued 
 and extended the methods employed to entertain our patients. 
 During the summer the hospital brass band played every 
 pleasant morning at the south arbor, while such of the male 
 patients as were judged incompetent, by reason of disease, 
 age, or circumstances, to labor, were being exercised in mili- 
 tary evolutions, or were quietly enjoying themselves in 
 the shade of the arbor. Thus it would often happen that 
 the wards were deserted, not a male patient remaining in 
 the building for hours in succession. When you remember 
 that those who labored were often at work one mile distant 
 from the house, and the others about the grounds with open 
 gates, it may seem strange that only one patient eloped. 
 There were occasional attempts ; but these attempts were 
 less frequent than in former years when we made use of the 
 inclosed airing-courts. When the weather permitted, on 
 every Tuesday and Friday evenings, the band has given an 
 outdoor concert at the ladies’ arbor. Other entertainments 
 were provided in the amusement hall and in, the chapel during 
 the winter season, as follows : 
 
 Sociable, with music and dancing, ... 13 evenings 
 
 Masquerade Party, . . . . . 1 “ 
 
 Lectures with Stereopticon, . . . . 12 “ 
 
 Variety Entertainment, — Hospital Troupe, . . 1 “ 
 
 Comedy and Farces, — Hospital Troupe, . . . 2 “ 
 
 Minstrels, — Hospital Troupe, . . . . 1 “ 
 
 Old Folks’ Concert, . . . . . 1 “ 
 
 Dickens Party, . . . . . . 1 “ 
 
 Legerdemain, — E. A. Parsons, .... 1 “ 
 
 Lectures, — Trip to Lake Superior. Prof. W. O. Atwater, 1 “ 
 
 London. Prof. Winchester, . . 1 “ 
 
 California. D. W. C. Skilton, . . 1 
 
 St. Patrick. Rev. Dr. Coit, . . 1 “ 
 
 England. Rev. J. S Bayne, . . 1 
 
 Egypt. Rev. C. A. Buck, ... 1 
 
298 
 
 Minstrels, — Hartford Retreat Troupe, 
 
 1 evenings 
 
 Readings, — D. G. Lawson, .... 
 
 3 
 
 Miss Georgia Cayvan, 
 
 1 
 
 Miss Annie C. Walter, 
 
 1 
 
 Legerdemain, — Prof. Pray, .... 
 
 Concert, — Misses Spencer and Wilcox, Mr. Pearne and 
 
 1 
 
 Mr. Hatch, ..... 
 
 1 
 
 Band Concerts, ...... 
 
 32 
 
 On Saturday, August 21st, 300 patients, officers, and at- 
 tendants enjoyed an excursion to the seashore. The trip 
 down the river was made in a large barge, fitted for the oc- 
 casion with awning over the entire deck and seats to accom- 
 modate all. A steam tug furnished the motive power. A 
 pleasant sail of three hours to Fenwick grove, at Saybrook, 
 gave us all good appetites for the “ seashore” dinner which 
 had been provided. Another hour was spent in dancing and 
 swinging before embarking for home. The return trip up 
 the river by moonlight was greatly enjoyed, notwithstanding 
 the warm showers which occasionally passed over the river. 
 The hospital band furnished music for the entire day. 
 
 Nothing occurred to mar the pleasures of the occasion. At 
 11 o’clock all were quietly sleeping in their little beds, and 
 for the third time an excursion unique in character, hereto- 
 fore considered impracticable, had terminated without cause 
 for alarm and with only recollections of a most enjoyable 
 summer’s day. Other excursions of walking parties w r ere 
 made to the neighboring hills, and at all times a number of 
 patients have had unlimited parole to go to the city and 
 about the country. 
 
 FINANCIAL STATEMENT. 
 
 For the information of the public it is proper that I should 
 make a brief statement respecting the manner in which the 
 hospital is supported. Many persons suppose that we can 
 draw from the treasury because the hospital is owned and 
 controlled by the State. This erroneous impression causes 
 us embarrassment in the collection of bills. It should be 
 understood that the hospital has no other income than that 
 
299 
 
 derived from the board of patients. It has not in its thirteen 
 years’ existence received an appropriation for running ex- 
 penses, repairs, or improvements. But at the present price 
 of board ($4 per week) and cost of provisions it is only pos- 
 sible to keep our patients well and make the necessary 
 repairs. Needed improvements heretofore mentioned must 
 be provided for by an appropriation. The total revenue 
 during the past year was 1114,438.94. The total expendi- 
 tures were $114,155.75. This includes $4,789.96 for the 
 construction of new buildings. The abstract on pages 40-41 
 gives a classified list of all expenditures. 
 
 To recapitulate, we need an appropriation of $10,000, as 
 follows : 
 
 For protection from fire, . 
 
 $3,000 
 
 Twenty-five cows and farm barn, 
 
 3,000 
 
 Workshops, 
 
 2,000 
 
 Laundry apparatus, ..... 
 
 2,000 
 
 Total, 
 
 . $10,000 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 
 
 As in former years, many friends have shown an interest 
 in our work by donating books, magazines, and papers and 
 by assistance in our entertainments. Among these were the 
 choir and young people of the South Congregational church 
 of Middletown in an “ Old Polk’s Concert” and a “Dickens 
 Party ” ; Prof. W. O. Atwater in a lecture ; Prof. Winchester 
 in a lecture ; the officers and attendants of the Hartford Re- 
 treat in a vocal and instrumental concert ; D. W. C. Skilton 
 in a lecture ; Dr. Coit, Rev. J. S. Bayne, and Rev. C. H. 
 Buck in lectures ; the Misses Spencer and Wilcox and Messrs. 
 Pearne and Hatch in a concert ; Dr. Alsop in a canon of 
 historical interest, twelve volumes LittelVs Living Age and 
 other magazines; Mrs. E. B. Monroe in several packages 
 of books and magazines; Mrs. Ward in a carriage; A. R. 
 Parshley in a dozen Brahma hens’ eggs ; Senator Platt in 
 one volume “ Medical and Surgical History of the War”; 
 L. R. Hazen in papers, magazines, etc.; Miss C. Waite in a 
 
300 
 
 Worcester’s Dictionary; Charles Scribner’s Sons in half dis- 
 count on Encyclopaedia Britannica; Herbert W. Ward in a 
 night-blooming cactus; Capt. C. F. Buell in a collection of 
 shells; S. C. Hastings subscription to Q-ood Literature ; and 
 to the publishers of the State papers for gratuitous copies. 
 
 PERSONAL CHANGES. 
 
 In May last Mr. Frank B. Weeks resigned the position of 
 clerk, which he had faithfully and creditably filled for a pe- 
 riod of eight years, to engage in private business. 
 
 A simple record of his labors shows an amount of work 
 performed and an exactness and perfectness of details in the 
 record books that reflects great credit and shows rare quali- 
 fications for the office. 
 
 The strictly professional administration remains the same 
 as during the past three years. All of the officers deserve 
 honorable mention and recognition in their several positions 
 for their fidelity and efficiency. 
 
 In conclusion, accept an expression of my gratitude for 
 your wise counsels and valuable aid in the management of 
 the public charity intrusted to our common care. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 A. MARVIN SHEW, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., December 1, 1880. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEE?. 
 
 To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 
 
 The Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for Insane 
 present to the legislature their sixteenth annual report. 
 
 On no previous occasion of doing so, has there been a feel- 
 ing of deeper and more grateful satisfaction than at this 
 time. There has been no epidemic, the deaths have been 
 under average, and for the most part have been of the aged 
 and chronic patients. It is known to your honorable body 
 that in July last, the additional hospital buildings, soutli of 
 what may now be called the u old hospital,” were completed 
 and delivered by the construction commission of the legis- 
 lature into the hands of this board, and that the occasion 
 was availed of to suitably celebrate the 15th anniversary of 
 this institution. 
 
 Sad as it may be in one view of the case, that there 
 existed in the State insane persons scattered here and there, 
 waiting for the shelter of these additional public buildings, it 
 must, in another view, be a source of sincere gratification to 
 the people of the State, that through their representatives in 
 the General Assembly, good and permanent provision has 
 been liberally made for the waiting insane by well con- 
 structed accommodations suited to their needs. 
 
 The equipments of your hospital are now in a nearly com- 
 plete condition. The experience of fifteen years has not been 
 an unproductive one. The laundry, kitchen, bakery, and 
 heating arrangements are admitted by experts to be most 
 convenient and excellent. When one realizes that daily over 
 900 people must have regular meals and that the “ weekly 
 wash ” is of ten to fifteen thousand pieces, it will be appre- 
 ciated how needful are good, convenient, and “ time-saving ” 
 appliances for so much real work. 
 
802 
 
 The high commendations of the venerable Dr. Earle of 
 Northampton hospital, in his remarks at the memorial gather- 
 ing in July, will be remembered by all who heard him speak 
 of Connecticut’s advance in practical philanthropy, as shown 
 in this institution. 
 
 No grave and expensive mistakes have been made, either 
 in the construction or administration of this State hospital. 
 What has been done reflects praise of your superintendent, 
 Dr. Shew, who, since its inception in 1866, has been its 
 efficient executive head. 
 
 To his report you are referred for details of the patient- 
 population, of the expenditure of the legislative appropri- 
 ation, and of the special care and labor required for the 
 preparation of rooms for the occupation by 262 patients of 
 the new buildings. 
 
 The long-continued, unusual drouth tried our water supply 
 as never before, and we have taken steps towards securing a 
 fuller supply in the future for our increased number of 
 patients. 
 
 The officers of the institution have been faithful and 
 active in their duties. 
 
 The treasurer’s report is printed with these. 
 
 The marked rise of provisions has for the latter portion of 
 the year materially increased the expenses of maintaining the 
 large family under our care. 
 
 It is our duty to inform the legislature that the south 
 wing of the new building reaches so very near the limits of 
 the land owned by the State, that there is not space enough 
 even for a drive-way between it and the fence of the adjoin- 
 ing land. The owner of this small adjoining tract has a good 
 house on it with out-buildings, and has offered it to the 
 State for $6,500.00, and has consented to keep the offer open 
 for the action of the legislature. The land is good garden 
 land, and could be made with the house very useful. Pre‘ 
 vious to the erection of the new building it was not thought 
 absolutely necessary, although very desirable, that the State 
 should own it. It is not likely ever to be acquired again at so 
 
303 
 
 low a price. Members of other boards of the State have urged 
 us to make formal application to your honorable body for the 
 $6,500.00, for this important purchase. We respectfully ask 
 the committee on humane institutions to visit at an early 
 moment your hospital, and to give this matter the considera- 
 tion it deserves. 
 
 The terms of office of the members from New London and 
 Windham counties expire with this year. Their re-appoint- 
 ment is much to be desired, and is herewith requested. 
 
 We are grateful to God that His benign blessing has 
 rested on this State work under our supervision. 
 
 Respectively submitted, 
 
 HOBART B. BIGELOW, New Haven. 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, Colchester. 
 RICHMOND M. BULLOCK, Putnam. 
 
 R. S. EELLOWES, 
 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 JAMES G. GREGORY, 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 
 LUCIUS S. EULLER, 
 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 
 ELISHA B. NYE, 
 
 J. W. ALSOP, 
 
 New Haven. 
 Middletown. 
 Norfolk. 
 Norwalk. 
 Windsor. 
 Tolland. 
 Middletown. 
 Middletown. 
 Middletown. 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen, — In compliance with custom and legal re- 
 quirement, I herewith present a record of the most important 
 events in the history of this hospital for the year ending 
 November 30, 1881. 
 
 The special details relating to the admission and discharge 
 of patients and of the expense of maintenance, are shown in 
 the accompanying tables. Some notion of the labor, anxiety, 
 and care incident to this period will be suggested by the 
 facts that the admissions were about equal in number to the 
 total in any previous two years, that the regularity and 
 usual order was disturbed by the removal of 250 chronic 
 patients to the new hospital and the admission of an equal 
 number of new cases to the old ; and that a larger proportion 
 of these were acutely insane, with suicidal and destructive 
 propensities, requiring constant and untiring vigilance. We 
 have reason to be grateful to God for the general good health 
 which has prevailed. A few mild cases of rubeola occurred 
 in the month of April, showing that the atmospheric causes 
 prevailed here as in the surrounding country. Whether 
 considered in relation to the number of persons under treat- 
 ment, to the result attained, or to the improved facilities 
 afforded, this report covers the most important year in the 
 history of this institution. There were at its commence- 
 ment, 529 patients ; 352 new cases were received, making a 
 total of 881 under treatment during the year. The average 
 number present was 608.51, but the number remaining at the 
 end of the year is 731.* The following table exhibits in a 
 condensed form the movement of the population : 
 
 *At the date of publication of this note, Jan. 1, 1882, there are 750 
 patients in the hospital. 
 
305 
 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 No. at beginning of year, 
 
 251 
 
 278 
 
 529 
 
 Admitted in the year, .... 
 
 193 
 
 159 
 
 352 
 
 Total present in the year, 
 
 444 
 
 437 
 
 881 
 
 Discharged — Recovered, ... 
 
 33 
 
 20 
 
 53 
 
 Improved, 
 
 16 
 
 4 
 
 20 
 
 Stationary, - - - 
 
 28 
 
 5 
 
 33 
 
 Died, - 
 
 32 
 
 12 
 
 44 
 
 Remaining at end of year, 
 
 335 
 
 396 
 
 731 
 
 Average per cent, during year, 
 
 293. 17 
 
 315.39 
 
 608. 51 
 
 To prevent any misunderstanding of the tables, it should 
 be remembered that the name of a patient is only entered on 
 our records once in any one year. That is, every admission 
 represents a person. For instance, 352 different persons were 
 received during the year; 88 of these had been admitted and 
 discharged in previous years, and 46 were transferred from 
 other hospitals as shown by the following table: 
 
 ADMISSIONS. 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Number of first admissions, - 
 
 121 
 
 97 
 
 218 
 
 Number of second admissions, 
 
 36 
 
 29 
 
 65 
 
 Number of third admissions, - 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 14 
 
 Number of fourth admissions, 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 Number of fifth admissions, - 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 Transferred from other hospitals, - 
 
 20 
 
 ' 26 
 
 46 
 
 Total, 
 
 193 
 
 159 
 
 352 
 
 Referring to the accompanying tables, No. II is interesting 
 as showing that 458 patients have been restored to health at 
 this hospital, and that 389 others were discharged so much 
 improved as to be able to assume cares and ordinary respon- 
 sibilities. It also shows the steadily increasing average 
 number under treatment each year from 85 in 1868 to 608 in 
 1881. Tables No. Ill and IY go to show that insanity is a 
 disease of middle life, when the mind and body are most 
 actively engaged in the struggle for an existence, or in the 
 gratification of morbid propensities. Of 352 patients ad- 
 20 
 
306 
 
 mitted in the year, 263 were between the ages of 20 and 60. 
 Of 2,333 patients admitted since the hospital was established, 
 1,838 were included within the same period of life. Table Y 
 gives the nativity of 2,333 patients. Of this whole number, 
 1,495 were natives of America and 838 of foreign countries. 
 Conclusions drawn from the relative civil condition as shown 
 in table 8 are of no special value, but the fact is stated for 
 what it is worth. 1,101 patients were single, 959 were mar- 
 ried, and 216 were widowed. We are unable to determine 
 the civil condition of 57 persons who were sent to the hospital 
 without histories or friends. Table IX is of more value as 
 showing how and by whom patients are committed to this 
 institution. Of 2,333, one was admitted by order of the 
 General Assembly; 50 by order of justice or police courts; 
 74 by judges of the superior courts; 1,975 by probate courts; 
 45 by governor’s orders, and 188 by the legal guardians or 
 relatives. The question, “ How are patients supported?” is 
 answered by table X. Of the whole number received, 188 
 were self-supporting; 704 were “ indigents ” (expenses paid 
 by the State and friends); 1,328 were “ paupers” (supported 
 by State and towns); 113 by the State alone. Of these 
 various classes there are at this date, 14 supported by friends, 
 198 supported by State and friends (indigents), 473 supported 
 by State and towns (paupers), and 46 supported by the State 
 alone. I have already stated that patients have been 
 promptly admitted since the opening of the new hospital in 
 July. As a result, a larger proportion of acute cases have 
 been received ; but a careful study of table XI shows the 
 unfavorable character of about three-quarters of all admis- 
 sions in the year. In other words, the disease was of such a 
 form from the start, or had progressed so far before admission 
 that all hope of cure had to be abandoned. Of the 352 
 admissions, 111 were of chronic mania; 20 of epileptic 
 mania; 27 of chronic melancholia; 7 of general paresis; 27 
 of chronic dementia ; 10 of senile dementia, and 66 of imbe- 
 cility; making a total of 208 who will probably require 
 public care during the remainder of life. This discouraging 
 
307 
 
 fact is confirmed in table XIV, where it appears that in 218 
 of the 352 admissions, the disease had existed more than one 
 year before admission. And again, in table XYI, it is shown 
 that of the 458 recoveries since the hospital was opened, only 
 65 occurred in cases where the disease had existed one year 
 before admission. If the relatives or public guardians of 
 insane persons only realized the importance of early treat- 
 ment away from home and the exciting causes, they would, I 
 am sure, no longer neglect taking the necessary steps to 
 insure early and efficient hospital treatment. The advan- 
 tages of this policy are again made evident in tables XYII 
 and XYIII. It is here shown that the duration of treatment 
 (in hospital) of the 458 patients who have recovered was less 
 than one year in 395 cases ; and in 335 of this number the 
 whole duration of the disease was less than one year. Addi- 
 tional proof, if needed, may be found in table XIX, which 
 gives the special form of disease in those who recovered. 384 
 were cured where the disease was acute, and only 74 where it 
 had become chronic. This table also shows the relative cura- 
 bility of special forms of insanity. 
 
 The student of sociology may deduce some suggestive facts 
 from tables XX and XXYII, where the alleged exciting 
 causes of insanity are tabulated. These deductions should be 
 received with some reservation, as the assigned causes are 
 often found by us to be only incidents or symptoms in the 
 formative stage of the disease. I believe, however, that these 
 tables truthfully show that “anxiety of mind,” “ill-health,” 
 and “intemperance,” are the factors most potential in pro- 
 ducing mental disturbance. 
 
 Of the 44 deaths during the past twelve months, the average 
 age was 51.15 years. The following table shows all of the 
 deaths and their ratios since the hospital was opened in 1868. 
 
308 
 
 Deaths and tiieir Ratios, from May 1, 1868, to Nov. 80, 1881. 
 
 Official Year. 
 
 Whole Number of 
 Patients. 
 
 Daily Average No. 
 of Patients. 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 Per cent, on whole 
 No. of Patients. 
 
 Per cent, on Daily 
 Average 
 No. of Patients. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1868-69 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-70 
 
 343 
 
 225.17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9.32 
 
 1870-71 
 
 307 
 
 237. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73 
 
 336 
 
 264 53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6 25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74 
 
 524 
 
 239.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75 
 
 605 
 
 425.80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876, 8 mos. 
 
 548 
 
 456.97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2 72 
 
 3.28 
 
 Dec. 1, 1876 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nov. 30, ’77 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5.01 
 
 6.69 
 
 1877-78 
 
 629 
 
 474 17 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 6.36 
 
 8.43 
 
 1878-79 
 
 644 
 
 498.34 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 2.95 
 
 3 81 
 
 1879-80 
 
 654 
 
 514.63 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 4.58 
 
 5.82 
 
 1880-81 
 
 881 
 
 608.51 
 
 32 
 
 12 
 
 44 
 
 5.00 
 
 7.24 
 
 Tables XXI and XXII give all of the known facts respect- 
 ing the fatal terminations of 376 cases and the ages at which 
 death occurred. From these it appears that the disease has 
 not noticeably shortened the period of life. Three had 
 survived 90 years; fifteen had passed 80; forty-nine had 
 exceeded three score years and ten; one hundred and twenty 
 had passed beyond 60 ; and one hundred and eighty-five or 
 about one-half the whole number died between the ages 50 
 and 91. 
 
 Referring again to table XXII, you observe that pulmonary 
 consumption is the most active cause of death among the 
 insane. Next to this, old age, general paresis, acute mania, 
 apoplexy and epilepsy stand in regular order. These six 
 potential agencies embrace a total which outnumbers all 
 others combined. The death rate at the institution has 
 always been below the average, when compared with similar 
 institutions in this and other countries. I attribute this to 
 the favorable location, to the complete system of sewerage 
 
309 
 
 and ventilation and to an abundant supply of pure spring 
 water. It is evident, however, that the ratio of deaths must 
 gradually increase so long as the hospital provides for chronic 
 cases during life. This fact is made evident by a study of 
 table XXIV, where it appears that there are at this date ten 
 patients between 80 and 90; twenty-six others between TO 
 and 80; sixty-eiglit others between 60 and TO; and one 
 hundred and eighteen between 50 and 60 years of age; thus 
 making a total of 222 chronic patients remaining in the 
 institution between the ages of 50 and 90. It has already' 
 been shown, by our tables, that the average age at death 
 among the insane is 50.51 years ; with these plain facts before 
 us, you will hardly be surprised by a perceptible increase of 
 the death rate in the immediate future, and will be ready to 
 attribute it to the natural and legitimate cause. It may be 
 pardonable to allude to the case of a bright Christian lady 
 who, at the age of 91, sits from day to day in her pleasant 
 room busily engaged in making “ holders,” and able to readily 
 thread her needle without the aid of glasses. Our faith in 
 the longevity of the insane is perceptibly increased while we 
 study the next table, Xo. XXV. Here it is shown that of the 
 T31 patients remaining at the end of the year, 504 have been 
 insane from three to fifty years, and at least eight of this 
 number have survived mental derangement more than forty 
 years. The good care which is insured to the insane, in our 
 public institutions at the present day, has without doubt been 
 an important factor in prolonging the lives of this dependent 
 class. The preceding facts have doubtless prepared you to 
 accept the discouraging statement made in table XXVI, 
 where it appears that of T31 patients remaining at this date, 
 only 45 are considered curable cases. This outlook would 
 indeed be discouraging had you not already been taught 
 u the insane are the wards of the State,” and that a public 
 institution is fulfilling its philanthropic mission as truly in 
 protecting and providing a home for the chronic insane, as 
 in restoring to health the few curable cases that find their 
 way to the institution. 
 
310 
 
 IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 In response to your last annual report the General Assem- 
 bly made an appropriation of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) 
 for four special purposes. Only one-half of this appropriation 
 lias been drawn from the state treasury and used under your 
 direction. During the month of May contracts were made 
 with 11. D. Wood & Co., of Philadelphia, to furnish 2,000 
 feet of heavy six-inch, cast-iron water pipe, which was laid 
 around the hospital buildings and to connect the upper 
 reservoir with the main supply pipe to the hospital. A con- 
 tract was also made with Richard Pattee, of Holyoke, to 
 furnish twelve double hydrants, which have been placed at 
 equidistant points around the hospital. Our facilities for 
 extinguishing tire would now seem to be as nearly perfect as 
 human foresight could reasonably provide. We have two 
 large reservoirs connected with the hospital by a six-inch 
 cast-iron main. The upper reservoir is situated 164 feet 
 above the first floor level of the hospital. With this head of 
 water it is possible to throw two or more streams above any 
 portion of the hospital roof. The entire expense was $3,- 
 075.40. This sum exceeds by $75.40 the State appropriation. 
 The balance was paid from the regular revenue of the 
 hospital.* In furnishing the new laundry building it was 
 found expedient to introduce some fixtures and labor-saving 
 appliances together with a drying-closet on a scale somewhat 
 larger than the original plan contemplated. This has in- 
 volved an expense of $4,462.61, while the appropriation from 
 the State amounts to only $2,000. The balance has been 
 taken from the regular revenue. These and other needed 
 improvements occupied the time of the hospital working force 
 to such a degree that we have found it inexpedient to attempt 
 the construction of work-shops and additional barns. Hence, 
 the balance of the State appropriation was not drawn from 
 the treasury and still remains to our credit. As the need of 
 
 * Since the General Assembly made this appropriation two State 
 Asylums and one County Building for insane have been destroyed by fire, 
 with loss of life. 
 
311 
 
 increased barn-room and of additional cows is quite impera- 
 tive, as well as a work shop, where many of our able-bodied 
 male patients can be employed daring the winter months, I 
 trust that no time will be lost in carrying out these improve- 
 ments whenever the season has advanced sufficiently to admit 
 of outdoor work. 
 
 NEW HOSPITAL. 
 
 The most important event in this year’s history was the 
 formal acceptance by the trustees of the New South Hospital. 
 This occurred on the fifteenth anniversary of the organization 
 of the board of trustees, July 20, 1881. There were present 
 on that occasion His Excellency, Governor Hobart B. Bigelow, 
 and other state officers, together with many well-known 
 workers in the great field of public charities from this and 
 other States. It was an occasion of unusual interest, regarded 
 by us as an auspicious opening of the new building. To you 
 who are familiar with the general arrangements it is un- 
 necessary to give any lengthy description of its plan ; but for 
 the information of those who may have friends committed to 
 its charge, a brief account of the new building is appended. 
 
 It may be well to explain in advance that the intention was 
 to provide accommodation for the quiet chronic class, at a 
 moderate cost, in a building or buildings nQt complete in 
 themselves, but as supplemental to the main hospital organ- 
 ization. In other words, the intention was to have living 
 accommodations for 262 patients, with the necessary kitchen 
 and heating apparatus, together with rooms for the employes. 
 The usual work of providing supplies, distributing the same, 
 and exercising official supervision over the new hospital, 
 devolves upon the officers of the main hospital, the im- 
 mediate direction of details being placed in the charge 
 of an additional assistant physician and a competent house- 
 keeper. 
 
 The new hospital consists of three separate buildings : a 
 central structure and two pavilions separated from the center 
 by an open space of eight feet. All of these are constructed 
 of brick with brownstone window caps and sills, water tables 
 
312 
 
 and foundation walls, surmounted by a steep slate roof, which 
 is relieved by large dormer windows, gables, and a central 
 tower. The style of architecture is simple, yet pleasing. 
 Each pavilion may be described as a flattened or broad 
 letter H, with a bay projection on the front face. The linear 
 front of each pavilion is 151 feet, the depth of end projection 
 61 feet, and of the intermediate section 36 feet. The project- 
 ing bay is 27 feet in width by 38 feet in length. This bay, on 
 all of the stories, is used as the common sitting room or day- 
 room for each ward, and is well lighted by eight large 
 windows. A corridor, 10 feet in width and 154 feet in 
 length, extends through the entire pavilion. The accommo- 
 dations for patients in each ward are as follows: there are 
 four dormitories, each in size 24 by 24 feet at the four 
 extreme corners of the projections. Each dormitory has 
 ample space for eight beds. There are nine single rooms on 
 the corridor ; also a room for the attendants, a front and rear 
 stairway, a bath-room and clothes-room, water-closet, drying- 
 room, and broom-closets. The large day- room or bay, already 
 described, opens in its full size from the corridor. As thus 
 planned, with so many large windows opening into the 
 dormitories, the sitting-rooms, and the ends of the corridor, 
 the pavilion is light, cheerful, and well ventilated. It is 
 three stories in height, with an attic which is used as a trunk 
 room and for storage purposes. The rooms and corridors are 
 heated by twenty stacks of u Gold r radiators placed in the 
 basement of the corridors, with flues leading independently to 
 the different stories. Pure air is supplied to each stack by 
 flue-boxes leading directly out of doors. In addition to this 
 indirect radiation there is placed in each dormitory, in the 
 day-room, and the extremities of the corridors, a direct 
 radiator which can be used in extremely cold weather. 
 Ventilating flues, for the removal of vitiated air, extend from 
 near the floor in every room up and out of the roof, each as a 
 separate chimney flue. There are also two large, open fire- 
 places in each of the day-rooms, and similar ventilating flues 
 in each of the dormitories. This arrangement for the rapid 
 
313 
 
 change of air has been found to work satisfactorily without 
 the aid of a fan. 
 
 This general description of the north pavilion, which is 
 occupied by males, applies to the three stories of the south, 
 which is occupied by females. Owing to a slope in the land 
 at the extreme south end of the pavilion, a cellar was con- 
 structed under the basement story, and the latter floor level, 
 which is three feet above ground, was made into a strong 
 ward, with nine single rooms and the necessary closets, bath 
 and day-rooms for the accommodation of a class of destructive 
 female patients. Each of the ward bath-rooms contains a 
 “ Mott ” improved cast-iron hospital bath-tub, hot and cold 
 water supply, with the “ McFarland 55 patent waste and over- 
 flow. A steam, fire-proof drying closet opens from each bath- 
 room, in which towels, mops, brooms, or soiled bedding can 
 be properly dried. Each water-closet is furnished with two 
 cast-iron stationary hoppers, which are flushed automatically, 
 at regular intervals, wdtli a gallon of w r ater from a u McFar- 
 land Automatic Flushing Tank,” placed high up on the w T all, 
 immediately above the hopper. These cisterns can be 
 adjusted to discharge as frequently as desired. They consist 
 of an iron bucket hung in a cistern working in brass journals. 
 The filling of this tilting bucket is adjusted by a valve inside 
 of the cistern, and when full tips over, emptying the entire 
 contents at once, thereby charging the pipes and giving a 
 thorough wash to the closets and urinals. It has been our 
 custom to so arrange them that the discharge will occur every 
 two minutes. This quantity of w T ater, precipitated into the 
 hopper through a large pipe is found to be much more 
 effectual in removing waste than a running stream. 
 
 A conveniently large slop hopper and urinal with the same 
 automatic supply has been placed in each of the closets. 
 Two galvanized iron w r ash basins, on permanent frames, 
 furnish the necessary facilities for personal cleanliness. All 
 of the waste pipes from bath-tubs and wash-sinks are effect- 
 ually closed by a “ Bowers ” trap. In further explanation of 
 the system of sewerage I would mention that all of the main 
 
314 
 
 soil pipes are of heavy cast-iron, six inches in diameter, ex- 
 tending from the main sewer outside of the buildings up 
 through the closets and out above the roof, thus affording a 
 continuous and complete circulation of air through the main 
 sewer and soil pipes. From this description it will be seen 
 that all of the soil pipes are of heavy cast-iron with leaded 
 joints, thus effectually preventing any escape into the build- 
 ing of foul air. The center building is 104 feet in length by 
 36 feet in width, three stories in height, surmounted by a 
 slate roof. A one-story projection in the rear of the center 
 contains the kitchen, scullery, and store-room. A clock 
 tower 17 feet square is carried up in front and above the 
 main building. The first story of the center is divided into 
 two large dining-rooms with a covered passage-way leading 
 from each to the corresponding pavilion. Each dining-room 
 is furnished with tables and seats for 130 persons. The dish- 
 closets and wash-sinks are in the rear, between the dining- 
 rooms and the kitchen. The kitchen proper is 40 feet in 
 length by 20 feet in width. It is furnished with a range 16 
 feet in length, a steak broiler and a meat roaster; also two 
 large soup kettles, four vegetable kettles, an improved coffee 
 kettle and a similar tea kettle, all supplied with steam pipes 
 and hot and cold water. Heavy iron wash-sinks stand in 
 convenient places, both in the kitchen and scullery. This 
 apparatus was manufactured by Mr. E. Whitely of Boston, 
 and has thus far worked to our entire satisfaction. There are 
 two windows and one door on the north and the same on the 
 south side of this kitchen, and a large skylight opens from 
 above, and two doors open into the scullery in the rear; thus, 
 at all times, affording perfect ventilation and an abundance 
 of light in this most important department. Two store- 
 rooms for supplies, each 12 by 14 feet, adjoin the scullery at 
 the rear. A connecting passage-way, 9 feet in length, 
 separates this building from the boiler-house, which is 27 feet 
 wide by 40 feet in length, one story in height. In this are 
 placed two tubular boilers, 16 feet in length by 5 feet in 
 diameter. Each boiler contains 58 flues. In these is gene- 
 
315 
 
 rated the steam used for heating the entire building, the 
 water for washing and bathing purposes, and to supply the 
 kitchen apparatus. The boilers were manufactured by Peter 
 Amerman of Hartford, and the entire heating apparatus 
 supplied and put in place by the Walworth Mfg. Co. 
 of Boston. A chimney stack with an inner flue of 2 feet 4 
 inches by 2 feet 4 inches is carried up 76 feet. A 12-inch 
 opening is made from the main sewer into this chimney flue, 
 through which there is a continuous current. 
 
 The second story of the center building is divided into 
 rooms, for the assistant physician, the house-keeper and the 
 farmer and his family. The third story is divided in four 
 rooms for servants on the north side, and two large sewing- 
 rooms on the south side. For convenience of going to and 
 from the wards to the sewing-rooms, a small passageway has 
 recently been completed. 
 
 This cursory description of the new hospital would be in- 
 complete without reference being made to a comparatively 
 new feature in its construction. All of the external walls 
 consist of an 8-inch outer wall, a 4-inch air space, and an 8-inch 
 inner wall. These two walls are bound together by galvan- 
 ized-iron clamps. All of the partition walls between the 
 halls, dormitories, and single rooms are of brick. For the 
 purpose of economy it was decided to omit plastering 
 wherever it could be done, and in carrying out this idea all 
 of the passageways, bath-rooms, store-rooms, closets, dormi- 
 tories, kitchen, and scullery are finished in four coats of oil 
 paint, laid directly on the brick walls ; and the long corri- 
 dors in the pavilion, to a height of five feet, are finished in 
 the same manner. By this arrangement it is believed that 
 there was not only economy in the original construction, but 
 that also the subsequent repairs will be less than where ordi- 
 nary plaster is used in finishing. The floors throughout the 
 entire building are selected hard maple, planed, tongued, and 
 grooved. The wood-work of doors and window casings is of 
 white pine, oiled and varnished. The entire cost of these 
 buildings, including furniture and fixtures, was $130,000. 
 
316 
 
 On taking charge of the new building it was found neces- 
 sary to add a number of store-rooms and appliances which 
 the funds in their control did not allow the building commis- 
 sioners to provide. A few of these may be mentioned, and 
 among the number, a steam drying-closet for the ward for 
 excitable female patients. Also an attendant’s room and an 
 additional patient’s room, with the partitions and division 
 walls in the basement story. As no provision had been 
 made for the storage of ice, butter, milk, meat, or vegetables, 
 mechanics were immediately employed to build these vari- 
 ous rooms in the cellar of the center building. It has been 
 found necessary to have some work done in fitting doors and 
 windows. This need was probably owing to the fact that the 
 walls were finished in winter, and the casings adjusted while 
 the walls were only partially seasoned. It soon became evi- 
 dent that the hospital bakery would be inadequate to the de- 
 mands made by the increased number of persons to be pro- 
 vided for. Under your instructions I have had an additional 
 oven 13 feet wide by 16 feet in length, constructed in the 
 old laundry building, with the necessary kneading-troughs, 
 tables, wash-sinks, and store-rooms. These various improve- 
 ments had to be made immediately, and without waiting to 
 ask for an appropriation to meet the expense which has been 
 $1,372.77. Add to this the new boiler hereafter mentioned, 
 costing $1,070, and the new laundry expenses of $2,462.61, 
 and it makes the sum total of expenses incident to the new 
 hospital fairly up to $4,905.38. This expenditure, called for 
 at the very start, is not a legitimate charge against the run- 
 ning expenses of the new institution. I mention the details 
 in this report simply as a matter of official record. The re- 
 moval of chronic patients from the old to the new hospital 
 afforded us an opportunity, long sought for, to vacate and 
 thoroughly renovate some of the wards that have been con- 
 stantly overcrowded during the past fourteen years. This 
 work was efficiently done by removing and replacing soiled 
 and disfigured walls, worn out floors, and crumbling ceil- 
 ings. The new work has been thoroughly finished in two 
 
317 
 
 coats of English silicate paint which is hard, durable, and 
 impervious to moisture. We have, as in former years, en- 
 deavored to make good throughout the entire house the 
 wear and tear incident to the care of a destructive popula- 
 tion. The same spirit has governed the management of the 
 hospital farm and gardens. Old walls have been replaced 
 by new fences ; brush and stones have been removed, and 
 several fields drained and improved so as to be considered 
 profitable farming land. For details of the agricultural re- 
 sults you are referred to the accompanying farmer’s report. 
 It shows not only an increase in the quantity produced, but 
 also an improvement in the quality. A larger number of 
 patients have been employed out of doors than ever before, 
 and I think I may safely report progress in all departments 
 of the work assigned to us. 
 
 FINANCIAL STATEMENT. 
 
 The customary balance sheet and abstract of vouchers, clas- 
 sified under specific heads, are herewith transmitted. These 
 show in detail the amount of revenue and how expended. 
 For the first time in its history the hospital expenses have 
 apparently exceeded its revenue by $1,795.56. This apparent 
 deficit is more than offset by the possession of coal and other 
 supplies at this date, costing far more than the sum named. 
 It should be remembered that the new hospital building came 
 into your possession destitute of supplies or funds for operating 
 expenses. A number of details in the construction were 
 found to be imperfect. It was necessary to employ several 
 mechanics at considerable expense to complete and perfect 
 absolutely needed improvements before the building could be 
 most conveniently adapted to its purposes. In addition to 
 this, various fixtures not included in the contract for furnish- 
 ing had to be purchased before it was in complete running 
 order. As a doubt had arisen in the minds of some of the 
 officers respecting the capacity of the two boilers to furnish 
 sufficient heat for the new building during extremely cold 
 weather, a contract was made for an additional boiler to sup- 
 
318 
 
 plement the others, or in case of repairs. All of these items, 
 which you understand in detail, combine to make our finan- 
 cial report less favorable than in previous years. It is known 
 that there has been a large advance in the price of nearly all 
 provisions during the past eight months. Notwithstanding 
 these unexpected contingencies, we have been able to make 
 improvements, organize the new hospital, and purchase and 
 pay for the fuel required. 
 
 I sincerely hope that the application to the General Assem- 
 bly which you propose to make for the land south of the 
 hospital, will receive favorable action. 
 
 The new buildings extend to the boundary line. There is 
 not even room for a passage-way. No argument is needed to 
 show why the hospital should control the land surrounding 
 the building occupied by insane female patients. A due re- 
 gard for privacy requires this purchase. The land is valuable 
 for garden purposes and can be worked most advantageously. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 
 
 We are again under obligations to many friends who have 
 thoughtfully remembered the institution by making donations 
 of useful articles or in assisting in our series of entertainments. 
 In behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, I would 
 in this public manner return grateful acknowledgments to 
 Mrs. E. 13. Monroe of Southport, for books and magazines, 
 lambrequin curtains, and twenty-five dollars in cash to be ex- 
 pended in books for the new hospital ; to Miss M. G. Perry 
 of Southport, for books and magazines; to H. D. A. Ward 
 of Middletown, for six volumes of illustrated German 
 papers, eight volumes of Scribner's Monthly , five volumes of 
 Appleton’s Monthly , one bound volume of Galaxy , and twenty- 
 five sermons of Henry Ward Beecher; to W. W. Coe, Esq., 
 of Portland, for several copies of the Spirit of the Times; to E. 
 Rockwell of Middletown, for packages of pictorial papers; to 
 Miss Amelia Glover, Middletown, for packages of books ; to 
 Mr. C. W. Church, for two volumes Atlantic Monthly , two vol- 
 umes Appleton’s Monthly; to T. S. Gold, secretary state board 
 
319 
 
 of agriculture, one volume of the annual report; to Senator 
 Joseph R. Hawley, one volume of the last annual report of 
 the agricultural department at Washington; to B. P. Starr 
 of Hartford, two bound volumes of Every Saturday; to Mr. 
 John Barber, New Haven, for one volume; to W. W. Andrews 
 of Rockville, two hundred mammoth “ Cluster” raspberry 
 vines; to John N. Stickney, Esq., of Rockville, for a 
 lecture; to Rev. A. W. IJazen, for a lecture; to the 
 Earnest Workers of the South Congregational Church, 
 for a pleasant dramatic entertainment; to Hon. Lewis E. 
 Stanton, Hartford, for an interesting lecture entitled “Work 
 and Play”; to the officers and attendants of the Hartford 
 Retreat, for a musical entertainment; to Messrs. Camp, 
 Pearne, and eighteen others, for a concert ; to Miss Mary 
 Beeman, Miss Rose Newell, Mrs. Post, and Mrs. Bronson, 
 and Messrs. Pearne, Hall, Bacon, and Parsons, for an after- 
 noon concert ; to Mrs. Edna Chaffee Noble for a reading ; to 
 a friend, for ten copies of the Parish Visitor; and to many 
 others who have kindly placed magazines and newspapers in 
 the hospital box at Mr. Hastings’ store for the use of the pa- 
 tients; also to the publishers of the following-named state 
 papers for gratuitous copies : 
 
 The Courant, daily, 
 
 The Post, “ - 
 
 The Register, “ 
 
 The Palladium, weekly, - 
 The Times, weekly, 
 
 Bridgeport Standard, weekly, 
 
 Tolland County Journal, weekly, 
 
 Sheltering Arms, monthly, 
 
 Connecticut Western Weekly, weekly, - 
 The Constitution, weekly, 
 
 Sentinel and Witness, weekly, 
 
 Religious Herald, “ 
 
 Weekly Witness, “ 
 
 Sabbath Reading, “ 
 
 I am under obligations to the friends who have kindly 
 aided us in our endeavors to provide suitable entertainments 
 and amusements during the winter months. The importance 
 
 Hartford 
 New Haven 
 
 i i 
 
 Hartford 
 Bridgeport 
 Rockville 
 New York 
 - Salisbury 
 Middletown 
 
 i c 
 
 Hartford 
 New York 
 
320 
 
 of this work is evident to any thoughtful person. Hospital 
 life at its best must be somewhat irksome to those who have 
 been accustomed to active pursuits. The tedious monotony 
 is pleasantly broken in the summer by outdoor employment 
 for those who are able, together with pleasant games, exercise 
 in walking, in drilling, and the various means that are easily 
 found while passing time out of doors. Since the improve- 
 ment of our lawn and the rapid growth of plants and flowers, 
 the surroundings have been so attractive that not only our 
 own people but those from the city and surrounding country 
 are often seen walking and driving about the buildings. To 
 add to the pleasure of those who are thus employed, the 
 hospital band has spent from one to two hours practicing 
 every morning near the south arbor, and on two evenings of 
 each week at the ladies’ arbor. The following entertain- 
 
 merits were provided in the amusement hall 
 during the winter season : 
 
 and 
 
 chapel 
 
 Sociable, with dancing, 
 
 12 
 
 evenings. 
 
 Masquerade Party, 
 
 1 
 
 < < 
 
 Lectures with Stereopticon, 
 
 7 
 
 a 
 
 Christmas Tree, 
 
 1 
 
 t < 
 
 Legerdemain, E. A. Parsons, 
 
 1 
 
 < < 
 
 Dramatic Entertainment, Hospital Troupe, 
 
 5 
 
 < < 
 
 “ “ Earnest Workers, 
 
 1 
 
 ( i 
 
 Comedy and Farce, Middletown Friends, .... 
 
 1 
 
 < < 
 
 Musical Concert, Retreat Orchestra, 
 
 1 
 
 < < 
 
 Concert, Middletown Friends, 
 
 1 
 
 ( < 
 
 Reading and Concert, Miss Annie L. White, 
 
 1 
 
 t { 
 
 “ Miss L. L. Peck, 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 
 “ Mrs. Dr Lyon, 
 
 1 
 
 i i 
 
 “ Mrs. Edna Chaffee Noble 
 
 Lecture, The Wheat fields of Dakota, Rev. Dr. W. L. 
 
 1 
 
 t < 
 
 Gage, 
 
 1 
 
 ft 
 
 “ Horse back ride through Syria, Rev. C. H. Buck, 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 
 “ The Sandwich Islands, Dr. Shew, 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 
 “ Healthy Homes, Dr. C. W. Chamberlin, 
 
 1 
 
 f t 
 
 “ Switzerland, Rev. A. W. Hazen, .... 
 
 1 
 
 t < 
 
 “ Palestine, or the Holy Land, John N. Stickney, 
 
 1 
 
 c t 
 
 “ Work and Play, Lewis E. Stanton, Esq., 
 
 Sleighing Party, 1 afternoon, conveyances from public and 
 private stables, 
 
 1 
 
 t < 
 
 Band Concerts, 
 
 34 
 
 “ 
 
321 
 
 CHANGES IN THE OFFICIAL STAFF. 
 
 In March last, Mr. Clinton W. Weatherbee resigned the 
 position of farmer, which he had faithfully and most accept- 
 ably filled since April, 1868, to engage in private business. 
 At the same time Mrs. Weatherbee resigned the position of 
 housekeeper. Both of these officers possessed rare executive 
 ability, and were well-fitted to perform the duties of their 
 respective offices. These vacancies were filled respectively 
 by the appointment of Mr. Pliny W. Sanderson and Mrs. 
 Jeannette P. Packer. At the opening of the new hospital 
 Dr. Henry S. Noble of Hartford, formerly connected with 
 one of the Michigan asylums, and more recently an assistant 
 at the Betreat, was appointed assistant physician, and Mrs. 
 Annie L. Williams, housekeeper. With these exceptions, 
 the staff of officers remains the same as at the beginning of the 
 year. I am under deep obligations to all my co-laborers, 
 who have faithfully performed the duties of their several 
 positions. And especially am I encouraged and sustained by 
 the fostering care which you have steadily bestowed on 
 this great public trust. 
 
 Respectively submitted, 
 
 A. M. SHEW, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent. 
 
 December 1, 1881. 
 
 21 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut : 
 
 The trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane at 
 Middletown are permitted to present their seventeenth annual 
 report. 
 
 It is a satisfaction to state the fact that the history- of the 
 hospital for the past twelve months has been one of quiet 
 usefulness, without epidemic illness among the patients, or 
 startling incidents, save the escape of Andersen, the particu- 
 lars of which, with those of his return, are given in the super- 
 intendent’s report, sent in with this, which also will exhibit 
 in detail expenditures of special appropriations, and the 
 accounts of the ordinary financial course of receipts and pay- 
 ments since the first of December, 1881 ; also the humane 
 work of the hospital during the year. 
 
 We request special attention of the members of the legis- 
 lature to that portion of the superintendent’s report which 
 alludes to the apprehension of the people concerning the pos- 
 sible reception by this hospital of persons who are not insane. 
 
 The number of patients who have had the benefit of the 
 institution during this year, has been 1,079. There were 
 remaining 30th of November, 1882, 842. Of these 300 were 
 in the “ New Hospital” ; 73 are accommodated in the cot- 
 tages. These are the chronic insane. 
 
 It will be seen in one of the annexed tables that the ad- 
 missions since the opening of the hospital have been 2,681. 
 This statement will cause the reflections, “ How many indi- 
 viduals have been benefited ! ” “ How many families have 
 
 been relieved ! ” 
 
323 
 
 There has been no delay in admitting patients during the 
 year. 
 
 The record of improvements made to cottages and on the 
 farm, of receipts and outlays, etc., is given in the several 
 reports accompanying this. 
 
 The general uneventful regularity of the doings of this 
 branch of the State’s beneficence is evidence of its efficiency 
 for good, and of the blessing of God which has continued to 
 rest upon the work of the hospital. 
 
 No appropriation will be asked for. 
 
 The terms of the members of the Board for Middlesex and 
 New Haven counties expire with this year. Their reappoint- 
 ment is solicited at your hand. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 HOBART B. BIGELOW, 
 
 R. S. FELLOWES, 
 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 JAMES G. GREGORY, M.D., 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 RICHMOND M. BULLOCK, 
 ELISHA B. NYE, -M.D., 
 
 J. W. ALSOP, M.D., 
 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS. 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen — I have the honor to submit the following re- 
 port of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane for the fiscal 
 year ending November 30, 1882. 
 
 The year began with 731 patients and ended with 842. 
 
 There were 348 admitted during the year, of whom 177 
 were men and 171 women. 
 
 The total number of patients under treatment was 1,079. 
 
 The number of patients discharged during the year was 
 158, of whom 87 were men and 71 were women. 
 
 There were 79 deaths, of whom 47 were men and 32 women. 
 
 The average number of patients resident during the year 
 was 789, of whom 357 were men and 432 were women. 
 
 These general statistics indicate in usual form the sum 
 total of hospital work for the year. 
 
 To you who are familiar with the details no further expla- 
 nation would be offered ; but for the information of the mem- 
 bers of the General Assembly I may be permitted to state 
 some of the important factors included in the general summary. 
 
 This period embraces the first complete year since the sup- 
 plemental building, or South Hospital, as it is designated, 
 was opened. It may, therefore, serve to measure the scope 
 and extent of work the hospital in all its departments is 
 capable of doing. In a degree it also measures the needs of 
 the State. This is made evident by the fact that we received 
 promptly every pauper and indigent patient for whom appli- 
 cation was made. 
 
 If any insane persons are now kept in almshouses, the 
 
325 
 
 responsibility rests upon town officials and not at the door of 
 your hospital. 
 
 The majority of new patients were brought to the hospital 
 without notice, and we have declined to admit only those who 
 could afford to pay for treatment at private institutions. 
 
 This policy of making a distinction in favor of the indi- 
 gent classes discriminates unjustly against that most deserv- 
 ing class of society with small means but much self respect, 
 which would prefer to pay the small rate of four dollars per 
 week without going to the town or State, or to any charity 
 to assist them. Some of these, after making praiseworthy 
 efforts to meet the larger expense elsewhere, finally come to 
 us the subjects of charity ; while others, unable to pay the 
 higher rates, remain at home until the favorable period for 
 treatment has passed and drift into a state of chronic insanity. 
 
 Would it not be true economy, as well as good policy, to 
 admit all such cases promptly ? 
 
 During the past year there have been forty refusals of 
 such applicants. Add this number to the 348 admissions 
 and you have the sum total, 388. The admissions for the 
 year 1881 were 352. Thus, 400 may be taken as a measure 
 of the probable annual demand while the population of the 
 State remains at about 750,000. 
 
 But the hospital is crowded to its full capacity, and hence- 
 forth can only admit new cases as vacancies occur. Should 
 the same number of persons be discharged and an equal 
 number die, 237 vacancies will be made ; or 163 vacancies 
 less than the probable number of new applicants. What 
 answer can I make to the unfortunate ones who will be un- 
 provided for ? 
 
 You say, discharge the quiet chronic patients and make 
 room for the more urgent new applicants. True ; but how 
 can it be done ? Nearly all of these are destitute of homes 
 or friends. They are feeble in body or mind, and would soon 
 become the prey of unprincipled persons or perish, as the 
 result of exposure and neglect. 
 
 Town officials properly decline to remove homeless patients 
 
326 
 
 unless I can certify to their complete restoration to health. 
 The sentiment of community and the dictates of humanity 
 alike demand that the chronic insane remain until some 
 other provision is made for their safety and comfort. 
 
 There are at this date 842 patients. This large population 
 is provided form the following manner : 
 
 Those who need medical treatment and the most care, in- 
 cluding recent admissions, the sick, and the disturbed of the 
 chronic class, 442 in all, are assigned to the main hospital. 
 
 The new south hospital is devoted to the chronic insane to 
 the number of 300. 
 
 In a distinct building, called the Annex, 26 patients of the 
 criminal class are provided for in single rooms. 
 
 The Roberts Cottage contains 20 quiet female patients. 
 The Farm Cottage 10 more of the same class, and the Silver 
 Mine Cottage 33 quiet males. One old gentleman has for 
 several years boarded with a private family near the hospital, 
 and thus the 842 persons whose names appear on the hospital 
 register at this date are accounted for. 
 
 Of those admitted, 180 are “ paupers ” (supported by town 
 and State); 132 are “ indigents” (supported by State and 
 friends) ; 22 are wholly supported by the State (this class 
 includes four convicts from Wethersfield, 5 insane soldiers, 
 admitted by act of the last General Assembly) ; 9 Superior 
 Court cases — persons acquitted of crime on the sole ground 
 of insanity, and having no legal settlement in any town ; 4 
 by the Governor’s order, and 14 “ paying ” patients, who are 
 self-supporting. Of these various classes there are at this 
 date 549 paupers, 219 indigents, 66 State, and 8 paying 
 patients. It thus becomes evident that 99 per cent, of all 
 the patients treated at this institution are beneficiaries. 
 
 In a previous report I pointed out the growing tendency 
 to send patients at earlier periods of their disease Ilian for- 
 merly. During the year 90 of the 348 admissions, or 29 per 
 cent., were sent within three months of the onset of the 
 disease. Forty-eight of these recovered and were discharged 
 after an average residence of only 2 months and 28 days, 
 
327 
 
 and many others are convalescing. What stronger proof 
 could be adduced to show the advantage and real economy of 
 early treatment? This practical lesson is still more im- 
 pressively brought to your notice in the study of the whole 
 admission record. In 141 of the 348 admissions the disease 
 had existed more than two years prior to hospital treatment, 
 and in 63 of these the duration extended from five to fifty 
 years. 
 
 The statistics of all asylums show that insanity is pre- 
 eminently a disease tending towards chronicity, and that re- 
 covery rarely occur after the mental disturbance has con- 
 tinued two years. 
 
 To add to the unfavorable character of the admissions, I 
 should mention that an unusually large number of old per- 
 sons were sent to us this year, twenty-seven of them being 
 between 60 and 70 years of age, twelve between 70 and 80, 
 four between 80 and 90, and one between 90 and 100. We 
 have always had in this hospital a very large proportion of 
 old people, a fact alluded to in my last annual report as fol- 
 lows : “ The death rate at the institution has always been 
 below the average, when compared with similar institutions 
 in this and other countries. I attribute this to the favorable 
 location, to the complete system of sewerage and ventilation, 
 and to an abundant supply of pure spring water. It is 
 evident, however, that the ratio of deaths must gradually 
 increase as long as the hospital provides for chronic cases 
 during life. This fact is made evident by a study of Table 
 XXIV, where it appears that there are at this date ten 
 patients between 80 and 90; twenty-six others between 70 
 and 80 ; sixty-eight others between 60 and 70 ; and one hun- 
 dred and eighteen between 50 and 60 years of age; thus 
 making a total of 222 chronic patients remaining in the 
 institution between the ages of 50 and 90. It has already 
 been shown by our tables that the average age at death 
 among the insane is 50.15 years. With these plain facts be- 
 fore us, you will hardly be surprised by a perceptible increase 
 of the death rate in the immediate future, and will be ready 
 
328 
 
 to attribute it to the natural and legitimate cause/’ In 
 this connection it is proper to state that we have in one ward 
 twenty patients, ten of whom have a total of 750 years ; or an 
 average of 75 years each. In another ward, containing nine- 
 teen male patients, the average age of all is 65.53 years, and 
 of the ten oldest 72.20 years. This leads me to offer a sug- 
 gestion, which I trust will commend itself to the wisdom of 
 town officers and the friends of deranged persons. It is not 
 desirable to send a man away from his home after he is 75 
 or 80 years of age. Mental excitement combined with bodily 
 weakness may furnish a plausible reason among the very 
 poor , where suitable food, nursing, and attendance cannot be 
 attainable. 
 
 The sentiment of community doubtless demands that all 
 such cases should be provided for, and we are happy in the 
 performance of labor in this unpromising portion of the 
 Master’s vineyard, even if it should measurably lengthen our 
 mortuary tables. 
 
 Never before in one year have so many cases been sent to 
 us in a weak or exhausted condition. All of these required 
 and received special diet of milk, eggs, and such nourishing 
 foods as are restorative to the sick. Notwithstanding all our 
 efforts, sixteen of these died after an average residence in 
 hospital of only seventeen days. The following table shows 
 all of the deaths and their ratios since the hospital was 
 opened in 1868 : 
 
329 
 
 Death and their Ratios, from May 1, 1868, to Nov. 30, 1882. 
 
 year. 
 
 Whole number of 
 patients. 
 
 6 
 
 a> • 
 tJD® 
 
 g fl 
 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 
 <v 
 
 J3 % 
 § s 
 
 on daily 
 'age 
 
 patients. 
 
 Official 
 
 c3 g 
 
 a 
 
 >> 
 
 ’3 
 
 ft 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Per cent. 
 No. of i 
 
 Per cent, 
 avei 
 No. of i 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-79, 
 
 343 
 
 225 17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9 32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73, 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6.25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 239.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425.80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452 64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 18/6, 8 mos. 
 Dec. 1, 1876, 
 
 548 
 
 456 97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2.73 
 
 3.28 
 
 Nov. 30, ’77, 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5 01 
 
 6.69 
 
 1877-78, 
 
 629 
 
 474.17 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 6.36 
 
 8.43 
 
 1878-79, 
 
 644 
 
 498.34 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 2.95 
 
 3.81 
 
 1879-80, 
 
 654 
 
 514 63 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 4.58 
 
 5 82 
 
 1880-81, 
 
 881 
 
 608.51 
 
 32 
 
 12 
 
 44 
 
 5 00 
 
 7.24 
 
 1881-82, 
 
 1079 
 
 789.27 
 
 47 
 
 32 
 
 79 
 
 7.32 
 
 10.01 
 
 The average age of all was 52.54 years. Seven had sur- 
 vived 80 years; eight were between 70 and 80; thirteen 
 between 60 and 70 ; fourteen between 50 and 60, and thirty- 
 nine under 50. 
 
 In the causation of death, tuberculosis (pulmonary con- 
 sumption) leads with a total of 14 ; next to this maniacal ex- 
 haustion (12), general paralysis (9), old age (7), epilepsy 
 (6), apoplexy (5), and heart disease (4), stand in regular 
 order. All but two of the 79 deaths were from natural 
 causes, and are properly classified in Table XXII. 
 
 With a crowded hospital containing at all times a turbu- 
 lent population and many actively suicidal patients, only two 
 persons succeeded in committing suicide. It has well been 
 said that among the insane the unexpected event will most 
 surely occur. It has thus in one of these sad cases, a woman 
 who had passed through the clouds of abject despondency 
 and extreme melancholia into the light of convalescence, 
 
330 
 
 after receiving a letter from her husband conveying the 
 promise of a speedy return to her happy home, deliberately 
 and in the most cunning manner planned a method of silently 
 ending her own life while the attendant and others were 
 within a few feet of her person. 
 
 Of the admissions 246 were first admissions to this or any 
 hospital for the insane. Sixty-two were readmissions ; that 
 is, they were transfers (14) from other institutions, or per- 
 sons (48) who, in previous years, had been discharged from 
 this hospital as shown in the following table: 
 
 ADMISSIONS. 
 
 Males. ! 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 First, ..... 
 
 140 
 
 146 
 
 286 
 
 Second, ..... 
 
 24 
 
 11 
 
 35 
 
 Third, ..... 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 Fourth, ..... 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 Fifth, ..... 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Sixth, ..... 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 Transferred from other hospitals, . 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 14 
 
 Total, ..... 
 
 177 
 
 171 
 
 348 
 
 The percentage of admissions to the average number resi- 
 dent was very large compared with other State asylums, and 
 implies increased work, more expense, greater risk of acci- 
 dents, and a larger death rate. Notwithstanding these varied 
 contingencies the professional results of the year’s labors are 
 most gratifying. 
 
 Viewed as a whole, the year has been comparatively free 
 from the disturbances incident to life among the insane. On 
 every pleasant day during the summer and autumn all who 
 were physically able remained out of doors several hours, en- 
 gaged in light work or simple recreation. We have con- 
 tinued the military drilling among the men, which was insti- 
 tuted by Col. Thayer eight years ago. Its influence is 
 perceptibly beneficial in cultivating habits of regularity and 
 precision, and in counteracting the tendency to repose or in- 
 
831 
 
 action which is the distinguishing characteristic of chronic 
 melancholia and dementia. Band concerts were enjoyed 
 during the morning hours at the gentlemen’s arbor,' and on 
 Tuesday and Friday evenings at the ladies’ arbor. With so 
 much liberty and only an occasional necessity for mechanical 
 restraint (averaging less than one-quarter of one per cent, 
 of the daily number present), few elopement attempts were 
 made, and these few by patients on limited parole who were 
 engaged in farm work at long distances from the hospital. 
 I have, however, to report one event which caused us consid- 
 erable solicitude. During the night of May 3d, John Ander- 
 sen, well known as the Wallingford murderer, an insane 
 convict, transferred from Wethersfield Prison about three 
 years ago, succeeded in making his escape from the “ Annex.” 
 All of the facts respecting this event were so widely published 
 at the time that I will only add in this official manner, that 
 Andersen was arrested near Newark, N. J., and safely returned 
 to the hospital after an absence of only ten days. This epi- 
 sode had the effect of causing him great mental disturbance, 
 which has only recently subsided. Realizing the fact that 
 this man is a dangerous homicidal maniac, extra precautions 
 are observed to prevent a recurrence of a similar nature. 
 
 Permit me to call your attention to a subject which peri- 
 odically attracts attention for a time and is then apparently 
 forgotten until some sensational case brings it to public 
 notice. I refer to the present law regarding the commitment 
 of the insane to asylums. In this State the law is a tolera- 
 bly good one, and, so far as I am aware, no injustice has 
 been done to individuals or institutions. Yet in other States 
 where similar laws are in force there is dissatisfaction, and 
 the sentiment of the community demands changes in order to 
 relieve public apprehension. 
 
 It is needless to say that a great deal which has been written 
 and spoken of late about “ incarcerating the sane” is sensa- 
 tional and untrue. There is no danger that an institution 
 like this, which is always full, and whose field of labor is 
 among the poor, will be used for unlawful purposes. To get 
 
332 
 
 a sane man into this institution and keep him here without 
 detection and exposure would require a combination of cir- 
 cumstances approaching the miraculous. The relatives or 
 friends must be conspirators, the selectmen of towns and the 
 judge of probate must be in league with them, and the exam- 
 ining physicians unfaithful or incompetent. All this is nec- 
 essary to secure commitment to the institution, and finally, 
 as you have the authority to discharge patients at any time, 
 to keep sane persons here it would be necessary to deceive or 
 debauch all of the medical officers, attendants, and employes, 
 a possibility which is too improbable to require serious con- 
 sideration. 
 
 This hospital has admitted 2,681 patients during the past 
 fifteen years without having a writ of habeas corpus served or 
 even the suspicion of one. In the annexed tables are 29 
 cases reported as “ not insane,” but all of these were either 
 •cases feigning insanity to escape penal servitude, inebriates 
 without maniacal excitement, or persons awaiting trial who 
 were sent here by the courts to determine their mental con- 
 dition. 
 
 Practically, then, the question does not concern this insti- 
 tution ; but if an amendment to the present law, making the 
 process of commitment more cumbersome and tedious, would 
 give greater confidence to the public, it would meet with my 
 cordial approbation. No arrangement is likely to be lasting 
 that is not sufficiently equitable and just to command the ap- 
 proval of all. 
 
 The extreme drouth during the summer of 1881 demon- 
 strated the fact that our storage reservoirs were not adequate 
 to the increased demands made upon them by the New South 
 Hospital. After obtaining the opinion of Mr. George Bishop, 
 an experienced hydraulic engineer, you wisely determined to 
 raise the dam of the upper reservoir. Ten acres of adjoin- 
 ing land were purchased for $1,085.63, and the labor of mov- 
 ing the gate-house and raising and extending the dam has 
 been accomplished during the period embraced in this report. 
 The upper reservoir now covers six acres, with an average 
 
333 
 
 depth of ten feet. Thus the old and the new reservoirs hold 
 18,000,000 gallons, or a supply adequate to the demands of 
 the institution for a period of ten months provided no water 
 was being added. But it should be remembered that in- 
 numerable living springs are constantly pouring their sup- 
 plies into both reservoirs, so that during nine months of the 
 year more water passes through the waste canal than is 
 being used at the hospital. It may now be safely asserted 
 that the supply of pure, soft water for present or prospective 
 useful and ornamental purposes is fully equal to all demands. 
 As the reservoir level is 175 feet above the first floor of the 
 hospital, sufficient pressure is secured at all times for use in 
 case of fire. The entire cost of this work, including pur- 
 chase of land, which has been paid for out of our current re- 
 ceipts, was 11,911.18. 
 
 The amount of coal used for all purposes is about 3,000 
 tons. Heretofore we have stored 500 tons in a shed at 
 the dock, which could be hauled during the winter season when 
 the farm teams were at leisure, 500 in a shed near the 
 boiler-house, and the balance was dumped in a pile. This 
 involved heavy shoveling. To avoid the heaviest part of 
 this labor a plank driveway has been erected on chestnut 
 posts, by means of which the teamsters drive up an inclined 
 platform and simply dump the coal down. The bridgeway 
 serves as a partial covering or shed to the coal.’ The entire 
 cost of this much-needed improvement was $458.62. 
 
 Two years ago you asked for and received an appropriation 
 of $5,000 to be used in building a shop and a new barn and 
 the purchase of additional cows. 
 
 In compliance with the conditions of the appropriation, a 
 large brick addition with slate roof has been made to the 
 carpenter’s shop, in which much needed room for the storage 
 of material has been secured, as well as a shop where thirty 
 male patients can be employed at brush-making during the 
 winter months. Work will be commenced as soon as I can 
 find a suitable man, experienced in the details, to act as fore- 
 man attendant. This branch of industry has already been 
 
334 
 
 successfully introduced at the Government Hospital for Insane 
 at Washington, D. C., and at Norristown, Pa. 
 
 The erection of a new farm barn was necessarily delayed 
 until October. Under the direction of your building commit- 
 tee, plans were procured for a barn 48 feet in width by 64 
 feet in length, and a contract made with Messrs. J. W. Hub- 
 bard & Co. of Middletown, to complete the same ready for 
 use this winter. The plan is as follows : a cellar for manure 
 under the stables; stalls for 32 cows on the first floor, and 
 the usual bays and storerooms above. Although not com- 
 pleted at this date, the work is so well under way as to give 
 promise of useful occupancy early in January. 
 
 Nine cows have been added to our herd, and more will be 
 purchased as soon as the stable is completed. 
 
 The appropriation has been expended as follows : for shop, 
 $1,210H6; for cows, 1457.50 ; and on account of barn, 8944.44, 
 making a total to December 1st, of 82,612.10. The balance 
 of the contract is 82,700, which is included in our statement 
 of liabilities, and will soon be paid, thus making a total of 
 85,312.06. From this it will be seen that 8312.06 have been 
 expended in excess of appropriation, and which is provided 
 from our income. 
 
 Vouchers for all expenditures are audited by the finance 
 committee and by the State auditors, and placed on file for 
 permanent preservation. 
 
 An appropriation of 88,000 was made by the last General 
 Assembly to conclude a purchase of “ the Roberts property,” 
 some ten acres of garden land adjacent to the new hospital, 
 together with the dwelling-house and other farm buildings. 
 This purchase was recommended and contracted for by a 
 special legislative committee appointed in 1879. Since 
 obtaining possession the house has been furnished and 
 occupied as a cottage for 20 quiet female patients, thus 
 making the third dwelling used in this way. 
 
 One of these is a large frame house formerly used as a 
 hotel or boarding-house at the silver mine on the river bank, 
 one mile east of the hospital. Here 33 quiet male patients 
 
335 
 
 are provided for, where they have healthy employment at 
 garden work, and greater freedom. 
 
 Another is the white wooden dwelling house on the farm, 
 near the river, one-half mile from the main hospital. Here 
 20 female patients find a comfortable home and extended 
 privileges. All of these dwellings are heated by stoves and 
 lighted by lamps. The windows and doors have ordinary 
 blinds and locks of farm houses. The patients are virtually 
 at liberty while under the observation of experienced attend- 
 ants. 
 
 With so much freedom and apparent self-control the ques- 
 tion naturally arises, why retain these persons under hospital 
 supervision at all ? Why are they not discharged ? Simply 
 because they have no other home, and some at least show* 
 perverted propensities and disturbing habits rendering their 
 presence in society a source of unpleasant solicitude. Is it 
 not apparently desirable in this day of philanthropic efforts 
 to be occasionally reminded that sane communities have 
 rights that should be respected as well as the afflicted 
 classes ? 
 
 Scarely one of these 73 patients, if taken before a jury on 
 a writ of habeas corpus , would come up to the arbitrary legal 
 definition of insanity ; and yet they are without exception 
 defective, perverted, or diseased to such a degree that they 
 will continue during natural life a burden to society. 
 
 The great difficulty is what to do with the poorer class of 
 patients, without homes, who have become quiet and chronic. 
 These patients scarely need the medical and general super- 
 vision of a fully equipped hospital for the insane. And yet 
 communities will not tolerate their presence. “Cranks” 
 have committed so many horrible and unexpected acts during 
 the past few months that a general distrust pervades society, 
 and the demand is made for increased restriction rather than 
 enlarged liberty of this very class of u harmless lunatics.” 
 Only in rare instances, among the larger towns, can w r e send 
 them back to the selectmen, for only a few towns have made 
 any provision for the safety or care of the insane. 
 
3*36 
 
 I am reluctantly forced to the conviction that at no distant 
 day it will become necessary for the State of Connecticut to 
 make further provision for the insane of her dependent 
 classes. 
 
 FINANCIAL STATEMENT. 
 
 By referring to the superintendent’s abstract of vouchers 
 and the treasurer’s report (pages 40 and 41), it will be seen 
 that the total revenue during the past year was $167,791.82. 
 The total expenditures were $166,968.89. The cost of meat, 
 flour, butter, cheese, and other provisions has been much 
 above the average for the five preceding years, necessitating 
 great economy and constant watchfulness over all expendi- 
 tures. The comparatively less proportional expense of 
 attendance and service of an increased number of patients 
 has enabled us to provide for the daily wants of such an 
 institution, including repairs and improvements, previously 
 mentioned, without running into debt. A comparison between 
 the tables of this and previous reports, which contain 
 classified lists under appropriate heads of all expenditures, 
 will enable you to make such studies of special points as you 
 may desire. 
 
 You cannot fail to notice with interest the full exhibit of 
 the operations of the farming department as afforded by the 
 accompanying report of Mr. Sanderson. 
 
 The severe and long-continued drought doubtless lessened 
 the sum total of produce nearly, if not quite, one-half. 
 Making due allowance for this, the yield compares favorably 
 with previous years. More convalescent patients have been 
 thus employed than ever before. As a restorative agent, 
 light outdoor employment is most valuable. It is gratifying 
 to note the beneficial change in the conduct of some patients 
 soon after awaking their interest in garden work. One old 
 man firmly believes that he owns the entire property, and is 
 rapidly accumulating wealth. Another faithfully devotes 
 himself to the care of our horses with so much fidelity that I 
 can only secure the favor of a horse occasionally by present- 
 ing plausible reasons. 
 
337 
 
 It has been very gratifying to note the growing interest in 
 this benevolent work manifested by the public. We have, at 
 unexpected periods, received various contributions of books, 
 magazines, and papers for the use of the patients, viz. : from 
 Mrs. E. B. Monroe of Southport, fifty books and several pack- 
 ages of magazines ; one improved Pond’s spliygmograph from 
 Dr. S. G. Hubbard of New Haven ; magazines from Mrs. 
 Cephas Brainard of Haddam ; six copies each of the Sailor's 
 Magazine and Illustrated Weekly from R. S. Fellowes of New 
 Haven ; The Century Magagzine from L. R. Hazen ; illustrated 
 papers from Miss Tracy ; one volume of the Independent from 
 Hon. Curtis Bacon, and complete sets of magazines from 
 Miss Bacon: two overcoats from Prof. C. S. Harrington; 
 Evening Post Annual from D. Ward Northrop, Esq. ; one 
 fine steel engraving, framed, entitled “ Waiting at the Gate,” 
 from Dr. E. B. Nye ; The Agriculturist and Christian Union 
 from Dr. Chase; nine books from Mr. George Parmelee, all 
 of Middletown; and German carp from the Smithsonian 
 Institute ; and “ Report of the Department of Agriculture ” 
 from Hon. John R. Buck of Washington, D. C. Many others 
 have, during the year, sent papers and periodicals to the 
 
 hospital box at Mr. Hastings’ store. 
 
 We 
 
 are also 
 
 under 
 
 renewed obligations to the publishers 
 
 of the following 
 
 news- 
 
 papers, which have been regularly received : 
 
 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, . 
 
 
 Hartford, 
 
 Conn. 
 
 do. do. Evening Post, 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. Weekly Times, . 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Religious Herald, .... 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 New Haven Evening Register, 
 
 
 New r Haven 
 
 , do. 
 
 do. Weekly Palladium, . 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Bridgeport do. Standard, 
 
 
 Bridgeport, 
 
 do. 
 
 Tolland Co. do. Journal, 
 
 
 Rockville, 
 
 do. 
 
 The Constitution, .... 
 
 
 Middletown, 
 
 do. 
 
 The Sentinel and Witness, 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Connecticut Western Weekly, 
 
 
 Salisbury, 
 
 do. 
 
 The Enterprise, do. 
 
 
 Naugatuck, 
 
 do. 
 
 The Review, do. 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 The Sheltering Arms (monthly), . 
 
 
 New York City. 
 
 Weekly Witness, . 
 Sabbatli Heading (weekly), 
 22 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
338 
 
 To the clergymen of this vicinity who have conducted our 
 chapel services throughout the year we owe a debt not in 
 our power to cancel. In behalf of those who cannot speak 
 for themselves I would return grateful acknowledgments. 
 
 We are indebted to the Wesleyan University Glee Club for 
 a delightful musical entertainment and play ; also to the 
 “Bee Society” for a charming dramatic entertainment. The 
 monotony of winter evenings was pleasantly broken by the 
 following entertainments in the amusement hall and chapel : 
 
 Sociable, with dancing, . . . .14 evenings. 
 
 Lectures, illustrated with stereopticon, . . 6 “ 
 
 Roller skating, . . . . 15 44 
 
 Dramatic entertainments, Hospital Troupe, . 4 “ 
 
 4 4 “ Bee Society, . . 1 44 
 
 Minstrels, Hospital Troupe, . . . 1 “ 
 
 Lecture, “Peru,” Rev. J. H. Twichell, . 1 “ 
 
 “ “ The Building of a Home,” Rev. R. S. 
 
 True, . . . . 1 “ 
 
 Reading and concert, Miss Annie L. White, . 1 44 
 
 44 Miss Stuart, . . . 1 44 
 
 44 Miss Nettie Taylor, . . . 2 “ 
 
 44 Mr. George Lyon, Jr., . . . 1 “ 
 
 Ventriloquism, Henry T. Bryant, . . 1 44 
 
 Concert, Jubilee Singers, . . . 1 44 
 
 Operetta and play, Wesleyan students, . . 1 44 
 
 It may be proper to remark that the introduction of roller 
 skating has afforded patients and attendants much enjoyment, 
 together with healthful exercise. Thus far accidents from 
 falls have caused a great deal of amusement to the spectators 
 and no serious discomfort to the sufferers. 
 
 The attendants and other employes, whose duties are at all 
 times confining, laborious, and peculiarly trying, deserve 
 commendation, and it gives me pleasure to speak thus favor- 
 ably of nearly all who have been with us during the 
 year. Some few, forgetful of their duty to God and their 
 fellow beings, have betrayed the sacred trust naturally 
 reposed in them when assuming the care of the insane. 
 Prompt dismissal for cause and merited appreciation of 
 faithfulness in service has tended to elevate and ennoble this 
 branch of charitable work. 
 
339 
 
 The superintendent is also under deep obligations to the 
 resident officers for their continued and efficient services. 
 Without their zealous co-operation he would be unable to 
 properly execute your philanthropic designs. 
 
 In the month of March Dr. Henry S. Noble received and 
 accepted a well-merited promotion to a higher position in a 
 similar institution at the West. Although his official con- 
 nection with this hospital lasted only nine months, it was 
 long enough to show that lie possessed in a preeminent 
 degree all the qualifications required in this peculiar profes- 
 sional work. The vacancy thus caused you wisely filled by 
 the appointment of Dr. James M. Keniston, a graduate of 
 Harvard, who, besides two years at the Butler Hospital, Prov- 
 idence, had an experience of ten years in general practice at 
 Cambridgeport, Mass. 
 
 In your official visits, at regular and irregular periods, we 
 have all, sane and insane, learned to rely upon your ready 
 assistance. 
 
 In behalf of those who are incapable of expressing their 
 obligation to your board I acknowledge their indebtedness, 
 while I thank you for the support which you have given the 
 superintendent and other officers of this noble charity. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 A. M. SHEW, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., November 30, 1882. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut : 
 
 The trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane 
 present to your honorable body their eighteenth report. 
 
 Knowing how closely the interests of the State are con- 
 nected with this hospital — its history and growth, its cost, 
 and the large return in comfort, restoration, and cure, it has 
 provided for thousands of our citizens, preventing anxious 
 alarm in many families and homes, affording so much of 
 satisfaction in the line of Christian benevolence, and minis- 
 tering to a reasonable State pride — it is the duty and sincere 
 wish of the trustees to invite the attention of the legislature 
 to the several reports herewith laid before them. 
 
 The absence for a whole year of any epidemic, or of any 
 loss of life by violence amidst so large a population, includ- 
 ing hundreds in diseased conditions as to mental and moral 
 accountability, has been a great blessing, which can only be 
 thoroughly appreciated by the medical officers and attend- 
 ants whose grave charge it has been to watch, hour by hour, 
 through days and nights, over the thirty wards under their 
 care. All must admit that such a good result is evidence of 
 faithful vigilance. 
 
 The reading of Dr. Shew’s report will aid members to form 
 a better opinion and a juster estimate of the weight of the 
 responsibility which rests on a hospital superintendent, his 
 colleagues and assistants, in a work often trying and dis- 
 heartening, and to answer questions which will naturally 
 
341 
 
 arise in their own hearts, as to what extensions, in providing 
 for more of the insane and mentally disabled, it is wise for 
 the State to make. 
 
 Advanced practical Christianity and experience have set- 
 tled the question that it is the hospital with professional 
 supervision and appliances which must be the home of the 
 insane while needing seclusion and healing treatment. 
 Almshouse shelter with promiscuous minglings of all classes 
 is a thing of the unhappy past, never more, under any plea 
 of economy or policy, to be revived. 
 
 Of 1,113 under treatment during the year, 860 remain at 
 this date. 
 
 Additions and improvements to the buildings have been 
 made, which are named in detail in the appended papers. 
 
 Your hospital has been enriched during the year by a wel- 
 come gift from one of the board, Hon. Robbins Battell, of a 
 chime of bells, placed wholly at his expense in the tower of 
 the new hospital, and attached to a clock in a room prepared 
 for the purpose by the late commissioners when erecting that 
 building. The musical toning of the chimes was supervised 
 personally by Mr. Battell. While the furnishing of a stand- 
 ard time is a benefit to the whole institution, it is very grati- 
 fying to know that the sleepless patients watch for the 
 quarter-hour chimes, and are delighted and soothed by their 
 silvery minor tones. 
 
 God’s blessing has rested on the service of the past twelve 
 months ; much good has been done, and our hearts are 
 grateful. 
 
 We have been called to mourn the sudden death of Hon. 
 Richmond M. Bullock of Windham county. He was a most 
 respected and beloved member of the board, whose good 
 judgment and genial fellowship will long be missed. 
 
342 
 
 Besides filling his place, the terms of the appointment of 
 the members for Litchfield and Fairfield counties expire at 
 this date. Their recommission is earnestly desired. 
 
 Respectfully submitted. 
 
 THOMAS M. WALLER, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 JAMES G. GREGORY, M.D., 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 
 R. S. FELLOWES, 
 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ELISHA B. NYE, M.D., 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 
 J. W. ALSOP, M.D. 
 
 Middletown, November 30, 1883. 
 
RE POET OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen, — It is my privilege to submit the following 
 report of this institution for the fiscal year ending November 
 30, 1883 : 
 
 The year began with 842 patients, and ended with 860. 
 
 There were 271 admitted during the year, of whom 135 
 were men and 136 women. 
 
 The total number of patients under treatment was 1,113. 
 
 The number of patients discharged during the year was 
 173, of whom 78 were men and 95 women. 
 
 There were 80 deaths, of whom 43 were men and 37 
 women. 
 
 The average number of patients resident during the year 
 was 854.5, of whom 385.61 were men and 468.89 were 
 women. 
 
 ADMISSIONS. 
 
 The total number of patients admitted was 271 (see table 
 XIII). Of this number, 193 were first admissions, that is, 
 recent cases or persons who were for the first time sent to 
 any hospital for treatment, 30 were second, 5 were third, 
 and 5 were fourth admissions. Five had been inmates of 
 other hospitals several times. Of 24 nothing could be learned 
 respecting their previous histories. Of the 9 reported as not 
 insane, 2 were women addicted to the opium habit, 3 were 
 men acquitted of crime by the superior court on the ground 
 of insanity, 2 were simple *cases of inebriety, 1 a life convict 
 from Wethersfield, and 1 a woman whose good conduct at 
 the hospital and straightforward story respecting her intern- 
 
344 
 
 perate spouse, led us to conclude that the wrong member of 
 the family had been sent to the hospital by the selectmen. 
 Subsequent events have served to confirm our suspicions. 
 All of these persons were discharged as soon as the legal 
 steps could be taken. 
 
 Of the 271 persons admitted (see table IX), 3 were com- 
 mitted by friends (paying patients), 247 by probate court, 10 
 by superior court, 3 by police court, and 8 by orders from the 
 governor of the State. This latter class includes the transfer 
 of 3 convicts from Wethersfield and the admission of 5 insane 
 soldiers. 
 
 Of those admitted, 10 were under twenty years of age ; 
 two were only sixteen, both of whom made rapid and good 
 recoveries. 
 
 Eleven — 5 males and 6 females — had passed beyond the 
 allotted period of life. Of these, one came to us aged seven- 
 ty-four, one seventy-six, two seventy-nine, and one eighty- 
 eight. Naturally these cases help to lengthen the mortuary 
 table. 
 
 While we cannot expect to remedy the decay wrought by 
 age, it has been some satisfaction to minister to the comfort 
 of these aged patients. 
 
 Thirteen of the 271 admissions were suffering from that 
 incurable and always fatal disease, paresis, paretic dementia, 
 or progressive paralysis of the insane. Two of these were 
 females — a fact worthy of record. This disease rarely 
 develops in the female, and we have only admitted one pre- 
 vious case. There seems to be a steadily increasing ratio of 
 this form of insanity, not only here but throughout the civil- 
 ized world. A glance at our table will show the great 
 increase in Connecticut during the past seventeen years. It 
 stands at the head of the list (see table XXII) in causation 
 of death in 17 cases. Tubercular consumption ranks next, 
 with 12; exhaustion from mania, 7 ; disease of the heart, 6 ; 
 old age, 6 ; cancer, 5 ; apoplexy, 4 ; marasmus, 4 ; Bright’s 
 disease of the kidneys, 3 ; meningitis, 3 ; epileptic coma, 2 ; 
 empyema, 2; inflammation of the bowels, 2; pneumonia, 2; 
 
345 
 
 abscess of liver, 2, and 1 each from chronic cystitis and 
 abscess of tonsils. 
 
 The total number of deaths (80) exceeds that of the next 
 preceding year by one, but you have already learned that the 
 average number of patients present was much larger, hence 
 the ratio is less. 
 
 The record of the year was not marred by suicides or fatal 
 accidents, for which exemption I am profoundly thankful. 
 One of the severest strains in the life of the officers who are 
 responsible for the management of such an institution, is the 
 constant liability to such occurrences. 
 
 Deaths and their Ratios from May 1, 1868, to Nov. 30, 1883. 
 
 c 3 
 
 a) 
 
 <v 
 
 S 3 02 
 
 fc c 
 
 Daily Average No. 
 of Patients. 
 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 
 <D . 
 
 oB 
 
 & 3 
 
 S 3 cl 
 
 OpL, 
 
 >> 
 
 "5 o 
 P 6 
 
 ° 33 02 
 
 r o 3 
 
 O 
 
 SE 
 
 O 
 
 <v .£ 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 § 
 
 « o 
 
 PH 
 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-70, 
 
 343 
 
 225.17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9.32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73, 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6.25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 239.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425.80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 * 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876, 8 mos., 
 Dec. 1, ’76. 
 
 548 
 
 456.97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2.73 
 
 3.28 
 
 Nov. 30, ’ 77 , 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5.01 
 
 6.69 
 
 1877-78, 
 
 629 
 
 474.17 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 6.36 
 
 8.43 
 
 1878-79, 
 
 644 
 
 498.34 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 2.95 
 
 3.81 
 
 1879-80, 
 
 654 
 
 514.63 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 4.58 
 
 5.82 
 
 1880-81, 
 
 881 
 
 608.51 
 
 32 
 
 12 
 
 44 
 
 5.00 
 
 7.24 
 
 1881-82, 
 
 1079 
 
 789.27 
 
 47 
 
 32 
 
 79 
 
 7.32 
 
 10.01 
 
 1882-83, 
 
 1113 
 
 854.5 
 
 43 
 
 37 
 
 80 
 
 7.18 
 
 9.36 
 
 The average age of all who died was 51.40 years. Three had 
 survived 90 years ; three were between 80 and 90 ; eight be- 
 tween 70 and 80. The two oldest were respectively 93, and 
 the next in her 91st year. To her memory is due something 
 more than this formal record ; for she had been to all of us 
 
346 
 
 what only “Auntie Judd” could be : a good, kind, industri- 
 ous, Christian woman, whose words, though sometimes sharp 
 and incisive, were generally quotations from the Book of 
 Books. For a period of twenty years she had lying in her 
 bureau drawer a shroud prepared by herself, ready for the 
 final event of life. Many a visitor carried away tokens of re- 
 membrance in the form of “ flat-iron holders ” made by the 
 active fingers of this good old lady, whose eyes were keen 
 and sparkling at the age of 90. We shall not soon forget 
 the witty speeches and ready repartee of old “Auntie Judd.” 
 
 The number of applications for admission exceeded that of 
 any previous year, although the actual number admitted is 
 less than that of the preceding year, simply because the hos- 
 pital has been overcrowded at all times, notwithstanding our 
 increased accommodations, and applicants had to wait until 
 vacancies occurred. It thus happened that some persons were 
 provided for elsewhere, or died before their turn was reached. 
 At this date there are 34 applicants waiting. 
 
 The total number receiving treatment (1,113) exceeds that 
 of any previous year by 34. 
 
 Of these only 11 were paying patients ; 328 were “ indi- 
 gents,” supported jointly by the State and their friends, and 
 774 were “ paupers,” or those who were chargeable wholly to 
 the State or towns. The amount received per week for these 
 various classes is the same (with one exception), and in prac- 
 tice no distinction is made, except in rare instances where 
 the urgent symptoms requires the employment of special 
 attendants. 
 
 Thus occasionally a pauper’s expenses cost the institution 
 at least twelve dollars per week, while the amount received 
 was only four. This brief summary shows how thoroughly 
 the daily life of this institution is being conformed to the in- 
 tent of its founders, viz., to provide, primarily , a good hos- 
 pital home for the poor and needy and those in moderate 
 circumstances. 
 
 Of the admissions, 193 were first admissions to this or any 
 hospital, 78 were re-admissions, having been patients at this 
 
347 
 
 or some similar institution at an earlier date. Some of the 
 latter class have been admitted and discharged so many 
 times from this or other hospitals that their checkered lives 
 resemble a patchwork of sanity and insanity, suggesting the 
 -query, whether it would not conserve the ends of humanity 
 and justice, enhance their happiness, and lessen the danger 
 and annoyance to community, to have them permanently 
 committed to a hospital for the insane. These patients are 
 always benefited by the regularity of hospital life, so that 
 they go out apparently sane ; but a few weeks or months of 
 freedom and license always upsets them ,and brings them 
 back to us in a worse state than at first, and the whole work 
 has to be gone over again. 
 
 HEREDITARY TENDENCY. 
 
 Such experiences also suggest an inquiry respecting the 
 probable cause of such persistent mental disturbance where 
 there is so much apparent sanity. The friends always attrib- 
 ute it to some trivial occurrence such as loss of property, dis- 
 appointment, fright, etc., thus seeming to find relief and com- 
 fort in bringing it into the category of ordinary events, where 
 cause and effect prevail. While these accidental circum- 
 stances may have been the last u straws,” 1 think we must 
 admit in these cases original weakness of brain, and recog- 
 nize the fact that if weakness or predisposition are transmit- 
 ted at all, there must be more chance of brain weakness be- 
 ing transmitted than of any other organ, because it is the 
 most delicate and highly organized structure in the body. It 
 is here that the anxieties of life, the struggle for existence 
 chiefly act ; it is here that the exhaustion from intemperance 
 and dissipation and bad lives takes effect. But to assert that 
 this transmitted disease is a fixed and invariable law is con- 
 trary to daily experience. Every thoughtful mind must rec- 
 ognize the fact that nature tends to propagate the good rather 
 than the bad qualities, and that in a majority of cases the fit- 
 test will survive the struggle, thus continually leading up to 
 a sounder type. 
 
348 
 
 CAUSATION. 
 
 In the causation of insanity there are so many complicated 
 factors entering into the problem that it is almost impossible to 
 unravel the tangled web. When we, therefore, attempt to 
 classify in tables the causes, it should be borne in mind that 
 we have merely given one event in the life of the individual 
 which has probably exercised more influence than some other 
 links in the chain of causation. The causes recorded in the 
 histories are often incorrect and misleading, because the 
 friends of patients overlook the fact, or object to give it, 
 when in any way it tends to compromise the dignity or 
 belittle the moral character of the individual. Hence all 
 statistics respecting special vices, or the use of stimulants or 
 narcotics, as causes of insanity should be accepted with many 
 grains of allowance. This is especially true of intemper- 
 ance. Our tables — based on the histories obtained from 
 friends — only show about eleven percent, of cases from this 
 cause. But other facts that reach us while these patients are 
 under treatment, and the peculiar character of their mental 
 disturbances, prove beyond question that a much larger 
 number should be included under this head. I sometimes 
 question the policy of admitting patients of this class to 
 ordinary hospitals for the insane. That they are “ mad as 
 March hares” is undeniable; that they are benefited by re- 
 straint is equally true ; but that they are insane in the sense 
 that the maniac or melancholiac is insane, I deny. A few 
 days of seclusion at a hospital or elsewhere, and an absence 
 of the customary stimulant, restores the digestive organs to 
 comparative health ; food is retained and assimilated, other 
 organs perform their normal functions, and the man is 
 “ clothed and in his right mind.” They soon think it hard 
 and unnecessary to remain among the insane, and if re- 
 strained become troublesome and officious meddlers. In any 
 event, under our present laws, they cannot be retained long 
 enough to effect a permanent cure ; hence, when leaving the 
 hospital, we always classify them among those whose mental 
 condition is recorded as “ stationary.” 
 
349 
 
 THE EPILEPTIC INSANE. 
 
 Before leaving this division of my report, I desire to call 
 your attention to a class of the insane for which special 
 arrangements should be made. I refer to the epileptic insane. 
 Epilepsy does not always cause insanity. Many epileptics 
 pass through long and useful lives, with more or less enfeeble- 
 ment of mind, but no insanity. Such patients rarely reach 
 the hospital. The class I wish to provide for is a large one, 
 whose subjects have periods of maniacal excitement preced- 
 ing or following the epileptic .seizure, and lasting days or 
 weeks, during which they are the most irritable, unreliable, 
 and dangerous patients to be found in our hospitals. The 
 least emotional disturbance causes an outburst of maniacal 
 fury which may end in homicide or suicide. Nearly all the 
 accidents to life in hospitals for the insane are the result of 
 epilepsy. 
 
 The destruction by fire of many institutions can be traced 
 to the incendiary attempts of these patients. No ordinary 
 precautions avail to secure safety, simply because there is no 
 uniformity or periodicity of attack in this disease. 
 
 The epileptic maniac who, perhaps, for weeks has been an 
 amiable Christian gentleman, kind, helpful, and affectionate, 
 in a moment, without warning, in chapel, at the table, or 
 while out walking, becomes a furious maniac, possessed of 
 herculean strength, with which he destroys clothing, furni- 
 ture, buildings, and even life itself. In the presence of such 
 patients the price of safety is something more than constant 
 vigilance. The shock and fright caused by unexpectedly 
 witnessing an epileptic seizure has done irreparable injury to 
 convalescent patients. Looking at these facts from the 
 standpoint of common sense and common decency, I ask you 
 what excuse can be made for placing such cases in the wards 
 of a hospital with ordinary insane patients? The philan- 
 thropic spirit of the age demands cheerful halls, large 
 windows, light furniture, open doors, and the total abolition 
 of mechanical appliances for personal restraint. And these 
 demands are just and correct when applied to the great prin- 
 
350 
 
 ciples which should govern us in the treatment of ordinary 
 cases of insanity. But I have already shown you that this is a 
 special class, requiring special care, and should be provided 
 for in a separate and special manner. If this report is to 
 have any force of meaning at all let me urge you to emphasize 
 this one fact over and above all others, so as to secure an 
 appropriation for another separate building, which may be 
 planned and adapted to the safe keeping and more particular 
 treatment of the epileptic insane. Such a building can be 
 constructed in a plain, substantial manner, with the special 
 arrangements I have hinted at, at a cost much below that 
 required in the ordinary hospital. 
 
 We have at this date 67 epileptic patients, and the number 
 is steadily increasing. If these were transferred to a new 
 building room would be had to admit promptly all new cases 
 of insanity as they occur, thus avoiding the tedious and 
 often expensive delays which are now necessary. It surely 
 would be to the honor of the State of Connecticut to inaugu- 
 rate the system of segregating the epileptic from the com- 
 mon forms of insanity. Our new South Hospital for the 
 chronic insane has been occupied more than two years. 
 This experience convinces me that the plan of supplemental 
 buildings adjacent to the central hospital is the true solution 
 to that most difficult problem of how best to provide for the 
 chronic insane. In this respect we followed the lead of the 
 Willard Asylum at Ovid, N. Y. Since then Dr. Godding has 
 adopted the same policy at the Government Hospital for the 
 Insane at Washington, D. C. And now the State of Illinois 
 is erecting buildings at Jacksonville modeled after the plans 
 of our new South Hospital. Let me not be misunderstood. 
 In advocating this plan of separate buildings I deem it of 
 paramount importance that each building should be large 
 enough to employ all of the time and best energies of an 
 assistant physician, who, with his family, should reside in the 
 building and be responsible to the superintendent for its 
 proper detail management. 
 
 In this respect, you observe, it is quite unlike the objection- 
 
351 
 
 able “ cottage system ” in vogue at Oheel, where the patients 
 are scattered about in the hamlets of peasants, wholly at the 
 mercy of ignorant and irresponsible persons. 
 
 IMBECILES AND IDIOTS. 
 
 There is also another class of patients which should be re- 
 moved from the wards occupied by acute and curable cases. 
 I refer to the imbeciles and idiots who from birth have been 
 defective. We have at all times about fifty of this class, 
 nearly all of whom are young, and the number is steadily in- 
 creasing. These patients require custodial care rather than 
 medical treatment. The trouble is congenital, and cannot 
 be removed. Their appearance and habits are, as a rule, 
 repulsive and depressing to those occupying the same wards. 
 I would, therefore, earnestly recommend that in planning a 
 new building for the epileptic insane special wards be pro- 
 vided for this class, where they can have proper care and 
 educational training and at the same time be separated from 
 the convalescent patients. All persons with experience 
 have come, or are surely coming, to the conclusion that this 
 plan which 1 have briefly outlined is the only one to prevent 
 the curative hospital from getting blocked up by incurables. 
 
 The social and legislative movement which has provided 
 schools, hospitals, reformatories, and asylums for all who 
 need them is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the 
 Christianized civilization of this age. They are undeniably a 
 “ burden to the community, but it is simply the community 
 taking and doing better what fell on individuals before.” 
 
 DISCHARGES. 
 
 Of the 173 patients discharged 72 had been restored to 
 mental and physical health, and were able to resume their 
 natural and useful places in society. Of this number 53 re- 
 covered from the first attack, 11 from the second, 2 from the 
 third, 5 from the fourth, and 1 from the sixth. All previous 
 attacks were in years not covered by this report, and it should 
 be noticed that in all our tables and records the number 
 
352 
 
 of cases corresponds to the number of individuals ; that is, a 
 person appears only once in any fiscal year. If discharged 
 and readmitted within the year, he resumes his former regis- 
 ter number. Of all those who recovered the average dura- 
 tion of treatment in hospital was eight months and four days. 
 The shortest period was twenty -three days and the longest six 
 years seven months and fourteen days. This unusual result 
 serves to confirm the old adage that there is an exception to 
 every rule. It also gives a breath of hope to the anxious friends 
 in every case, and to us encouragement to labor on even 
 under most unpromising conditions. All experience proves 
 that insanity is curable, if at all, v in the first year. Rarely, 
 indeed, do recoveries occur after the disease has lasted two 
 years. In many cases, it is true, the acute symptoms sub- 
 side, but the individual remains during life partially en- 
 feebled, like the tree stripped of its foliage by the tornado 
 that has passed over it. Here, however, was one of those 
 exceptional cases. An individual of more than average 
 ability passed through six and one-half years of the most 
 pronounced maniacal excitement (noisy, destructive, and 
 turbulent), and finally emerged from mental chaos into the 
 full sunlight of reason with faculties undimmed, affections un- 
 sullied — thankful, hopeful, and courageous, as she again 
 resumed her lot in life. May we not reasonably consider the 
 blotting out of all these horrible realities from the memory 
 of this individual as a wise interposition lest the recollection 
 of them should shadow and sadden her whole life ? 
 
 Of the 173 persons discharged 42 were reported as “much 
 improved.” Doubtless some of these patients will return to 
 us, but the majority will continue on to complete recovery. 
 Where the home surroundings are cheerful and helpful we 
 always urge the early discharge of convalescent patients. 
 Good judgment should, however, be exercised in this matter. 
 It sometimes happens that a return to the home atmosphere, 
 with all its joys and cares, before complete restoration, tends 
 to retard recovery if it does not cause a relapse. 
 
 Under the head of “stationary” are included those previ- 
 
353 
 
 ously mentioned as not insane, also cases of dementia, also 
 the quiet, chronic insane, who from time to time are re- 
 moved by the selectmen to make room for more urgent cases. 
 While the hospital has been overcrowded at all times, the se- 
 lectmen of towns have been officially notified that they could 
 bring acute or dangerous cases without previous application 
 by simply removing one of their quiet chronic patients. How 
 good a boon this privilege is can only be appreciated by 
 those who have been through the ordeal of caring for an 
 acute case of mania or melancholia when suddenly developed. 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 Standing at the close of another year, it is pleasant to note 
 the comfort and general satisfaction apparent among our 
 patients in a more marked degree than during any previous 
 twelve months. 
 
 It may seem paradoxical to assert that any one away from 
 home, suffering from mental disease, and partially restricted 
 of personal liberty, can be looked upon as measurably happy ; 
 and yet such is the fact. The quietness and regularity of 
 hospital life often brings a sense of restfulness to the over- 
 stimulated or exhausted brain, which is more efficacious than 
 medical treatment, and more conducive to happiness than 
 other natural conditions and remedies which would, under 
 ordinary circumstances, be of paramount importance. It is 
 also true that the hallucinations and delusions of many insane 
 persons are of an exalted, or at least, pleasing nature. While 
 living under their influence the duties and worries of every- 
 day life assume a roseate tint, so that the ordinary civilities 
 become, in his exalted view, marks of homage and respect 
 paid to a superior being. In some forms of insanity, even 
 the pains of disease tend to create pleasurable emotions, and 
 the man who is tottering in the last stages of paresis actually 
 boasts of his power and wealth. 
 
 Such cases are exceptional. 
 
 It still remains true that the majority of all insane persons 
 are depressed and unhappy. What I wish to say is, that in 
 23 
 
354 
 
 caring for our large household during the past twelve months 
 there has been an atmosphere of contentment pervading the 
 whole house, which is indicative of the same friendly feeling 
 which should pervade every home circle. 
 
 This would seem to be made apparent also by the fact that 
 fewer changes have occurred in the staff of attendants and 
 employes, and I am able to report a number of ^worthy, intel- 
 ligent, and faithful persons who have been with us periods 
 extending from three to fourteen years. By frequent vaca- 
 tions and special privileges granted to those who are adapted 
 to the work, I have endeavored to encourage and retain all 
 who are faithful. 
 
 REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 Never before in twelve months has so much been done in 
 addition to and renovation of the wards. New floors were laid 
 in four corriders of the old south wing. Four skylights 
 were placed over the clothes rooms of two upper halls. 
 Brick partition walls were carried up through six dormitories, 
 thus giving twenty-two new single rooms in the main hospi- 
 tal. Walls have been painted and the wood-work varnished 
 anew in five wards. But the most important improvement 
 was the erection of an infirmary building of two stories at 
 the north end of the female wards, planned and fitted for the 
 special treatment of twenty-four acute, or noisy patients, in 
 as many single rooms, arranged on one side of the corridor. 
 By a single contrivance of sliding doors these two wards can 
 be made into six, thus enabling us to classify and separate these 
 cases while retaining all the advantages and conveniences of 
 the congregate system. The erection of this building com- 
 pletes on the north side the plan of the hospital as adopted 
 by you in 1866. With these recent renovations, reconstruc- 
 tions, and additions, this institution is kept fully abreast of 
 the most recent ideas of construction of a modern hospital 
 for the insane. During this period the growth and develop- 
 ment of the farming interests and the increase of stock 
 necessitated the building of a new and much larger piggery 
 
355 
 
 and slaughter-house. These have been conveniently located 
 between the large farm barns on ground which slopes towards 
 the east. Here, in the care of cows, horses, and pigs, and in 
 light farm work, many convalescent and quiet chronic patients 
 find pleasant, healthful employment during a portion of every 
 day, thus contributing something to the general support. 
 For a complete record of stock and farm products, I would 
 refer you to the accompanying farmer’s report. 
 
 The record of improvements would be incomplete without 
 mention being made of our new coal shed and hoisting ap- 
 paratus. Under your direction a substantial building, large 
 enough to hold 3,000 tons of coal, was erected adjacent to 
 the hospital dock, the two being connected by a track, on 
 which a car is run by Hunt’s automatic apparatus. We 
 can now receive our coal in summer without interrupting 
 farm work, and haul it whenever the teams are not required 
 elsewhere. 
 
 ELOPEMENTS. 
 
 Nearly all of the forty persons who eloped during the year 
 were either quiet farm laborers or convalescents on unlimited 
 parole. All but three returned to the hospital, or were sent 
 back after a few days’ absence. Two reached home safely, 
 so much improved that it was considered best to have them 
 remain. Only one is still at large, unaccounted for ; and his 
 derangement is of such a character that no harm need be 
 anticipated. 
 
 THE FARM. 
 
 Owing to the long-continued drought, the usual crop per 
 acre of some farm products was not realized. As, however, 
 we had more land under cultivation, and were able to em- 
 ploy more patients in this way, the sum total of products 
 equals that of any previous year. Our experience with 
 ensilage during the two preceding winters convinced us of its 
 great value. A silo of 200 tons capacity was completed in 
 July and filled with green corn fodder in September. 
 
356 
 
 FINANCIAL EXHIBIT. 
 
 The treasurer’s report and our table of receipts and ex- 
 penditures show that the annual earnings of the hospital have 
 been sufficient to meet all the expenses of maintenance, 
 together with such repairs and improvements as heretofore 
 mentioned. This favorable result has been owing to a 
 marked decline in the price of staple provisions and other 
 necessary supplies, together with exact economy in all de- 
 partments. 
 
 You have wisely decided to reduce the price of board from 
 four dollars per week to three dollars and seventy-five cents 
 from this date. This reduction, which amounts to something 
 over $10,000 for the year, can be made without lessening the 
 comfort of the patients in the way of diet or accommodations, 
 provided the price of supplies remains about the same as at 
 this date. All bills against the hospital are audited and paid 
 on the first Saturday of each month. We are thus able to 
 purchase for cash at the lowest wholesale rates. 
 
 SUNDAY RELIGIOUS SERVICES. 
 
 The following clergymen kindly conducted the chapel ser- 
 vices during the year : 
 
 Rev. T. W. Coit, D.D., . . . Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Rev. J. W. Beach, D.D., . . . . “ 
 
 Rev. F. M. Houghton, .... “ 
 
 Rev. John Townsend, .... “ 
 
 Rev. George Lyon, ..... Boston, Mass. 
 
 Rev. Samuel Hopley, .... Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Rev. C. S. Harrington, D.D., 
 
 Rev. J. P. Gordy, . 
 
 R<?v. C. J. Hill, 
 
 Rev. A. W. Hazen, 
 
 Rev. B. A. Smith, . 
 
 Rev. John Binney, . 
 
 Rev. C. A. Piddock, 
 
 Rev. F. S. Hoffman, 
 
 Rev. A. W. Wyatt, 
 
 Rev. C. L. Loomis, 
 
 Rev. Frederic Gardiner, D.D., 
 
 Rev. M. S. Dudley, . 
 
 Cromwell, Conn. 
 
357 
 
 Rev. S. H, Dana, 
 
 Rev. C. H. Bond, . 
 
 Rev. C. Holman, 
 
 Rev. J. W. Tuck, . 
 
 Rev. Wm. B. Walker, 
 Rev. S. A. Hayt, 
 
 Rev. Geo. Stevens, Ph.D., 
 Rev. P. M. Snyder, 
 
 Rev. Wm. Smith, . 
 
 Rev. H. R. Phoenix, 
 
 Rev. R. L. de Zeng, 
 
 Quincy, 111. 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Augusta, Ga. 
 Watertown, N. Y. 
 
 Carthage, N. Y. 
 Hudson, N. Y. 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 During the summer months, when patients and attendants 
 spend several hours every pleasant day out of doors, no 
 effort is made to have indoor evening entertainments. It 
 seems so much more pleasant to sit in the arbor, to enjoy 
 the swings, or to wander about the lawn just at the twilight 
 hour, that we have from year to year extended these privi- 
 leges until they are now enjoyed by all. 
 
 From October until May much attention is given to the 
 evening entertainments. These comprise lectures, readings, 
 concerts, plays, dances, and roller skating. I am under 
 deep obligations to the officers and attendants who have 
 cheerfully assisted in this work, and especially to our 
 friends from the city who have kindly given their time and 
 services. The following is a partial list of such persons, and 
 a programme of the entertainments : 
 
 Sociable, with dancing, . . . . .12 evenings. 
 
 Lectures, illustrated with Stereopticon, . . 3 
 
 Roller Skating, . . . . . 17 “ 
 
 Dramatic Entertainments, Hospital Troupe, . 4 
 
 Concert, Hospital Orchestra, assisted by Mrs. E. B. Smith, 
 
 Miss Sanderson, and Master Freddie Wilbur, . 1 “ 
 
 “ Mr. Camp and Family, . . . 1 “ 
 
 Operetta and Concert, Hospital Troupe, . . 1 “ 
 
 Reading and Concert, Will Brewer, Miss Mary Brewer, 
 
 and Miss Borgelt, . . . 1 
 
 Masquerade, . . . . . . 2 “ 
 
 Children’s Dancing Class, . . . . 1 
 
 Lecture, Edward Douglas, “ Foreign Travel,” . 1 “ 
 
 “ “ Rural England,” Rev. W. L. Gage, D.D., . 1 “ 
 
 “ “ An Old Castle,” Prof. Winchester, . 1 “ 
 
358 
 
 Lecture and Concert, Miss Radcliffe, assisted by Mrs. 
 
 Post, Miss Chaffee, and Mr. Tateum, . . 1 evening. 
 
 “ “ The Phonograph,” J. W. Harmon, . 1 “ 
 
 Reading, and Christmas Tree, Mr. Lyon, Jr., . . 1 “ 
 
 “ Miss Annie Walter, . . . 1 “ 
 
 “ Miss Nettie Taylor, . . . . 1 “ 
 
 “ Henrietta Vinton Davis (colored), . 1 “ 
 
 DONATIONS. 
 
 I acknowledge with sincere pleasure the receipt of many 
 gifts for the patients, as an index of the growing interest 
 manifested by thoughtful people in this important charity. 
 If it were generally known how much good could be accom- 
 plished in this way I am sure our shelves would be stocked 
 with books and the walls covered by engravings, much to 
 the improvement of wards and general comfort of the in- 
 mates. 
 
 There have been received from Mr. R. S. Fellowes, New 
 Haven, Conn., subscription for the year, three copies of the 
 u Sailors’ Magazine,” and six copies “ Sunday Reading.” 
 
 Mrs. E. B. Monroe of Southport, Conn., two packages of 
 books and magazines, $25 for books, and $100 towards the 
 purchase of a piano for the chapel. 
 
 Senator Joseph R. Hawley, Washington, reports of the 
 Department of Agriculture for 1881 and 1882. 
 
 H. D. A. Ward, Esq., Middletown, several volumes, maga- 
 zines and illustrated papers. 
 
 Mrs. F. A. Ward, Middletown, packages of illustrated 
 papers. 
 
 Mrs. Thomas G. Mather, Middletown, papers and maga- 
 zines. 
 
 Middletown and Vicinity Bible Society, 31 Bibles. 
 
 The Hon. Robbins Battell, Norfolk, Conn., the chime of 
 bells and quarter-hour attachments for the tower clock. 
 
 And to the many friends who have thoughtfully contributed 
 papers, books, and magazines to the hospital box kindly 
 allowed to be placed in Mr. Hastings’ book store. 
 
 To the publishers of the following newspapers we owe a 
 
359 
 
 debt of gratitude for having furnished copies gratuitously 
 during the year : 
 
 The Courant, daily, 
 
 The Post, daily, 
 
 The Palladium, weekly, 
 
 The Times, weekly, 
 
 Tolland County Journal, weekly, 
 Sheltering Arms, monthly, 
 
 The Constitution, weekly, 
 Sentinel and Witness, weekly, 
 Sabbath Reading, weekly, 
 
 The Enterprise, weekly, 
 
 The Review, weekly, . 
 Bridgeport Standard, weekly, 
 Religious Herald, weekly, 
 Weekly Witness, weekly, 
 
 The Herald, daily, 
 
 . Hartford, Conn. 
 
 do. do. 
 
 . New Haven, do. 
 
 . Hartford, do. 
 
 . Rockville, do. 
 
 . New York city. 
 
 . Middletown, Conn. 
 
 do. do. 
 
 . New York city. 
 
 . Naugatuck, Conn. 
 
 do. do. 
 
 . Bridgeport, do. 
 
 . Hartford, do. 
 
 . New York city. 
 
 . Middletown, Conn. 
 
 No changes have occurred in the staff of officers since 
 your last meeting. It gives me much pleasure to report and 
 commend their zeal, efficiency, and intelligent co-operation. 
 Those who live with, and work for the insane, and do their 
 work well, enjoy no beds of ease or idleness. The life is one 
 of anxious cares and stern realities, extending alike over 
 Sundays and holidays. Fortunately there are compensating 
 possibilities even in such a work ; and I should be wanting 
 in gratitude if I failed to acknowledge the obligation under 
 which you have placed us by your unvarying kindness and 
 ready support. 
 
 Kespectfully submitted, 
 
 A. M. SHEW, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., Nov. 30, 1883. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the Greneral Asseinbly of the State of Con - 
 necticut : 
 
 The trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane are 
 permitted herewith to make their nineteenth annual report. 
 
 The hospital has been favored in the good providence of 
 the Heavenly Father, with another year of quietness, har- 
 mony, and prosperity, in the humane work for which it 
 was founded. Generally the health of the patients has been 
 good. They have escaped contagious diseases. 
 
 The excellent order, thorough system, and surprising neat- 
 ness maintained in the buildings, and around them, attract 
 the attention of visitors from this and other States. 
 
 In the summer and autumn the abundance and variety of 
 flowers in beds tastefully arranged on the broad lawn are an 
 unfailing source of pleasure. 
 
 The aim of the hospital is to receive so far as possible 
 every citizen of Connecticut, whose mental condition ren- 
 ders necessary its protection and care, that restoration to 
 health and sound mind may be speedy and complete ; or if 
 that may not be, to give the patient the benefit of the most 
 careful attendance under the direction of the highest medical 
 skill. 
 
 Those who administer the affairs of the institution have no 
 motive to receive or detain any person who is not a proper 
 subject of sanitary treatment. The number usually waiting 
 to be received is a strong reason for discharging any pa- 
 tient, so soon as his own good and the safety of others w T ill 
 permit. 
 
 Many are allowed to go before they are fully restored, be- 
 cause a marked improvement is apparent, and it is probable 
 they can be properly cared for by friends. 
 
361 
 
 In order to make immediate room for an acute case of re- 
 cent occurrence, it lias repeatedly been necessary to return to 
 the almshouse a person who has not recovered, but who may 
 without injury be away from the hospital for a limited time. 
 Such a case is frequently only the less of two evils, because 
 the patient sent to the poorhouse is liable to suffer for lack 
 of care, and the family to which he goes to be troubled by 
 his presence. 
 
 The number of persons in need of the aid of the hospital 
 is year by year increasing. It has been greater in the past 
 year than ever before. 
 
 The whole number under its care during the year was 
 1,103. 
 
 The number remaining on the 30th of November was 923. 
 
 The addition to the north wing, built especially for noisy 
 patients, was completed in the spring. It has twenty-four 
 beds, and is abundantly supplied with light and air. The 
 carpenters, masons, and other builders, did their work well. 
 The removal of the very noisy patients for a longer or 
 shorter period to this ward, is a sensible and grateful relief to 
 the patients and attendants in the wards from which these 
 are taken. This is one of the incidental advantages of a large 
 hospital with many wards, which admits of a completeness of 
 classification impossible in a small institution. 
 
 Attention is invited to the report of the superintendent in 
 regard to this and other measures adopted to make room for 
 more patients. 
 
 The continual increase of insane persons in this State ren- 
 ders larger accommodations a necessity. The general assem- 
 bly, in recognition of this necessity appropriated, for addi- 
 tional buildings, seventy-five thousand dollars. The appro- 
 priation was committed to the trustees, as all others for the 
 hospital have been, with a single exception. 
 
 They chose five of their number, a building committee, 
 whose experience in hospital erection and business affairs 
 generally, especially fitted them for this undertaking. 
 
 With some difficulty, but favored by the low price of ma- 
 terial and of labor, they made contracts to erect a center 
 
362 
 
 building and one wing, and furnish them, without exceeding 
 the appropriation. At much personal sacrifice, the commit- 
 tee have freely given their time and service to secure for the 
 State the best buildings possible in the circumstances. 
 
 The contractors have been faithful to their engagements. 
 The season has been remarkably favorable, and the progress 
 of the work very satisfactory. 
 
 The accompanying reports will state more particularly 
 what has been done in building and repairs, also to cultivate 
 and improve the farm. The larger liberty allowed the patients, 
 and the benefits many derive from it is cheering evidence of 
 the progress that has been made in wise and humane care 
 for the insane. 
 
 The occasional escape of a patient from the grounds, so far 
 from reflecting on the officers or attendants, may be regarded 
 as an evidence that the patients are allowed the utmost free- 
 dom consistent with their mental condition, and that the 
 superintendent regards it less an evil, that out of so many 
 hundreds one should occasionally steal away, than that all 
 should be constantly shut up. Of the few who escape, some 
 returned before bedtime, others are usually brought back 
 before many days. An additional appropriation to complete 
 the buildings now in process of erection after the original 
 plan, so that they can receive male patients, is respectfully 
 recommended. An early appropriation will be for the advan- 
 tage of the State in various ways. 
 
 The death of Mr. Richard S. Fellowes, the trustee from 
 New Haven, on the 10th of March last, deprived the hospi- 
 tal of one of its truest, wisest, and most efficient friends. His 
 interest in the enterprise led to his appointment as trustee, 
 when the charter was given, June, 1866. 
 
 lie gave cheerfully time, money, and unusual business sa- 
 gacity to help the institution. His pen and his voice were 
 ever at its service. His last day’s work was to meet the com- 
 mittee of the legislature on humane institutions, accompany 
 them through the buildings and about the grounds, and with 
 impressive earnestness and eloquence set forth the distressing 
 
363 
 
 need of new buildings to aid those suffering from mental dis- 
 ease, for whom there was no room in the hospital. 
 
 The shadow of death, though unnoticed, was even then 
 upon him. In a day or two he was prostrated by paralysis, 
 and passed away two or three weeks later. 
 
 The Honorable Henry B. Harrison, the speaker of the 
 House, consented to accept the office, and was elected trustee 
 by the Senate. 
 
 The terms of the trustee from Hartford and Tolland coun- 
 ties expire this year. 
 
 It is respectfully recommended that they be reappointed. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 THOMAS M. WALLER, 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 CLARK E. BARROWS, 
 HENRY B. HARRISON, 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 H. P. GEIB, M.D., 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 JOSEPH W. ALSOP, M.D., 
 ELISHA B. NYE, M.D. 
 
 Middletown, Nov. 30, 1884. 
 
EEPOET OF SUPEE INTENDED. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen — The following report of this institution for 
 the fiscal year ending November 30, 1884, together with the 
 usual statistical tables, is respectfully submitted. 
 
 There were in the hospital at the commencement of the 
 year 860 patients, 392 men and 468 women. This number 
 represents so many persons. In our tables no person appears 
 more than once in any year. If discharged and re-admitted 
 within the year, he resumes his former case number. During 
 the year 243 have been admitted, 121 men and 122 women ; 
 making the whole number under treatment, 1,103. The 
 number of patients discharged was 125, of whom 66 were 
 men and 59 were women. There were 55 deaths, 34 men and 
 21 women. The average number of patients resident during 
 the year was 883.22, of whom 402.58 were men and 480.64 
 were women. 
 
 You observe that the year closed with 63 more patients 
 than at its commencement, and that the daily average ex- 
 ceeded by 29.17 that of the previous year. The highest num- 
 ber in the house at any time was 923, and the lowest 850. 
 When it is remembered that the normal capacity of the hos- 
 pital is only 800 beds, it will be seen that throughout the 
 year our accommodation has been overtaxed, and the house 
 at all times dangerously crowded. As far as possible all have 
 been received who were likely to suffer for want of proper 
 treatment; but as in former years, many applications, num- 
 bering in all about one hundred, had to be refused, or at best 
 delayed for weeks, until vacancies were made by death or 
 removals. I trust this will be the last time I shall have to 
 report that, owing to want of room, cases have been compelled 
 
365 
 
 to seek relief out of the state. The progress made towards 
 the completion of the new south hospital leads me to hope 
 that before May, 1885, we shall be prepared to admit all fe- 
 male applicants as they arise. 
 
 ADMISSIONS. 
 
 Of the total number admitted, 156 were first admissions; 
 that is, persons who were for the first time sent to any hospi- 
 tal for treatment; 6T were second; 12 were third; 2 were 
 fourth; 3 were fifth; and one each were sixth, seventh, and 
 eighth. 
 
 The large percentage of re-admissions is explained by the 
 fact that selectmen have frequently removed chronic cases to 
 make room for violent cases; but sooner or later, in a major- 
 ity of instances, the former are brought back to the hospital. 
 
 It affords me pleasure to say that 30 of these re-admissions 
 had been away from the hospital able to Tollow their usual 
 avocations for periods varying from one to eight years. 
 
 The character of the admissions as regards probability of 
 recovery was, as usual, unfavorable, owing to the duration of 
 the disease. Of the 243 patients admitted, only 94 had been 
 insane less than one year ; 34 from one to two years; 47 from 
 two to five years; 47 from five to thirty years; 6 over thirty 
 years ; one was not insane ; and of 14 nothing could be learned 
 respecting their previous histories. As the prospect of recov- 
 ery diminishes rapidly after the first six months and becomes 
 an infinitesimal quantity after the expiration of one year, it 
 is only fair to expect that more than three-fourths of all those 
 admitted will require public or private care during life. Sim- 
 ple justice requires me to add some other unfavorable factors 
 in the histories of these patients, viz. r 3 were instances of 
 marked congenital defect; 9 were complicated with epilepsy; 
 and 7 were cases of general paralysis. One of the patients 
 admitted was over 80, and eleven between the ages of 70 and 
 80 years. In all of these no reasonable hope of recovery can 
 be entertained. 
 
 Only one insane convict was transferred from Wethersfield 
 
866 
 
 daring the year, and the total number of this class at this 
 date is only four. 
 
 One of the patients admitted, although having legal papers, 
 appeared to be not insane. After being detained long enough 
 to determine this fact he was discharged, and has continued 
 sound. The history of the case and the circumstances would 
 not lead us to question or suspect the motives of the author- 
 ities in sending him to the hospital. 
 
 Another male patient was admitted in the delirium of in- 
 toxication. A few days of seclusion and abstinence were 
 sufficient to restore him to normal condition, when he was 
 discharged, doubtless to return with renewed appetite to his 
 depraved habits. In this and all similar instances in previous 
 years, I have tabulated the mental condition of such cases 
 when discharged as “ stationary.” 
 
 Permit me to repeat what was said in a former report, that 
 a hospital for the insane is not a proper place for inebriates. 
 At the best they cannot be retained long enough to effect 
 a cure. A brief respite from the usual stimulant restores 
 them to sanity, and they soon become discontented and a dis- 
 turbing element in the hospital family. 
 
 The youngest person admitted was aged 15 years ; one other 
 16; two 17 ; four 18 ; and four 19 : thus making 12 persons in 
 one year under 20 years of age. Three of these were defec- 
 tive from birth, and will require care during life; two were 
 restored to health after a few weeks’ treatment, and all of the 
 remainder are considered curable. 
 
 Of the admissions, 14: cases had recovered their mental 
 health, and 12 cases had died before the end of the year. 
 
 Of the 243 persons admitted (see Table IX), 2 were com- 
 mitted by friends ; 222 by probate court; 12 by superior court; 
 4 by police court ; and 3 by orders from the governor of the 
 state. Table X shows you how these various classes are sup- 
 ported, as follows : 3 by self or friends (paying); 88 by state 
 and friends (indigents); 140 by state and towns (paupers); 
 and 12 by state alone. 
 
 The civil condition of those admitted is as follows: single, 
 132; married, 90; widowed, 19; and unknown, 2. 
 
367 
 
 DISCHARGES. 
 
 Referring to Table I you learn that the discharges amount 
 to 125, and include three classes : those who had recovered, 
 52 ; those who had improved and were sent home on trial, 25; 
 and those quiet chronic patients who, showing no appreciable 
 change, were removed by selectmen or friends, to make room 
 for more urgent cases, 48. 
 
 The total recoveries amount to 52, which number, calcu- 
 lated upon the admissions, gives a recovery rate of over 21 
 per cent., or 5 per cent, less than the rate of last year. The 
 average recovery rate for the preceding ten years has been 22 
 per cent. 
 
 It would be instructive to study in detail the clinical his- 
 tories of all the cases that terminated in recovery, but space 
 will only permit a glance at two facts. First, the importance 
 of early treatment, and secondly, the’advantage of having this 
 treatment away from home. The average duration of treat- 
 ment of those who were admitted within one month of the 
 attack was only five months. Where the insanity had lasted 
 three months before admission the period of treatment was 
 fifteen months or more. 
 
 Of the 52 recoveries only 3 had been insane two years. 
 Nothing could more strikingly illustrate the economy, as well 
 as the importance of early treatment away from home. It 
 may seem paradoxical to those who are not familiar with the 
 facts to assert that strangers and strange surroundings are 
 more conducive to restoration than the devoted attendance of 
 loving friends within the hallowed precincts of home. Ex- 
 perience, however, proves that such is the fact; and this fact 
 seems plausible and rational when it is remembered that per- 
 sons become insane at home , and perhaps because of home. In 
 other words, many influences at home, such as the drudgery 
 of household cares, incompatibility of temperaments, work 
 and worry, may silently undermine the mental stability until 
 reason is dethroned. I am not wise enough to unravel the 
 tangled web, and point out the particular cause or the last 
 factor that has produced so much distress, but I have reason 
 
368 
 
 to believe that to the mistaken kindness of friends in retain- 
 ing patients at home during the early stages of mental disease 
 may be attributed the hopelessly chronic character of so many 
 patients when sent to hospitals. 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 It affords me pleasure to report an absence of epidemic or 
 endemic disease. General good health has prevailed through- 
 out the year among officers, employes, and patients. Exten- 
 sive removal of earth around the new hospital led us to expect 
 some form of malarial disease, but thus far, happily, our 
 expectations have not been realized. The total number of 
 deaths (55) is much below the average for the whole period 
 of seventeen years, since the opening of the hospital, and has 
 only been a fraction less in three of those years. The death 
 rate, calculated from the average number resident, was 6.22, 
 and on the total number under treatment, 4.9S. As usual, 
 the mortality among males is larger than among females, 
 owing to the much greater frequency of general paralysis 
 among the former. The cause of death, as verified in 8 cases 
 by post mortem examinations, was general paralysis in 11 ; 
 tubercular consumption, 8; apoplexy, 7; exhaustion from 
 mania, 5; old age, 4; epileptic coma, 3; pneumonia, 3; 
 Bright’s disease of the kidneys, 2; valvular disease of the 
 heart, 2 ; paralysis, 2 ; and one each from chronic cystitis, 
 marasmus, suicide, cerebral atrophy, capillary bronchitis, 
 chronic artheritis, accidental drowning, and strangulated 
 hernia. 
 
 The average age of all who died was 51.63 years. Two 
 had passed 80; ten were between 70 and 80. The oldest 
 was 85. The following table, showing the deaths and their 
 ratio from the opening of the hospital to the close of this 
 fiscal year, is given for the benefit of those who are seeking 
 tabular information for the purpose of comparison : 
 
339 
 
 Deaths and their Ratios, from May 1 , 1868, to Nov. 30, 1884. 
 
 C3 
 
 © 
 
 I* 
 
 Whole No. of 
 Patients. 
 
 SO 
 
 <d ti 
 g 08 
 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 
 £ 
 
 'o ® 
 
 f ! 
 
 rb 
 
 '3 42 
 
 ^ O) § 
 © ££ 
 
 [3 
 
 o 
 
 B 
 
 o 
 
 *3 6 
 A6 
 
 Men. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 s'© 
 v 6 
 & & 
 
 Ah 
 
 o 
 
 a> 
 
 Ah 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-70, 
 
 343 
 
 225.17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6 12 
 
 9.32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73, 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6.25 
 
 7 86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 339.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425 80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876, 8 mo 
 Dec. 1 ’76, 
 
 548 
 
 456.97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2.73 
 
 3.28 
 
 Nov 30,77 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5.01 
 
 6.69 
 
 1877-78, 
 
 629 
 
 474.17 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 6.36 
 
 8.43 
 
 1878-79, 
 
 644 
 
 498.34 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 2.95 
 
 3.81 
 
 1879-80, 
 
 654 
 
 514.63 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 4.58 
 
 5.82 
 
 1880-81, 
 
 881 
 
 608.51 
 
 32 
 
 12 
 
 44 
 
 5.00 
 
 7.24 
 
 1881-82, 
 
 1079 
 
 789.27 
 
 47 
 
 32 
 
 79 
 
 7.32 
 
 10.01 
 
 1882-83, 
 
 1113 
 
 854.5 
 
 43 
 
 37 
 
 80 
 
 7.18 
 
 9.33 
 
 1883-84, 
 
 1103 
 
 883.2 
 
 34 
 
 21 
 
 55 
 
 4.98 
 
 6.22 
 
 The only cases where the causes of death call for remark is 
 one case of suicide, where an old female patient, who had 
 been insane for many years, succeeded in effecting her mor- 
 bid purpose one Sunday afternoon, while her attendant and 
 associate patients were in chapel attending Divine worship. 
 
 The other was a case of accidental drowning. A male 
 patient who had frequently been in bathing before, while at 
 work with other patients and an attendant at the coal shed 
 near the river, while heated went into the water, and, most 
 probably, suffered from a cramp. Unfortunately, before aid 
 could reach him, he was taken down by the strong current, 
 and only rescued after life had become extinct. The medical 
 examiner of this town promptly and carefully inquired into 
 all the facts in both cases and made proper return to the 
 county coroner. 
 
 24 
 
370 
 
 TREATMENT. 
 
 Notwithstanding the marked progress that has been made 
 in the treatment of the insane during the last quarter of a 
 century, it is yet true that our present knowledge of the 
 genesis of mental disease is so vague and ill-defined that the 
 medical treatment remains somewhat empirical. Medical 
 experts have thus far failed to find any miraculous method by 
 which disordered intellects can be restored to normal activity. 
 Careful searching after causes has led to more intelligent 
 conceptions of the nature of insanity, and hence improved 
 methods of treatment. If mental disease is dependent, as I 
 believe, on conditions that are avoidable or removable, and 
 not the necessary concomitants of civilization, then insanity 
 may be regarded as being largely preventable. The trans- 
 gression of natural physiological laws always results in 
 disease or modification of natural function. Vicious excesses 
 in one generation show their baneful effects in the children of 
 succeeding generations. Unnatural greed engendered by 
 false methods of business tends to excitement, worry, and 
 mental strain. Marriage in consanguinity is followed, sooner 
 or later, by disease or decay. These are only glimpses into 
 the broad field which opens before us, but they are perhaps 
 sufficient to indicate the thought I wish to convey, viz. : 
 whenever society recognizes these great truths and places on 
 our statute book intelligent laws that shall regulate marriage 
 and rigidly control evil excesses, then, and only then, may 
 we hope that in spite of, even by reason of, further advance 
 in civilization, the present rate of development of insanity 
 may undergo not only arrest but diminution. 
 
 The great field for future progress, then, lies in the pre- 
 vention of insanity. But to you, as public guardians, it may 
 be more important to ascertain whether the year’s experience 
 covered by this report has led to any advance in curative 
 measures. I would reply that we have, as never before, made 
 our great family of 1,100 persons comfortable and compara- 
 tively happy. As already stated, our work has been largely 
 custodial and in the line of careful nursing, because more 
 
371 
 
 than three-fourths of all the patients had been insane from 
 two to forty years before admission. We have not been able 
 to replace lost faculties or restore morbid nerve tissue, but I 
 am sure we have tried faithfully to use all the means known 
 to medical science in the treatment of recent cases, without 
 neglecting the much larger class of those who must look to 
 the hospital as their probable home during the remainder of 
 life. So far as possible every case has been treated as an 
 individual case. 
 
 Personal nursing, constant and liberal feeding, and careful 
 administration of medicines have constituted the methods 
 pursued in all cases admitted to this hospital. Liberal, even 
 lavish, treatment of insanity in its early stages is the truest 
 economy, resulting in an increased recovery rate and conse- 
 quent diminution of the chronic insane. In a previous report 
 your attention was directed to the necessity of having special 
 wards provided for the epileptic insane. Recognizing the 
 advantage of such provision you have wisely planned two 
 wards in the new south hospital, which, when completed, will 
 be used for this class of female patients. 
 
 In order to test experimentally the advantage of special 
 care I set apart one ward of the south hospital for epileptic 
 males, in which w 7 e have treated tw T enty cases during the past 
 eleven weeks. These patients are under the care of tw’o 
 attendants from time of rising-bell until 7 : 30 p. m. At night, 
 or from 7 : 30 p. m., until rising-bell, under the care of special 
 night attendant. The arrangement consists of two large 
 dormitories 24 feet square, separated by a hall 10 feet wide, 
 where the night attendant sits. The doors of the dormitories 
 are always open, so that the attendant can hear and respond 
 to any noise or motion. He is thus able to render assistance 
 during epileptic seizures, preventing such accidents as are 
 liable to result from being smothered in the pillows or falling 
 from bed. The statistics for eleven weeks are as follows : 
 Number of patients, 20; number of epileptic seizures, by 
 day, 150, by night, 308 ; total, 458 ; four had seizures only at 
 night ; sixteen had more seizures during the night than during 
 the day ; and in only four cases w T as this order reversed. By 
 
372 
 
 this arrangement we are better able to watch the effects of 
 remedies, diet, and exercise, and at the same time reduce to 
 the minimum the liability to accidents. For the ensuing 
 year we hope to extend this method of special care, until all 
 of the epileptic insane are provided for. 
 
 The moral treatment of the patients has been conducted on 
 the same general principles as detailed in previous reports. 
 It has been our aim to classify and group together persons of 
 congenial habits, and thus promote sociability and good feel- 
 ing. An atmosphere of quiet contentment has prevaded the 
 house to a degree unlooked for, considering its crowded con- 
 dition. A glance at the program will show that there has 
 been no falling off in the various amusements and recreations 
 provided during the winter, while in summer all are per- 
 mitted or required to spend several hours of each pleasant 
 day out of doors. The privilege of limited and unlimited 
 parole has been extended to a degree that would have been 
 considered hazardous, if not impossible, ten years ago. Oc- 
 cupation continues as heretofore to form a prominent feature 
 in the administration of this hospital, the daily records show- 
 ing that more than 50 per cent, of both sexes have been 
 usefully and profitably employed on the farm and grounds, or 
 in the kitchen, laundry, sewing-room, or general housework. 
 If we had a large inexpensive building which could be used 
 for shop purposes I am sure many more of our patients could 
 be occupied at brush or broom making during the winter 
 months when outdoor work is not practicable. 
 
 ESCAPES. 
 
 The enlargement of parole, previously mentioned, has not 
 resulted in an increased number of escapes. During the year 
 only 34 persons (last year 40) wandered off without permis- 
 sion. Of this number 2 returned voluntarily within a few 
 hours, 16 were brought back after an average absence of four 
 and one-half hours, 13 were returned within three or four 
 days, 1 reached home safely, so much improved that it was 
 considered best to have him remain. Only two are still at 
 large. As both of these men had recovered and were soon to 
 
373 
 
 be discharged, we have overlooked the apparent want of 
 courtesy shown in their hasty departure, and have made no 
 efforts to secure their return. 
 
 Whenever practicable it is our custom to send patients to 
 their homes for a visit, or on trial, previous to their discharge. 
 This course is followed in order that the convalescent should 
 be under supervision during his first return to cares and oc- 
 cupations of active life. In case of relapse before the expira- 
 tion of the period of probation, he can be returned without 
 the delay of procuring new papers. 
 
 REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 Believing that true economy consists in preserving and im- 
 proving the buildings and appliances which have been 
 erected under your supervision, we have continued making 
 such repairs as the funds at our disposal would permit. A 
 full record of these improvements would require more space 
 than I have at command. Among the most important may 
 be mentioned the completion and occupancy in April of the 
 infirmary wards for the more excitable female patients ; a 
 large sunny day-room and two single rooms in connection 
 with ward A ; finishing off six rooms in the attic of south 
 hospital ; the erection of a large brick meat-house and cooling- 
 room ; new roof over boiler-house, main hospital ; new shingle 
 roofs over the farm cottage and the Fallon house; repainting 
 the entire outside wood-work of main hospital ; relaying floors 
 at Silver-mine cottage ; cementing floors in butter-room, 
 tramways, and closets ; placing gas lamp over south door of 
 annex, and near the walk midway between main and south 
 hospitals ; together with many minor repairs as they have 
 been needed from day to day. To those of you who are most 
 familiar with the daily working of the hospital it must be 
 evident that the institution is in better condition than at any 
 previous date. 
 
 FINANCIAL EXHIBIT. 
 
 It affords me pleasure to say that the expense of mainten- 
 ance, together with repairs and improvements, has been met 
 
374 
 
 by the annual earnings of the hospital. It may be proper 
 also to mention that the hospital has not called upon the State 
 to make special appropriations for maintenance since its 
 opening in 1868. In other words, the hospital has been con- 
 ducted within its receipts and earnings. The price of board 
 for all during the year has been $3.75 per week. This covers 
 everything except clothing, which is, from choice, generally 
 furnished bv friends. If staple provisions remain as at 
 present cost the weekly charge can be reduced to $3.50 with- 
 out lowering the standard already established. 
 
 The appended financial report shows that the revenues for 
 the year were $185,705.32, and the payments $184,856.70. 
 All bills have been audited and paid monthly. 
 
 THE FARM. 
 
 Under Mr. Sanderson’s judicious management the farm 
 continues to be a source of profit to the institution and of 
 pleasure to those of the men who are able and willing to 
 work. In this way fresh vegetables, berries, fruits, and milk 
 are provided liberally. 
 
 In addition to the labor performed in the garden and on 
 the farm, much work has been done under Col. Thayer’s 
 direction in grading about the new hospital. In this inex- 
 pensive way a rough, wet, and unsightly ravine has been 
 transformed into an attractive slope, with a pond and foun- 
 tain to add beauty and freshness to the whole scene. For 
 the ensuing } r ear many patients can be pleasantly employed 
 in this healthful way. I often wish that we had some useful 
 outdoor employment for the female patients. Their work 
 seems to be restricted to domestic labor indoors ; why not 
 set apart a large garden spot for their especial use, and allow 
 them to have the entire charge of it ? The experiment is 
 certainly worthy of trial. If successful the advantages of 
 such a project can be scarcely overestimated. 
 
 ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 Again, I have to thank many friends for their assistance in 
 giving private theatrical performances, concerts, lectures, and 
 
375 
 
 readings; and our assistant, Dr. Olmstead, has been indefat- 
 igable in managing most perfectly these modes of treatment. 
 
 The amusements provided for the patients have been 
 as varied and more numerous than in any previous year. 
 
 We value them not only for the good done at the time, but 
 for the good service they do in rousing patients to prepare for 
 them ; and they are good as leaving memories which take the 
 patient’s attention from himself. 
 
 At Christmas we had a large tree and a distribution of 
 presents given by the friends, and every patient received 
 some token of remembrance. The following is a partial list 
 of the evening entertainments : 
 
 Sociable, with dancing, 
 
 Lectures, illustrated with stereopticon, .... 
 
 Roller skating, 
 
 Dramatic entertainment, hospital troupe, .... 
 “ “ Miss Briggs and pupils, 
 
 Concert, Wesleyan Glee Club, 
 
 Musical entertainment, hospital troupe, .... 
 Christmas tree and concert, ...... 
 
 Reading, Miss Nettie Jackson, 
 
 “ Rev. Geo. Lyon, Jr., 
 
 “ Prof. R. G. Hibbard, 
 
 “ Mrs. Edna Chaffee Noble, 
 
 Lecture, ventriloquism, H. F. Bryant, .... 
 “ “John Wy cliff,” Rev. T. W. Coit, D.D., . 
 
 “ “China,” S. C. Partridge, 
 
 “ “Coral and the Coral Islands,” Rev. J. Wycliff 
 
 Beach, ' 
 
 “ “ The Jeannette Expedition,” Raymond Lee New- 
 comb, 
 
 “ “ Alaska,” Chas. Northend, . 
 
 “ An evening with Whittier,” Young People’s Association 
 
 of the M. E. Chnrch, 
 
 Masquerade party, 
 
 Outdoor concerts, hospital band, 
 
 10 evenings. 
 3 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 36 
 
 DONATIONS. 
 
 In addition to many gifts made to individuals, the following 
 donations, which I acknowledge with sincere pleasure, were 
 received and used for the general good: 
 
 From Mr. R. S. Fellowes, New Haven, Conn., subscription 
 
376 
 
 for the year, three copies of the “ Sailors’ Magazine,” six 
 copies “ Sunday Reading,” and four calendars of American 
 History. 
 
 From the estate of Frederick Marquand, $150 towards the 
 purchase of a piano for the chapel. 
 
 Mrs. E. B. Monroe, of Southport, Conn., three large pack- 
 ages of books and magazines. 
 
 H. I). A. Ward, Esq., Middletown, several books, maga- 
 zines, and illustrated papers. 
 
 Miss Mary P. Roberts, of Albany, N. Y., twenty books and 
 pamphlets. 
 
 J. A. Sumner, Middletown, one volume entitled “ Sport 
 with Rod and Gun.” 
 
 Mrs. Francis A. Ward, Middletown, a package of illustrated 
 papers. 
 
 T. S. Gold, secretary State board of agriculture, 13 copies 
 of Agricultural Reports. 
 
 Jonathan Ivilbourn, Esq., Middletown, package of papers. 
 
 M. B. Copeland, Esq., 13 bound volumes, and 21 paper 
 covered novels ; also, contribution to the costumes in the 
 amusement hall. 
 
 Mr. F. B. Weeks, package of illustrated papers. 
 
 Mrs. J. B. Evans, Middletown, package of newspapers. 
 
 Mrs. C. A. Piddock, Middletown, package of religious 
 papers. 
 
 Henry Bill Publishing Co., Norwich, Conn., one copy of 
 Blaine’s u Twenty Years in Congress.” 
 
 Also from the publishers of the following newspapers, 
 gratuitous copies furnished during the year: 
 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 
 . do. do. 
 
 do. do. 
 
 do. do. 
 
 New Haven, do. 
 
 . Rockville, do. 
 
 do. do. 
 
 New York City. 
 Middletown, Conn, 
 do. do. 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, 
 do. do. Evening Post, 
 do. Weekly Times, 
 
 Religious Herald, weekly, 
 
 New Haven Weekly Palladium, . 
 Tolland County Journal, weekly, 
 Tolland County Leader, weekly, 
 Sheltering Arms, monthly, 
 
 The Herald, daily, 
 
 The Constitution, weekly, 
 
377 
 
 The Sentinel and Witness, weekly, 
 The Enterprise, weekly. 
 
 The Review, weekly, 
 
 Bridgeport Standard, weekly, 
 Weekly Witness, weekly, 
 
 The Transcript, weekly, 
 
 The Regions Beyond, monthly, 
 
 Middletown, Conn, 
 Naugatuck, do. 
 
 do. do. 
 Bridgeport, do. 
 New York City. 
 Portland, Me. 
 London, Eng. 
 
 SUNDAY RELIGIOUS SERVICES. 
 
 The following clergymen 
 services during the year: 
 
 Rev. T. W. Coit, D.D., 
 
 Rev. Wm. C. Foster, 
 
 Rev. John Townsend, 
 
 Rev. A. W. Hazen, 
 
 Rev. Geo. Westgate, 
 
 Rev. W. A. Richards, 
 
 Rev. Geo. Lyon, Jr., 
 
 Rev. J. W. Tuck, 
 
 Rev. H. R. Phoenix, 
 
 Rev. P. M. Snj r der, 
 
 Rev. F. Gardiner, D.D., 
 
 Rev. C. A. Piddock, 
 
 Rev. F. S. Hoffman, 
 
 Rev. Samuel Hopley, 
 
 Rev. Richard L. de Zeng, 
 
 Rev. Frank L. Hayward, 
 
 Rev. Harrison Closson, 
 
 Rev. William Allen Johnson, D.D. 
 Rev. J. S. Bayne, 
 
 Rev. C. H. Bond, 
 
 Rev. R. Povey, 
 
 Rev. W. Y. Kelly, 
 
 Rev. E. P. Hammond, 
 
 Rev. S. A. Hayt, 
 
 Rev. A. C. Denison, 
 
 Rev. Mr. McDuffy, 
 
 Rev. Geo. Prentice, 
 
 kindly conducted the chapel 
 
 . . Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Portland, Conn. 
 
 ’Middletown, “ 
 
 Portland, “ 
 
 Middletown, “ 
 
 Yernon, “ 
 
 Watertown, N. Y. 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 North Carolina. 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 It seems but a few days since we were engaged, as to-day, 
 in reviewing the events of the previous fiscal year. Measured 
 by weeks, the time has passed quickly. If all the joys and 
 sorrows, the anxieties and labors, could be measured this 
 
378 
 
 period would seem an age. In a house so crowded as this 
 has been, during the past year, an unusual amount of work 
 and care has been thrown upon all connected with its man- 
 agement. 
 
 Standing at its close we have reason to rejoice that so much 
 good has been accomplished, with so few causes for regret. 
 The staff of officers remains the same with one exception. In 
 April Miss Parker, the efficient housekeeper at the south 
 hospital, resigned her office to occupy another of more honor 
 and responsibility. Her place has been judiciously filled by 
 the appointment of Mrs. Ella Waite. I feel under great 
 obligations to the medical and other administrative officers 
 for their cordial and harmonious co-operation in all matters 
 pertaining to the good of the institution, and the comfort and 
 welfare of those committed to its care. For your kindness 
 and courtesy throughout the year, and during the whole 
 period of my official connection with this institution — now 
 more than eighteen years — I beg you to accept my sincere 
 acknowledgments. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ABRAM MARVIN SHEW, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., November 30, 1884. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut : 
 
 The board of trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane beg leave to submit their twentieth annual report. 
 
 They would, at the outset, make grateful mention that the 
 Divine Father, who ever watches over his defenseless chil- 
 dren, has continued his protection to those deprived of their 
 reason, that have been patients in the hospital, and to those 
 who have taken care of them. There has been freedom from 
 epidemic disease and from unforeseen calamity. 
 
 Since the last annual report, dated December 1st, the cen- 
 ter building and north wing of the hospital, now known as 
 the “ New South,” have been completed. 
 
 In the month of May it was opened for women. This was 
 a relief to other overcrowded wards, and to towns waiting to 
 send female patients. 
 
 The building is found to be remarkably well fitted to the 
 ends for which it was designed. All the light, ventilation, 
 coolness in summer, and warmth in winter, that could with 
 reason be expected are secured. The kitchen and store- 
 rooms are convenient. The day-rooms, the dormitories, the 
 halls, the dining-rooms, and the office of the physician were 
 skillfully planned, and are so attractive as to be valuable 
 auxiliaries to the beneficent work of the hospital. 
 
 The contractors deserve credit for their fidelity and excel- 
 lent workmanship. And not less do the committee of the 
 trustees, Messrs. Hayden, Alsop, and Woodward, under 
 whose care the building was erected ; that the materials 
 used were so good, and that the cost was within the appro- 
 priation. 
 
380 
 
 The last legislature appropriated fifty thousand dollars for 
 an additional wing for men. The construction of this is car- 
 ried rapidly forward by Messrs. Hayden, English, and Bar- 
 rows, trustees, who were appointed by the governor commis- 
 sioners for this business. 
 
 The skill of the architects, Mr. David R. Brown of New 
 Haven and Mr. Jasper D. Sibley of Middletown, is in this 
 connection deserving of special recognition. 
 
 The whole number of patients in the hospital during the 
 seven months of the year covered by this report was 1,132. 
 
 The number remaining June 30, 1885, was 1,019. 
 
 For female patients there is room for all who need care. 
 
 A more complete classification of patients is one excellent 
 result of the increased accommodations. This affords a bet- 
 ter opportunity to cure some, and to benefit many others. 
 
 The farm has been well tilled, and has yielded good crops. 
 The increased number of patients requires a larger number 
 of cows. For these the farm furnishes insufficient pasturage. 
 Additional land may be required for this purpose, at an early 
 day. 
 
 Many hospitals in the country have provided a house es- 
 pecially for the superintendent and his family. For obvious 
 reasons such an one is desirable here. 
 
 Two years ago the trustees appointed a committee to con- 
 sider this subject. Last year it was determined to undertake 
 the work this year. 
 
 During the spring it was decided to put up a suitable 
 house, neat and well proportioned, but not too large or 
 costly. The work is progressing favorably. There is good 
 reason to believe that this will contribute to the health and 
 effective power of the superintendent, and be of permanent 
 advantage to the institution. 
 
 The importance of carrying the waste water and the sew- 
 age quickly from the hospital buildings is becoming yearly 
 more evident, and has received no little attention heretofore. 
 This year the sewer has been partially rebuilt, and the sys- 
 tem extended, so that it drains not only the main hospital, 
 but the south and the new south. The natural slope of the 
 
381 
 
 land eastward enables this to be done at a moderate expense. 
 At the same time it makes useful, not only the liquid but 
 solid sewage, in fertilizing the farm. 
 
 In respect to this and other important matters the report 
 of the superintendent and treasurer herewith presented will 
 furnish fuller information. 
 
 The fidelity and skill of the superintendent and his assist- 
 ants to the interests of this institution, and of the unfortu- 
 nate and defenseles men and women under their care, as in 
 the past, so now deserve recognition and high commendation. 
 The calm and humane spirit in which responsible and often 
 trying duties are performed, is an advantage not only to the 
 patients, but to thousands of their kindred and friends, who 
 are comforted by the confidence that the insane are here in 
 safe hands, and will receive the best and tenderest care. 
 
 For this reason if no other, the interior as well as the ex- 
 terior of the hospital is made inviting, giving to those who 
 enter it for the first time the impression, not of a prison or 
 house of detention, but rather of a large and comfortable 
 mansion, in which as much cheerfulness and as many home 
 comforts will be found as may be of substantial advantage 
 to the patients, and to all who are caring for them. 
 
 A visit to the hospital, when it is thus equipped, tends to 
 relieve friends of a heavy burden, as they perceive the attrac- 
 tiveness of the rooms and the spirit of those in charge. 
 
 The same influence is exercised, when in favorable weather 
 hundreds of men are seen on the lawn or in the summer 
 house, who have the appearance of persons off duty for a 
 holiday, rather than as belonging to a class that not many 
 years ago were regarded as so destructive and dangerous 
 that they must be restrained by prison bars and chains. 
 
 In intelligent care for the insane and in devices to bring 
 rays of comfort to minds clouded and distressed, many of 
 whom would otherwise be friendless as well as poor, the Con- 
 necticut hospital has gained a place in the foremost rank of 
 similar institutions on this continent, or elsewhere. 
 
 It adds to the satisfaction with which a citizen of Connec- 
 ticut may regard this great charity, that the whole cost, from 
 
382 
 
 the beginning, has been much less than most of the corre- 
 sponding ones in other States. 
 
 His Excellency Governor Harrison, having resigned his 
 office as trustee on becoming ex officio member of the board, 
 ex-Governor English, who in former years rendered the hos- 
 pital essential service, was elected to fill the vacancy. 
 
 The terms of office of the members from New London and 
 Windham counties expire in June next. 
 
 We would respectfully request that they be reappointed. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 HENRY B. HARRISON, 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 CLARK E. BARROWS, 
 JAMES E. ENGLISH, 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 H. P. GEIB, M.D., 
 
 JOSEPH W. ALSOP, M.D., 
 ELISHA B. NYE, M.D., 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. PULLER. 
 
 Middletown, June 30, 1885. 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen — In compliance with the requirements of 
 Chapter XL, Public Acts of the General Assembly, 1885, 
 this twentieth report of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane covers a period of only seven months from December 
 1, 1884, to June 30, 1885, inclusive. To those of you who are 
 familiar with the detail history of the hospital, it is not 
 necessary to say that this period has been one of great 
 activity and decided progress in all that concerns the best in- 
 terests of the institution. A larger number of patients has 
 been under treatment than ever before. A new building 
 erected under your supervision, most complete in all its 
 arrangements, has been opened for the reception of female 
 patients. For the first time in its history the hospital has 
 been able to receive all patients without notice, and vacant 
 rooms are ready for others who may need to come. 
 
 So far as I am able to learn, the town almshouses have been 
 relieved of all insane. If any deranged persons are still un- 
 provided for, the blame must rest upon the friends or public 
 officials who have neglected to send them to the hospital. 
 Thus the original purpose of those who were instrumental in 
 founding a hospital for all of the insane of Connecticut has 
 been carried out within a period of nineteen years. 
 
 There were in the hospital at the commencement of the 
 year 923 patients, 413 men and 510 women. 
 
 During the seven months 209 have been admitted, 103 
 men and 106 women ; making the whole number under 
 treatment 1,132. 
 
 The number of patients discharged was 78, of whom 35 
 
384 
 
 were men and 39 were women. There were 39 deaths, 19 
 men and 20 women. 
 
 The average number of patients was 946, of whom 427 
 were men and 518 were women. The number remaining at 
 this date (June 30th) is 1,019, 462 men and 557 women. 
 
 This disparity in numbers between the sexes may be ex- 
 plained in three ways. In Connecticut there are more 
 women than men ; a larger proportion of insane men recover 
 or die, while insane women more frequently pass into a state 
 of partial chronic dementia which tends to prolong life. 
 Hence a gradual but steady accumulation of chronic cases. 
 The character of the admissions has not varied essentially 
 from former years. Of the 209, 51 were readmissions, per- 
 sons who had been inmates of this hospital previously. 
 A majority of these were taken away to make room for more 
 urgent cases and returned as soon as the new building was 
 opened. As showing the unfavorable character of many of 
 the admissions, it should be mentioned that there were 7 cases 
 of general paresis, 10 of epilepsy, 5 of imbecility, and in 42 
 others the duration of insanity on admission varied from 10 
 to 40 years. No reasonable hope of recovery can be enter- 
 tained in any of these cases. Sixty-jive' were acute or recent 
 cases of insanity ; that is, in 65 cases the symptoms of insan- 
 ity dated back less than six months from time of admission. 
 It is in this small class that we find our hopeful cases. Five 
 persons were admitted under 20 years of age — the youngest 
 being only 13. 
 
 The oldest person admitted was aged 90, and there .were 
 43 between the ages of 70 and 90 years. I do not suppose 
 that there is a real increase of insanity in persons over 60 ; 
 for the moral and mental causes of insanity do not then act 
 with such intensity as in earlier periods of life, but there ap- 
 pears to be a growing tendency on the part of friends and pub- 
 lic officials to send old people whose peculiarities and eccentrici- 
 ties have become exaggerated ; whose powers of self-control 
 have grown less than in middle life. Then, too, I think society 
 has of late become less tolerant of individual morbid pecu- 
 liarities. I could point to many of these cases that I am sure 
 
385 
 
 would not have been sent to an asylum 25 years ago. All of 
 these persons, however, are weak in mind and body and 
 unable to properly care for themselves. The hospital is there- 
 fore doing its legitimate work in receiving them, even at the 
 risk of lengthening its mortuary tables. 
 
 Three insane convicts were transferred from Wethersfield 
 prison ; one of whom was returned by the medical examining 
 commission after 3 months’ observation at hospital. 
 
 Of the 209 persons admitted, 129 are supported by the 
 State and towns (paupers), 75 by State and friends (indigents), 
 and 5 by self or friends (paying). 
 
 We record five men and two women as not insane. One 
 of these was a case of feigning; while all of the others were 
 simply cases of inebriety. 
 
 DISCHARGES. 
 
 A report covering a period of only seven months cannot be 
 expected to give valuable statistics, for the time is not long 
 enough to furnish complete results. 
 
 Nearly all the cases terminating in recovery were of short 
 duration, and of persons who were brought to the hospital 
 without delay. It is a popular notion that cases of melan- 
 cholia are most unfavorable. The intense despondency 
 blended with delusions of having committed some unpardon- 
 able sin or of being possessed by the devil, causes the intens- 
 est emotional disturbance. The common belief is that such 
 cases do not get well. As a matter of fact we find them 
 most curable. A word of caution should be given respecting 
 this class of “ religious melancholiacs.” They are all suicidal 
 or homicidal , and the propensity is often the first symptom to 
 be recognized and the last to depart. As a result patients are 
 sometimes discharged too soon, or are taken away by friends 
 before having fully recovered. 
 
 We had one such case this year of a very unfavorable 
 character, who made rapid progress towards recovery. 
 Unfortunately, her husband came to visit the hospital and, 
 finding her so much improved, insisted upon taking her home 
 
 25 
 
386 
 
 even against our earnest protest, to place her in a faith 
 cure. Within a few days the neighborhood was aroused by 
 the cry of “ murder ! ” An officer rushed into the house just 
 in time to divert the blow which was aimed at her infant 
 child by this insane mother. She gave as an excuse that 
 “ she was going to send the child to heaven. 55 
 
 Change is often beneficial to insane patients. Where 
 a patient seems uncomfortable and not improving, I remove 
 him to another ward where he may have new associates and 
 different surroundings. A complete renovation of a ward or 
 building and the substitution of new furniture is generally 
 followed by marked improvement in the conduct of the 
 patients. They instinctively mend their habits and take 
 better care of themselves. This was shown in a manifest de- 
 gree in May when the new south hospital was opened. 
 Many of the women transferred to that building had been for 
 years irritable, destructive, and somewhat noisy. A most 
 marked improvement has taken place in their general appear- 
 ance and behavior. 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 With a family of one thousand diseased persons, 43 of 
 whom had passed beyond the age of 70, a large death rate 
 might reasonably be expected. It is therefore the more 
 gratifying to report general good health and a small mortality 
 rate. The total number of deaths (39) is below the average. 
 What is cpiite unusual the mortality among males is less than 
 among ferhales. The cause of death w r as tubercular con- 
 sumption in 9 ; general paralysis, 4 ; marasmus, 3 ; pneumonia, 
 3; maniacal exhaustion, 3; exhaustion in acute melancholia, 
 2 ; erysipelas, 2; disease of heart, 2 ; old age, 2 ; and one each 
 from apoplexy, bright’s disease, epilepsy, entero-colitis, 
 diarrhoea, gastro-enteritis, hydrothorax, tumor of the brain, 
 and suicide. 
 
 The average age of all who died was 48.64 years. 
 
887 
 
 Deaths and their Ratios, from May 1, 1868, to June 30, 1885. 
 
 c3 
 
 O 
 
 © 
 
 fH 
 
 a> 
 
 ^ 0Q 
 
 © 
 
 c3 O 
 
 O * 
 
 > © 
 <1^ <5 
 
 
 Deaths. 
 
 
 © 
 
 O 
 
 £1 
 
 e o . 
 
 O t-i OD 
 
 -*->£3 © 
 C r « 
 
 © 
 
 r° 
 
 X! ■ 
 
 G « d 
 
 03 
 
 ‘5 
 
 a 
 
 O 
 
 ® .s 
 
 O 03 
 £ 
 
 ►.11 
 
 Q 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 <u d-rl 
 « £ * 
 Ph 
 
 © <3 "O 
 
 Pk 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-70, 
 
 343 
 
 225 17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9.32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73, 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6 25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 339.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425.80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5.95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876, 8 mo., 
 Dec. 1, ’76, 
 
 548 
 
 456.97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2.73 
 
 3.28 
 
 Nov. 30, ’77, 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5.01 
 
 6.69 
 
 1877-78, 
 
 629 
 
 474.17 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 6.36 
 
 8.43 
 
 1878-79, 
 
 644 
 
 498 34 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 2.95 
 
 3.81 
 
 1879-80, 
 
 654 
 
 514.63 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 4.58 
 
 5.82 
 
 1880-81, 
 
 881 
 
 608.51 
 
 32 
 
 12 
 
 44 
 
 5.00 
 
 7.24 
 
 1881-82, 
 
 1079 
 
 789.27 
 
 47 
 
 32 
 
 79 
 
 7.32 
 
 10.01 
 
 1882-83, 
 
 1113 
 
 854.5 
 
 43 
 
 37 
 
 80 
 
 7.18 
 
 9.36 
 
 1883-84, 
 
 1103 
 
 881.2 
 
 34 
 
 21 
 
 55 
 
 4.98 
 
 6 22 
 
 1884-85, 
 
 1132 
 
 946.31 
 
 19 
 
 20 
 
 39 
 
 3.44 
 
 4.12 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 In my last report I described briefly the special arrange- 
 ments we had made for the epileptic male patients. In the 
 new south hospital there is a ward arranged for and occupied 
 by the same class of females. These patients are under the 
 care of attendants day and night and a record kept of all the 
 seizures. By this special care such accidents as are liable to 
 result from epilepsy are reduced to the minimum; at the 
 same time we are better able to watch the effects of remedies, 
 diet, and exercise. 
 
 The medical and moral treatment of other classes of 
 patients has been conducted on the same general principles as 
 detailed in previous reports. 
 
 Believing most thoroughly in the doctrine of “good liv- 
 ing,” we have prescribed a generous diet of milk, eggs, butter, 
 and cod liver oil in the early stages of insanity with gratify- 
 
388 
 
 ing results. During no previous year have so many of our 
 patients enjoyed limited and unlimited parole. 
 
 As we only prescribe mechanical restraint in surgical cases, 
 the daily record of restraint has not reached one quarter of 
 one per cent. Occupation in the garden or on the farm con- 
 tinues to form a prominent feature of the daily life of our 
 male patients, while the women who are able render valuable 
 assistance in the ward work, sewing room, kitchen, and 
 laundry. 
 
 During the pleasant months all others, who are physically 
 able, are out of doors from two to six hours daily. Notwith- 
 standing the increased opportunities afforded, the number of 
 attempted escapes has lessened year by year. We continue 
 to find our four farm cottages convenient and useful adjuncts 
 in providing for the quiet chronic insane. 
 
 Among the many improvements made during this period, 
 should be mentioned the painting of the walls of the dormi- 
 tories and halls of the south hospital ; also the removal of the 
 wood floors of water-closets and bath-rooms, and the substitu- 
 tion of iron joist, brick arches, and slate tile floors; to give in- 
 creased ventilation, two brick flues 3x3, were carried up from 
 the cellar to 9 feet above the roof, in which a strong upward 
 current is created by the heat from the hot-water boilers 
 placed at the base; many of the wards in the main hospital 
 have been repainted in a tasteful and cheerful manner. On 
 ward 2 a large room formerly used as a dormitory has been 
 furnished as a pleasant day room or parlor. Such a renova- 
 tion of a house has many advantages besides the extra com- 
 fort it affords. 
 
 In the meantime we have not been idle out of doors ; never 
 before were the lawn, flower beds, and garden so attractive; 
 and during the whole season about forty male patients have 
 been at work grading around the new south hospital ; we have 
 at last finished the main sewer and its branches, and are thus 
 relieved of solicitude respecting the distribution of its contents. 
 At this early date (July 1st), nothing can be said respecting 
 the farm products, except that all the indications are favor- 
 able to a large crop. 
 
389 
 
 FINANCIAL EXHIBIT. 
 
 During the period covered by this report the hospital lias 
 received for all public patients $3.50 per week. Fortunately, 
 the cost of fuel, lights, and necessary provisions has been 
 generally lower than in previous years, and we are able to 
 make all repairs and improvements and show a balance on the 
 credit side. For details I refer you to the accompanying 
 financial tables. 
 
 ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 The monotony of hospital life during the long winter 
 evenings was relieved by a variety of entertainments, such as 
 dramatic representations, concerts, lectures, and readings. 
 In the summer evenings the hospital band has given outdoor 
 concerts twice every week. The following list serves to show 
 the variety and character of the entertainments provided : 
 
 Concert, hospital troupe, 
 
 “ Wesleyan Glee Club, 
 
 Dramatic entertainment, hospital troupe, .... 
 
 Roller skating, 
 
 Sociable, with dancing, 
 
 Lecture, illustrated with stereopticon, “ The Indians,” by 
 
 Frederick Gardiner, Jr., 
 
 “ illustrated with stereopticon, “China,” by Yan 
 Phou Lee, ....... 
 
 “ illustrated with stereopticon, “ California,” by Dr. 
 
 A. M. Shew, 
 
 “ illustrated with stereopticon, “ The Adirondacks,” 
 by Dr. A. M. Shew, . . . . ' . 
 
 “ “Egypt and the Nile,” by Rev. S. D. Phelps, 
 
 D.D 
 
 “ “ The Alps,” by Rev. C. A. Piddock, . 
 
 “ “ Ceylon and India,” by Mr. G. W. Leitch, 
 
 “ “ Nebraska,” by Rev. M. A. Holt, 
 
 Reading, Edward Fabian, 
 
 “ Mrs. Edna Chaffee Noble, 
 
 Mr. D. G. Lawson, 
 
 “ Miss Janie G. Savage, 
 
 “ Miss Louisa Leslie, 
 
 “ Prof. S. T. Ford, 
 
 Outdoor concerts, hospital band, 
 
 2 evenings. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 19 
 
390 
 
 DONATIONS. 
 
 From the estate of Frederic Marquand, $150, to be used for 
 the benefit of the patients. 
 
 Mrs. M. G. Perry, Southport, Conn., a box of books and 
 magazines. 
 
 Mr. T. S. Gold, Secretary State Board of Agriculture, 
 copies of Agricultural Reports from this and other States. 
 
 H. D. A. Ward, Esq., Middletown, illustrated papers, 
 magazines, and several books. 
 
 M. B. Copeland, Esq., a large package of bound volumes 
 and magazines. 
 
 Prof. W. O. Atwater, books and magazines. 
 
 William E. Thomas, Esq., one copy of Estey’s Organ 
 Method. 
 
 Mr. Charles E. Lyman, Middlefield, a wagon-load of early 
 apples. 
 
 Mr. George S. Parmelee, Middletown, six books. 
 
 Also, the publishers of the following newspapers gratuitous 
 copies furnished during the year : 
 
 The Courant, daily, 
 
 The Post, daily, . 
 
 The Times, weekly, 
 
 Religious Herald, weekly, 
 
 The Palladium, weekly, . 
 
 Tolland County Journal, weekly, 
 Tolland County Leader, weekly, 
 Sheltering Arms, monthly, 
 
 The Herald, daily, 
 
 The Sentinel and Witness, weekly, 
 The Constitution, weekly, 
 
 The Enterprise, weekly, . 
 
 The Review, weekly, 
 
 Bridgeport Standard, weekly, 
 Weekly Witness, weekly, 
 
 The Transcript, weekly, . 
 
 The Regions Beyond, monthly, 
 Prairie Home, weekly, 
 
 Hartford. 
 
 Hartford. 
 
 Hartford. 
 
 Hartford 
 
 New Haven. 
 
 Rockville. 
 
 Rockville. 
 
 New York. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Middletown. 
 
 Naugatuck. 
 
 Naugatuck. 
 
 Bridgeport. 
 
 New York. 
 
 Portland, Me. 
 
 London, Eng. 
 
 Carthage, Dak. 
 
391 
 
 SUNDAY RELIGIOUS SERVICES. 
 
 Rev. T. W. Coit, D.D., .... Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Rev. William North Rice, .... 
 
 Rev. John Townsend, .... 
 
 Rev. Harrison Closson, .... 
 
 Rev. C. A. Piddock, .... 
 
 Rev. W. A. Johnson, D.D., 
 
 Rev. W. Y. Kelley, D.D., .... 
 
 Rev. W. C. Foster, .... 
 
 Rev. John Binney, .... 
 
 Rev. C. A. Bond, .... 
 
 Rev. F. Gardiner, D.D., . 
 
 Rev. J. E. Allen, .... 
 
 Rev. Richard L. deZeng, .... 
 
 Rev. F. S. Hoffman, .... 
 
 Rev. J. W. Tuck, .... 
 
 Rev. Richard Povey, .... Portland, Conn. 
 
 Rev. A. W. Holt, .... Cromwell, 
 
 Rev. L. J. Dudley, . . . . “ 
 
 Rev. D. M. Pratt, .... Higganum, 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 No changes have occurred among the officers since our 
 last report. 
 
 I cannot close without once more expressing the deep 
 obligation I am under to those who are associated with me 
 in this work, for their continued and efficient service. To 
 the members of your board I am greatly indebted for 
 hearty and intelligent co-operation and personal kindness. 
 For all our blessings, and for that protection which has 
 guarded us from many dangers, renewed acknowledgments 
 are due to an overruling Providence. Reverently invoking 
 Ilis blessing, I again commend this institution to your con- 
 tinued oversight, and to the fostering aid of an enlightened 
 commonwealth. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ABRAM MARVIN SHEW, M.D., 
 
 Superinienden t. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., June 30, 1885. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the Greneral Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut : 
 
 The board of trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane, at the completion of twenty years from its organiza- 
 tion, respectfully present their twenty-first report. 
 
 As reported last year, the erection of the wing, completing 
 the new south hospital building, was by Governor Harrison 
 placed in charge of Messrs. Hayden, English, and Barrows 
 trustees, who have finished the work of building and furnish- 
 ing the same for less than the appropriation of fifty thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 They have the pleasure of returning to the State treasurer 
 a balance of two thousand dollars. 
 
 This building, which was designed for and is used by the 
 epileptic and other chronic insane, will accommodate three 
 hundred. 
 
 It is found well adapted for its purpose, and at a cost of 
 only four hundred dollars for each patient. They have large, 
 well-lighted and ventilated dining, day, office, and reception 
 rooms, dormitories and single rooms. 
 
 The interior arrangements are so complete in design and 
 finish as to be universally admired by experts from far and 
 near, who have examined and adopted them as models for 
 other buildings for a like purpose. 
 
 The cottage required for the residence of the late superin- 
 tendent, mentioned in the last report as in process of con- 
 struction, has been completed and occupied. 
 
 It is gratifying to reflect that the last weeks of the lamented 
 Dr. Sliew’s life were spent in this quiet retreat from the noise 
 
f 
 
 398 
 
 and bustle of the hospital building, where he was much more 
 comfortable than he would otherwise have been. 
 
 The trustees have long felt the need of additional pasture 
 land. Availing themselves of an opportunity to purchase, 
 they have secured seventy acres well adapted to their wants 
 in Middlefield, for the sum of $1,450. On this land they 
 have pastured seventeen head of cattle during the summer. 
 
 Other needed facilities and conveniences for the care of 
 the large and increasing family have been required and 
 furnished. To this work of twenty years they respectfully 
 invite the members of the general assembly and the people of 
 our honored commonwealth. They have now accommoda- 
 tions for twelve hundred and fifty patients and one hundred 
 and fifty others, whose duty it is to provide and care for these 
 afflicted ones. They hope and trust this will be found suf- 
 ficient. 
 
 At the first you did not require them to furnish accommo- 
 dations for insane convicts, but as soon as possible after the 
 passage of the present law, they provided a separate building 
 for this class. They respectfully report that they find serious 
 inconvenience in the practical working of this department. 
 
 As the State is now providing better accommodations at 
 Wethersfield, they hope your committee on State prison will 
 afford individual members of the board and others deeply 
 interested in this matter an opportunity to explain the wrong 
 of the present system. 
 
 The associating the work of a prison, with its bolts and 
 bars, with that of a curative institution, is not in the interest 
 of humanity. As it is known to those inside the prison walls 
 and to their friends outside that desirable transfers can be 
 obtained through a commission, there have been frequent 
 demands for changes, although so far as they can learn none 
 of their patients have desired a transfer to Wethersfield. 
 
 In their opinion, you should furnish complete accommoda- 
 tion inside your prison walls for all convicts, whether in sick- 
 ness or health, sane or insane. 
 
 By the provisions of the will of the late George Atwater, 
 
394 
 
 and on final settlement of the estate by the executor, the 
 hospital has come into possession of a fund amounting to 
 twenty-one thousand five hundred and forty-nine dollars and 
 seventy-one cents ($21,549.71) to be kept separate from the 
 other property of the hospital, and known as the Atwater 
 Fund. 
 
 This amount has been deposited with their treasurer, and 
 is to be kept invested under the direction of the trustees. 
 
 The annual income from this fund is to be used for the 
 support of the insane poor of Connecticut, giving preference 
 to those belonging to the town of Hamden. 
 
 By the will of the late Mrs. Mary L. Townsend of New 
 Haven, the executor, Judge Hayden, is directed to safely 
 invest and deposit a sufficient amount with the trustees, the 
 interest of which will be sufficient to provide for all time a 
 bed at the hospital, to be known as the Townsend bed ; the 
 executor to name the patient thus provided for. 
 
 This is the first opportunity afforded them of reporting 
 individual help in providing accommodation for the insane. 
 This supplementing the noble work of the State, from whom 
 they have received liberal appropriations, is a pleasure to the 
 trustees, affording evidence of the undiminished confidence 
 of the public. They hope other sums may be received, but 
 trust it may not all come through the executors, but rather 
 that individuals during life should provide free beds ; visit 
 the hospital and witness its practical working, and thereby 
 learn it is more blessed to give than to receive. 
 
 In the nineteenth report they made mention of the death, 
 on the 10th of March, of their lamented friend and fellow 
 co-trustee, Richard S. Fellowes of New Haven, who had for 
 many years prepared their reports. 
 
 The kind words there expressed and their sorrow for the 
 loss of one so dear to them and useful to the State were 
 written by the trustee from Colchester, Rev. S. G. Willard, 
 who is their valued secretary. His voice and pen have ren- 
 dered important help these twenty years, and at their last 
 quarterly meeting by unanimous vote Rev. Mr. Willard was 
 
395 
 
 requested to write this report, but alas ! this is not to be, as 
 it is the will of our Heavenly Father that others must, as 
 best they may, stand in the lot, and do the work so long and 
 well done by him. He is on a bed of sickness, having been 
 stricken down several months since. They continue to hope 
 and pray that he may be spared and restored to them, but if 
 not, as Christian men engaged in a work of charity and 
 mercy, in deep humility will say 66 Thy will be done.” 
 
 Before they close this report, one duty yet remains. The 
 charter granted at the May session, 1866, directed your 
 trustees after selecting a suitable site for the hospital to 
 elect a superintendent who should personally assist in the 
 erection of the buildings. Fortunately they made choice of 
 Dr. A. Marvin Shew to attend to and direct this matter. 
 For twenty years Dr. Shew was with them ; of his personal 
 worth and valued services they have made frequent mention. 
 No one could have accomplished more in hastening forward 
 the work, or have taken better care of the afflicted ones sent 
 to the hospital. He had marked executive ability ; inspired 
 hope in the patients ; confidence on the part of the public 
 and of those associated with him. Suitable testimonials will be 
 found on their record book. He died on Monday, the 12th 
 of April. Death was occa^oned by a fall on the stairway of 
 the main hospital which injured the spinal cord at the base 
 of the brain, and though not supposed fatal, after some 
 weeks of suffering terminated in apoplexy. 
 
 They are fortunate in filling the vacancy thus made by the 
 appointment of Dr. James Olmstead, who has been first 
 assistant physician for ten years, and is well qualified to fill 
 the office of superintendent. 
 
 For full particulars of the movement of population, num- 
 ber of individuals cared for during the year, the products of 
 the farm, amount paid for various articles purchased, etc., 
 they refer you to the separate reports annexed. 
 
396 
 
 The terms of office of members from New Haven and 
 Middlesex counties expire in June next, and of Litchfield 
 and Fairfield counties expire in 1888 during the recess of the 
 legislature. 
 
 HENRY B. HARRISON, 
 JAMES E. ENGLISH, 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 H. P. GEIB, M.D., 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 SAMUEL G. WILLARD, 
 CLARK E. BARROWS, 
 JOSEPH W. ALSOP, M.D., 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 ELISHA B. NYE, M.D., 
 
 New Haven . 
 New Haven . 
 Middletown . 
 Norfolk . 
 Stamford . 
 Windsor . 
 Tolland . 
 Colchester . 
 Eastford. 
 Middletown . 
 Middletown . 
 Middletown . 
 
 Middletown, June 30, 1886. 
 
 The Building Committee of 1886 for the completion of the 
 New South Hospital, were authorized to expend fifty thousand 
 dollars. Fortunate in their contracts and with their con- 
 tractors, they expended forty-eight thousand and returned 
 two thousand dollars to the State, trusting thereby to present 
 an object-lesson to others having a like duty. 
 
 [certificate.] 
 
 The books of the Treasurer’s Office show the return of the 
 above mentioned sum, and the Treasurer’s Report for 1887 
 contains that item among the receipts. 
 
 B. F. MARSH, 
 
 j For Treasurer. 
 
 Hartford, Conn., April 8, 1895. 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen — The report of the operations of the hospital 
 during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, is presented 
 with sadness and a deep sense of the loss sustained in the 
 death of that able and accomplished superintendent, who 
 from the birth of this institution until now has been your 
 agent in managing its affairs. Those whose daily duties 
 were most intimately associated with his, cherish most ten- 
 derly the memory of the genial traits of character which 
 endeared him to us, and still feel his influence over us, 
 months after that solemn April morning when he “ fell 
 asleep.” 
 
 During the past year our cares have not been light. At 
 its beginning 1,019 patients were in the hospital, and in the 
 following twelve months 361 persons were admitted — 175 
 men and 186 women ; making the total number under treat- 
 ment 1,380. The discharges, including deaths, were 234 — 
 114 men and 120 women ; leaving in the hospital at the end 
 of the year 1,146 patients. The average number present 
 was 1,077.84, of whom 487.86 were men and 589.98 were 
 women. 
 
 ADMISSIONS AND DISCHARGES. - 
 
 A large majority of the admissions, viz., 322 out of 361, 
 were by order of the probate court ; 13 persons were sent by 
 the criminal courts, and 12 by order of the Governor ; of 
 these 6 were convicts transferred from prison, and 6 were 
 soldiers or seamen honorably discharged from service in the 
 Civil War. Only 14 were admitted whose friends paid their 
 entire expenses. 
 
 Three persons, committed to our care in consequence of 
 incorrect opinions as to their mental condition, remained 
 under observation long enough to remove all doubt of their 
 sanity, and were discharged as not insane. 
 
398 
 
 As the appended tables show in detail, 18 of those admit- 
 ted were in a state of senile decay ; 20 were laboring under 
 other than the first or second attack of insanity ; 43 pre- 
 sented essentially incurable conditions, such as long-standing 
 epilepsy, imbecility, or paresis ; no less than 140 persons 
 were brought to the hospital after the protracted duration of 
 their malady had destroyed all reasonable hope of recovery. 
 
 Notwithstanding such unfavorable elements as these, we 
 were enabled to discharge 73 persons as recovered, and 29 
 others so greatly improved that they could again participate, 
 to some extent at least, in the duties and pleasures of their 
 home life. In some of these cases grateful letters from them- 
 selves or their friends (who little imagine how much such 
 welcome intelligence cheers and strengthens asylum workers) 
 assured us that the improvement, begun here, continued 
 until the patient was practically well. In this connection it 
 may be permitted to emphasize the oft-mentioned importance 
 of early treatment. As clearly shown in table XVII, about 
 50 per cent, of those admitted during the first three months 
 of their illness have recovered. But the ratio regularly 
 diminishes the longer treatment is postponed. Thus does 
 the unwise reluctance of people to “ incarcerate,” as they 
 sometimes say, their friends in a hospital, stand in the way 
 of their advantage. However, there is at least this satisfac- 
 tion — when they do avail themselves of opportunities to be- 
 come acquainted with the institution, with the benevolent 
 aims and earnest endeavors of those devoted to its success, 
 prejudices and unreasonable suspicions are dispelled from 
 candid minds. 
 
 Not by any means the weakest factor in giving a favorable 
 impression to newcomers and in contributing to the progress 
 of patients toward recovery has been the erection of isolated 
 buildings for the accommodation of chronic cases, many of 
 whom — untidy, destructive, epileptic, demented — would 
 obviously exert a painfully depressing effect upon some 
 curable cases formerly of necessity associated with them. 
 But as new wards have been provided, these old cases have 
 been transferred, and this process of elimination has been 
 
399 
 
 followed by a gradual renovation of old wards — removing 
 prison-like guards, introducing new and more home-like fur- 
 niture — until the contrast has become quite marked between 
 the present aspect of the wards into which new patients are 
 ushered and the appearance of the same wards five or more 
 years ago. To a patient entering the hospital to-day there is 
 very little that suggests the proximity of a large number of 
 chronic insane ; and the latter, while far enough away to 
 prevent the exercise of any injurious influence, are near 
 enough for convenience in caring for them and in providing 
 most economically everything necessary for their comfort. 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 The ratio of deaths during the year to the average num- 
 ber present was 7.14, which is below that of the majority of 
 previous years, as shown by the customary table of deaths 
 and their ratios from May 1, 1868, to June 30, 1886 : 
 
 Deaths and their Ratios from May 1, 1868, to June 30, 1886. 
 
 Official year. 
 
 Whole number of 
 patients. 
 
 Daily average No. 
 of patients. 
 
 Males. 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Ptr cent, on whole 
 No. of patients. 
 
 Per cent, on daily 
 average 
 
 No. of patients. 
 
 1868-69, 
 
 268 
 
 85.47 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5.59 
 
 17.57 
 
 1869-70, 
 
 343 
 
 225.17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 6.12 
 
 9.32 
 
 1870-71, 
 
 307 
 
 237.00 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 6.71 
 
 8.86 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 329 
 
 242.58 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 4.55 
 
 6.18 
 
 1872-73, 
 
 336 
 
 264.53 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6 25 
 
 7.86 
 
 1873-74, 
 
 524 
 
 239.51 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 35 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.30 
 
 1874-75, 
 
 605 
 
 425.80 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 36 
 
 5 95 
 
 8.45 
 
 1875-76, 
 
 616 
 
 452.64 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 
 5.35 
 
 7.31 
 
 1876, 8 mos ., 
 
 548 
 
 456.97 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 2.73 
 
 3.28 
 
 1876-77, 
 
 619 
 
 463.88 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 5.01 
 
 6.69 
 
 1877-78, 
 
 629 
 
 474.17 
 
 27 
 
 13 
 
 40 
 
 6.36 
 
 8.43 
 
 1878-79, 
 
 644 
 
 498.34 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 2.95 
 
 3.81 
 
 1879-80, 
 
 654 
 
 514.63 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 4.58 
 
 5 82 
 
 1880-81, 
 
 881 
 
 608.51 
 
 32 
 
 12 
 
 44 
 
 5.00 
 
 7.24 
 
 1881-82, 
 
 1079 
 
 789.27 
 
 47 
 
 32 
 
 79 
 
 7.32 
 
 10.01 
 
 1882-83, 
 
 1113 
 
 854.50 
 
 43 
 
 37 
 
 80 
 
 7.18 
 
 9.36 
 
 1883-84, 
 
 1103 
 
 883.20 
 
 34 
 
 21 
 
 55 
 
 4.98 
 
 6.22 
 
 1884-85, 7 m ., 
 
 1132 
 
 946.31 
 
 19 
 
 20 
 
 39 
 
 3.44 
 
 4.12 
 
 1885-86, 
 
 1180 
 
 1077.84 
 
 37 
 
 40 
 
 77 
 
 5.57 
 
 7.14 
 
In 13 instances death appeared due solely to the exhaust- 
 ing action of mental disorder. In other cases pathological 
 changes in various organs reached their inevitable termina- 
 tion ; thus 17 deaths resulted from pulmonary consumption, 
 4 from general paresis, 3 from diseases of the heart, 5 from 
 apoplexy. In one instance an accident, which could not 
 have been foreseen, resulted in the death of a patient. As 
 you are aware, such procedures as the law requires were 
 promptly taken, and the hospital management was exoner- 
 ated. It is gratifying to be able to note that no deaths were 
 occasioned by suicide or homicide ; and this notwithstanding 
 the fact that an unusually large number of suicidal cases 
 were under our care during a portion of the year, causing us 
 extreme anxiety and necessitating especial watchfulness on 
 the part of additional attendants. Of those who died, 15 had 
 passed their seventieth birthday and 19 had for ten years or 
 longer lived under the dark cloud of incurable insanity. 
 For such souls what a happy release it is to leave the body ! 
 Of them truly may it be said, u ’Tis the great birthright of 
 mankind to die.” 
 
 OCCUPATION 
 
 Of patients is an element of treatment which receives in- 
 creased attention year by year as the old shackles of me- 
 chanical restraints drop off. Each case when admitted is, 
 of course, made the object of individual study : this one 
 requires supporting treatment, that one sedatives. But 
 when acute symptoms are succeeded by convalescence, and 
 for the great mass of permanent residents, whose only home 
 is an asylum, the foremost question is what can be done to 
 divert their attention from hallucinations, to stop them from 
 nursing their delusions, to retain (when recovery is impossi- 
 ble) at least a remnant of intelligent activity. 
 
 During the last three months of the year the experiment 
 of having some of the convict insane do the work of mending 
 men’s garments proved successful, and we anticipate enlarg- 
 ing the sphere of their usefulness. Some patients, who are 
 on parole and are not counted as workers, cheerfully exert 
 
40 L 
 
 themselves for the common good : for example, to one of 
 them, a joiner by trade, we are indebted for the construction 
 this summer of a commodious rustic arbor on the southern 
 portion of the grounds. But the problem of occupation is 
 far from solution, and no duty taxes more severely the 
 ingenuity and resources of physicians in charge of the 
 chronic insane. 
 
 The accompanying table, taken from the attendants’ daily 
 reports June 30th, gives a partial idea of the occupations of 
 our patients, and shows that more are roused from listless 
 idleness than perhaps the casual visitor, hastily inspecting, 
 would suppose: 
 
 OCCUPATION. 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Farm . , 
 
 41 
 
 
 Stables 
 
 14 
 
 
 Grounds, 
 
 45 
 
 
 Workshops, 
 
 3 
 
 
 Furnaces 
 
 9 
 
 
 Bakery, 
 
 4 
 
 
 Laundry, 
 
 5 
 
 3i 
 
 Kitchens, 
 
 20 
 
 12 
 
 Dining-rooms 
 
 60 
 
 40 
 
 Wards 
 
 66 
 
 50 
 
 Centers, 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 Sewing-rooms, 
 
 
 28 
 
 Sewing in ward, 
 
 *7 
 
 37 
 
 Totals. 
 
 277 
 
 202 
 
 In urging rational activity we are often opposed by the in- 
 dolence of patients or by various arguments springing from 
 their delusions, and sometimes we are hampered by the igno- 
 rance of friends who do not appreciate the evils of inertia. 
 Much depends on the earnest cooperation of nurses and 
 other attendants who are alive to their responsibilities and 
 ready to sacrifice their own comfort for the welfare of their 
 patients. 
 
 All patients who are able at least walk out daily, and dur- 
 ing the warm weather the wards are for hours practically de- 
 
 26 
 
402 
 
 serted. Almost every summer day, unless it is too hot and 
 dusty, women from different wards in rotation go out for a 
 drive. Some of both sexes enjoy the privilege of walking 
 about the grounds unattended, and a few have more extended 
 parole. With these liberties it is natural that occasional at- 
 tempts to escape should occur. During the year, however, 
 only 2 \ per cent, of those under treatment succeeded in thus 
 making their exit — a number within the average of previous 
 years. It is especially gratifying to note the fact that no es- 
 cape resulted in any injury to persons or property. Some 
 quietly walked home and either remained there permanently 
 after a visit returned to the hospital ; others came back volun- 
 tarily or were brought back after a brief absence. 
 
 As during many years past, the utmost freedom is granted 
 the men, who to the number of nearly 100 occupy the old 
 dwelling-houses under your control. They go in and out at 
 pleasure, and at the farm cottage all are workers. 
 
 ACCOMMODATIONS. 
 
 Owing to the fact that the females in the hospital popula- 
 tion always outnumber the males, the new South Hospital 
 was, on its completion, devoted entirely to women, for whom 
 there is now plenty of room. Difficulty in accommodating 
 male patients is, however, to be apprehended. 
 
 IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 To keep in repair so large a property, exposed to the mis- 
 use of irrational persons, is a task requiring the closest 
 attention and constant mechanical labor. In your monthly 
 inspections you have observed that this important work was 
 not neglected. 
 
 The growth of the institution having created the necessity 
 of more systematic methods in the keeping and distribution 
 of stores, these matters were in the spring placed under the 
 charge of a storekeeper, who receives goods, issues supplies 
 on requisitions from housekeepers or other proper per- 
 sons, and is able to show an accurate account of what 
 
403 
 
 is given out. At this date (June 30th) the new system has 
 begun to run smoothly and bids fair to prove satisfactory. 
 For a storehouse the substantial brick building which had 
 been occupied as a joiners’ shop was so conveniently situated 
 and in every respect so appropriate that you wisely put it to 
 that use. A plain wooden structure 100 feet long by 30 
 feet wide, with a Mansard roof, which makes it practically 
 two stories high, was erected for a joiners’ shop. A 15- 
 horse-power engine was provided as motor for the machinery 
 with which the shop is equipped. 
 
 One of the most noteworthy improvements of the year was 
 laying an asphalt walk 5 feet wide and 1,760 feet long in front 
 of the three principal hospital buildings. At all times, and 
 especially during the stormy weather of winter, tin's walk has 
 been highly appreciated by the large number of persons hav- 
 ing occasion to use it. 
 
 As an additional safeguard in case of fire four iron ladders 
 reaching from the roof nearly to the ground have been at- 
 tached to the walls of the main building, with platforms 
 accessible from windows on each floor, the approaches being 
 under the control of attendants. 
 
 Owing to the constantly increasing amount of laundry 
 work, more room was needed for sorting tables and for drying 
 apparatus. A small addition, 14 feet by 25 feet, two stories 
 high, was therefore made to the laundry. 
 
 An upright tubular boiler, which you purchased for sum- 
 mer use at the middle hospital, does satisfactory service, 
 supplying steam enough for cooking and for hot- water boilers 
 in that building, with a much less amount of coal than here- 
 tofore. 
 
 During the year much has been done in the way of grading 
 around the new hospital building, and this portion of the 
 grounds, in spite of natural disadvantages, already gives 
 promise of becoming as attractive as any. 
 
404 
 
 THE FARM, 
 
 That great exercise ground for patients, has contributed 
 largely to their sustenance, as shown by the appended report 
 of products. Every year something is done toward improv- 
 ing the land under cultivation. The extension of the main 
 sewer has permitted a more systematic distribution of sew- 
 age over larger areas, and the result will undoubtedly prove 
 more and more profitable. During the past year or two our 
 farmer has been provided with facilities for boiling refuse 
 bones from the slaughter-house and kitchens; after boiling, 
 these are ground and used with advantage as a fertilizing 
 agent. 
 
 The importance of the ice crop and the frequent necessity 
 of gathering it expeditiously led to the construction last fall 
 of a rectangular basin 330 feet long and 100 feet wide, so 
 located that cakes of ice would run on a slightly inclined 
 plane directly to the ice house. This artificial pond was 
 filled from our water pipes when the reservoirs were over- 
 flowing, and the full supply of ice (800 tons) was housed 
 more quickly and economically than ever before. 
 
 FINANCES. 
 
 The price of board for all beneficiaries has continued at 
 the rate of $3.50 a week, and all the expenses of the hospital 
 have been met by the revenue derived from the board of 
 patients. In the appendix may be found the annual financial 
 statement and an abstract of vouchers, which gives in detail 
 an exhibit of expenditures. 
 
 ENTERTAINMENTS 
 
 In the amusement hall relieve the tedious length of many a 
 winter evening. They are eagerly anticipated and greatly 
 enjoyed by our patients. To the good friends who at much 
 personal inconvenience generously contributed in this way to 
 the pleasure of the unfortunate, hearty thanks are due. The 
 following list gives an idea of the variety and quality of these 
 performances : 
 
405 
 
 READINGS. 
 
 Mrs. Noble and Miss Daisy Ives, .... 
 
 1 evening. 
 
 Mr. Edward Fabian, 
 
 1 
 
 Miss Nettie Taylor, 
 
 1 
 
 MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 Hospital Troupe, . . . . 
 
 6 evenings. 
 
 Wesleyan Students, 
 
 1 
 
 Company from Hartford Retreat, .... 
 
 1 
 
 LECTURES. 
 
 “ Whale Fisheries,” Mr. Charles Nortbend, . 
 
 1 evening. 
 
 “ Reminiscences,” Mr. Charles Northend, 
 
 1 
 
 “ Electricity,” Mr. A. B. Morrill, .... 
 “ Indian Manners and Customs,” Capt. D. A. Tib- 
 
 1 
 
 balls, 
 
 1 
 
 “ Switzerland,” Rev. C. C. Salter, 
 
 1 
 
 “Rome,” Rev. C. C. Salter, 
 
 1 
 
 “ Trip in Europe,” Mr. Edward Douglas, 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 1 
 
 Concert, Hospital Orchestra assisted by Mrs. T. M. 
 
 Davis, 
 
 1 evening. 
 
 Sociable with dancing, 
 
 Cantata, “ Jephthah,” by friends from South 
 
 10 
 
 Farms Methodist Church, .... 
 
 1 
 
 Ventriloquism, Mr. H. T. Bryant, 
 
 1 
 
 At many of the entertainments the hospital orchestra has 
 rendered valuable assistance, and in summer the hospital 
 band has been encouraged for the sake of frequent open-air 
 concerts on the lawn. 
 
 RELIGIOUS SERVICES 
 
 Are held every Sunday afternoon in the hospital chapel, which 
 is filled with an appreciative audience. To clergymen of all 
 denominations, living in this and neighboring towns, we are 
 indebted for their kindness in conducting these exercises and 
 in ministering consolation at the bedside of the sick. 
 
406 
 
 DONATIONS. 
 
 We desire to acknowledge with thanks the following dona- 
 tions : 
 
 Mrs. E. B. Monroe, bound volumes of Illustrated Christian Weekly. 
 Mr. C. E. Church, bound volumes of N. Y. Tribune and several 
 books. 
 
 Mr. E. W. N. Starr, a copy of Holbrook’s Military Tactics. 
 
 Mrs. S. B. Davis, bound volumes of the Cultivator. 
 
 Mr. L. B Hazen, reports relating to the Worcester Lunatic Hospital. 
 Mr L. R. Hazen, the Century Magazine for the year. 
 
 Hon. Robbins Battell, large oil painting. 
 
 Clias. Scribner’s Sons, Encyclopaedia Britannica. 
 
 Mr. II. D. A Ward, Monthly Meteorological Reports, illustrated 
 papers and magazines. 
 
 Also, the publishers of the following newspapers for gratu- 
 itous copies regularly received : 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, . 
 
 “ Evening Post, . 
 
 “ Weekly Times, . 
 
 The Religious Herald, weekly, 
 New Haven Weekly Palladium, . 
 Tolland County Journal, weekly, 
 
 “ “ Leader, weekly, 
 
 Sheltering Arms, monthly, 
 
 The Herald, daily, 
 
 The Sentinel and Witness, weekly, 
 The Constitution, weekly, 
 Bridgeport Standard, weekly, 
 Weekly Witness, weekly, 
 
 Prairie Home, weekly, 
 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 
 New Haven, Conn. 
 Rockville, “ 
 
 H (( 
 
 New York, N. Y. 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Bridgeport, “ 
 New York, N. Y. 
 Carthage, Dak. 
 
 Recent newspapers, the illustrated weeklies and monthlies, 
 are seized with avidity, and we would be glad to get more of 
 them. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 When you called me from the agreeable duties of previous 
 years to a post of greater responsibility, the cordial support 
 of the experienced officers with whom I had so long been 
 associated was of inestimable value and is gratefully appre- 
 ciated. Dr. Stanley was fully prepared to take charge of the 
 
407 
 
 male patients in the main building and no addition to the 
 staff was required. 
 
 Thankful acknowledgments are also due to all in various 
 departments of labor who have faithfully served the hospital 
 and contributed their talents to the advantage of the patients. 
 
 With the assistance of those thus devoted to duty, and 
 with the blessing of the Heavenly Father, it may be confi- 
 dently expectly that this grand charity, wisely entrusted to 
 your charge, will continue to accomplish its beneficent work. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 JAMES OLMSTEAD, M.D., 
 
 /Superintendent, 
 
 Middletown, Conn., June 30, 1886. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the Greneral Assembly of the State of 
 Connecticut , January Session , 1889 : 
 
 The Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane respectfully present this their twenty-second report, 
 which covers the two years from June 30, 1886, to June 30, 
 1888. 
 
 By referring to the superintendent’s report and the several 
 reports which accompany it, it will be seen that the general 
 condition of the institution is most satisfactory, and that the 
 State has good cause to congratulate itself on the result of 
 the liberal and humane policy it has invariably pursued for 
 the relief and care of its insane. Owing to the large increase 
 in the number of patients, the expense of their keep per cap- 
 ita is less, therefore the trustees feel justified in reducing 
 the price of board after the 1st of November next from |3.50 
 per week to $3.20 per week. 
 
 Since the last report to your honorable body the following 
 additions and improvements have been made without calling 
 on the State for any especial appropriation, namely: 
 
 An addition to each side of the main entrance of the mid- 
 dle hospital for medical offices and reception rooms — a want 
 much felt heretofore. 
 
 Addition of work-room to the annex, which has proved of 
 great benefit, affording good accommodation for the employ- 
 ment (which is very necessary to health) of the convict and 
 criminal patients therein confined, of which there are now 
 sixteen convicts and nine criminals. 
 
 Erection, long had in contemplation, of a greenhouse and 
 conservatory on the south side of the main hospital. 
 
 Erection of cottage east of the annex for the patients who 
 
409 
 
 work out of doors, some seventy in number, and the hired 
 farm laborers, by which we have been able to give up the 
 “ Silver-mine house,” leased for some years past, which was 
 ill adapted to such uses and inconvenient from being at a 
 distance from the center. 
 
 Erection of coal-bunkers in connection with the middle and 
 south hospitals. 
 
 Laying new and larger water-main from the lower reservoir 
 to the hospital, thus affording an abundant supply of water 
 in any emergency. 
 
 Laying asphalt and flag-stone walks. 
 
 Erection of an isolated brick building for painter’s supplies, 
 thus decreasing the danger of fire arising from the storage 
 of such material. 
 
 At the last session of the General Assembly James G. 
 Gregory, M.D., of Norwalk (formerly one of the board), was 
 appointed trustee for Fairfield county, to date from July 1, 
 1888. 
 
 The Governor appointed Costello Lippitt, Esq., of Norwich, 
 to fill the vacancy for New London county, caused by the death 
 of the Rev. Samuel G. Willard. 
 
 Owing to the change of law as to the appointment of trus- 
 tees (see Chap. 5, Sec. 88, of the Public Acts of 1887), 
 whereby the number of the u Local Trustees” is increased 
 from three to four, and the appointment made by the Senate, 
 instead of by the board of trustees, as heretofore, L. M. 
 Leach, Esq., of Durham, was appointed as the fourth “ Local 
 Trustee ” at the January session, 1887. 
 
 J. W. Alsop was elected secretary of the board of trustees, 
 to succeed the late Rev. Mr. Willard. 
 
 During this session of the General Assembly there should 
 be appointed the following trustees : For Hartford and Tol- 
 land counties, whose terms expire July 1, 1889 ; for Wind- 
 ham and New London counties, whose terms expire July 1, 
 1890 ; in place of two “ Local Trustees ” whose terms expire 
 respectively December 1, 1888, and December 1, 1889. 
 
 A legacy of $1,000 has been received from the estate of 
 
410 
 
 George D. Sargent of Hartford, the income to be applied to 
 the comfort of a patient named in the will during her lifetime, 
 and after the principal to revert in fee to the hospital. 
 
 We would especially call attention and careful considera- 
 tion to those parts of the superintendent’s report referring to 
 the increases during the last ten years in the number of in- 
 sane needing care, which has exceeded even the liberal ac- 
 commodation provided for them by the State, and to the need 
 of more land for farming purposes, the power to purchase 
 real estate, without special act of the legislature, having been 
 taken from the board in a revision of the statutes. 
 
 The thanks of the board are due to our able superintendent, 
 James Olmstead, Jr., M.D., and to his most capable staff, and 
 to all the heads of departments, for the efficiency and heart- 
 felt interest shown in their work. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 PHINEAS C. LOUNSBURY, 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN, 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, 
 COSTELLO LIPPITT, 
 CLARK E. BARROWS, 
 JAMES E. ENGLISH, 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, 
 
 JAMES G. GREGORY, M.D., 
 JOSEPH W. ALSOP, M.D., 
 ELISHA B. NYE, M.D., 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 LEYERETT M. LEACH, 
 
 Ridgefield. 
 Windsor. 
 Tolland. 
 Norwich. 
 Rastford. 
 New Haven. 
 Middletown. 
 Norfolk. 
 Norwalk. 
 Middletown. 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 Durham. 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen — Complying with the by-laws which you have 
 established, it becomes my duty to submit to you a report of 
 the condition of the hospital during the biennial period end- 
 ing June 30, 1888. 
 
 The changes in the number of patients under treatment 
 
 have been as follows : 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Present July 1, 1886, 
 
 523 
 
 623 
 
 1,146 
 
 Admitted, 
 
 375 
 
 395 
 
 770 
 
 Discharged, 
 
 330 
 
 294 
 
 624 
 
 Present June 30, 1888, . 
 
 568 
 
 724 
 
 1,292 
 
 Of these 1,292 patients 
 
 1,179 were committed to the hospital by the Probate Courts. 
 
 12 were committed by their friends as private patients. 
 
 17 were committed by the Soldiers’ Hospital Board. 
 
 21 were committed by the Governor’s order. 
 
 8 were committed by the County Commissioners. 
 
 46 were committed by the Superior Court. 
 
 14 were committed by the Police Courts. 
 
 The last day of the fiscal year finds these patients dis- 
 tributed in the several buildings as follows : 
 
 In the Main House, ....... 508 
 
 In the Middle House, ....... 370 
 
 In the South House, ....... 278 
 
 In the Annex, ........ 31 
 
 In the Main Cottage, ....... 42 
 
 In the Farm Cottage, . . . . . . .19 
 
 In the Fallon Cottage, ...... 20 
 
 In the Roberts Cottage, ...... 23 
 
 In the Carter Cottage, ...... 1 
 
 Total, 
 
 1,292 
 
412 
 
 And in taking care of them the resident officers are aided 
 by 179 persons, employed thus: 
 
 93 in the wards and sewing-rooms. 
 
 33 in the kitchens and bakery. 
 
 18 in the laundry. 
 
 14 on the farm and gardens. 
 
 16 mechanics. 
 
 5 miscellaneous help. 
 
 That comparatively so few should suffice for the care of so 
 many would be surprising were it not borne in mind that a 
 large number of the insane habitually participate in various 
 industrial pursuits and thus lessen the aggregate cost of sup- 
 port, while getting for themselves the benefit of occupation. 
 In the summer more (in the winter a little less) than half of 
 the male patients are employed, and at all seasons about 40 
 per cent, of the women. Nevertheless, the question is often 
 asked, Why are so many patients to be seen absolutely idle ? 
 In reply, take for instance a bright June day when work 
 enough awaits all who can be induced to do anything, and 
 the record is thus tabulated. For the form of the table 
 credit is due to the reports of the South Yorkshire Asylum 
 at Wadsley, England. 
 
 NUMBER OF PATIENTS IDLE AND REASONS FOR IDLENESS. 
 
 Sick, or too feeble, . 
 Aged and infirm, 
 Too low spirited, 
 Too much excited, . 
 Too little mind, 
 Able, but unwilling, 
 
 Males. Females. Total. 
 
 27 50 77 
 
 31 70 101 
 
 14 33 47 
 
 20 53 73 
 
 120 193 313 
 
 38 84 122 
 
 Total number of patients idle, 
 
 250 483 733 
 
 Another frequent question is, How many of these people 
 are likely to recover ? And in reply candor permits hopeful 
 prophecies in comparatively few cases. This may be inferred 
 even from the single fact that 86 per cent, of the 1,292 
 patients remaining at the end of the year (table XXYI) 
 have been insane longer than twelve months, and have thus 
 
413 
 
 passed the limit within which (table XIX) most recoveries 
 occur. More than half of them, by the way, have been 
 inmates of the hospital longer than five years. Furthermore, 
 the other points to be considered in prognosis, such as the 
 form of insanity, hereditary influences, vicious habits, the 
 depressing effects of poverty or disease, oftener darken than 
 brighten the outlook. Nevertheless, of the whole number 
 admitted since the opening of the hospital, nearly 21 per 
 cent, have recovered after being under treatment usually 
 several months, exceptionally several years, as detailed in 
 table XVIII. The majority of these persons were brought 
 to the hospital within six months after insanity developed 
 (table XVII), and had never been insane before. Thus of 
 the 177 persons who recovered their reason during the last 
 two years 116 (62 per cent.) had experienced their first at- 
 tack of insanity, 33 the second, 9 the third, 4 the fourth, 5 
 the fifth, 3 the sixth, 1 the^ seventh, and in 16 cases the his- 
 tory of previous attacks was unknown. 
 
 Looking further at the statistical tables, it may be observed 
 (table V) that of the whole number admitted, 2,780 are 
 recorded as natives of the United States and 1,755 of other 
 countries. But were it possible to trace the parentage of all 
 these cases how much fuller would be our information as to 
 the foreign element represented in the hospital population. 
 Thus during the last year alone 227 natives of the United 
 States were admitted, but the parents of only 178 were born 
 here ; 144 were of Irish parentage, 25 of German, 20 of 
 English, and the small remainder of Swedish, Scotch, Italian, 
 and other nationalities as indicated in the table. The influ- 
 ence of immigration in so far as relates to the importation 
 from abroad of persons already insane, which is reported to 
 have considerably increased the insane population in the 
 neighboring States of New York and Massachusetts, has not 
 especially affected the number of admissions. But immi- 
 grants are occasionally admitted, who after struggling un- 
 successfully for perhaps several months to establish them- 
 selves in this strange land, become desperately homesick, 
 
414 
 
 discouraged, and finally insane. Two such cases received 
 during the period covered by this report improved so much 
 at the hospital that their friends were at last able to send 
 them back to the land of their birth with good reason to 
 hope that their cure would thus be perfected. 
 
 Table XI shows that in addition to cases of undeniable 
 insanity, there have been admitted to the hospital during the 
 last two years 25 inebriates and 4 sane persons. The word 
 inebriety appears to be undergoing such an extension of its 
 original meaning as to be applied not only to a morbid con- 
 dition of which the habit of alcoholic intemperance is the 
 essential element, but also to cases in which other drugs are 
 habitually used to excess. Under it, therefore, are grouped 
 in the table, along with cases of the alcohol habit, such few 
 specimens of the opium and of the cocaine habit as have 
 been brought to the hospital. All three habits are, indeed, 
 sometimes combined in the same individual, causing func- 
 tional disturbances, which (except for the convenient name 
 inebriety) some linguist might be tempted to label dipso- 
 morphinococainomania. Granting that there is a disease 
 inebriety, entitled to an independent place in the category 
 of diseases, it would seem to be something quite distinct 
 from insanity ; and physicians connected with institutions 
 for the insane, whether regarding these habits as diseases or 
 vices, have repeatedly expressed the opinion that the confine- 
 ment of inebriates among the insane is unfortunate for both. 
 The inebriates, as soon as they rally from the toxic effects of 
 the drug which enslaves them, and seriously reflect upon 
 their situation, begin to chafe under the restrictions which 
 govern the insane, protest against association with lunatics 
 whom they perhaps view with supercilious pity, are not 
 usually disposed to engage in any useful occupation and are 
 often prone to plot mischief. They are rarely willing to be 
 deprived of their liberty long enough to insure a cure of 
 their habit, being over-confident of their ability to keep good 
 resolutions. But so long as they do stay in the hospital 
 they fill space which the insane need. 
 
415 
 
 Reviewing the records of the last five calendar years 
 (1883-7 inclusive) it is ascertained that 16 persons have 
 been admitted, who, while in the hospital, manifested no evi- 
 dence of insanity, and accordingly in due time were dis- 
 charged as not insane. It may fairly be presumed that they 
 have remained so, as they have not been returned to the hos- 
 pital. Seven of them were criminals, who either experienced 
 brief attacks of insanity terminated by recovery during the 
 time spent in jail, or else they successfully feigned insanity 
 to escape the penalties of crime. The remaining nine were 
 committed by probate courts. One of these was supposed to 
 be an epileptic, but during six months spent at the hospital 
 no seizures or mental disturbances were observed. Another 
 was erroneously believed to be suicidal. In three cases there 
 was a history of family quarrels, and doubtless the statements 
 of angry relatives deceived the physicians who certified to 
 insanity. All of these patients found that the laws of this 
 State, which make the commitment of the insane to hospitals 
 as informal as possible, leave the return to freedom and 
 friends equally unimpeded when hospital care is no longer 
 requisite. During this same period of five years the total 
 number of probate court commitments received at this hos- 
 pital was 1,507, and of these only nine were not insane ! Is 
 it likely that in localities, where even the most extreme pre- 
 cautions are enforced with relation to the commitment of the 
 insane, fewer mistakes occur ? 
 
 The number of patients who died during -the biennial 
 period was (table I) 81 in the year 1886-7 and 105 in the 
 year 1887-8. The ratio of deaths to the average number 
 present in each of the two years respectively was (table 
 XXVIII) 6.78 and 8.26. As compared with the previous 
 years the former is below and the latter above the average 
 death rate. The explanation of last year’s excess is to be 
 found in the increased number of old people who end their 
 lives in the hospital. As shown in table XXII nearly half 
 of those who died last year had reached and some had passed 
 far beyond the age of 60. Not uncommonly, in the aged, 
 
416 
 
 death appears due solely to exhaustion of vitality, and every- 
 body knows that as a general rule senile degeneration weak- 
 ens the ability of the system to resist any disease. After 
 old age, the following were the most prominent causes of 
 death, named in order of frequency: Apoplexy, phthisis, 
 maniacal exhaustion, general paresis, diseases of the heart, 
 epilepsy, pneumonia, and a few others, as detailed in table 
 XXIII. It is a rather remarkable fact that for nearly three 
 years it was not necessary to record a single death by suicide. 
 Not that there was a dearth of suicidal cases among the 
 admissions, for during the last two years forty-five patients 
 were received who either shortly before or after their en- 
 trance into the hospital actually attempted self-destruction ; 
 and several others were so strongly suspected of suicidal ten- 
 dencies that they were put under special watch. Notwith- 
 standing all precautions, however, last spring two patients 
 succeeded in thus terminating their careers. These painful 
 occurrences were, of course, reported to the proper authori- 
 ties, who carefully investigated them and found that no 
 blame rested upon the hospital management. 
 
 IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 Besides ordinary minor repairs, which in an establishment 
 of this size require daily attention, and the more considerable 
 expenditures of labor frequently necessary to keep all parts 
 of the institution in a state of preservation and usefulness, 
 the noteworthy improvements have been as follows : 
 
 1st. A one-story brick addition (16x16 feet) was erected 
 on each side of the tower at the entrance of the middle house, 
 providing two much needed rooms — one a medical office, the 
 other a reception room, where patients can see their friends. 
 
 2d. An addition to the annex, two stories high and about 
 thirty-two feet square, was strongly built of stone, with inte- 
 rior walls of brick. The first story was divided into seven 
 bedrooms, opening into a central corridor, and the second 
 story made a single apartment, which has been used with 
 success as a work-room. Here such occupations as cobbling, 
 
417 
 
 mending clothing, making mattresses, and caning chairs 
 shorten tedious hours of confinement. 
 
 3d. A small isolated fireproof storehouse was erected for 
 the painter’s supplies. 
 
 4th. Two coal-bunkers, each holding about 500 tons, 
 have been constructed in connection with the middle and 
 south boiler-houses. 
 
 5th. A cast-iron water-main, eight inches in diameter, has 
 been laid alongside the old six-inch main from the lower res- 
 ervoir to the hospital, a distance of nearly 6,000 feet. The 
 connections have been so arranged that water may be drawn 
 from the upper reservoir as well as from the lower through 
 either main, thus insuring, in the event of repairs along one 
 line, an uninterrupted supply by the other; and in case of 
 fire the increased pressure which has been obtained will prove 
 extremely useful. 
 
 6th. The asphalt walks have been continued so as to con- 
 nect the middle kitchen with the base of supplies and the 
 joiner shop with other work rooms. 
 
 7th. A greenhouse (100 x 22 feet) has been built adjacent 
 to the southeast corner of the main house and in line with 
 the south end of the wing. The frame-work of the super- 
 structure is of iron ; the heating apparatus, ventilating 
 machinery, and all internal arrangements are believed to be 
 sufficiently complete for practical purposes. The experience 
 of even one winter has plainly demonstrated the value of 
 this structure in the preservation and propagation of the 
 plants, which to the number of 14,275 were set out last 
 spring, adding much to the appearance of the grounds and to 
 the gratification of the patients. Back of the greenhouse a 
 vegetable cellar was excavated, above which, in a room 
 100x18 feet, is a bowling alley, a billiard table, and some 
 simple gymnastic apparatus for the use of the patients, who 
 find here a covered play-ground when wintry or stormy 
 weather forbids exercise out of doors. 
 
 8th. A cottage, one story, and French roof, making it 
 practically two stories high, has been erected about midway 
 27 
 
418 
 
 between the main kitchen and the barns, providing lodging 
 for the hired farm help and for 74 patients, most of whom 
 are in the habit of working out of doors. It is built of brick 
 and is supplied with with gas, water, and steam-heating 
 apparatus. The food is all prepared in the main kitchen. 
 The dining-room, living room, bath-room, and water-closets 
 are on the first floor. Above is a large dormitory and two 
 small bedrooms for patients. There are no window guards, 
 but the lower sashes are supplied with stops and the doors 
 with locks, in the belief, as Dr. Yellowlees of the Glasgow 
 Royal Asylum expresses it, that “ The lines of restriction 
 are as wide as welfare permits ; but such line are needful and 
 afford invaluable support when judgment and self-control are 
 weakened.” 
 
 By the construction of the above-mentioned cottage, by 
 putting beds in attics and other inappropriate [daces and by 
 overcrowding dormitories, a tolerably successful effort has 
 been made to keep pace with the demand for room. But 
 now the hospital is absolutely full, and again all the 
 aggravating annoyances and discomforts incidental to delay 
 in admission of patients are to be endured. In round num- 
 bers there are (table XXVII) 800 more insane persons in 
 the hospital now than were present ten years ago — an 
 average increase of 80 annually. If the next decade does 
 not witness as large a rate of increase as the last, it certainly 
 seems reasonable to expect that additional accommodations 
 at the rate of 50 or 70 beds annually will be needed. And 
 in this connection arises a question as to the wisdom of 
 indefinitely augmenting this institution. Are not the advan- 
 tages of a large hospital with its separate buildings and 
 numerous wards already attained as far as is practicable 
 here? Hitherto undoubtedly much expense has been saved 
 by supplementing an existing foundation instead of starting a 
 new plant elsewhere. But further enlargement would involve 
 purchasing more land, constructing another reservoir, in- 
 creasing the amount of live stock, and making considerable 
 additions to the laundry, the bakery, and other parts of the 
 
419 
 
 establishment. The economic argument thus loses much of 
 its force. This is not, however, the only point to be consid- 
 ered. The serious evils consequent upon overgrowth are to 
 be guarded against, and the welfare of the insane themselves 
 is surely of prime importance. What will most promote 
 this end, whether it be additions here, or county homes for 
 selected cases, or the family plan now being tried with some 
 success in Massachusetts, or some other policy, merits careful 
 inquiry. 
 
 FINANCES. 
 
 The amount of receipts and disbursements during each of 
 two preceding years is exhibited in the financial statements 
 herewith submitted. As in previous years, all the expenses 
 of the institution (specified in the accompanying abstracts of 
 vouchers) have been paid out of the moneys received for the 
 support of patients, and a balance remains to the hospital, 
 the price of board continuing at the rate of $3.50 a week. 
 In a community of 1,300 irresponsible invalids to be provided 
 with lodging, food, medical aid, and every necessary attention, 
 it is a fortunate circumstance — if indeed it be not essential 
 — to have a certain amount of cash in reserve for contin- 
 gencies. Not only may the aggregate cost of support be 
 affected very considerably by changes in the prices of staple 
 commodities, but special emergencies, such as fires or epi- 
 demic diseases, are liable to occur and necessitate immediate 
 and heavy expenditures, as they have in other similar places. 
 One contingency, viz., lack of room, which could not other- 
 wise have been met in the interval between the sessions of 
 the legislature, you have happily been able to combat during 
 the past year or two by supplying additional accommodations 
 for patients as the capacity of the hospital became exhausted. 
 
 THE FARM 
 
 during the last fiscal year has yielded more than ever 
 before, and its value as a means of diminishing the cost of 
 support may readily be inferred from the farmer’s report 
 herewith submitted. Many poor people might well envy our 
 
420 
 
 patients the luxury of receiving quantities of vegetables 
 fresh from the farm daily during the season. Nevertheless, 
 there is need of larger crops than can now be obtained ; for 
 the number of patients has multiplied beyond expectation, 
 while the amount of land under cultivation has remained essen- 
 tially the same. Admitting that a farm suituable for 600 
 patients is not sufficient for twice that number, it would 
 obviously be an advantage- if additional tillable land were 
 located near the barns and within range of irrigation by 
 sewage. 
 
 During the winter months, when out-of-door exercises are 
 limited, it has been the aim to have something for the enjoy- 
 ment of the intelligent minority of the patients in the amuse- 
 ment hall on two evenings of each week. In carrying out 
 this design officers and employes have labored with a degree 
 of zeal deserving high praise. We have fortunately been 
 able to depend on the hospital orchestra for music, which is 
 an essential feature at most of these entertainments. The 
 list given below also makes mention of a goodly number of 
 friends outside of the hospital who have graciously given 
 their time and talents to this benevolent work. 
 
 EVENING ENTERTAINMENTS, 1886-8. 
 
 MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC. 
 
 By home talent, seven plays, one operatta, seven concerts, at one* of 
 which Mrs. T. M. Davis assisted. 
 
 By young people of the Universalist Society, Middletown, two plays. 
 
 By Messrs. Franklin and Smith, two concerts. 
 
 By the Young People’s Literary Society, Middletown, one play. 
 
 By the Wesleyan Glee Club, one concert. 
 
 By the Middletown Musical Club, one concert. 
 
 LECTURES. 
 
 By Rev. P. H. Whaley, “ The Charleston Earthquake. ” 
 
 By Mrs. E. M. Ramon, “ France and Her People.” 
 
 By Mr. Ernest King, “ The Imagination.” 
 
 By Mr. Ernest King, “ John Bunyan.” 
 
 By Mr. Ernest King, “ A Journey to the Gold Regions of Australia.” 
 
 By Mr. J. N. Stickney, “Egypt and the Egyptians.” 
 
 By Prof. J. C. Van Benschoten, “A Tour in Greece.” 
 
421 
 
 By Rev. A. W. Ilazen, “Switzerland.” 
 
 By Mr. A. B. Morrill, “ The Chemistry of a Candle Flame.” 
 
 By Prof. William North Rice, “ A Trip to Bermuda.” 
 
 By Mr W. E. Hermance, “ From the Yellowstone Park to the Gulf 
 of Mexico in a Canoe.” 
 
 READINGS. 
 
 By Miss Sarah E. Rounds, Mrs. W. F Sherwin, Miss Janie G. Savage, 
 Mr. S. T. Ford, Miss Nettie Taylor, Miss Olive F. Browe. 
 
 By Miss Ida II Johnson, alone, and with vocal music by Miss L E. 
 King. 
 
 By Mr. E. Allen Noble, with vocal music by Miss L. E. King. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Christmas entertainment, 2 evenings. 
 
 Stereopticon views, described by Drs. Noble and 
 
 Fisher, 3 “ 
 
 Stereopticon views, described by Mr. Henry Marsh, 1 “ 
 
 Parasol drill by a company of young ladies, under 
 
 the leadership of Col. Elliott, . . . . 1 “ 
 
 Dancing parties, . . . . . . .25 “ 
 
 Ventriloquism, by H. T. Bryant, . . . . 1 “ 
 
 On summer evenings the band has played acceptably twice 
 a week in front of the principal buildings alternately, in 
 order that the music might reach the ears of all the patients. 
 
 In addition to the entertainments for patients, a course of 
 lectures to attendants on medical topics connected with their 
 duties was delivered by the assistant physicians, who displayed 
 a very commendable spirit in thus voluntarily assuming the 
 task of giving instruction which cannot fail 'to promote the 
 efficiency of the ward service. 
 
 RELIGIOUS SERVICES. 
 
 Most grateful acknowledgments are due to the clergymen 
 of various denominations who have conducted religious ser- 
 vices in the chapel regularly on the Sabbath, as in previous 
 years, and who have cheerfully responded to calls in behalf 
 of individual patients. It is believed that no rational desire 
 for spiritual consolation has been disregarded. 
 
422 
 
 DONATIONS. 
 
 We are under obligations to the friends of the hospital who 
 have thoughtfully remembered our patients as follows : Mr. 
 Charles W. Church, 19 books ; Mr. T. S. Gold, Secretary 
 State Board of Agriculture, 26 volumes of agricultural reports ; 
 Mrs. E. B. Monroe, bound volumes of the Christian Union , 
 Illustrated Christian Weekly , and box of miscellaneous read- 
 ing matter ; Mrs. M. G. Perry, box of books, magazines, and 
 papers; Mr. H. D. A. Ward, 45 books, monthly metereologi- 
 cal reports, illustrated papers, and magazines ; Mr. L. R. 
 Ilazen, current numbers of the Century Magazine ; Dr. J. E. 
 Griswold and others of Glastonbury, two large packages of 
 magazines and newspapers ; Hon. H. Sidney Hayden and 
 others of Windsor, two boxes of magazines; Dr. J. W. Alsop, 
 Mr. George H. Hulbert, and Prof. W. 0. Atwater, large pack- 
 ages of periodicals ; Mr. A. R. Parshley and Mr. L. B. Cooley, 
 illustrated papers and magazines ; Mrs. H. E. Eddy and Miss 
 A. K. Greenfield, religious papers; the Y. M. C. A. of Mid- 
 dletown, Mr. George Dutting, and Mr. M. J. Sherman, newspa- 
 pers ; Mr. J. H. Bunce, a wolf-skin rug ; Miss Rosella Lloyd, an 
 invalid’s chair ; resident officers of the hospital, books, peri- 
 odicals, and pictures ; and many unknown persons, who have 
 deposited reading matter in the “ hospital box,” which Mr. 
 Hazen kindly permits to stand in his store. 
 
 In behalf of the patients, who often ask for papers printed 
 near their homes, it is a pleasure to thank the publishers of 
 the following named newspapers for gratuitous copies : 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, . 
 
 . Hartford, 
 
 “ Evening Post, . 
 
 n 
 
 “ Weekly Times, . 
 
 t i 
 
 The Religious Herald (weekly), . 
 
 ( t 
 
 New Haven Weekly Palladium, . 
 
 . New Haven, 
 
 “ “ The Morning News, 
 
 < < (< 
 
 The Tolland County Journal (weekly), . 
 
 . Rockville, 
 
 The Herald (daily), 
 
 . Middletown, 
 
 The Constitution, .... 
 
 i 4 
 
 The Evening Journal (daily), 
 
 i € 
 
 The Stand ard( weekly), . 
 
 . Bridgeport, 
 
 The Sheltering Arms (monthly), . 
 
 . New York. 
 
423 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 During the biennial period Dr. Edwin A. Down, a recent 
 graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New 
 York, whose qualifications for usefulness were known by 
 previous employment in other capacities, was added to the 
 staff of assistant physicians ; Mrs. Ida E. Kendrick succeeded 
 Mrs. Waite as housekeeper; Mr. B. F. Gould, who for eight 
 years faithfully served as supervisor, and latterly, with the 
 aid of his wife, as storekeeper, resigned. The vacancies thus 
 made were filled by the appointment of Mr. Frank M. Smith 
 as supervisor and Mr. John M. Sawyer as storekeeper. 
 
 All of the officers who have favored me with their aid have 
 greatly lightened the cares of management by loyal interest 
 in the execution of your benevolent designs and by efficient 
 supervision of details in their respective departments. Hon- 
 orable mention might also be made of others, in all grades of 
 the service, who have steadfastly persevered in well doing 
 under frequent trials and discouragements, and are entitled 
 to share in the credit for what has been accomplished. 
 
 Finally, gentlemen, believe me deeply grateful for the sup- 
 port which your counsels and guidance have given. While 
 recalling the many proofs of your clemency, one misses the 
 genial face of that long-time member of your board, who, 
 within this biennial period, has passed to his rest. May all 
 of us in the hospital who knew and loved good Mr. Willard 
 cultivate his abounding sympathy with the unfortunate, and 
 imitate his self-denying efforts to infuse comfort and cheer 
 into the lives of others. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 JAMES OLMSTEAD, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., June 30, 1888. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut , January Session , 1891 : 
 
 The board of trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane respectfully present this, their twenty-third report, 
 covering the two years from June 30, 1888, to June 30, 1890. 
 
 We are thankful to be enabled to report the condition of 
 the institution as good in every respect, and we believe that 
 the State may justly regard with satisfaction and pride the 
 results of its wise and liberal provision for its insane. 
 
 As was to be expected, the increase in the number of 
 patients, some eighty-five in the past two years, has reduced 
 somewhat the expense of “ support” per capita, and we be- 
 lieve that we would be justified in still further reducing the 
 “ price for keeping ” the pauper patients (General Statutes, 
 Sec. 3614, Chap. 224, Title 67), but by so doing the State 
 alone would be directly affected, and the towns from which 
 the patients come derive no benefit; therefore, we respect- 
 fully suggest that the act relating to the u Commitment of 
 Insane Paupers and Indigent Persons” (Sec. 487, General 
 Statutes, 1888), be so amended that the “ two dollars and 
 fifty cents per week of the expense of support” of each pau- 
 per patient, now paid by the town chargeable with his “ sup- 
 port,” be made to include “ clothing” as well as “ support,” 
 the increased cost of which to the hospital would be about 
 equal to the reduction “in price for keeping” we should 
 otherwise recommend. 
 
 During the last biennial period the following much-needed 
 improvements have been made : 
 
 A barn for farm horses, wagons, etc. 
 
 A new and larger ice-house. 
 
425 
 
 A cottage for employes. 
 
 An additional reservoir, the necessity for which has long 
 been most pressingly felt, is in process of construction, and 
 when completed will, together with the now existing ones, 
 afford an ample supply at all times and for all emergencies, 
 we believe. 
 
 The additional accommodation called for by the special 
 act passed at the last session of the legislature, viz ., “That 
 the board of trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the In- 
 sane be and are hereby authorized and instructed to erect 
 and furnish, as soon as practicable, a suitable building, on 
 land owned by the State, at Middletown, for the further ac- 
 commodation and care of the insane poor of the State, said 
 building to furnish accommodations for at least one hundred 
 and twenty persons. The board of trustees are hereby 
 authorized and empowered to expend from the funds of said 
 hospital an amount necessary for this purpose,” has been 
 provided for by additions to the wings of the south hospital 
 of forty-eight rooms, and by doubling the capacity of the main 
 cottage, so-called, giving one hundred additional beds in that 
 building. 
 
 For details of the above and of the general work of the hos- 
 pital, and for certain recommendations, all of which receive 
 our full endorsement, we would refer you to the accompany- 
 ing able and exhaustive report of the superintendent, — but 
 would in particular respectfully urge your careful and thought- 
 ful attention to that part in which he treats of the necessity 
 for increasing accommodations for the insane, and clearly 
 enforces the views held and expressed by your trustees, i. e ., 
 that for the good of the patients themselves, and as a matter 
 of economy in the end to the State, such accommodations 
 should be provided in some other locality. 
 
 Our thanks are due to the superintendent for his untiring 
 devotion to his work, in which he has been ably assisted by 
 his staff of physicians and by all the other officers. 
 
 During this session of the General Assembly, trustees for 
 New Haven, Fairfield, Litchfield, and Middlesex counties, 
 
426 
 
 and two trustees from the “ vicinity of tlie institution,” to 
 succeed Benjamin Douglas of Middletown, and Leverett M. 
 Leach of Durham, should be appointed. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 MORGAN G. BULKELEY, Hartford. 
 ROBBINS BATTELL, Norfolk. 
 HENRY WOODWARD, Middletown. 
 JAMES G. GREGORY, M.D., Norwalk. 
 JAMES GRAHAM, Orange. 
 
 LUCIUS S. FULLER, Tolland. 
 COSTELLO LIPPITT, Norwich. 
 EDWARD S. CLEVELAND, Hartford. 
 GEORGE H. NICHOLS, Thompson. 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, Middletown. 
 LEVERETT M. LEACH, Durham. 
 JOSEPH W. ALSOP, M.D., Middletown. 
 JOHN N. CAMP, 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen — In reviewing the events in the history of the 
 hospital during the last two years, one’s first emotion must 
 be thankfulness that no great disaster has befallen the institu- 
 tion. That the affairs of the community composed of some 
 of the most unreasonable, excitable, and dangerous people in 
 the State, have moved on year after year with methodical 
 regularity means, indeed, a great deal of care and labor and 
 watchfulness. But not always is the most earnest labor 
 crowned with even so much of success. On the other hand, 
 the various catastrophes which overwhelm human undertak- 
 ings are such every-day occurrences, that often do the 
 familiar words come to mind, “ except the Lord build the 
 house, they labor in vain that build it.” 
 
 The changes in the census of the patients have been as 
 follows : 
 
 
 MALES. 
 
 FEMAI.ES. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 Present July 1, 1888, 
 
 568 
 
 724 
 
 1,292 
 
 Admitted, .... 
 
 390 
 
 364 
 
 754 
 
 Discharged, 
 
 349 
 
 320 
 
 669 
 
 Present June 30, 1890, 
 
 609 
 
 768 
 
 1,377 
 
 That nearly all of these 1,877 patients are beneficiaries of 
 the State, and that comparatively few of them belong to the 
 criminal classes, is shown by the methods of their commit- 
 ment, viz.: 
 
 1,244 committed by Probate Courts as paupers or indigent patients. 
 
 13 committed by their friends as private patients. 
 
 29 committed by the Soldiers’ Hospital board. 
 
 1 committed by the County Commissioners. 
 
 29 committed by the Governor’s order. 
 
 46 committed by the Superior Court. 
 
 15 committed by the Police Court. 
 
 1,377 Total. 
 
428 
 
 Comparing the distribution of the patients among the sev- 
 eral buildings with the number each was designed to accom- 
 
 modate, the overcrowded 
 year is apparent : 
 
 condition at the end of 
 
 Capacity. 
 
 the fiscal 
 
 Contained 
 June 30, 1890. 
 
 The main house, 
 
 
 
 470 
 
 513 
 
 The middle house, . 
 
 
 
 320 
 
 368 
 
 The south house, . 
 
 
 
 340 
 
 321 
 
 The annex, 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 The main cottage,* 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 80 
 
 The farm cottage, . 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 The Fallon cottage, 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 The Roberts cottage, 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 23 
 
 Total, . 
 
 
 . 
 
 1,300 
 
 1,377 
 
 It is gratifying to note a lower rate of increase in the 
 number of patients during the last two years than previously, 
 resulting, first, from fewer admissions, particularly of females, 
 and second, from more discharges than during the preceding 
 biennial period. Provided the increment continues to be less 
 than fifty annually, the accommodations of the hospital will 
 be sufficient to meet the demands of the next two or three 
 years. 
 
 For information in regard to the age, nativity, residence, 
 and occupation of the patients admitted, the alleged cause, 
 duration, and form of their insanity, together with the results 
 of treatment, attention may be directed to the appended sta- 
 tistical tables, carefully prepared, as usual, by Drs. Noble 
 and Fisher. One person was admitted in each year who, 
 after a due period of observation, presented no evidence of 
 insanity, and was accordingly discharged as not insane. One 
 of them had been arrested for breach of peace, the other for 
 intoxication, but the alcohol was entirely eliminated before 
 the patient reached the hospital. 
 
 The frequently long duration of insanity, and, incidentally, 
 the difference between the number of cases admitted and the 
 number of cases occurring in any given time appears from 
 
 * Since the above date the capacity of the main cottage has been increased by 100 beds. 
 
429 
 
 the statistics of even a single year. For instance, in the first 
 year of this biennium, 385 insane persons were admitted. 
 But only 185 of them were attacked within a year of their 
 admission, 200 having been insane from one to thirty or more 
 years previously. Of these 185 recent cases, 50 had been 
 insane once, twice, or more often before, and of the 200 
 chronic cases, 15 had a history of more than one attack. 
 Not these, but the recent cases of first attacks, i. e , about 35 
 per cent, of the admissions, should be compared with the 
 population in any inquiry as to the relative increase of insanity. 
 It is also from this 35 per cent, of the admissions that most 
 of the recoveries are derived. Could we trace in all cases the 
 conditions leading to the development of the malady, we 
 might perhaps wonder that any genuine recoveries occur. 
 But such information, especially in regard to heredity, is 
 often not obtainable. Thus in 173 of the 386 admissions 
 under consideration, the cause is unknown. Of the remain- 
 der, 89 persons had hereditary tendencies towards insanity, 
 20 had epilepsy, 6 had congenital defects, 16 were in a state 
 of senile decay, and others, including 10 general paretics, 
 were equally hopeless. 
 
 Following the histories of these 386 persons, 82 of them, 
 or about 21 per cent, of the admissions, recovered; and, as 
 after the lapse of a year only five have returned, it may fairly 
 be presumed that they really recovered. Of the unrecov- 
 ered, 50 have been discharged improved, 50 have been dis- 
 charged unimproved, 35 have died, 174 (45 per cent, of those 
 admitted) remain in the hospital, and, with a few exceptions, 
 will probably continue insane as long as they live. 
 
 And this appears to be about the general average of incur- 
 able cases admitted. For it appears from table XVII, that of 
 the 1,111 recoveries since the opening of the hospital, all 
 except 78 had been insane less than two years when admitted. 
 That is to say, as a matter of fact, cases of longer duration 
 rarely recover. But of 5,289 admissions, 2,356, or 44.5 per 
 cent., had been insane longer than two years when admitted, 
 and had, therefore, already passed the probability of recovery. 
 
430 
 
 Accordingly it is not surprising to find, on examining the 
 patients in the hospital, comparatively few hopeful cases. 
 This might be inferred, indeed, from tables XXV and XXVI, 
 which show the advanced age of many patients present at the 
 end of the fiscal year, and the prolonged insanity of many 
 more, only 88 of the 1,377 being recent cases ; and, on the 
 other hand, 845 of them having been insane longer than five 
 years. But to insure accuracy on this point, each assistant 
 physician, taking a list of the patients under his daily obser- 
 vation, analyzed their histories with especial reference to 
 prognosis, and the need of continued hospital treatment. 
 
 The result is that only 96 of the total present are found to 
 have reasonably good prospects of recovery. Of the remain- 
 ing 1,281 who (except 13 private patients) are likely to con- 
 tinue life pensioners on the charity of the State, 865 are 
 town or State paupers and 403 belong to the indigent class. 
 In regard to the former, especially, the practical question arises, 
 Why should they remain in the hospital after the expectation 
 of recovery has disappeared ? In our opinion 402, or nearly 
 half of these chronic insane paupers need to remain here for 
 the following reasons : 
 
 202 because violent or dangerous. 
 
 77 because destructive, filthy, or noisy. 
 
 19 because of physical infirmities. 
 
 104 because intelligent enough to derive some comfort and benefit 
 from hospital influences. 
 
 The remaining 463 chronic insane paupers are mostly quiet, 
 demented persons, some of them untidy and idle, others able 
 to do simple work to which they are habituated, but none of 
 them longer susceptible of benefit from any special medical 
 or moral treatment. They do, indeed, need to be under the 
 care of a physician, who should be the more constantly 
 watchful because most of them are so undemonstrative and 
 indifferent to the onset of diseases common to every one, and 
 which call forth expressions of pain from sane persons. 
 They also need to be protected from neglect and abuse, which 
 they are often unable to describe or complain of. Such as 
 
431 
 
 these are found in the plain old farm cottages which for 
 many years have here been used as lodgings for patients, and 
 such as these might be kept in buildings durable and com- 
 fortable but less expensive than much of the architecture 
 which lias been designed with special reference to the treat- 
 ment of acute and curable, or the guarding of destructive and 
 dangerous insane. 
 
 When these mindless bodies are led out for their daily air- 
 ing, the procession, far from being a cheerful spectacle to an 
 intelligent patient, evidently tends to foster depression of 
 spirits. Their removal would favor the successful treatment 
 of curable cases, and would enable the hospital for years 
 to receive promptly all insane persons likely to be benefited, 
 inasmuch as it appears that already enough permanently 
 insane paupers are collected here to fill an asylum of moder- 
 ate size. Such a movement would inaugurate a system of 
 trasfers which would be in harmony with your recommenda- 
 tion to the last legislature that “ the economic and humane 
 interests of the State require that additional accommodations 
 for its insane be provided in some other locality.” 
 
 In order to throw some light on the question of permanence 
 of recoveries from insanity, the subsequent history of the 
 persons recorded as cured between 1880-85 was sought by 
 circulars addressed to each one’s correspondent, and the 
 inquiry became more and more interesting as replies to the 
 circulars vere received. Some were especially gratifying, 
 such as the following: “ My wife’s health has been good since 
 she left your hospital. There has been no return of the 
 trouble you speak of. My wife takes care of the house, and 
 everything goes on as well, if not better, than before the long 
 sickness which landed her at your hospital, for which I am 
 more than thankful.” 
 
 The total number of recoveries in the period of five years 
 was 287. Of these, 83 returned no further information, 70 
 are living and have continued sane, 8 continued sane till 
 death, 30 were attacked again and treated elsewhere, 96 were 
 attacked again and readmitted. 
 
432 
 
 Of those readmitted, 25 recovered again, 59 are still insane, 
 12 continued insane till death. 
 
 While it would be pleasant to dwell solely on the good 
 accomplished, the practical fact to be pondered with reference 
 to provision for the insane appears to be that of all admissions 
 during a period of five years, little more than twenty per cent, 
 recovered, and of these only 78 individuals are known to have 
 continued sane during the following five years or till death. 
 This, in connection with the fact that a quarter of these 287 
 cases had previously “ recovered ” once, twice, or more often, 
 discloses a lamentable liability to relapses, and suggests, 
 as the late Dr. John S. Butler has said, that “ there remains 
 to be done a work greater than cure or kindly care — that of 
 prevention; a work, which in order to be of the highest suc- 
 cess, must reach back to the early life, the family, the nursery, 
 and the school.” 
 
 The ratio of deaths to the average number of patients 
 under treatment was a fraction over 7 per cent., as in general 
 since the opening of the hospital. The average duration of 
 insane life has been nearly eight years The more common 
 causes of death, named in order of frequency, were phthisis, 
 old age, diseases of the heart, exhaustion from insanity, gen- 
 eral paVesis, apoplexy, epilepsy. Over 70 deaths were due to 
 diseases of the nervous system, furnishing, with others, such 
 material for instructive pathological study that the lack of 
 adequate facilities for fine work in that department of science 
 is regretted. 
 
 In each of the last two years, and at an interval of fifteen 
 months from one another, a death by suicide occurred. Both 
 were cases of melancholia, and were apparently improving so 
 much that one had been transferred to a convalescent ward, 
 and the other had twice been taken home on a visit, and had 
 enjoyed considerable liberty with evident benefit. It is rather 
 remarkable that no other violent deaths occurred, in view of 
 the fact that of those admitted during the two years 51 had 
 attempted homicide, 27 had threatened homicide, 77 had 
 attempted suicide, and 20 had threatened suicide. 
 
433 
 
 The out-of-door exercise essential to physical health and 
 mental improvement involves the risk of escapes, which may 
 be expected to occur occasionally, notwithstanding the vigi- 
 lance of attendants. Most of those who thus left without 
 leave were speedily brought back ; others reached home 
 safely and remained a longer or shorter time with friends on 
 trial; one lost his life by a railway accident; one is supposed 
 to have returned to Ireland ; of three only no tidings have 
 been heard, and these, being vagrants, probably drifted out 
 of the State. They are not disposed to harm any one. 
 
 The number of sight-seers drawn hither by idle curiosity 
 does not appear to diminish as time makes the institution fa- 
 miliar to the public, and the disproportion between the sexes 
 furnishes an amusing illustration of well-known feminine 
 characteristics. Thus, on ten successive visiting days 373 
 adults were escorted through the wards, and all of them ex- 
 cept 70 were females, with whom were 50 children and 13 
 infants ! Occasionally strangers appropriate to themselves 
 the swings and arbors, pick flowers, and peek into ward win- 
 dows, necessitating vigorous protests to protect the rights of 
 the patients and suggesting the need of a constable to patrol 
 the grounds. The intelligent interest of the public and the 
 legitimate desire of friends of patients to know about the in- 
 stitution is, on the other hand, most cordially welcomed and 
 any proper information cheerfully given. 
 
 Your attention is invited to a table appended for the first 
 time to this report, which shows approximately the amount 
 of work done in the sewing-rooms and repair shop. The 
 latter is found very useful in providing occupation for insane 
 convicts, whose opportunities for exercise are necessarily re- 
 stricted, and these tabular summaries demonstrate the lines 
 in which many of the patients are usefully employed. Others 
 help on the farm and lawn, in the kitchens, laundry, or various 
 workshops, or in keeping the interior of the buildings clean. 
 Some have certain specialties : this one is an artist ; that one 
 a blacksmith ; these fill the show-case in the reception-room 
 with fancy work ; those make their bedrooms bazaars. About 
 28 
 
434 
 
 one-fourth of the whole number are too demented to do any- 
 thing, one-seventh are idle because of age or physical infirm- 
 ities, and one-tenth are able but refuse to engage in any 
 occupation that contributes to the general good. This unwil- 
 lingness to take the prescription most conducive to their 
 recovery is sometimes encouraged by foolish friends of the 
 patients, who tell them they need not work because half their 
 board (forsooth, less than twenty-three cents a day !) is paid 
 by themselves. Some of these idlers, however, get benefit 
 from base-ball, billiards, and bowling. 
 
 The enlargement in various directions required to keep 
 pace with the demands of increasing numbers has resulted in 
 the following items of construction during the last two years: 
 
 1. A frame barn, dimensions 50 ft. x 80 ft., situated 
 about 300 feet north of the main barn, was built for the ac- 
 commodation of farm horses and wagons. It also increases 
 the storage room for hay, provides a vegetable cellar under 
 the wagon room, and a well-ventilated place for pigs under 
 the stables. There is a hydrant 87 feet distant, connected 
 by a six-inch pipe with the water main. 
 
 2. The old ice-house having become inadequate, a new 
 one, with an estimated capacity of over 1,200 gross tons, was 
 built at one corner of the ice-pond after the most approved 
 method. It is divided into three compartments which can 
 be united or kept separate at pleasure. 
 
 3. The building no longer needed for ice was transformed, 
 on Mr. Sanderson’s suggestion, into a sort of factory by substi- 
 tuting brick for the decayed underpinning, laying a cement 
 floor, putting in a boiler and engine, kettles, soap tanks, bone 
 mill, etc. Here, with the aid of patients’ labor, soft soap is 
 made, bones are ground into fertilizer, tallow and hides are 
 prepared for market, and there is steam to spare for use in 
 the slaughter, piggery, and watering trough. Thus in several 
 directions the result is profitable. 
 
 4. A small double cottage of brick was built for persons 
 employed whose continuous presence on the premises is de- 
 sirable. 
 
435 
 
 5. The extreme ends of the wings of the south house 
 were extended back 40 feet and the extension carried up 
 three stories, providing 48 single bedrooms well heated by in- 
 direct radiation, windows guarded, brick partitions cemented 
 for the use of noisy and destructive women. 
 
 6. A duplicate of the building known as the main cot- 
 tage has been built near it and the intervening space filled 
 by a block containing boiler-room, kitchen, rooms of em- 
 ployes. The completed structure thus consists of a center 
 and two wings, each wing having dining-room, living-room, 
 bath-room, and lavatory on the first floor, with beds for 90 
 patients on the second floor. It is heated by steam and 
 lighted by gas. The walls are brick, the roof, of the Mansard 
 pattern, is slated and tinned. The ground space is 243 feet 
 in length by 100 feet in depth. There is ample facility for 
 quick exit in case of fire, and the building is not high enough 
 to interfere with the view of the beautiful eastern hills from 
 the windows of the main house. 
 
 Thus the act of the last Legislature in regard to additional 
 accommodations for 120 insane has been more than complied 
 with. 
 
 7. A hydraulic sectional elevator, which had long been 
 needed for freight and passenger service between the first 
 and fourth floors, was placed in the center of the main house. 
 
 8. An elevator shaft was constructed in the rear of each 
 wing of the middle house, containing a clothes lift operated 
 by hand power in order that heavy baskets of clothing might 
 no longer be tediously carried up and down stairs. 
 
 9. About 2,400 feet of North river flagstone three feet 
 and four feet wide, laid on the walks to the barns and cot- 
 tages as required for the performance of ordinary errands, 
 enables the patients to walk out of doors to an extent hitherto 
 impracticable in the wet season. 
 
 10. Several of the new buildings have been protected by 
 lightning rods of solid copper. 
 
 11. Watchmen’s electric clocks have been placed in each 
 of the three large buildings, with a station in each ward and 
 
436 
 
 boiler-house, in order that all persons on night duty may 
 demonstrate their presence at their posts by signals regis- 
 tered on dials in the offices. 
 
 12. The purchase of land for the construction of a third 
 reservoir, which will be nearly completed before winter, with 
 a capacity exceeding that of both the others, will result in 
 providing plenty of water for use in the event of fire, as well 
 as for ordinary purposes even in time of drought. Had not 
 the rainfall been excessive, serious inconvenience would have 
 been felt the last few years. 
 
 Other improvements which will involve considerable out- 
 lay are required, and with your permission may be briefly 
 mentioned : 
 
 1. The chapel and amusement hall have for some time 
 been inadequate to seat all who might with benefit attend ex- 
 ercises there, and a larger assembly-room is so greatly needed 
 that the steps you have taken to provide it cannot fail to be 
 appreciated. 
 
 2. The laundry was erected ten years ago, when the num- 
 ber of patients was less than half the present population of 
 the hospital, and the weekly “ wash ” of more than 15,000 
 pieces is with difficulty pushed through in such cramped 
 quarters. A suitable addition should be made to the build- 
 ing and the internal arrangements so modified as to facilitate 
 labor. 
 
 3. The growing popularity of incandescent electric lights, 
 and their special adaptability to institutions for the insane, is 
 so thoroughly established that the installation of a plant here 
 has much to recommend it to your favorable consideration. 
 
 4. A track branching off from the Yalley railroad and 
 terminating in the rear of the storehouse, which would per- 
 mit carloads of flour, beef, coal, and other freight to run di- 
 rectly into the back yard, would be an immense advantage in 
 view of the fact that more than 5,000 tons of freight are 
 annually consigned to the hospital and are hauled up hill 
 from the dock or from town in all sorts of weather at consid- 
 erable expense. 
 
437 
 
 5. The storehouse from which provisions and supplies 
 are dispensed to the several departments is too small, and the 
 stock now overflowing into adjacent cellars would be far 
 better housed in a freight depot alongside the terminus of 
 the proposed railroad. 
 
 6. Additional farm land, if obtainable at a reasonable 
 price and so located that the sewage could be directed on to 
 it, is desirable for reasons stated in the last report, viz. : (1) 
 The increased number of patients creates a market for more 
 produce than is yielded by the acres now available for culti- 
 vation ; (2) crops raised largely by the labor of patients on 
 land fertilized by refuse from buildings obviously cost less 
 than if purchased, and thus diminish the expense of support ; 
 (3) a larger farm would furnish healthful occupation for 
 more patients than are at present employed. It used to 
 be advised that every institution for the insane should have 
 an acre of land to each patient. To urge the utility of a 
 third of an acre per patient is, therefore, quite within the 
 bounds of moderation. 
 
 The farmer’s report appended gives an itemized statement 
 of the amount and value of farm products for each year of 
 the biennial period, and the amount of live stock at the end 
 of the period. 
 
 The greenhouses, too, prove profitable inasmuch as the 
 thousands of plants required to make the flower beds on the 
 lawns attractive to the patients are under glass raised from 
 cuttings at comparatively little expense. 
 
 The finances of the hospital have continued in a satisfac- 
 tory condition, notwithstanding the low rate of board and the 
 increased outlay involved in providing further accommoda- 
 tions for patients as directed by the legislature. One of the 
 emergencies, which render it necessary to have funds in reserve, 
 occurred last winter, when the annual supply of ice, which 
 ordinarily is produced on the premises without expense, had 
 to be purchased at a cost of several thousand dollars, owing 
 to the mildness of the season. 
 
 Information in regard to the receipts and disbursements 
 
438 
 
 will be found in the financial reports and abstract of 
 vouchers. 
 
 Evening entertainments agreeably interrupt the monotony 
 of the winter season and contribute to the restoration, or at 
 any rate to the happiness of the patients, whose thoughts are 
 temporarily diverted from delusions. Special thanks are 
 due to those benevolent friends of the hospital, who, at the 
 sacrifice of valuable time, have helped in this good work, as 
 the subjoined list shows : 
 
 MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 By home talent, seven plays, five concerts, two operettas, one cantatar. 
 
 By the Wesleyan Glee Club, one concert. 
 
 By Miss Weeks and others, one concert. 
 
 By Mr. Paine and others, one concert. 
 
 By Mrs. F. N. Fagan and others, one concert. 
 
 By Messrs. Franklin and Smith, one concert. 
 
 LECTURES. 
 
 By Rev. E. F. Atwood, “Glimpses of Connecticut History. ” 
 
 By Rev. J. Aspinwall Hodge, D.D., “A trip to Brazil. ” 
 
 By Rev. Dr. George M. Stone, “Alaska.” 
 
 By Mr. Ernest King, “London.” 
 
 By Mr. M. F. Tyler, “Egypt.” 
 
 By Dr. E. H. Jenkins, “ Fertilization of Flowers by Insects.” 
 
 By Mr. Clarence Deming, “Polar Ice and Icebergs.” 
 
 By Prof. H. W. Farnam, “Amateur Photography.” 
 
 READINGS. 
 
 By Mr. F. C. Croy, Miss Nettie Taylor, Mrs R. L. Webb, Miss Ella 
 Ives, Miss Sara Rounds, Mr. Howard L. Curtis, Prof. R. G. Hib- 
 bard, Miss Susie D. Drew. 
 
 , MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Entertainment by Mrs. E. C. Noble and Miss Daisy Ives, 1 evening. 
 
 Entertainment by Daniels Brothers and Mr. C. W. IIubbard,l “ 
 
 Sleight-of-hand entertainment by Mr. George II. Pray, . 1 
 
 Stereopticon views, ........ 1 
 
 Ventriloquism, by Mr. II. T. Bryant, .... 1 
 
 Dancing parties, 27 
 
 The resident officers and others employed here, whose 
 talents have given pleasure on the stage, have deserved 
 
439 
 
 even more than the hearty applause accorded them ; for 
 the careful and tedious drill essential to a creditable per- 
 formance can scarcely be estimated by those who have not 
 undertaken it. The musical organization, under instruction 
 of Drs. Keniston and Down, rendered efficient service on 
 numerous occasions in addition to the concerts noted above ; 
 and three times a week in summer the playing of the band, 
 Orpheus-like, draws groups of charmed listeners to doors and 
 windows. 
 
 Religious services in the chapel on Sunday afternoons have 
 been regularly attended by numbers of patients varying from 
 192 to 240. This wide variation is due partly to the weather 
 and partly to individual preferences. The satisfaction de- 
 rived from these exercises is evinced by the regret expressed 
 if by any chance a Sunday passes without the usual gather- 
 ing. Cordial thanks may, therefore, be assured to those 
 clergymen who have thus led our public worship, and whose 
 private ministrations have cheered the sick. 
 
 DONATIONS. 
 
 Mr. L. R. Hazen, who has continued to give the hospital the 
 Century Magazine, has also kindly permitted the “ hospital 
 box ” to occupy a corner of his store, and many persons have 
 deposited their miscellaneous reading matter for the patients. 
 Some of these friends are unknown, and can therefore be 
 thanked only in a general way. Others who have contributed 
 illustrated weeklies and monthly periodicals, which are highly 
 appreciated in the wards, are Mr. N. C. Stiles, Mr. Thomas 
 G. Mather, Mr. A. R. Parshley, Dr. P. S. Quackenbos, Mr. 
 F. C. Smith, Mrs. Frank Chase, Mr. F. B. Chaffee, Miss 
 Anna Hubbard, Mr. F. B. Weeks, Mrs. Andrew D. Clark, 
 Mr. H. D. A. Ward, Mr. T. M. Durfee. The Hon. Thomas 
 Sanford during his lifetime set a commendable example by 
 mailing occasionally a package of Fairfield County papers, 
 which were especially gratifying to patients coming from that 
 section. To the Paper Mission of the Southport Congrega- 
 tional Church we are indebted for packages of papers and 
 
440 
 
 pamphlets, and to Miss M. G. Perry and others for a box of 
 books and papers. From the Adjutant-General we received 
 a copy of “ Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army 
 and Navy of the United States during the War of the Re- 
 bellion.” A crayon portrait of the late Col. Thayer was pre- 
 sented by his family. Six paintings by Mr. Richard W. 
 Hubbard were presented by the Hon. Robbins Battell. “ One 
 hundred dollars for some special need for the comfort or 
 pleasure of the patients in the name of Frederick Marquand,” 
 was expended in the purchase of pictures, which was hung 
 in the wards, where their presence afforded lasting gratifica- 
 tion to successive occupants. We are under renewed obliga- 
 tions for newspapers which have been received directly from 
 
 the publishers, as follows: 
 
 The Courant, Daily, Hartford 
 
 The Times, Weekly, Hartford 
 
 The Religious Herald, Hartford 
 
 The Palladium, Weekly, New Haven 
 
 The Morning News, Daily, ...... New Haven 
 
 The Tolland County Journal, Weekly, .... Rockville 
 
 The Herald, Daily, Middletown 
 
 The Constitution, Weekly, Middletown 
 
 The Standard, Weekly, Bridgeport 
 
 A retrospect over the record of these two years calls to 
 mind the mutual good will existing between fellow workers 
 in the service of the hospital and the many sympathies which 
 bind us together. Long association, indeed, sometimes begets 
 attachments whose strength is scarcely realized until after 
 the tie is broken. So it was in regard to the late John W. 
 Thayer, who for more than 13 years was an officer here, and 
 whose leadership was universally acknowledged in affairs 
 outside the strict line of his duties, such as music, dramatics, 
 and the decoration of the grounds. The result of his mature 
 judgment on matters forming an essential part of the daily 
 routine of the institution will be lasting, and his memory will 
 literally remain green as long as the trees, which he caused 
 to be planted, put forth their annual foliage. His successor, 
 Mr. Thomas M. Durfee, fitted into the vacant place so easily 
 
441 
 
 that the wheels of our business machinery continued to re- 
 volve without a jar. 
 
 My colleagues on the medical staff * and all the officers are 
 entitled to praise for untiring devotion to the interests of 
 the patients and to the reputation of the hospital. It is a 
 pleasure to heartily commend, also, other equally faithful 
 helpers who in their various spheres of duty have done their 
 best. 
 
 To you, gentlemen, whose critical oversight has been an 
 inspiration, permit me to express a deep sense of obligation 
 for the kindly consideration you have always shown. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 JAMES OLMSTEAD, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., June 30, 1890. 
 
 * Shortly before the publication of these reports, Dr. Down was 
 called to the Hartford Retreat, and Dr. A. B. Coleburn succeeded him. 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 Annual Statement of the Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, 
 for the Year ending June 30, 1889. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Amount of cash on hand July 1, 1888, $49,733.37 
 
 Revenue from Hospital in July, 36,899.19 
 
 Interest on $40,000 deposited in Hartford (6 mos ), . . 529 91 
 
 Interest on Hartford Town Bond (Sargent Fund), . 22 50 
 
 Revenue from Hospital in August, 14,146.31 
 
 “ September, 13,005.81 
 
 “ “ October, 29,094.49 
 
 “ November, 16,723 77 
 
 “ December, 11,969.63 
 
 “ January, 1889, .... 42,856.43 
 
 Interest on $40,000 deposited in Hartford (6 mos.), . . 611.39 
 
 Interest on Hartford Town Bond (Sargent Fund), . . 22 50 
 
 Revenue from Hospital in February, 12,140.38 
 
 “ “ March, 10,022 88 
 
 “ “ April, 26,657.95 
 
 “ “ May 17,036.65 
 
 “ “ June, 8,381.87 
 
 $289,855.03 
 
 $56,756.73 
 
 $19,214.05 
 18,760.46 
 17,487 74 
 18,366.49 
 
 23.560.73 
 
 25.343.70 
 
 20.724.70 
 18,798.92 
 17,496.01 
 20,120.28 
 13,477.99 
 19,747.23 
 
 56.756.73 
 $289,855.03 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, Treasurer. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the accounts of M. B. Cope- 
 land, Esq., Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, for the 
 fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, and find a balance in the hands of the 
 Treasurer amounting to fifty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-six and 
 73-100 dollars ($56,756. 
 
 Frank L. Rodgers, ) Auditors of 
 W. Cecil Durand, f Public Account. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., Sept. 12, 1889. 
 
 Balance to new account, . 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 Amount of Superintendent’s orders paid in July, 1888, 
 
 August, 
 
 Amount of cash dep 
 Amount of cash dep 
 
 in Hartford Banks 
 
 in Middletown Nat. Bank, 
 
 September, 
 October, 
 November, 
 December, 
 January, 1889, 
 February, 
 
 March, 
 
 April, 
 
 May, 
 
 June, 
 
 $40,000.00 
 
 16,756.73 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 Annual Statement of the Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane , 
 for the Year ending June 30 , 1890. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance of cash on hand July 1, 1889, $56,756.73 
 
 Amount of interest rec’d to July 1 on $40,000 dep. in Hartford, 601 14 
 Amount of revenue from Hospital received in July, . . 41,777.42 
 
 “ “ “ August, . 16,525.17 
 
 “ “ “ September, . 10,366.87 
 
 “ “ “ October, . 32,820.77 
 
 “ “ “ November, . 12,005.40 
 
 “ “ “ December, . 11,713 25 
 
 Amount of interest rec’d to Dec. 21 on $40,000 dep. in Hartford, 571.69 
 Amount of revenue from Hospital received in January, 1890, 33.472 31 
 
 “ “ “ February, . 21,907.51 
 
 “ " “ March, . . 11,542.70 
 
 72 days’ int. at 3 %, on $40,000 dep in Middletown Nat. Bank, 240.00 
 Amount of revenue from Hospital received in April. . . 34,107.28 
 
 “ “ “ May, . . 13,812.80 
 
 “ “ “ June, . . 11,576.06 
 
 $309,797.10 
 
 Balance brought forward, 
 
 $71,086.03 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 Amount of Superintendent’s orders paid in July, 1889, 
 
 “ “ “ “ August, 
 
 “ “ “ “ September, 
 
 “ “ “ “ October, 
 
 “ “ “ “ November, 
 
 “ “ “ “ December, 
 
 “ “ “ “ January, 1890, 
 
 “ “ “ “ February, 
 
 “ “ “ “ March, 
 
 “ “ “ “ April, 
 
 “ “ “ “ May, 
 
 “ “ “ “ June, 
 
 Balance deposited in Middletown Nat. Bank, 
 
 $30,192.52 
 15,718.27 
 15,733.44 
 17,514.17 
 20,686 96 
 24,150.33 
 14,599.75 
 18,167.51 
 23,421 77 
 18,462 75 
 
 17.177.02 
 22,886 58 
 
 71.086.03 
 
 $309,797.10 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, Treasurer. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the accounts of M. B. Cope- 
 land, Esq., Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, for the 
 fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, and find a balance in the hands of the 
 Treasurer amounting to seventy-one thousand eighty-six and 3-100 dol- 
 lars ($71,086.^0).' 
 
 Frank L. Rodgers, ) Auditors of 
 W. Cecil Durand, ] Public Accounts. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., Sept. 9, 1890. 
 
REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of 
 Connecticut, January Session, 1893 : 
 
 The board of trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane respectfully present this, their twenty-fourth report, 
 covering the period from June 30, 1890, to June 30, 1892. 
 
 We are gratified to be able to say that our frequent ex- 
 aminations of this institution have invariably resulted in 
 thoroughly convincing us that the property and wards of the 
 State have the most untiring and efficient oversight, and 
 that nothing that can possibly conduce to the comfort of the 
 patients or the proper care of the buildings is neglected. 
 
 We believe an examination of the tables showing the in- 
 crease in the number of patients in the hospital, compared 
 with the accommodations for them as stated, will be suffi- 
 cient evidence that the present gratifying condition of things 
 has only been attained by the exercise of the utmost skill 
 and wisdom on the part of the superintendent and his asso- 
 ciates. Certain it is that we have reached our largest limit 
 of provision for the insane, except by the erection of further 
 buildings for their use. This we firmly believe would be a 
 detriment rather than an advantage to our hospital, and we 
 hope that your honorable body will provide such other build- 
 ings for the care of incurably insane persons as will enable 
 this institution to carry out its original design as a remedial 
 hospital. 
 
445 
 
 In addition to the ordinary care of the hospital property 
 several needed improvements have been made, among which 
 we would especially mention the additional reservoir, which 
 makes a water famine no longer possible, and the erection 
 and furnishing of a new, complete, and safe assembly room. 
 Since January 1, 1792, we have been enabled to give all 
 pauper patients the use of clothing without charge, and since 
 April 1, 1892, the price of board has been still further re- 
 duced, the present charge being three dollars per week, and 
 this has been accomplished without reducing the quantity or 
 quality of either. 
 
 Under existing laws (see General Statutes, Chap. 230, 
 Sec. 3388), this institution cannot receive inebriates except 
 as declared insane, and many are so committed here, occupy- 
 ing room that properly belongs to and is sorely needed for 
 those whose insanity arises from other and more enduring 
 causes. We trust this will also be remedied, and that suit- 
 able provision will be elsewhere made for this class of un- 
 fortunates. 
 
 Since our last report we have had the misfortune to lose, 
 by death, two of our esteemed associates, Mr. Lucius S. 
 Fuller and Dr. J. W. Alsop, both of whom were faithful and 
 earnest in their devotion to the interests of the hospital. 
 We miss their presence and counsel, and realize more fully 
 the importance of doing promptly every duty “ while it is 
 called to-day.” 
 
 The terms of the following members of this board expire 
 July 1,1893: Edward S. Cleveland, Hartford county; Cos- 
 tello Lippit, New London county ; George H. Nichols, Wind- 
 ham county ; Wilbur B. Foster, Tolland county; Elijah K. 
 Hubbard and John N. Camp, local trustees. 
 
 The subjoined report of the superintendent gives full and 
 accurate information regarding every department of the 
 hospital, and contains many suggestions and recommenda- 
 
446 
 
 tions which have our approval, and to which we respectfully 
 ask your attention. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 MORGAN G. BULKELEY, Hartford. 
 EDWARD S. CLEVELAND, Hartford. 
 COSTELLO LIPPITT, Norwich. 
 
 GEORGE H. NICHOLS, 
 WILBUR B. FOSTER, 
 WILLIAM BISSELL, M.D., 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 AUSTIN E. MAY, M.D., 
 ANDREW C. SMITH, 
 ELIJAH K. HUBBARD, 
 JOHN N. CAMP, 
 
 Thompson . 
 Rockville . 
 Lakeville . 
 Middletown. 
 Bethel. 
 
 New Haven. 
 Middletown. 
 
 a 
 
 BENJAMIN DOUGLAS, 
 
 a 
 
 SAMUEL RUSSELL, 
 
 u 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen — In obedience to the by-laws, I have the 
 honor to lay before you a report of the condition of the hos- 
 pital, together with the usual statistics in regard to the ad- 
 missions and discharges during the two years ending June 30, 
 1892. That conformity with the alteration of the fiscal year 
 of the State is in these matters not essential is a fortunate 
 circumstance, for a change in the date to which the tables 
 are made up would introduce into the series a period unequal 
 to those preceding, which would plainly hinder accurate com- 
 parisons between the statistics of successive years. 
 
 The census of the patients shows an increase of 129 in the 
 hospital’s population during the biennial period, as appears 
 in the following summary : 
 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Present July 1, 1890, 
 
 609 
 
 768 
 
 1,377 
 
 Admitted, 
 
 424 
 
 364 
 
 788 
 
 Discharged, 
 
 837 
 
 322 
 
 659 
 
 Present June 80, 1892, . 
 
 696 
 
 810 
 
 1,506 
 
 On comparison with the number present six years pre- 
 viously, when the completion of the third large building per- 
 mitted patients to be received freely, it is found that the in- 
 crease during the interval has been at the average rate of 
 sixty annually. This 'corresponds exactly with the estimate, 
 which led the legislature of 1889 to enact that 120 beds be 
 provided here in order to meet the demands of two years. 
 
 The detention of the patients present at the end of the bi- 
 ennial period was authorized by their commitment through 
 the following channels : 
 
448 
 
 1,354 committed as pauper or indigent patients by Probate Courts. 
 
 14 committed as private patients. 
 
 31 committed by the Soldiers’ Hospital Board. 
 
 4 committed by the County Commissioners. 
 
 28 committed by the Governor’s order. 
 
 59 committed by the Superior Court. 
 
 16 committed by the Police Courts. 
 
 1,506 Total. 
 
 Town paupers and indigent (not pauper) patients are com- 
 mitted to this hospital by Probate Courts under section 487, 
 General Statutes, and during the last three years private pa- 
 tients also have been committed by Probate Courts in accord- 
 ance with Public Acts, 1889, Chapter 162. (See Appendix.) 
 
 While the latter act or something equivalent was undoubt- 
 edly needed for private commitments, an unfortunate multi- 
 plicity in the forms of probate proceedings has resulted from 
 the opinion, which arose in certain quarters, that the act was 
 of univeral application. On the other hand, its application 
 is self-limited in section 3 by the words “ except when other- 
 wise specially provided by law,” and in section 17 by the 
 words 66 nor shall they (foregoing provisions of this act) be 
 construed as repealing section 487,” et cetera. Therefore, as 
 section 487 continues in force for the commitment of pauper 
 and indigent insane, it is difficult to understand by what au- 
 thority any probate judges can compel the guardians of the 
 insane poor to suffer the additional expenses and delays of 
 committal by the private process. This view is supported by 
 the fact that a large majority of the probate judges continue 
 to commit pauper and indigent cases under the old law as 
 heretofore. 
 
 The extremely small number of private patients, tabu- 
 lated above, cannot fail to be noticed. Whenever there is not 
 room enough for the accommodation of the poorer classes 
 without delay, the law (section 3613, Gen. Stat.) is under- 
 stood to forbid the admission of private patients, and only a 
 few old cases remain here. There is occasionally reason to 
 suspect that persons, able to pay four dollars a week and de- 
 nied the admission of a friend as a private, circumvent the 
 
449 
 
 authorities by so misrepresenting their financial standing as 
 to secure an indigent commitment, which abstracts one dollar 
 and fifty cents a week from the State treasury undeservedly 
 But in their defense be it said that these people, who are 
 neither rich nor poor, are most perplexed when insanity en- 
 ters their families. If they could afford to pay ten dollars or 
 more a week the doors of private institutions would be opened. 
 If they were merely paupers, the best care that the State can 
 give any insane person would be theirs. Being able to pay 
 four or five dollars a week there is no room for them here, 
 and there is no room for them anywhere else because they 
 cannot pay more. 
 
 As regards the relative number of town pauper and indi- 
 gent patients, a curious fact comes to light. Table X, ap- 
 pended to this report, shows that more indigent than pauper 
 patients have been admitted of late, while altogether from the 
 opening of the hospital the paupers have been in the ma- 
 jority. A marked change is disclosed by running back only 
 six years : 
 
 ADMITTED. 
 
 1886 - 87 , 
 
 1887 - 88 , 
 
 1888 - 89 , 
 
 1889 - 90 , 
 
 1890 - 91 , 
 
 1891 - 92 , 
 
 PAUPERS. INDIGENTS. 
 
 186 151 
 
 188 185 
 
 178 191 
 
 155 189 
 
 178 208 
 
 137 199 
 
 The admission of fifty less paupers last year than six years 
 ago can scarcely be regarded as evidence of lessening pauper- 
 ism, and it appears that as the number of paupers has fallen 
 off, the number of indigents has correspondingly increased. 
 Now indigency is a condition of varying degrees. Every 
 pauper, having nothing, is certainly indigent, but many indi- 
 gent persons have some resources, and therefore are not pau- 
 pers. The law which originated in 1867 recognizes this dis- 
 tinction by providing that when “ an indigent person, not a 
 pauper,” is committed to the hospital, 66 half the expense of 
 his support shall be paid by the State, and half by the person 
 making the application ” for his commitment. The price of 
 board then was five dollars a week, and persons able to pay 
 29 
 
450 
 
 two dollars and fifty cents a week and no more for the care 
 of an insane friend were thus benefited. No doubt the same 
 class are equally able to pay the same sum now. But the 
 letter of the law is such that these indigent persons have 
 shared equally with the State in reductions in the price of 
 board, while the towns are required to pay two dollars and 
 fifty cents a week for the board of each town pauper, the 
 balance being paid by the State. 
 
 As the price of board is now only three dollars a week, an 
 insane pauper may evidently obtain all the advantages of the 
 State hospital at less expense to his town than the cost of 
 keeping him in an almshouse, provided he can be committed 
 as if he were an indigent patient — not a pauper. There is 
 reason to believe that certain selectmen have found ways of 
 doing this, and that the State is in consequence paying more 
 than its legitimate share towards the support of town paupers 
 because disguised as indigents. If this practice continues, 
 the transfer of even the most mildly insane paupers from 
 almshouses is likely to be limited only by the capacity of the 
 hospital. 
 
 For months the hospital, being absolutely full, has been un- 
 able to receive patients except as vacancies have been occa- 
 sioned by removals. Whenever an application is received for 
 a patient’s admission, it is recorded on the male or female 
 list, and applicants are notified in regular turn as rapidly 
 as the occurrence of vacancies permits. The overcrowding 
 of the institution is seen by comparing the capacity of the 
 buildings in which patients are kept with the number each 
 contains, as in the following table : 
 
 
 CAPACITY. 
 
 PRESENT 
 
 JUNE 30, 1692. 
 
 Main House, 
 
 470 
 
 511 
 
 Middle House, 
 
 320 
 
 368 
 
 South House, 
 
 340 
 
 339 
 
 Annex, 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 Main Cottage, 
 
 190 
 
 193 
 
 Farm Cottage, 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 Fallon Cottage, . 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 Roberts Cottage, 
 
 20 
 
 23 
 
 Total, . 
 
 . 1,410 
 
 1,506 
 
451 
 
 In the three last-named cottages, which are ordinary farm 
 houses, an allowance of twenty bedseacli may seem excessive. 
 But after an experience of many years, it is safe to say that 
 no patients in your care are more contented than those privi- 
 leged to enjoy the home-like freedom of the cottages. And, 
 although stoves and oil lamps may involve fire risks, there is 
 little danger of fatal casualties, because these two-story build- 
 ings are quickly emptied. The attics and mansards made of 
 inflammable material four stories above ground may well 
 cause much greater anxiety, inasmuch as the partially de- 
 mented patients, compelled by the pressure from room to 
 lodgeThere, cannot be moved rapidly. 
 
 This table also answers in part the frequent question as to 
 the extent to which the system of detached buildings prevails 
 here. One observes that patients are not all massed under a 
 single roof, but are divided among eight separate buildings. 
 These divisions presuppose classifications based on the mental 
 and physical condition of the patients, and as the larger build- 
 ings have distinct wards, still further subdivisions result. The 
 groups of patients associated together vary between wide ex- 
 tremes — here sixteen excitable women, there ninety-five quiet, 
 industrious men ; here rows of secure bedrooms, each for a 
 solitary patient, there seventy insane men peaceably sharing 
 a common dormitory ; in the main building a score of dining- 
 rooms that the various squads of recent cases may not annoy 
 one another ; in buildings of later date large central refecto- 
 ries in which more than a hundred patients congregate at 
 meal times. 
 
 In the appended tables much information will be found. 
 For instance, table IV tells the ages when attacks of insanity 
 are most common, and table V shows that less than half of 
 all patients admitted were born in Connecticut, that one- 
 quarter of them came from Ireland, and half of the remain- 
 ing quarter from other foreign countries. In regard to their 
 residence, table VI shows that after New Haven and Hartford 
 counties, Fairfield county has sent many more patients to the 
 hospital than the others. In July, 1892, over two hundred 
 
452 
 
 patients were present whose homes were in that county. 
 This fact is of obvious significance in connection with fur- 
 ther accommodations for the insane poor, which your board 
 has repeatedly advised the legislature to provide elsewhere. 
 
 In the same connection, it may be worth noting that alto- 
 gether 276 cases of epileptic insanity have been admitted, 
 and at the time of writing this report there are 90 epileptics 
 in the hospital. As every one knows, there are many more 
 outside of the hospital whose mental faculties are very little 
 affected, but who are kept from school, from church, and 
 other public gatherings, because of the commotion occasioned 
 by a convulsion. This, too, hinders them from getting em- 
 ployment except under especial care and oversight to protect 
 them from accidents. Under such observation, however, they 
 may enjoy their freedom, and be to a greater or less degree 
 self-supporting. In the endeavor to meet the peculiar re- 
 quirements of epileptics, the idea of collecting them in colo- 
 nies has been practically developed in Europe. The parent 
 colony was created about a quarter of a century ago at Biele- 
 feld, in Germany, and its success has been such that now in 
 more than sixty houses scattered about on a farm, over a 
 thousand epileptics find a home, where their own labor con- 
 tributes to their support. Besides farm work and house work, 
 under intelligent supervision, various occupations are fol- 
 lowed, as in any other community ; for young epileptics there 
 is a school where the common branches are taught. Dr. 
 Frederick Peterson of New York, having brought this system 
 into notice in a series of papers which commend themselves 
 to the medical profession and to all who are interested in the 
 care of the defective classes, the States of Ohio and California 
 laid the foundation for such a community a year or two ago, 
 and since then the legislature of New York has appointed a 
 commission to select a site and prepare plans for a similar 
 institution. If Connecticut were to follow this example, 
 about a hundred beds here would be vacated, or in other 
 words the admissions of nearly two years would be provided 
 for. Such a village would obviously derive advantages if 
 
453 
 
 located conveniently near an industrial and educational 
 center, and the vicinity of New Haven is especially suitable, 
 because the faculty of the medical department of Yale 
 university would undoubtedly be willing to serve on the visit- 
 ing medical staff, inasmuch as the object lessons in nervous 
 phenomena presented by even a small colony of epileptics 
 would be valuable to the medical classes. Tables XI and 
 XII indicate that instructive examples of other diseases of 
 the nervous system might also be occasionally transferred 
 there for study. So many of the graduates of that school 
 enter into practice in Connecticut that an arrangement con- 
 tributing to their fund of knowledge would largely redound 
 to the benefit of the public. 
 
 The four persons recorded in table XI as not insane re- 
 mained under observation long enough to allay apprehension 
 in regard to their sanity, and then returned home. One of 
 them, by the way, had been an epileptic for years, during 
 which domestic duties had been performed and children 
 reared. While in hospital several seizures were observed, 
 but no evidence of insanity. 
 
 As proving the wisdom of providing such accommodations 
 for the insane that acute cases can always be received 
 promptly, table XVII is interesting, for it demonstrates that 
 of the number who had been insane less than a month when 
 admitted, over 50 per cent, recovered, and that the percent- 
 age of recoveries steadily diminishes as the duration of the 
 disease increases. Table XIX does indeed encourage the 
 hope of recovery in protracted cases by enumerating the few 
 who have recovered after being insane five or more years. 
 But, nevertheless, comes the deduction that the average 
 duration of insanity in 1,200 cases recovered was about one 
 year. 
 
 Among the causes of death (table XXIII) may be noticed 
 a marked increase in the number of deaths from diseases of 
 the respiratory organs, following in the wake of the epi- 
 demics of influenza. In the same table are recorded two 
 
 9 
 
 deaths by suicide and one by violence. The violence in this 
 
454 
 
 instance was fracture of the skull by a piece of iron pipe in 
 the hands of another patient, who had uniformly been peace- 
 ful and disposed to help rather than to injure others. His 
 delusions were of a religious character, and in this homicide 
 he claimed to have been commanded by the Deity. This 
 and the deaths by suicide were of course brought to the 
 notice of the coroner, and fully investigated in accordance 
 with the law. 
 
 The 176 female patients admitted last year were subjected 
 to studious inquiry as to the state of the pelvic organs by the 
 resident female physician. In about one-tliird of the cases 
 physical examination was unavoidably incomplete for various 
 reasons, such as extreme debility or mental excitement or 
 unwillingness of the patient. In one-half of the total num- 
 ber admitted pathological conditions were observed, and in 
 fifty- three of these persons local treatment appeared to be 
 unquestionably indicated. Although the majority consented 
 readily enough to examination, only six solicited it. Several, 
 who recovered their reason, may have owed mental restora- 
 tion partly to the measures which, by allaying a source of 
 irritation, contributed to the comfort and physical well-being 
 of the patient. There were also similar invalids who had 
 been admitted in previous years to whom local treatment 
 equally needed was supplied. 
 
 While this bit of experience did not tend to support the 
 idea, sometimes suggested, that insanity in women is largely 
 due to uterine disease, it strengthened the opinion that ab- 
 normal conditions of the sexual organs, if not searched for, 
 may fail to receive requisite attention, and that such atten- 
 tion is best given by a physician of the same sex as the 
 patient. 
 
 The fact that persons directed to bring a patient to the 
 hospital have been known to abandon their charge to the 
 casual hackman at the railroad station, calls for more than 
 passing mention. The law lays upon courts of probate the 
 duty of appointing an escort for each patient committed. 
 Thus in the committal of an indigent person, the court 
 
455 
 
 “ shall order him to be taken by the person making the 
 application, or such other person as it may direct, to the hos- 
 pital.” (Gen. Stat., Sec. 487.) Disobedience of such an 
 order on the part of the guard is not only an act of dis- 
 respect to the court, it is an act of disrespect to the invalid, 
 who is temporarily thrust outside of the protection provided 
 by law for him, and passed along from one man to another 
 not selected or even known by the court. That one of these 
 patients was a girl of 19 years, acutely insane, obviously 
 aggravates the offense and demonstrates the importance of a 
 law, such as exists in some States, requiring that every 
 insane woman be accompanied by another woman when 
 going to or from an institution. The law in the State of 
 New York is so explicit on this matter that no apology is 
 needed for introducing it here. 
 
 State of New York. Laws of 1890 , Chapter If). 
 
 Section 1 . In every order, commitment, or direction made by 
 any court, judge, or other officer, for the confinement of an insane 
 or feeble-minded woman in any hospital, public institution, or 
 other place, not located at the same place where such insane or 
 feeble-minded person may be at the time such order, commitment, 
 or direction is made, such court, judge, or other officer shall also 
 direct therein that such insane or feeble-minded woman shall have 
 as an attendant at least one suitable adult woman while in custody 
 pursuant to such order, commitment, or direction, and while going 
 to such hospital, public institution, or other place ; and no officer 
 or other person shall keep in his custody, or take to any hospital, 
 public institution, or other place for the custody or, confinement of 
 an insane or feeble-minded person any insane or feeble-minded 
 woman unless accompanied by such an attendant. 
 
 Sec. 2. Whenever any insane or feeble-minded woman con- 
 fined in any institution of this State, under and pursuant to a com- 
 mitment or order of any court, judge, or other officers, is to be 
 transferred from one institution to another institution, or from any 
 hospital or other public institution to a point outside of the city, 
 village, or town where said hospital or public institution is located, 
 the board of managers of the institution where said insane or 
 feeble-minded woman is confined shall cause said insane or feeble- 
 
456 
 
 minded woman, when so removed and transported, to be accom- 
 panied by one or more females in addition to the officer having her 
 in charge. 
 
 Sec 3. The expenses of procuring female assistants required 
 for carrying out the provisions of this act shall be a charge upon 
 the city or county from which said insane or feeble-minded- woman 
 was committed. 
 
 Sec. 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 Female patients require special care not only before reach- 
 ing the hospital and while here, but also afterwards. In 
 England the u After-Care ” association has for twelve years 
 been engaged in the benevolent work of helping female con- 
 valescents of the working classes to obtain a fresh start in 
 life by securing them employment where healthful influences 
 tend to prevent relapses, and its published reports give 
 detailed evidence of good accomplished. In our country, 
 too, there is a natural hesitation to take into domestic ser- 
 vice a recent graduate from an insane hospital. Women 
 recovering from insanity sometimes shrink from the antici- 
 pated prejudices and prefer to postpone discharge longer 
 than their health really requires. Recently this hospital has 
 acquired a few hundred dollars as the nucleus of a fund, to 
 which additional contributions will be gratefully accepted, 
 for the encouragement of convalescents, either by slight 
 rewards for labor — a sugar-coating to the occupation which 
 promotes recovery — or by furnishing them with clothing or 
 small sums of money when they leave this resting place. It 
 devolves on the medical staff to advise the superintendent of 
 patients near recovery, who may need to be helped by the 
 fund. Some who have been thus temporarily aided are now 
 self-supporting. 
 
 As in previous years, additional construction here and 
 there has been called for by the growth of the institution. 
 
 (1) With more people to be fed the old slaughter-house 
 had become inadequate, while the stable room in which fat 
 cattle were transient guests was needed by other stock. So 
 a new slaughter-house was built, covering 34 x60 feet and 
 
457 
 
 containing sixteen stalls, close to the dissecting room. Be- 
 neath are kept some hogs and aloft is hay. No fire is kindled 
 in the building, for it is located so near the soap factory that 
 steam is easily conveyed for heating water. 
 
 (2) An enlargement of the meat-house was also required 
 in order to provide an additional cooling room. 
 
 (3) Ever since the number of patients in the middle 
 house exceeded its capacity, the difficulty of seating them all 
 in the two central dining-rooms has been apparent, and an 
 extension in the rear, adding six hundred square feet to each 
 of these rooms, diminished discomforts and the danger of 
 collisions very perceptibly. 
 
 (4) Lack of space in the wash-room of the laundry, 
 referred to in the last report, was relieved by on addition of 
 20x64 feet carried up the full height of the building. By 
 this means it was possible to have the sewing-room adjoin 
 the ironing and sorting-room, which has been found to 
 lighten labor. 
 
 (5) In the last biennial report the need of a larger 
 assembly room was mentioned. The amusement hall was 
 not only too small, but being in an attic, approached by nar- 
 row stairways, there certainly would have been loss of life if 
 a fire had occurred during an entertainment. The new room, 
 which, after considering various plans, you caused to be 
 erected above the low kitchen building sixty feet behind the 
 main center, has during its first season justified your de- 
 cision. It covers an area of 60 x 90 feet, and the brick walls 
 were carried up far enough to allow of a gallery in which a 
 new organ has been placed. The audience room is on a 
 level with the office story of the main building, with which it 
 is connected by enclosed iron bridges six feet wide — one for 
 each sex. There is also a stairway of ample width to the 
 floor beneath and thence out of doors. There are cloak 
 rooms under the gallery, to which patients may retire if 
 taken suddenly ill during a performance. The interior dec- 
 orations, although simple, are generally admired, and reflect 
 credit upon Mr. David R. Brown, the architect. The stage 
 
458 
 
 is spacious and its various arrangements have proved to be 
 practically convenient. The location simplified connection 
 with steam, water, and gas supply. It has seats for 620 
 persons. 
 
 (6) In the same report reference was made to the pur- 
 chase of land required for another reservoir. This has been 
 completed and connected with the eight-inch water main by 
 1,500 feet of pipe of the same diameter. The capacity of the 
 reservoir is estimated at 25,000,000 gallons, and when full 
 the water level is 160 feet above the first floor of the main 
 hospital building. The sources of its supply are entirely 
 distinct from the streams which run into the other two reser- 
 voirs, and the water is equally free from liability to pollution. 
 With such storage capacity and with two mains for convey- 
 ance of water from the reservoirs to the buildings, insuf- 
 ficiency from any cause seems to be extremely improbable. 
 Gratifying, indeed, is freedom from the discomforts which 
 have been repeatedly experienced in times of drought and 
 from the apprehension of lack of water in case of fire. 
 
 (7) Extending from the ground to the roof, an iron bal- 
 cony has been attached to the rear of certain wards for 
 females patients — some of them hopeful cases — in order 
 that those unable to walk out may have some sunlight in the 
 open air. There is, too, an opportunity for exercise, as the 
 balcony surface on each story is 45 x 12 feet. In winter the 
 exposed sides are covered with glass, and thus benefit is 
 received the year round. 
 
 (8) Finally, at the close of the period covered by this 
 report, an addition to the store (the need of which was also 
 stated two years ago) is in process of construction. There 
 are two stories above the cellar, and when completed a space 
 of 20 x 40 feet on each floor will be gained for storage of 
 miscellaneous supplies. 
 
 The various repairs continually demanding attention, afford 
 opportunities for the introduction of improvements. For ex- 
 ample, metallic ceilings have in several instances been sub- 
 stituted for plaster which had fallen ; the somewhat antiquated 
 
459 
 
 method of steam heating in the oldest group of buildings 
 has been revised, and the heating is now accomplished by 
 steam at much lower pressure than formerly ; the local 
 telephone circuit connecting the several buildings with one 
 another has been renovated and so extended as to put the 
 main office into communication with the wards in the same 
 building. 
 
 Among improvements in contemplation may be mentioned 
 the extension of the system of sewage irrigation to portions 
 of the farm not hitherto reached, experience justifying the 
 confident expectation of favorable results. 
 
 Also in contemplation is a grove on the hospital farm at a 
 suitable distance, where walking parties of patients, without 
 annoying anyone, may find a capacious and retired place to 
 rest before returning to the hospital — a place vastly better 
 than alongside the public highways. Near the men’s arbor 
 a clump of trees, planted by the late Colonel Thayer, already 
 begin to spread grateful shade, and at the north end of the 
 grounds a year or two ago a similar cluster was started with 
 the hope that years hence the female patients may there get 
 healthful diversion with swings, croquet and the like, when 
 extreme heat forbids longer walks. 
 
 The advantages which an institution for the insane de- 
 rives from its farm are indicated in part by a statement of 
 the amount of farm products. This has been prepared with 
 usual care by the farmer, and is herewith submitted. These 
 products represent one of the ways in which the labor of 
 patients contributes to their maintenance, and it is also to be 
 remembered that the patients who labor gain from their oc- 
 cupation physical vigor and healthier mental action. Even 
 if they do not fully recover, they are much less unreasonable, 
 and get much more enjoyment out of life then when idle. 
 Another advantage presented by the farm, especially by that 
 portion upon which sewage can run, consists in its being a 
 field for the harmless disposal of offensive excreta and their 
 transformation into food. 
 
 As in farm work so in other occupations, patients are 
 
460 
 
 helped by helping. Thus some of the insane criminals, 
 whose range of activity is necessarily circumscribed, find in 
 the workshop connected with their quarters a manifest relief 
 from the tedium of confinement. To show the variety of 
 their tasks the record of what has been done in the shop is 
 appended. Likewise a summary of the work in the sewing 
 rooms, under the matron’s direction, testifies to the industry 
 of some of the female patients. Others busy themselves with 
 needlework in the wards, or assist in various domestic duties. 
 With so many willing to contribute the labor of their hands 
 toward the common good, it is no wonder that you have been 
 able to reduce the price of board from $5.00 a week at first 
 to $3.00 a week at last. 
 
 The abstract of vouchers and the financial statement for 
 each of the two years separately^ are to be found in connec- 
 tion with the treasurer’s report. 
 
 The increasing population of the hospital increases the 
 necessity of emphasizing the long-standing regulation of your 
 board that visitors shall not be admitted on Sunday, and of 
 impressing the distinction between this day and others on 
 the minds of the patients in various ways. Chief among 
 these are, of course, the public exercises of God’s worship 
 in the chapel, which are attended by as many as are willing 
 and able to be present. The clergymen of every denomina- 
 tion, who have brought us the comforts of religion, are enti- 
 tled to the gratitude of all. 
 
 From November to May, frequent evening entertainments 
 in the assembly-room are enjoyed by the intelligent minority 
 of our patients, and the labor of preparing them is not with- 
 out pleasure to those engaged in the work, although 
 often a heavy tax on time that might well be devoted to 
 more serious studies. The character and variety of these 
 performances are exhibited in the following list of entertain- 
 ments, 1890-92 : 
 
461 
 
 MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC. 
 
 Entertainment by Misses Drew, Ayer, and Ludlow. 
 
 Entertainment by Messrs Grumbine, Thayer, and Arnold 
 
 By the Wesleyan Glee Club, one concert. 
 
 By the Hospital Company, plays five evenings, operetta one evening, 
 concerts three evenings, varieties two evenings. 
 
 LECTURES. 
 
 By Mr J. E. Littlefield, “Abraham Lincoln.” 
 
 By Mrs. Elizabeth B. Custer, “Reminiscences of Frontier Life.” 
 
 By Miss Susan E. Littlefield, “Deaf Mutism and Visible Speech.” 
 
 By Mr. Ernest King, “ Victor Hugo.” 
 
 By Mr. Ernest King, “ The Neighborhood of London.” 
 
 By Mr. F. S. Goodrich, “Palestine,” illustrated by stereopticon. 
 
 By Dr. H. C. Hovey, “Caves,” illustrated by stereopticon. 
 
 Mr. W. R. Morgan, “ The Passion Play,” illustrated by stereopticon. 
 
 By resident officers, eight lectures, illustrated by stereopticon. 
 
 READINGS. 
 
 By Miss Florence Russell, two evenings; by Miss Lizzie Gleason ; 
 by Miss Helen Chaffee, assisted by Mrs. E. C. Noble ; by Miss 
 Lizzie D. Lyman, assisted by Miss Katherine Clark. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Entertainment by Messrs. Wright and Burns, assisted by local talent. 
 
 Crayon sketches by Mr. George E. Little. 
 
 Ventriloquism by Mr. H. T. Bryant. 
 
 Dancing parties, twenty -five evenings. 
 
 Those named in the above list who, although not con- 
 nected with the hospital, generously sacrificed their conven- 
 ience to contribute to the happiness of our sequestered friends, 
 may be assured that their efforts were thankfully appreciated. 
 
 The musical members of our fraternity deserve commen- 
 dation for having kept up the organization of the band, the 
 orchestra, and the choir, each of which contributes its share 
 to the pleasure of the patients. 
 
 The gentlemen of the medical staff in the winter of 1890- 
 91 prepared and delivered a course of twenty-five lectures, 
 supplemented by recitations, on practical topics connected 
 with the care of the sick. About half of the attendants 
 embraced this opportunity for self-improvement. But, alas ! 
 only one-third of the pupils were in the service a year later. 
 
462 
 
 Donations of reading matter left in the hospital box at Mr. 
 Ilazen’s bookstore will be called for and their receipt ac- 
 knowledged if the names of the donors are known. Thanks 
 are due to Mr. L. R. Hazen for the Century Magazine regu- 
 larly received every month, and for a quantity of German 
 illustrated papers. We are also indebted for illustrated pa- 
 pers and magazines, always prized by the patients, which 
 were given by Rev. 0. A. Piddock, Mr. N. C. Stiles, Mrs. An- 
 drew D. Clark, Mr. John M. Douglas, Prof. W. 0. Atwater, 
 Dr. Joseph W. Alsop, Mr. H. D. A. Ward, Dr. 0. S. Wat- 
 rous, Mrs. Sarah F. Whittlesey, Dr. F. S. Quackenbos, Mr. 
 W. H. Chapman, Mr. Ira L. Gardiner, Mr. D. S. Moseley. 
 Miss M. G. Perry sent a box of books and papers, Mrs. B. W. 
 Tompkins a barrel of periodicals, Miss Susan Stephens a 
 copy of “ Shepp’s Photographs of the World.” Mr. M. B. 
 Copeland contributed forty books, a valuable lot of instru- 
 mental and vocal music, and a quantity of stereopticon views, 
 Mr. F. B. Weeks a dozen books, Mr. William H. Burrows 
 four volumes of Scribner's and thirteen volumes of the Cen- 
 tury, the Middletown Y. M. C. A. miscellaneous reading 
 matter, Mr. Reuben Beach a night-blooming cereus, Mr. 
 James H. Kelsey a double white clematis. A portrait of the 
 Rev. C. T. Woodruff was presented by the Hon. Robbins Bat- 
 tell, one of Gov. James E. English by the Hon. E. S. Cleve- 
 land, and one of Dr. J. W. Alsop by Messrs. Samuel Russell 
 and E. K. Hubbard. 
 
 The patients, who especially enjoy reading the news from 
 their homes, are under obligations to the publishers of the 
 following newspapers for gratuitous copies : 
 
 Tlie Courant, daily, 
 
 The Times, weekly, 
 
 Religious Herald, weekly, - 
 The Palladium, weekly, 
 
 The Morning News, daily, - 
 
 The Tolland County Journal, weekly, 
 
 The Herald, daily, 
 
 The Standard, weekly. 
 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 
 New Haven, Conn. 
 
 I 4 I € 
 
 Rockville, Conn. 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 Bridgeport, Conn. 
 
463 
 
 This chapter of the hospital’s history would be incomplete 
 without a cordial recognition of the valuable services of my 
 comrades, including all those who have overcome difficulties, 
 dangers, and various trials in the faithful performance of 
 duty. While mourning the loss of some efficient helpers, 
 there is cause for thankfulness in the reflection that vacant 
 places have been filled with good material and that the 
 working force has been strengthened by meritorious addi- 
 tions, as required by the additional number for whom we 
 work. \ 
 
 Lastly, gentlemen, believe me deeply sensible of my indebt- 
 edness to each member of your board, with whom it has been 
 my privilege to take counsel during these years, for the un- 
 varying kindness which has made service a pleasure. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 JAMES OLMSTEAD, M.D., 
 Superintendent . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., June 30, 1892. 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 Annual Statement of the Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, 
 for the Year ending June 80, 1891. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance of account as rendered July 1, 1890, 
 
 Amount of revenue in July, ..... 
 
 Interest on bank deposit from March, 
 
 Amount of revenue in August, .... 
 
 “ “ September, .... 
 
 “ “ October, .... 
 
 “ “ November, .... 
 
 “ “ December, .... 
 
 Amount of interest received on Sargent Fund ($1,000), 
 
 Six months’ interest on bank deposit, 
 
 Amount of revenue in January, 1891, 
 
 Rebate on Distiller Cattle Feed Co., 
 
 Amount of revenue in February, .... 
 
 “ “ March, .... 
 
 “ “ April, .... 
 
 “ “ May, .... 
 
 “ “ June, .... 
 
 Six months’ interest on bank deposit, 
 
 Amount of interest on Sargent Fund, 
 
 $825,029.27 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 Amount of Superintendent’s orders paid in July, 1890, . $28,847.20 
 
 “ “ “ “ August, . . 28,919.04 
 
 “ “ “ “ September, . 19,794.75 
 
 “ “ “ “ October, . . 22,095.72 
 
 “ “ “ “ November, . 20,540 83 
 
 “ “ “ “ December, . . 23.155.16 
 
 “ January, 1891, . 16,791.80 
 
 “ “ “ “ February, . . 16,996.73 
 
 “ “ “ “ March, . . 18,353.87 
 
 “ April, . . 18,028.02 
 
 “ “ “ “ May, . . 18,230.18 
 
 k “ “ “ June 25 313 82 
 
 Balance of cash on hand June 30, 1891, .... 68,472.15 
 
 $325,029.27 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, Treasurer. 
 
 35.447.94 
 683.35 
 
 13,338.10 
 13,314.51 
 35,576.22 
 14,441.56 
 10,800.12 
 30.20 
 836.75 
 39,467 20 
 4.18 
 14,820.55 
 12,204.82 
 34,805.81 
 13.639.24 
 
 13.587.95 
 924.74 
 
 20.00 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the accounts of M. B. Cope- 
 land, Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, for the fiscal 
 year ending June 30, 1891, compared the vouchers therewith, and found 
 the same correct, and that there remained in the hands of the Treasurer 
 the sum of sixty-eight thousand four hundred and seventy-two dollars 
 and fifteen cents ($68,472.15). 
 
 George F. Lincoln, ) Auditors of 
 D. Ward Northrop, f Public Accounts. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., Sept. 18, 1891. 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 Annual Statement of the Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane , 
 for the Year ending June 30 , 1892. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance of cash on hand July 1, 1891 
 
 Amount of revenue from Hospital received in July, 
 
 “ “ “ “ August, 
 
 “ “ “ “ September, 
 
 “ “ “ “ October, 
 
 “ “ “ “ November, 
 
 “ “ “ “ December, 
 
 Six months’ interest on balance in Middletown National Bank, 
 Amount of revenue from Hospital received in January, 1892, 
 Six months’ interest on Sargent Fund ($1,000), 
 
 Amount of revenue from Hospital received in February, 
 
 “ “ “ “ March, . 
 
 “ “ “ “ April, 
 
 “ “ “ “ May, 
 
 Six months’ interest on Sargent Fund ($1,000), 
 
 Amount of revenue from Hospital received in June, 
 
 Six months’ interest on balance in Middletown National Bank, 
 
 $68,472.15 
 37,890.89 
 9,749.49 
 19,651.49 
 33,110.73 
 21,392 97 
 13,210.26 
 979.29 
 40,810.81 
 20.00 
 14,085.37 
 13,348.75 
 31,569.55 
 19,868.93 
 20.00 
 10,739.78 
 1,337.02 
 
 $336,297.48 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 Amount of Superintendent’s orders paid in July, 1891, 
 
 “ “ “ “ August, 
 
 “ “ “ “ September, 
 
 “ “ “ “ October, 
 
 “ “ “ “ November, 
 
 “ “ “ “ December, 
 
 “ “ “ “ January, 1892, 
 
 “ “ “ “ February, 
 
 “ “ “ “ March, 
 
 “ “ “ “ April, 
 
 “ “ “ “ May, 
 
 “ “ “ June, 
 
 Balance deposited in Middletown National Bank, 
 
 $22,537.93 
 24,335.60 
 23,875.38 
 19,523.53 
 17,493.00 
 16,742.74 
 18,807 92 
 18,229.94 
 16,179.57 
 16,545.05 
 18,883.70 
 63,078.43 
 60,064.68 
 
 $336,297.48 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, Treasurer. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the accounts of M. B. Cope- 
 land, Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, for the fiscal 
 year ending June 30, 1892, compared the vouchers therewith, and found 
 the same correct, and that there remained in the hands of the Treasurer 
 the sum of sixty thousand, sixty-four dollars and sixty -eight cents ($60,- 
 064.68), and also the further sum of forty -four thousand, two hundred 
 dollars ($44,200.00), as a special appropriation account. 
 
 D. Ward Northrup, ) Auditors of 
 Benjamin P. Mead, ) Public Accounts . 
 
 Middletown, Conn., Dec. 16, 1892. 
 
 30 
 
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES. 
 
 To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Con- 
 necticut: 
 
 The trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane 
 respectfully submit their twenty-tiftli report, together with 
 the reports of the superintendent and treasurer, covering the 
 period from July 1, 1892, to June 30, 1894, inclusive. 
 
 In presenting this report the trustees deem it a matter for 
 congratulation that they have never had occasion, in conse- 
 quence of serious errors or complaints, to make to your 
 honorable body, or to the public, an apology, explanation, or 
 defence of the management of the institution. It has ever been 
 open to the inspection of all properly authorized persons, and 
 all having special reasons for inquiry have received particu- 
 lar attention. Careful oversight has been exercised by the 
 trustees, and in their unannounced visits they have received 
 the cordial co-operation of the officers, who have always 
 appeared as though conscious that they were doing their 
 duty, having nothing to conceal or to dread from the most 
 searching examination. The hospital still maintains its high 
 character ; whatever improvements study or experience have 
 developed have been adopted, and its officers have not been 
 behind others in devising means for the better care and im- 
 provement of the unfortunate class over whom they have 
 oversight. 
 
 It is not necessary to urge that skillful medical treatment, 
 proper food, and care as to regularity of habits, are not all 
 that should be expected of a hospital. Great and, in many 
 cases, equal benefit may be derived from judicious employ- 
 ment, varied amusements, and pleasant surroundings, such as 
 well-arranged grounds, ornamented with trees, shrubs, and 
 
467 
 
 flowers. Influences derived from these sources powerfully 
 tend to divert the attention of the insane, to correct the mor- 
 bid action of their faculties and give a healthy tone to the 
 activities of their bodily and mental powers. One result in 
 this institution has been the lessening of restraint till only a 
 very few inmates, and for very special reasons, are subjected 
 to it. 
 
 The number of patients present at the end of the period 
 was 1,580, more than a hundred in excess of the number for 
 whose accommodation provision has been made. Applicants 
 for the admission of patients are obliged to wait several weeks 
 for vacancies. Under these circumstances it is especially re- 
 gretted by the trustees that valuable space needed by innocent 
 persons should under the mandate of the law be occupied by 
 convicts. The hope, expressed in a previous report, is still 
 entertained that suitable quarters for insane convicts may be 
 constructed at the State Prison, and that Section 3617, 
 General Statutes, directing their transfer to this hospital, 
 may be repealed. 
 
 Since, notwithstanding the advice of the trustees, it was 
 decided to further enlarge this institution, the State is to be 
 congratulated on acquiring possession of land well adapted 
 for the location of buildings. The report of the building 
 committee, presented herewith, contains interesting intelli- 
 gence of the progress of the work, wdiose completion will at 
 least partially relieve almshouses of insane inmates. 
 
 Twenty-five years having passed since the hospital was 
 opened, it has seemed fitting that some memoranda of its 
 history should be collated and published as an appendix to 
 these reports for the information of your honorable body ; 
 this has accordingly been done. 
 
 It is gratifying to call attention to the fact that, favored by 
 low prices of various necessaries of life, a further reduction 
 has been possible in the price of taking care of the insane 
 poor, which, since April 1, 1893, has been at the rate of only 
 $2.80 per week. 
 
 The trustees have had occasion to mourn the loss by death 
 of two of their number — the Hon. Benjamin Douglas, who 
 
468 
 
 was a member of the board almost from the outset, and, while 
 his health permitted, was second to none in devotion to the 
 welfare of the insane and to whatever concerned the interests 
 of the hospital ; Mr. John N. Camp, whose active mind and 
 unusual qualifications in practical business affairs made him 
 a valuable member of the finance committee. 
 
 In the places of these members Mr. Horace F. Boardman 
 and Mr. Frank B. Weeks were appointed. 
 
 The official terms of the following named trustees will 
 expire July 1, 1895 : Henry Woodward, Middlesex county; 
 
 William Bissell, Litchfield county; Austin E. May, Fairfield 
 county ; Andrew C. Smith, New Haven county ; Samuel 
 Russell and Horace F. Boardman, “from the vicinity of the 
 institution.” 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 LUZON B. MORRIS, 
 
 HENRY WOODWARD, 
 WILLIAM BISSELL, M.D., 
 AUSTIN E. MAY, M.D., 
 ANDREW C. SMITH, 
 
 WM. D. MORGAN, M.D., 
 COSTELLO LIPPITT, 
 GEORGE H. NICHOLS, 
 WILBUR B. FOSTER, 
 SAMUEL RUSSELL, 
 HORACE F. BOARDMAN, 
 ELIJAH K. HUBBARD, 
 FRANK B. WEEKS. 
 
REPORT OF BUILDING COMMITTEE. 
 
 To the General Assembly of Connecticut: 
 
 The Legislature of 1893 having decided to provide addi- 
 tional accommodations for the insane, the following resolution 
 was passed : 
 
 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 351. 
 
 APPROPRIATION FOR THE CONNECTICUT HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE. 
 
 Resolved by this Assembly: Section 1. That a building committee of 
 
 five members, three of whom shall be elected by the trustees of the Con- 
 necticut Hospital for the Insane, and two of whom shall be elected by the 
 Senate, be and are hereby authorized and directed to cause the erection in 
 the town of Middletown, of a suitable building sufficient for the accom- 
 modation of two hundred and fifty insane persons of the class known as 
 incurable insane. 
 
 Sec. 2. Said committee is hereby authorized and directed to expend 
 for said purpose such a sum of the moneys now held by said trustees of 
 said hospital, not to exceed seventy thousand dollars, as shall be necessary. 
 
 Sec. 3. A further sum of thirty thousand dollars, or so much thereof 
 as shall be necessary, is hereby appropriated from the State treasury, to 
 furnish and complete said building. 
 
 Approved, June 30, 1893. 
 
 In compliance with this act, the Senate having elected the 
 Hon. Seth J. Hall of Meriden and Dr. Matthew T. Newton 
 of Suffield, the board of trustees appointed Mr. A. C. Smith 
 of New Haven and Messrs. Samuel Russell and Henry 
 Woodward of Middletown, to complete the committee. 
 
 This committee organized by appointing Henry Wood- 
 ward chairman and treasurer, and Samuel Russell secretary. 
 
 There being no suitable site for locating the new buildings 
 on the land owned by the State, a very desirable piece ot 
 land contiguous to the hospital property, conveniently located 
 
470 
 
 and admirably adapted for the purpose, was purchased, upon 
 which the buildings have been placed. 
 
 The buildings known as the south hospital having proved 
 very satisfactory to all the officers of the institution, your 
 committee requested several architects in this State to make 
 plans and specifications for a building upon the same general 
 plan of the one named, using every means to make the 
 structure as nearly fire-proof as possible. 
 
 Several plans were presented and considered, but the esti- 
 mated cost of all but the one furnished by Messrs. Curtis & 
 Johnson of Hartford, was found to exceed the amount appro- 
 priated by the General Assembly. 
 
 This plan, which called for a plain and substantial struc- 
 ture of brick, relieved by terra cotta ornaments, and of what 
 is known as the slow-burning construction, was adopted. 
 
 After an examination of several systems for the purpose 
 of heating and ventilating the buildings, your committee 
 decided to adopt that of the Sturtevant Company of Boston, 
 Mass. 
 
 Bids having been received, the contract for the building 
 was awarded to Mr. H. B. Phil brick of Hartford, and for 
 heating and ventilating to the New Haven Heating and 
 Plumbing Company of New Haven. 
 
 The buildings are now well advanced and will be ready 
 for occupancy in the early spring. 
 
 Water w^as conveyed to the grounds from the hospital 
 reservoirs, the excavations for laying the pipes, as well as 
 the grading and sewering, being done by the inmates of the 
 hospital without expense to the State. 
 
 The cost of the buildings will be very nearly as follows: 
 
 Contract for mason and joiner work, slating, painting, and 
 
 plumbing, $75,000.00 
 
 Land, 5,000.00 
 
 Heating and ventilating, 11,200.00 
 
 Surveying 185.00 
 
 Water-pipe and connec tions, 1,166.00 
 
 Architects and incidentals (estimated), 3,500.00 
 
 Total, $96,001.00 
 
471 
 
 This will leave a balance of about $4,000 to apply to fur- 
 nishing the building, whieh falls below the estimate for that 
 purpose, but your committee are in hopes that arrangements 
 can be made whereby the legislature will not be called upon 
 for any further appropriation. 
 
 SETH J. HALL, \ 
 
 MATTHEW T. NEWTON, ) 
 
 ANDREW C. SMITH, Committee. 
 
 SAMUEL RUSSELL, \ 
 
 HENRY WOODWARD, / 
 
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane : 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I beg leave to present for your consideration the following 
 report of the condition of the hospital during the two years 
 from July 1, 1892, to June 30, 1894, inclusive, together with 
 tables containing such information as your by-laws direct con- 
 cerning the patients admitted and discharged. 
 
 The changes in the census of the patients during this 
 biennial period are exhibited in condensed form thus: 
 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Present July 1, 1892, .... 
 
 696 
 
 810 
 
 1,506 
 
 Admitted, 
 
 882 
 
 314 
 
 696 
 
 Discharged, 
 
 325 
 
 297 
 
 622 
 
 Present June 30, 1894, .... 
 
 753 
 
 827 
 
 1,580 
 
 It appears that there has been an increase of seventy-four 
 in the total number under treatment, and, as the hospital 
 was full to overflowing two years ago, the question may 
 naturally be asked, How has it been possible to accommodate 
 more ? The answer is, that thirty-eight patients have been 
 temporarily lodged in the old chapel in the center of the main 
 building, by postponing for a time other uses for which that 
 room is needed ; and that thirty men have been accommodated 
 in a comfortable farm house standing on land purchased for 
 additional buildings, while a few extra beds have been 
 crowded in here and there. The number admitted has been 
 fully up to the limit of the hospital’s capacity, and during a 
 large part of the time it has been impossible to receive patients 
 without a delay of several weeks. It has, therefore, been 
 
473 
 
 necessary to caution people generally to make application for 
 the admission of patients before bringing them to the hospital, 
 applicants being admitted in regular turn as fast as the oc- 
 currence of vacancies permits. 
 
 The following table shows the methods of commitment 
 which justify the detention in the hospital of the patients 
 present June 30, 1894: 
 
 1,413 committed as pauper or indigent persons by the probate courts. 
 
 14 committed as private patients. 
 
 27 committed by the Soldiers’ Hospital Board. 
 
 6 committed by the county commissioners. 
 
 42 committed by the Governor’s order. 
 
 63 committed by the superior court. 
 
 15 committed by the police courts. 
 
 1,580 Total. 
 
 To the question how these patients are supported, the 
 answer is that : 
 
 847 paupers are supported by towns and by the State. 
 
 566 indigents are supported by friends and by the State. 
 
 27 soldiers are supported by the State. 
 
 6 jail convicts are supported by the State. 
 
 41 Governor’s commitments are supported by the State. 
 
 1 Governor’s commitment is supported by the town and State. 
 
 14 private commitments are supported by private funds. 
 
 3 criminal court commitments are supported by private funds. 
 
 23 criminal court commitments are supported by towns and State. 
 
 52 criminal court commitments are supported by the State. 
 
 1,580 Total. 
 
 Commitments by the governor now include convicts from 
 the State Prison, convicts from the county jails (heretofore 
 committed only by the county commissioners) and insane 
 paupers not belonging to any town in this State.* With the 
 passage of Chapter 46, Public Acts, 1893, providing for the 
 commitment by the governor of convicts serving sentences 
 in county jails, it is surprising that the imperfect statute was 
 not repealed which permits such persons to be sent from jails 
 to the hospital by the county commissioners. In the latter 
 case no medical certificate of the patient’s insanity is filed at 
 the hospital, nor is there any authority for the patient’s de- 
 
474 
 
 tention after the expiration of his sentence if lie continues in- 
 sane ; and yet he may be so demented or so dangerous that 
 the safety of himself or of the public may be imperiled by 
 setting him at liberty. 
 
 The distribution of the patients among the several build- 
 ings of the hospital is exhibited in the following table, which 
 also indicates how T far in excess of the true capacity of the 
 hospital is the number under treatment in it : 
 
 
 Capacity. 
 
 Patients. 
 
 Main Hospital, 
 
 470 
 
 548 
 
 Middle Hospital, 
 
 320 
 
 370 
 
 South Hospital, 
 
 340 
 
 340 
 
 Annex, 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 Main Cottage, 
 
 190 
 
 197 
 
 Farm Cottage, 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 Fallon Cottage, 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 Roberts Cottage, 
 
 21 
 
 23 
 
 Hubbard Cottage, 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 Total, June 30, 1894, .... 
 
 1,440 
 
 1,580 
 
 Evidently this system of detached buildings, the larger 
 ones being subdivided into separate wards, must contribute 
 very greatly to diminish the unfavorable influence of different 
 types of insanity upon one another. 
 
 Even a cursory glance through the wards will impress the 
 observer with the large preponderance of chronic over acute 
 insanity. Formerly, in one of the tables annually printed, 
 there w T as an attempt to estimate how many of the patients 
 in the hospital at the end of each year were likely to recover. 
 But that table was discontinued long ago, so small was the 
 number present at any given time whose recovery could be 
 predicted as probable. According to the statistics appended 
 only 74 of all remaining in the hospital have been insane less 
 than one year, and 1,018 have been insane over flve years; of 
 all admitted during the last biennial period, 340 had already 
 been insane longer than one year, and 150 had been insane 
 from five to thirty or more years when admitted. Taking 
 
475 
 
 into consideration other circumstances besides duration, 
 barely one-third of 358 persons admitted last year were in 
 such a condition as would justify expectation of recovery 
 even in the most favorable environment. 
 
 When the present overcrowded state shall have been 
 relieved by the completion of the building now in process of 
 construction, the wards of the main hospital, originally 
 designed for the reception of acute cases, might be better 
 fitted than now for successful treatment in various ways 
 additional to the removal of chronic disturbers. For instance, 
 the long, rather gloomy corridors, not calculated to dispel 
 timid forebodings from the minds of new comers, might 
 become far more attractive by projecting bays, as appear in 
 buildings of later date. Infirmary wards or buildings, de- 
 voted exclusively to the care of patients so ill as to require 
 special nursing, also might be beneficial; and a building need 
 not be large to hold all these sick persons (were it best to 
 group them), for the number confined to bed is surprisingly 
 small in comparison with the total, as shown for each quarter 
 of last year by the subjoined table : 
 
 Patients. 
 
 Male. 
 
 Female. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1893 — July-Sept. Average number present. 
 
 715.08 
 
 825.79 
 
 1,540 87 
 
 Average number sick in bed, 
 
 3.22 
 
 17.46 
 
 20.68 
 
 Oct. -Dec. Average number present, 
 
 710.68 
 
 822 88 
 
 1,539.57 
 
 Average number sick in bed, 
 
 3.91 
 
 13.87 
 
 17.78 
 
 1894 — Jan. -Mar. Average number present. 
 
 741.46 
 
 825 51 
 
 1,566.97 
 
 Average number sick in bed, 
 
 0.13 
 
 11 49 
 
 17.62 
 
 Apr. -June. Average number present, 
 
 747 16 
 
 824 91 
 
 1,572.08 
 
 Average number sick in bed, 
 
 6 37 
 
 11.82 
 
 18.19 
 
 During the year. Average number present, 
 
 730.09 
 
 824.77 
 
 1,554.87 
 
 Average number sick in bed, 
 
 4.90 
 
 13.66 
 
 18.56 
 
 However, it should be remembered that these invalids, 
 unlike those in a general hospital, are affected with such 
 widely different forms of insanity that not all of the same 
 sex could well be together. Tempting as might be the vine- 
 screened piazzas, the cheerful fireplaces, the dainty diet, the 
 trained nursefe, and the other equipments of an infirmary, the 
 
476 
 
 fastidious hypochondriac would protest against being near 
 puerperal mania. Perhaps of more practical utility would be 
 apartments for each sex, in which patients, brought from 
 poorly kept almshouses and even less tidy tenements, might 
 be stripped of their vermin-loaded clothing and be treated to 
 the surprise of a Turkish bath before admission into the 
 wards. 
 
 Under the title of toxic insanity (table XI) are classified 
 twelve persons, admitted during the biennial period, who 
 were insane only so far as addicted to the excessive use of 
 certain drugs — alcohol, morphine, chloral. These having 
 been eliminated, the patients were rational and were dis- 
 charged not as recovered, for brief abstinence from habitual 
 indulgence is not supposed to be curative, but as unimproved. 
 Strangely enough, it is sometimes necessary to inform people 
 that this is not an inebriate asylum. 
 
 The statistical tables also show that during the last two 
 years five persons were admitted who disclosed subsequently 
 no evidences of insanity. After such detention as study of 
 their cases and respect due to the committing authorities 
 demanded, they were discharged as not insane, without 
 intending thereby to reflect upon the judgment or sincerity 
 of our professional brethren, who signed certificates of 
 insanity. 
 
 Take for example the following case: A girl, 16 years of 
 
 age, with a hereditary predisposition to insanity and an 
 excitable temperament, after inhaling nitrous oxide gas, 
 exhibited hysterical symptoms, appeared to have hallucina- 
 tions of sight, was violent and threatened suicide. These 
 phenomena alternated with occasional lucid intervals for 
 several weeks, until reluctantly it was decided to remove her 
 from home to the hospital, and she was committed in due 
 form. The result was that the power of self control promptly 
 reasserted itself* and, after spending three weeks here without 
 any indication of insanity, the patient was gladly welcomed 
 home, certainly no worse for her visit. 
 
 Another patient not insane was a convict ; and in respect 
 to this class of persons the utmost precautions against error 
 
477 
 
 are unquestionably exercised. Yet this shrewd thief was 
 not the first convict to interrupt the monotony of imprison- 
 ment by feigning insanity successfully. Two of them have 
 been brought from the prison three times with histories of 
 violent mania, never exhibited here. Reported to be sane, 
 each one has twice been taken back to prison only to exem- 
 plify the truth of a well-known writer’s observations that “there 
 are persons in these asylums who rather try to suppress than 
 to welcome symptoms of recovery, and when turned out they 
 manoeuvre to get in again.” 
 
 Not merely does the existing statute tempt the malingerer, 
 but it increases the risk of escapes. The rigorous discipline 
 and safeguards of a prison are not in harmony wfith the spirit 
 of a hospital. No patients need exercise and occupation 
 more than do these convicts, but no others are so watchful 
 of the smallest loop-hole. Two of them, last year, while at 
 work under apparently sufficient guard, managed to escape. 
 Otherwise they would a little later have returned to prison, 
 for their insanity — of that peculiarly transitory type — had 
 vanished on the way hither. 
 
 Of all others who attempted to escape during the biennial 
 period, only one is missing — a man who had been accustomed 
 to help in the lawn work and had shown no disposition to 
 harm himself or any one else. In such cases as this the mis- 
 fortune of occasional escapes is believed to be overbalanced 
 by the benefits of occupation or “industrial treatment,” as 
 some one has put it, and aptly, too, for the things that may 
 engage an insane person’s attention and may keep his hands 
 out of mischief, are by no means beneath the notice of the 
 physician, and w T hen among several hundred cases of chronic 
 insanity not a dozen are ailing, but many idle, surely it is 
 strictly within the bounds of medical work to devise various 
 methods of keeping as many patients as possible busy in 
 healthful ways. It is well to remember that not every 
 chronic case is incurable. Of 1,395 recoveries, it appears 
 (table XIX) that 419 cases — nearly one-third — had been in- 
 sane longer than a year, and that nearly fifty of them recovered 
 after a duration of more than five years. For a year or two, 
 
in the winter days especially, an increasing amount of needle- 
 work has been done in the women’s wards, and credit is due 
 to the supervisors and attendants whose active cooperation 
 contributed to good results. Statements of the amount and 
 variety of work done in the sewing-rooms and the men’s 
 workshop are appended for the purpose of showing how some 
 of the patients are employed. The word occupation, if used 
 not merely in the sense of labor, but of whatever keeps one 
 busy, embraces such diversions as games, reading circles, 
 schoolroom exercises, and winter evening entertainments; 
 the latter involving an expenditure justified only on account 
 of the benefit derived from them by intelligent patients; and 
 it is solely on this account that the medical staff lead in the 
 preparation of these entertainments. As an element of 
 treatment, also, the musical organizations — the band and the 
 orchestra — are kept up under the efficient direction of a 
 member of the staff. 
 
 In the department of gynaecology it has become custom- 
 ary for the female patients soon after admission to meet a 
 physician of their own sex whose duty is to ascertain about 
 the existence of diseases peculiar to women. In about half 
 of the number admitted during the two years under review 
 there was either no probability of local disease or there were 
 sufficient reasons to forbid examination. The majority of 
 the 155 women examined suffered more or less from morbid 
 conditions susceptible of at least partial benefit from treat- 
 ment adopted. This work was done mostly by Dr. Mary 
 Harley, whose service of eighteen months as interne extended 
 from the conclusion of Dr. Sherman’s term, December, 1892, 
 to June, 1891, when Dr. Weston was engaged. 
 
 In the department of pathology it is gratifying to note 
 more minute and systematic study than has been possible in 
 years past. For, when the temporary absence of one and 
 another of the assistant physicians made additional help 
 necessary, a recruit was secured in the person of Dr. L. Pierce 
 Clark, who was recommended by his instructors, and has 
 shown ability to do creditable work in this branch of medical 
 
 science. 
 
479 
 
 Looking over the record of deaths during the biennial 
 period, it appears (table XXIII) that only two of them were 
 due to causes of such a nature as to call for special mention. 
 One was a case of diphtheria, which developed a week after 
 the patient’s admission. There had been no diphtheria in the 
 house for a long time previously, and no other deaths from 
 this cause followed. The other case was that of a man, who 
 had been in the hospital three years, and lost his life by 
 rashly trying to escape at night from an upper window. The 
 improvised rope of bed covering parted t and the patient, fall- 
 ing to the ground, sustained injuries from which death 
 resulted within six hours. Nearly a fifth of all who died since 
 the opening of the hospital had passed the age of three-score 
 and ten years, and more than a third of them (table XXIV) had 
 been deprived of reason from five to fifty years, waiting for 
 “ life’s tedious nothing ” to be ended. 
 
 The list of major improvements made under your direc- 
 tion represents fairly the variety of mechanical work which, 
 in addition to numerous minor repairs, must be provided for 
 in each year’s estimate of expenses. 
 
 First in point of time is to be noted an ice-house, located 
 beside one of the reservoirs, capacity 1,200 gross tons, like the 
 one already standing near the other buildings, the intent 
 b^ing to gather a double crop whenever practicable, in order 
 to prepare for the contingency of a mild winter. Such was 
 the next winter after the new house was filled. 
 
 2. An additional piggery, well lighted and ventilated, 
 containing seventeen pens — each one usually the nursery of 
 a little family — was built on a stone foundation with brick 
 walls from the ground to three feet above the floor, wooden 
 superstructure and slate roof. The floor is easily kept clean, 
 all refuse matter dropping through trap doors into the 
 cellar. 
 
 3. The system of sewerage disposal by surface irrigation 
 was extended by laying 3,300 feet of six-inch cast-iron pipe 
 across Butler’s Creek and up to the top of the ridge, on either 
 side of which the cultivated part of the farm is located. The 
 effect was not only to increase the quantity of produce by 
 
480 
 
 enriching the soil, but, by watering it, vegetation was saved 
 from destruction during a drought. 
 
 4. In the main building the original inflammable partition 
 walls of six elevator wells were replaced by brick carried up 
 through the roof, and a seventh elevator well was abolished 
 by uniting the dining-rooms on each floor. The brick walls 
 of two dust chutes terminating in the attic were also con- 
 tinued through the roof, in order to lessen tire risks. 
 
 5. A frame cottage, containing eight bedrooms, was erected 
 in a retired part of the grounds to provide suitable sleeping 
 quarters for persons on night duty. The rooms on the wards 
 which they vacated were tilled by patients. 
 
 6. The workshop in the annex being no longer large 
 enough, a one-story shop of brick with slate roof was built 
 close by. Its floor space (79 x 20 feet) is no more than is 
 needed for the variety of work carried on. 
 
 7. In the corridors of two wards, where plaster had begun 
 to fall and was considered unsafe, metal ceilings were 
 applied. 
 
 8. A flag-stone walk, four feet wide, was laid around the 
 north end of the main building, connecting the walks in 
 front and rear, and enabling walking parties of patients to 
 make a complete circuit of the grounds dry-shod. 
 
 9. The farm of about fifty-two acres, purchased from the 
 heirs of the late Elisha S. Hubbard, opens the way to further 
 improvements, for it extends from the northern boundary of 
 the hospital grounds across the Valley railway to the Con- 
 necticut river; and it is apparent that some sort of railway 
 connection with the coal bunkers and storehouses is needed 
 more and more every year. A considerable portion of this 
 farm is a desirable addition to^tlie tillable land belonging to 
 the hospital, and a portion not cultivated, when cleared of 
 underbrush, can be made most attractive to walking parties. 
 The large substantial farm house on the premises — one of 
 the landmarks of this region — has been repaired, supplied 
 with water and steam heat and furnished for thirty patients. 
 By this purchase an admirable site was obtained for building 
 additional accommodations for patients as required by an act 
 
481 
 
 of the last General Assembly. A front view and first-floor 
 plan of the structure contracted for were prepared under 
 the direction of the architects, Messrs. Curtis & Johnson, of 
 Hartford, to accompany similar illustrations of the three 
 other principal buildings, all the floor plans being reduced to 
 a uniform scale to facilitate comparisons. 
 
 The financial condition of the hospital is exhibited in the 
 statements appended in connection with the treasurer’s report. 
 The balance on hand has been very considerably reduced by 
 the purchase of the Hubbard property and by the payment 
 of seventy thousand dollars to the committee elected to erect 
 further accommodations. The price of board for beneficiaries 
 was reduced in April, 1893, to the low rate of $2.80 weekly. 
 Nevertheless, it has thus far been possible, without lowering 
 the standard of care, to keep the expenses of maintenance 
 within the revenue. 
 
 The farmer’s report of the quantity and estimated value of 
 farm products is appended. With plenty of men ready to 
 labor simply for the sake of exercise, with large quantities of 
 fertilizing material to be disposed of, and with a demand at 
 home for all the crops that can be raised, the utility of the 
 hospital’s farm would seem to be unquestionable. 
 
 In acknowledging favors received, it is fitting first of all 
 to thank the clergymen of the vicinity who have cheerfully 
 responded to our call and whose ministrations, both public 
 and private, have been gratefully appreciated by many 
 patients. For the pleasure experienced at secular gatherings 
 during the past two winters the patients are indebted to 
 various friends, as shown by the following list of entertain- 
 ments : 
 
 MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC*. 
 
 “ Esmeralda,” by students of Wesleyan University. 
 
 Entertainment by the “ Bee Society.” 
 
 Concert by Misses St. John, Mack, and Sherman. 
 
 Concert by Mr Ericsson F. Bushnell, supported by the Hospital 
 Orchestra. 
 
 Concert by the St. John’s Church Choir. 
 
 By the Hospital Company, plays three evenings, varieties two 
 evenings, concerts two evenings. 
 
 31 
 
482 
 
 LECTURES. 
 
 By Mr George L. Chase, “ The Sandwich Islands. ” 
 
 By B. G. Northrop, LL.D., “ The New Era in Japan ” 
 
 By B. G. Northrop, LL.D , “Village Improvement.’' 
 
 By Mr. Ernest King, “ Waterloo.” 
 
 By Mr. Ernest King, “Popular Delusions.” 
 
 By Dr. Keniston, “Mozart.” 
 
 By Dr. Keniston, “Handel and Haydn.” 
 
 By Dr. Keniston, “Beethoven.” 
 
 LECTURES ILLUSTRATED BY THE STEREOPTICON. 
 
 By Rev. P. M. Snyder, “ Switzerland.” 
 
 By Mr. W. R. Morgan, “ St. Peter’s and the Vatican ” 
 
 By Mr. H. C. Whittlesey, “Japan and the Japanese.” 
 
 By Mr. K. H. Kazanjian, “Syria.” 
 
 By Prof. E. T. Merrill, “ Stories of Ancient Rome.” 
 
 By Mr. Frederick L. 'Chapin, “The Cliff Dwellers.” 
 
 By Prof. H. E. Northrop, “Italy.” 
 
 By Prof. H. E. Northrop, “Germany.” 
 
 By Prof. H. E. Northrop, “Ireland.” 
 
 By Mr. Frank G. Jester, “ The Columbian Exposition.” 
 
 By Dr. Noble, “ Shakespeare.” 
 
 By Dr. Noble, “England.” 
 
 By Dr. Stanley, “Washington.” 
 
 By Dr. Coleburn, “Ireland.” 
 
 READINGS. 
 
 By Prof. R. G. Hibbard ; by Miss Lizzie D. Lyman ; by Miss 
 Gertrude Grier ; by Miss Elizabeth A. Pickering ; by Miss 
 Adele Weber (two evenings). 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Exhibition of clay modeling by Mr. E. S. Woods. 
 
 Crayon sketches by Mr. George E. Little. 
 
 Ventriloquism by Mr. H. T. Bryant, two evenings. 
 
 Dancing parties, twenty-five evenings. 
 
 The hospital is under obligations to the family of Mr. John 
 N. Camp for a portrait which keeps memories of him fresh 
 in mind. Mr. E. Iv. Ilubbard presented a large number of 
 pictures to decorate the wards. Hon. D. N. Morgan pre- 
 sented a map of Connecticut, prepared by the recent U. S. 
 Geological Survey. Prayer book and hymnals were given 
 by Prof. Binney. Books were given by the Commissioner- 
 
483 
 
 General of the Argentine Republic, by Mr. Frank B. Weeks, 
 Mr. Edward B. Wells, Mr. Frank A. Young. The current 
 numbers of the Century Magazine were contributed by Mr. 
 L. R. Hazen, and a large box of periodicals by Mr. D. S. 
 Moseley. Illustrated magazines and other periodicals were 
 received from Mr. H. D. A. Ward, Mrs. B. N. Tompkins, 
 Miss Etta Taylor, Mrs. J. M. S. Carter, Mr. G. R. Knowles, 
 Mr. W. W. Wilcox, Mr. Frank B. Weeks; illustrated papers 
 from Mrs. A. R. Parsliley, Dr. F. S. Quackenbos, the pub- 
 lishers of Puck, and the Middletown Y. M. C. A. Religious 
 papers came from Rev. Henry A. Starks, Mr. L. R. Hazen, 
 Prof. C. T. Winchester, Mrs. L. B. Culver. In Fairfield 
 County Mr. Charles IT. Meder collected four boxes of miscel- 
 laneous reading matter. Thanks are also due for contribu- 
 tions from unknown sources in the “ Hospital Box” which 
 Mr. Hazen kindly permits to stand in his store. Files of 
 exchanges from the office of the Penny Press gave pleasure 
 to patients, likewise indebted to the publishers of the follow- 
 ing newspapers for gratuitous copies : 
 
 Hartford Daily Courant, . 
 
 do. Weekly Times, . 
 
 Religious Herald, weekly, 
 
 New Haven Weekly Palladium, . 
 
 The Connecticut Catholic, weekly, 
 
 The Middlesex County Record, weekly, 
 The Colchester Advocate, weekly, 
 
 The Morning News, daily, 
 
 The Tolland County Journal, weekly, 
 The Herald, daily, 
 
 The Standard, weekly, 
 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 
 do. do. 
 
 do. do. 
 
 New Haven, do. 
 Hartford, do. 
 Portland, do. 
 Colchester, do. 
 New Haven, do. 
 Rockville, do. 
 Middletown, do. 
 Bridgeport, do. 
 
 It is a particularly gratifying reflection that the resident 
 officers and heads of various departments, who by long 
 experience have become familiar with affairs, continue in the 
 service of the hospital with undiminished devotion and 
 ability. Others, who have shown no less fidelity and effi- 
 ciency in their respective spheres of duty, are equally 
 deserving of praise. To work with such help, laboring 
 together harmoniously, is indeed satisfactory. 
 
484 
 
 Your constant interest in the progress of the hospital and 
 the welfare of its patients, and the frequent opportunities for 
 consultation with the committees of your board and with 
 individual members have been most welcome and beneficial. 
 
 With the earnest hope that the philanthropic purposes, for 
 which the institution exists, may with its growth be accom- 
 plished more perfectly than in its youth, this report is 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 JAMES OLMSTEAD, M.D., 
 
 Super in tenden t. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., June 30, 1894. 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 Annual Statement of the Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the In- 
 sane, for the Year Ending June 30 , 1893 . 
 
 receipts. 
 
 Balance of cash on hand July 1, 1892, . . 
 
 Amount of revenue from Hospital orders in July, 
 
 “ “ “ “ “ August, 
 
 “ “ “ “ “ September, 
 
 “ “ “ “ “ October, . 
 
 “ “ “ “ “ November, 
 
 “ “ “ “ “ December, 
 
 'Six months’ interest on balance in Middletown Nat’n’l Bank, 
 Six months’ interest on Sargent Fund ($1,000), 
 
 Amount of revenue from Hospital orders in January, 1893, . 
 “ “ “ “ “ February, 
 
 “ “ “ “ “ March, 
 
 “ “ “ “ “ April, 
 
 “ “ “ “ “ May, 
 
 “ “ “ “ “ June, 
 
 Six months’ interest on balance in Middletown Nat’n’l Bank, 
 Six months’ interest on Sargent Fund, 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 Amount of Superintendent’s orders paid in July, 1892, . 
 
 “ “ “ “ August, 
 
 “ “ “ “ September, 
 
 “ “ “ “ October, 
 
 “ “ “ “ November, 
 
 “ “ “ “ December, . 
 
 “ “ “ “ January, 1893, 
 
 “ “ “ “ February, . 
 
 “ “ March, 
 
 “ “ April, 
 
 “ *( May, . 
 
 “ “ “ ** June, 
 
 Balance deposited in Middletown National Bank, . 
 
 $60,064.68 
 32,346 00 
 18,546.02 
 
 8.376.28 
 
 34.894.84 
 15,024.08 
 13,731.39 
 
 1,484.72 
 
 20.00 
 
 80,338.98 
 
 14.687.84 
 12,113.01 
 32,664.42 
 16,301.26 
 
 10.102.85 
 
 1.702.29 
 20.00 
 
 $352,418.66 
 
 $20,900.00 
 
 27,514.19 
 
 17,510.40 
 
 19.446.78 
 16,449.49 
 
 19.865.78 
 19,342.95 
 18,181.28 
 13,567.30 
 17,396.14 
 16,742.52 
 21,666 42 
 
 123,835.41 
 
 $352,418.66 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, Treasurer. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the accounts of M. B. Cope- 
 land, Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, from July 1, 
 1892, to June 30, 1893, inclusive (Hospital fiscal year), compared them 
 with the vouchers, and found the same correct. The balance in the 
 hands of the treasurer on said date was one hundred and twenty-three 
 thousand eight hundred and thirty-five dollars and forty one cents ($123,- 
 835.41), which includes the sum of forty-four thousand and two hundred 
 dollars ($44,200.00), the special appropriation mentioned in the report of 
 June 30, 1892. 
 
 E. Livingston Wells, ) Auditors of 
 Oscar Leach, [ Public Accounts. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., Feb. 3, 1894. 
 
TREASURER’S REPORT. 
 
 Annual Statement of the Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the In- 
 sane, for the Tear Ending June 30, 1894. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance of account as rendered July 1, 1893, . 
 
 . $123,835.41 
 
 Amount of revenue in July, 
 
 35,169.98 
 
 “ “ August, 
 
 13,770.93 
 
 “ “ September, 
 
 10,464.70 
 
 “ October, 
 
 27,669.03 
 
 “ “ November, 
 
 12,702.49 
 
 “ “ December, 
 
 16,198.49 
 
 Amount of interest received on Sargent Fund ($1,000), 
 
 20.00 
 
 Six months’ interest on bank deposit, .... 
 
 1,621.86 
 
 Amount of revenue in January, 1894, .... 
 
 40,810.98 
 
 “ “ February, 
 
 14,299.91 
 
 “ “ March, 
 
 9,612.43 
 
 “ “ April, 
 
 33,472.04 
 
 “ “ May, 
 
 13,966.91 
 
 “ June, 
 
 12,844.54 
 
 Amount of interest received on Sargent Fund, 
 
 20.00 
 
 Six months’ interest on bank deposit, .... 
 
 1,588.18 
 
 $370,067.88 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 Amount of Superintendent’s orders paid in July, 1893. . 
 
 August, 
 September, 
 October, 
 November, 
 December, . 
 January, 1894, 
 February, . 
 March, 
 
 April, 
 
 May, 
 
 June, 
 
 Balance of cash on hand June 30 
 
 1894, 
 
 . $16,395.47 
 
 43,607.71 
 21,237.05 
 17,558.07 
 19,514.60 
 21,712.79 
 25,662.89 
 13,288.59 
 15,914.20 
 15,628.95 
 26,736.17 
 77.011.62 
 55,799.77 
 
 $370,067.88 
 
 M. B. COPELAND, Treasurer. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., July 2, 1894. 
 
 We hereby certify that we have examined the accounts of M B. Cope- 
 land, Treasurer of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, from July V 
 1893, to June 30, 1894, inclusive (Hospital fiscal year), compared them 
 with the vouchers, and found the same correct. The balance in the hands 
 of the treasurer on said date was fifty-five thousand seven hundred and 
 ninety-nine dollars and seventy-seven cents ($55,799.77). 
 
 Oscar Leacii, ) Auditor's of 
 
 E. Livingston Wells, j> Public Accounts. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., Dec. 18, 1894. 
 
MEMORANDA 
 
 OF THE 
 
 First Quarter Century 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Connecticut Hospital for the Insane. 
 
 The spring of 1893 really witnessed the completion of the 
 first quarter century of the hospital’s existence, for although 
 conceived in 1866 by the u Act to create a hospital for the 
 insane in the State of Connecticut,” which was followed by 
 the chrysalis stage of development, its birthday cannot truly 
 be said to have occurred until it was delivered to the public, 
 April 30, 1868, a sturdy infant, ready to begin the ever- 
 extending career of usefulness to humanity, fitly predicted 
 by the inspiring words of the preamble to the act of its 
 creation : 
 
 “ Whereas , The report of the commission appointed by 
 this assembly in the year 1865 shows that there are seven 
 hundred and six insane persons in the State of Connecticut, 
 of whom two hundred and two are in the Retreat at Hart- 
 ford ; two hundred and four are in the almshouses ; and 
 three hundred outside of both ; and whereas, it is impossible 
 to secure suitable care and’ medical attention for this large 
 and deeply afflicted class, either in the Retreat or in the 
 almshouses, or in private houses ; and whereas, considera- 
 tions of humanity and of true economy, as well as public 
 welfare, and of our holy religion, all alike demand that these 
 persons should liberally be provided for by the State ; there- 
 
488 
 
 fore, be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
 in General Assembly convened.” 
 
 Then follow the several sections of the act, which, as 
 modified and supplemented by other later acts, appears in 
 the revision of the General Statutes, 1888, as follows : 
 
 “ The land of the State and its appurtenances in Middle- 
 town shall be and remain the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane.* 
 
 “ Its government shall be vested in a board consisting of 
 the Governor and twelve trustees to be appointed by the 
 Senate, one from each county and four from the vicinity of 
 the institution. During the regular session of the General 
 Assembly of 1889 the Senate shall appoint six of said trus- 
 tees, of whom three shall hold office for four years from the 
 first day of July, 1889, and three for three years from the 
 first day of July, 1890. During the regular session of the 
 General Assembly of 1891, and biennially thereafter, the 
 Senate shall appoint six trustees, who shall hold office for 
 four years from the first day of July following their appoint- 
 ment. The Governor may fill any vacancy which occurs 
 during the recess of the General Assembly, until its next 
 regular session. No trustee shall receive compensation for 
 his services. 
 
 “ The trustees shall have charge of the general interests 
 of the institution, make and execute its by-laws, appoint and 
 remove its officers and attendants, fix their compensation, 
 exercise a strict supervision over all its expenditures, and 
 may receive by bequest, devise, or gift, property for the use 
 of the hospital.f 
 
 “ They shall appoint a superintendent, not of their own 
 number, who shall be a competent physician and reside in or 
 near the hospital. 
 
 *“ And said Connecticut Hospital for the Insane shall have power to 
 sue in its own name for all debts or demands due to said hospital/’ — Pub- 
 lic Acts , 1889, Chap. 129 , Sec. 1. 
 
 f “ And may make purchases of lands, and take deeds therefor in their 
 own name .” — Public Acts, 1889 , Chap. 129, Sec. 2. 
 
489 
 
 “ They shall appoint a treasurer, with a salary not exceed- 
 ing four hundred dollars a year, who shall give a bond to the 
 State of ten thousand dollars to account faithfully for all 
 property received by him as treasurer, and keep accurate ac- 
 counts of his receipts and expenditures, and of the property 
 entrusted to him, which accounts, with the vouchers, shall be 
 submitted quarterly, and oftener if required, to the trustees, 
 with a written statement of his disbursements and funds in 
 
 hand ; and his books 
 
 shall be at 
 
 all times 
 
 open 
 
 to the 
 
 trustees.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 From 1866, then, the 
 
 successive Governors of 
 
 : Connecticut 
 
 have been ex officio members of the 
 
 board of trustees. The 
 
 names of the other members and the terms of their 
 
 service 
 
 are as follows : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Service 
 
 Service 
 
 Trustees. 
 
 
 
 Began. 
 
 Ended. 
 
 Robbins Battell, 
 
 
 
 1866 
 
 1891 
 
 William B. Casey, M.D., 
 
 
 
 1866 
 
 1870 
 
 Richard S. Fellowes, . 
 
 
 
 1866 
 
 1884 
 
 11. Sidney Hayden, 
 
 
 
 1866 
 
 1889 
 
 Leverett E. Pease, 
 
 
 
 1866 
 
 1869 
 
 B. W. Tompkins, 
 
 
 
 1866 
 
 1869 
 
 Samuel G. Willard, 
 
 
 
 1866 
 
 1887 
 
 Curtiss T. Woodruff, . 
 
 
 
 1866 
 
 1870 
 
 Joseph Cummings, M.D., 
 
 
 
 1967 
 
 1877 
 
 Benjamin Douglas, 
 
 
 
 1867 
 
 1894 
 
 Julius Hotchkiss, 
 
 
 
 1867 
 
 1878 
 
 Lucius S. Fuller, 
 
 
 
 1869 
 
 1890 
 
 John Tracy, 
 
 
 
 1869 
 
 1870 
 
 Joseph D. Bates, 
 
 
 
 1870 
 
 1876 
 
 Henry Woodward, 
 
 
 
 1890 
 
 
 
 Samuel Lynes, M.D., 
 
 
 
 1871 
 
 1876 
 
 Richmond M. Bullock, . 
 
 
 
 1876 
 
 1883 
 
 Ezra P. Bennett, M.D., 
 
 
 
 1876 
 
 1881 
 
 Elisha B Nye, M.D., 
 
 
 
 1877 
 
 1889 
 
 Joseph W. Alsop, M.D., 
 
 
 
 1878 
 
 1891 
 
 James G. Gregory, M.D., 
 
 
 
 1881 
 
 1884 
 
 James G. Gregory, M.D., 
 
 
 
 1888 
 
 1891 
 
 Clark E. Barrows, 
 
 
 
 1884 
 
 1890 
 
 Henry B Harrison, 
 
 
 
 1884 
 
 1885 
 
 Henry P. Geib, M.D., . 
 
 
 
 1884 
 
 1888 
 
 James E. English, 
 
 
 
 1885 
 
 1889 
 
 Costello Lippitt, 
 
 
 
 1887 
 
 
 
 Leverett M. Leach, 
 
 
 
 1887 
 
 1891 
 
490 
 
 Superintendents. 
 
 James Graham, . 
 
 Edward S. Cleveland, 
 John N. Camp, 
 
 George H. Nichols, 
 
 Wilbur B. Foster, 
 
 William Bissell, M.D., 
 Austin E. May, M.D , . 
 
 Andrew C. Smith, 
 
 Elijah K. Hubbard, 
 
 Samuel Russell, 
 
 William D Morgan, M.D., 
 Frank B. Weeks, 
 
 Horace F. Boardman, . 
 
 Superintendents. 
 
 Abram Marvin Shew, M.D., 
 James Olmstead, M.D., 
 Treasurers. 
 
 Abram Marvin Shew, . 
 
 M. B. Copeland, 
 
 Service 
 
 Service 
 
 Began. 
 
 Ended. 
 
 1889 
 
 1891 
 
 1889 
 
 1893 
 
 1889 
 
 1893 
 
 1890 
 
 — 
 
 1891 
 
 — 
 
 1891 
 
 — 
 
 1891 
 
 — 
 
 1891 
 
 — 
 
 1891 
 
 — 
 
 1891 
 
 — 
 
 1893 
 
 — 
 
 1893 
 
 — 
 
 1894 
 
 — 
 
 Service 
 
 Service 
 
 Began. 
 
 Ended. 
 
 1866 
 
 1886 
 
 1886 
 
 — 
 
 1866 
 
 1867 
 
 1867 
 
 — 
 
 Middletown, picturesquely situated on a bend of the Con- 
 necticut River, nearly at the center of the State and easily 
 reached from all points within its circumference, was chosen 
 as the location for the hospital, not only because central, but 
 also because here it was possible to obtain by gravity abund- 
 ance of water and to dispose of sewage by the simple method 
 of surface irrigation on the farm ; and the river is conven- 
 iently near for the delivery of coal and other freight. The 
 people of Middletown warmly welcomed the institution by 
 granting a suitable farm and valuable water privileges, as 
 fully set forth in the following pledge of conveyance by the 
 town to the State. 
 
 Whereas , The State of Connecticut, by recent act of the legisla- 
 ture, has decided to establish a ‘ General Hospital for the Insane of 
 the State,’ and has entrusted the selection of a site for the same to 
 a board of trustees chosen by said legislature, which board sign i tied 
 its wish to receive propositions relative to this object from any 
 town in the State; and 
 
 “ Whereas^ The town of Middletown, at a special meeting, duly 
 called and held on the 4th day of August, 1866, did vote to appro- 
 
491 
 
 priate a sufficient sum of money for the purchasing and presenting 
 to the State a suitable farm, on condition that said board of trus- 
 tees select some locality in the town of Middletown as the site for 
 said hospital for the insane; and 
 
 “ Whereas, The said town of Middletown did, at other special 
 meetings duly held, viz.; on the 12th and 24th days of October, 
 A.D. I860, vote the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars to pay for 
 such lands as may be so selected in case said hospital should be 
 located in Middletown, and in such case did also vote to guarantee 
 to said board of trustees the full and complete use and enjoyment 
 of the water of Butler’s creek and Silver creek, so-called, or either 
 of them, and to procure such lands, title, and interest as may be 
 deemed expedient, for the purpose of making reservoirs upon said 
 streams, and to lay down pipes to convey the water from said 
 streams for the use of said hospital, with the right also to use the 
 town wharf at Butler’s creek by said trustees for purposes con- 
 nected therewith; and 
 
 “ Whereas , The said trustees, at a meeting of their board held in 
 Middletown on the 15th day of October, A.D. 1866, for the purpose 
 of deciding the question of locating the site foi said insane hospital; 
 after a full hearing of all parties interested, and upon all proposi- 
 tions that were made to said board of trustees for this purpose, 
 did vote unanimously to locate said General Hospital for the Insane 
 of this State at Middletown, and upon the lands of Joseph Try on, 
 Reuben R. Tryon, Elijah Tryon, Charles H. Williams, Elias Pad- 
 dock, Stephen H. Paddock, and a piece of land belonging to said 
 town of Middletown; and the above said owners of said lots of 
 land having severally executed warrantee deeds (agreeable to the 
 survey) to the 1 'trustees of the General Hospital for the Insane of 
 the State,’ amounting in the aggregate to one hundred and fif'ty- 
 eigfit acres, be the same more or less, which deeds are duly recorded 
 at the registrar’s office in said Middletown, and have been by us 
 placed in the hands of said # trustees to their satisfaction. And 
 l ' Whereas , The town of Middletown, at a meeting duly held on 
 the 24th day of October, A.D, 1866, did also ‘resolve that this 
 town does hereby guarantee to the ‘‘General Hospital for the Insane v 
 the title to such lands, water courses, roads, wharf and other prop- 
 erty located or pertaining to said lands for the said institution.’ 
 
 “ In accordance with the above votes and instructions, we, the 
 selectmen of the town of Middletown, in order to make the con- 
 
492 
 
 veyance of the town to the State complete and satisfactory, do give 
 our official pledge in behalf of said town, in accordance with the 
 will of its citizens so unanimously expressed, and do hereby guar- 
 antee the title to said lands and water courses pertaining to said 
 lands, with the free occupancy of the town wharf at Butler’s creek, 
 to the use of said institution; relying upon the good faith of the 
 the said trustees and the State which they represent to fulfil upon 
 their part the agreement therewith. 
 
 P. Fagan, 
 
 Alfred Hubbald, 
 Edwin Scovill, 
 
 A. C. Arnold, 
 
 1 Selectmen of the 
 y Town of 
 ! Middletown. 
 
 Middletown, Middlesex County, Conn., Oct. 30, 1866. 
 
 Besides the land given by the town of Middletown, eighty 
 acres adjoining were purchased, and a building site in every 
 respect admirable was thus obtained. From time to time 
 other purchases of land have been required by the growth of 
 the hospital, until, in 1893, the total amounted to 466 acres. 
 
 Water Supply. 
 
 
 Reservoir 
 .No. 1. 
 
 Reservoir 
 No. 2. 
 
 Reservoir 
 No. 3. 
 
 Date of construction, 
 
 1867. 
 
 1879-82. 
 
 1890-91. 
 
 Distance from Hos - } 
 
 6,500 feet. 
 
 8,500 feet. 
 
 8,000 feet. 
 
 pital by pipe line, f 
 
 Source of water, 
 
 Butler’s creek. 
 
 Butler’s creek. 
 
 Silver creek. 
 
 Elevat’n above first ) 
 
 
 
 
 floor of the main V 
 
 .74 feet. 
 
 175 feet. 
 
 160 feet. 
 
 hospitalbuilding, ) 
 
 
 
 25,000,000 gals. 
 
 Capacity, 
 
 18,000,000 gals. 
 
 In 1867 connection was made with the first reservoir by 
 cast-iron pipe, six inches in diameter. In 1887 a companion 
 water main, eight inches in diameter, was laid, and so com- 
 bined with the former that both at the same time or either 
 one interchangeably may be used. 
 
493 
 
 BUILDINGS. 
 
 After the site was chosen, building operations progressed 
 sufficiently to permit the corner-stone of the hospital to be 
 laid June 20, 1867, with appropriate ceremonies, in the pres- 
 ence of a large and enthusiastic assembly. On May-day, 
 1868, the center and one wing of the main building were 
 ready for the accommodation of patients. During the suc- 
 ceeding six years the other three wings were added one by 
 one, and in 1874 the hospital was considered to be complete, 
 having beds for 450 patients. 
 
 This massive stone structure, four stories high, was built 
 on the so-called 66 linear” plan, with eight wards for patients, 
 on each side of the central portion, in which were the 
 kitchens and offices. Back of the center and connected by 
 an underground tramway were the laundry, bakery, sewing- 
 room, engine-room, and the boilers. Still further back was 
 the 44 annex,” at first used as a joiners’ and painters’ shop, 
 although erected 44 with the ulterior view” of being devoted 
 to the isolation of insane convicts. — Superintendent' s Re - 
 port , 1872. 
 
 Already the utility of the 44 cottage system ” had been 
 demonstrated by lodging certain demented patients in two 
 old dwelling-houses left standing on the hospital grounds. 
 By the river, a third of a mile away, was the hospital dock 
 and near it the coal-house. A large barn and a piggery com- 
 pleted the list of structures at that time. The total ap- 
 propriations for land and construction, 1866-1876, amounted 
 to $640,043. 
 
 These provisions did not long suffice, for in their report to 
 the legislature of 1877 44 as the trustees do not deem it 
 desirable to enlarge this hospital they earnestly urge the 
 importance of immediate provision for the erection of a new 
 hospital and to the legislature of 1877 they mention the 
 urgent need of 46 another hospital of similar grade,” and they 
 44 earnestly hope that the State of Connecticut will made ap- 
 propriation for a new hospital.” The next year the board 
 repeated this advice, as the hospital was overcrowded and 
 
494 
 
 insane persons were obliged to wait for weeks to be admitted 
 or else be cared for in other institutions. 
 
 It was also in 1879 that a commission, consisting of Gurdon 
 W. Russell, M.D., Henry W. Buel, M.D., and Ephraim 
 Williams, Esq., appointed by the Governor to investigate the 
 need of further accommodations for the insane poor of the 
 State and to report upon the location and plans for such 
 hospital buildings if needed, reported to the General Assem- 
 bly that further accommodations were necessary, there being 
 about four hundred insane poor for whom the State had 
 made no hospital provision, and they recommended erecting, 
 in the immediate vicinity of the ' existing hospital, plain 
 buildings of brick containing 250 beds. 
 
 “ The buildings which we suggest, and others which may 
 be necessary in future years, may all be congregated at 
 Middletown, and administered with no great difficulty. The 
 plea that it is not proper to bring many of these people 
 together, has but little force in it, when we remember the 
 large number in some hospitals in our own country and in 
 many in Europe ; and notwithstanding the declarations 
 which have been made against this, the hospitals recently 
 built have been designed to accommodate more patients 
 than formerly. It may fairly be claimed that every first- 
 class institution should have connected with it a supplemental 
 building, plainer and cheaper than its principal one, for the 
 accommodation of its harmless insane. For these, less 
 spacious and less guarded rooms are needed, and fewer at- 
 tendants. If this seems to be a new departure, it is one 
 worthy of trial, and certainly better than retaining these 
 people in almshouses, in towns, or among indifferent, dis- 
 couraged, and too often neglectful relatives.” 
 
 Nevertheless, no legislative action was taken until the 
 following year, when it was resolved by the General As- 
 sembly and approved by the Governor, March 24, 1880, 
 “ that a committee of three be appointed by the Governor, 
 who shall cause to be built within one year, additional 
 buildings for the accommodation of the insane, adjacent to 
 
495 
 
 the present hospital at Middletown, according to the plans and 
 estimates of the commission presented to this General 
 Assembly ; and that there be appropriated from any moneys 
 now in the treasury of this State a sum not exceeding 
 $130,000, for the erection and furnishing of said buildings ; 
 said sum to be subject to the order of said committee to 
 carry out the provisions of this resolution ; provided, that no 
 part of this appropriation shall be expended until said com- 
 mittee have made a contract with responsible parties to 
 fully complete said buildings, and there shall not be drawn 
 from the amount appropriated, at any time, a sum larger 
 than is needed to pay for work done or expenses actually 
 incurred; and all expenses of every name and nature that 
 may be incurred shall not exceed the amount hereby ap- 
 propriated. Said committee shall make report to the next 
 session of the General Assembly ; provided, that of the sum 
 hereby appropriated not less than $5,000 shall be reserved 
 for the construction of suitable buildings or apartments upon 
 the grounds of said Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, 
 wherein insane convicts shall be placed and cared for separ- 
 ate from the other inmates of said Hospital.” 
 
 In accordance with this act the Governor appointed as a 
 building committee Melancthon Storrs, M.D., Win. J. 
 Atwater, and Clias. G. R. Vinal, Esq., who immediately 
 entered upon their duties. It was agreed with the board of 
 trustees that there should be a common bakery and laundry 
 for both the old and the new buildings, and the sum of 
 $3,500 was set apart from the total appropriation for that 
 purpose. Under the direction of the trustees a suitable 
 laundry building was erected and the space formerly oc- 
 cupied by the laundry was ample for enlargement of the 
 bakery. 
 
 It was found that the inclination of the ground at the 
 south end of the proposed building favored the construction 
 of a small ward in the basement, and the required separate 
 apartments for insane female convicts were there provided, 
 the trustees having already devoted the “ annex ” to the use 
 of male convicts. 
 
496 
 
 To the legislature of 1881, then, the committee were able 
 to report satisfactory progress, and July 20th the building, 
 finished and furnished with two hundred and sixty-two beds 
 for patients, at an expense of $130,000, was formally trans- 
 ferred by the committee to the board of trustees. This 
 was made the occasion of a memorial gathering of many 
 friends of the hospital. Among their honored guests the 
 trustees especially noted the presence of the venerable 
 alienist, Dr. Pliny Earle, who had made an address at the 
 laying of the corner-stone fourteen years previously and 
 now took this opportunity to commend the advance in the 
 work of the institution. 
 
 The pressing need of more room may be inferred from the 
 fact that while only 144 patients could be received in 1880, 
 and the number present at the end of the year was 528, in 
 1881, the new building having been opened, 352 patients were 
 admitted and 731 were present at the end of the year. It is 
 not surprising, therefore, that the new building was soon 
 filled to excess and that the legislature in 1884 and 1885 
 made appropriations for the erection, on land purchased by 
 special appropriation in 1882, of an additional building “for 
 the care of the insane of this State, and particularly to fur- 
 nish one or more wards for the better classification and 
 accommodation of the epileptic insane.” 
 
 This building, completed early in 1886 and furnished with 
 300 beds, stands about 175 feet south of the building erected 
 in 1881, both fronting westward and resembling one another 
 in the essential features of their internal arrangements. Each 
 is of brick, three stories high ; each has six wards, contain- 
 ing fifty beds, more or less, in rooms on either side of a long 
 corridor, broken in the center by a bay which serves as a day- 
 room ; each has two large dining-rooms, where the patients 
 congregate for their meals. In this particular these two 
 buildings differ markedly from the old main building, in 
 which every ward has its separate dining-room to prevent pa- 
 tients recently admitted from exerting unfavorable impres- 
 sions upon one another. Inasmuch as a certain proportion 
 
497 
 
 of the recent admissions are acute cases, presenting widely 
 different phases of insanity, the advantages of segregation 
 are obvious. But in the mass of chronic cases, where fine 
 classifications are needless, congregate dining-rooms have 
 been found to facilitate inspection and the accurate distribu- 
 tion of food to prevent waste and to diminish the cost of 
 support. 
 
 The total number of patients was now above 1,000, and, 
 although the price of board had been reduced to $3.50 a week, 
 the revenue began to exceed the cost of maintenance. The 
 resulting surplus of cash enabled the trustees to make several 
 improvements rendered necessary by the growth of the hos- 
 pital. An addition to the annex provided a workshop 
 for convicts. A reception-room and a medical office were 
 added to the middle hospital. A supplemental water main 
 was laid, a greenhouse and bowling alley were built ; a brick 
 cottage accommodating 70 patients, chiefly those working out 
 of doors, permitted an unsightly and too-distant frame cottage 
 to be vacated. A horse-barn, coal-houses, an ice-house, and 
 a cottage for employes were also erected. 
 
 Not only tacitly did the legislature approve these expendi- 
 tures, but in 1889, the hospital then having 1,300 patients, it 
 was resolved by the General Assembly that the board of 
 trustees be authorized and instructed to expend from the funds 
 of the hospital an amount necessary to erect a building fur- 
 nishing accommodations for at least 120 persons. By an 
 addition to each wing of the south hospital, and by the com- 
 pletion of the unpretentious but very comfortable and con- 
 venient cottage, of which one-third was built the year before, 
 150 patients were accommodated. 
 
 Other items of construction followed, of which the most 
 costly was an assembly-room seating over 600 persons, the 
 original chapel and amusement hall being no longer ade- 
 quate. This new room, directly in the rear of and on the 
 level of the second floor of the main hospital, was appropri- 
 ately located with special reference to the benefit of curable 
 patients, who can reach it by means of covered bridges with- 
 32 
 
498 
 
 out risk of escape or exposure to the inclemencies of the 
 weather. 
 
 As the number of patients again exceeded the capacity of 
 the institution, and a disposition to enlarge it still further was 
 manifested in the legislature, it was voted at a special meet- 
 ing of the board of trustees, April, 1889, that “in the opinion 
 of this board the economic and humane interests of the State 
 require that additional accommodations for its insane be pro- 
 vided in some other locality.” 
 
 Influenced, doubtless, by this advice, the General Assembly 
 of 1889 resolved that “ a committee of three persons be ap- 
 pointed by the Governor to inquire and report to the next 
 session of the General Assembly concerning the expediency 
 and practicability of providing further accommodations for 
 the insane at Middletown or elsewhere in the State.” On 
 this committee the Governor appointed the Hon. Lyman S. 
 Catlin, George E. Markham, M.D., and Stephen A. Gardner. 
 
 The lamented death of Dr. Markham early deprived the 
 committee of his aid, but the other members carefully inves- 
 tigated the condition of affairs and reported to the General 
 Assembly, January, 1891, that in their opinion this institutien 
 should not be again enlarged, but should be relieved as soon 
 as possible of many of its apparently hopeless chronic cases by 
 the erection of an asylum for the humane care of such cases, 
 in order that the hospital at Middletown might always have 
 room for the prompt admission of acute cases of insanity. 
 The increase in population being apparently greater in the 
 southwestern portion of the State than elsewhere, the com- 
 mittee advised that the proposed asylum be located in Fair- 
 field county. 
 
 Action on this report was postponed until 1893, when the 
 General Assembly resolved “ that a building committee of 
 five members, three of whom shall be elected by the trustees 
 of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, and two of whom 
 shall be elected by the Senate, be and are hereby authorized 
 and directed to cause the erection in the town of Middletown 
 of a suitable building sufficient for the accommodation of 250 
 insane persons of the class known as incurable insane. 
 
499 
 
 “ Said committee is hereby authorized and directed to ex- 
 pend for said purpose such a sum of the moneys now held by 
 said trustees of said hospital, not to exceed $70,000, as shall 
 be necessary. 
 
 “ A further sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as shall be 
 necessary, is hereby appropriated from the State treasury to 
 furnish and complete said building.” 
 
 This act having been approved June 30, 1893, the Senate 
 elected the Hon. Seth J. Hall and Matthew T. Newton, M.D., 
 and the trustees elected from their number Messrs. Henry 
 Woodward, Andrew C. Smith, and Samuel Russell to be 
 members of the building committee. 
 
 Already the trustees, finding the water supply insufficient 
 in the time of drought, had availed themselves of the privi- 
 leges guaranteed to them by the town of Middletown (“the 
 full and complete use and enjoyment of the water of Butler’s 
 creek and Silver creek”) by purchasing the requisite land 
 and constructing a reservoir on Silver creek of larger capacity 
 than both the reservoirs previously located on Butler’s creek, 
 so there was no question about a source of water ample for 
 the population to be added. Fortunately, too, at this time a 
 farm extending from the northern limit of the hospital grounds 
 to the Connecticut river was for sale, and its purchase pro- 
 vided a most admirable site for the future buildings. 
 
 APPROPRIATIONS BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR LANDS AND BUILDINGS. 
 
 Dates. 
 
 Amounts. 
 
 Purpose of the Appropriations. 
 
 1866 
 
 $35,000.00 
 
 To establish a Hospital for the Insane. 
 
 1867 
 
 150,000.00 
 
 For the needful expenditures of the General State 
 Hospital for the Insane. 
 
 1868 
 
 200,000.00 
 
 For the needful expenditures of the General State 
 Hospital for the Insane. 
 
 1869 
 
 35,543.00 
 
 For th£ needful expenditures of the General Hos- 
 pital for the Insane. 
 
 1871 
 
 90,000.00 
 
 For one additional wing to the General Hospital 
 for the Insane. 
 
 1872 
 
 90,000.00 
 
 For one additional wing to the General Hospital 
 for the Insane. 
 
 1872 
 
 39,500.00 
 
 In favor of the trustees of the General Hospital 
 for the Insane. 
 
 1880 
 
 130,000.00 
 
 For building an addition to the Insane Asylum at 
 Middletown. 
 
500 
 
 Dates. 
 
 1881 
 
 Amounts. 
 
 $10,000.00 
 
 Purpose of the Appropriation. 
 
 For barns, workshop, laundry apparatus, 
 
 and 
 
 fire 
 
 1882 
 
 1884 
 
 8,000.00 
 
 75,000.00 
 
 protection. 
 
 For the purchase of land for buildings. 
 For additional buildings for* the care 
 
 of 
 
 the 
 
 1885 
 
 50,000.00 
 
 insane. 
 
 For additional buildings for the care 
 
 of 
 
 the 
 
 1893 
 
 30,000.00 
 
 insane. 
 
 For the completion of a building accommodating 
 
 Total, 
 
 $943,043.00 
 
 250 patients. 
 
 
 
 ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION NOT COVERED BY APPROPRIATIONS. 
 
 Dates. 
 
 Amounts. 
 
 Purpose of the Expenditures. 
 
 1878 
 
 $2,524.71 
 
 Storehouse. 
 
 
 2,307.27 
 
 Amusement hall. 
 
 
 9,487.96 
 
 Altering annex for patients. 
 
 1880 
 
 1,664.55 
 
 Cottage for engineer. 
 
 
 3,234.80 
 
 Horse barn. 
 
 
 2,820.82 
 
 Reservoir No. 2. 
 
 1883 
 
 5,517.00 
 
 Coal-house and hoisting apparatus. 
 
 
 2,284.83 
 
 Piggery. 
 
 1884 
 
 22,233.80 
 
 Additional wing on main hospital. 
 
 
 970.65 
 
 Cold storage. 
 
 
 1,136.88 
 
 Addition to middle hospital. 
 
 1885 
 
 1,337.69 
 
 Addition to laundry. 
 
 
 4,361.45 
 
 Carpenter’s shop. 
 
 
 10,855.00 
 
 Superintendent’s cottage. 
 
 1886 
 
 4,463.10 
 
 Addition to annex. 
 
 
 1,546.54 
 
 Addition to middle hospital. 
 
 1887 
 
 4,391.00 
 
 Eight-inch water main. 
 
 
 7,124.61 
 
 Greenhouse and bowling alley. 
 
 1888 
 
 16,627.86 
 
 South wing of main cottage. 
 
 
 7,526.52 
 
 Barn for farm horses. 
 
 
 1,614.00 
 
 Elevator. 
 
 
 2,302.89 
 
 Ice-house. 
 
 
 2,211.90 
 
 Coal-houses. 
 
 
 4,382.96 
 
 Cottage for employes. 
 
 1889 
 
 18,000.00 
 
 Addition to south hospital. 
 
 1890 
 
 32,093.45 
 
 Completion of main cottage. 
 
 
 7,518.78 
 
 Alteration of heating system, main hospital. 
 
 
 2,874.37 
 
 Slaughter house. 
 
 
 1,588.24 
 
 Iron balcony, main hospital. 
 
 
 1,846.53 
 
 Addition to middle hospital. 
 
 
 1,080.66 
 
 Addition to cold storage. 
 
 
 1,777.00 
 
 Land for reservoir. 
 
 
 8,539.54 
 
 Reservoir No. 3. 
 
501 
 
 Dates. 
 
 Amounts. 
 
 Purpose of the Expenditures. 
 
 1891 
 
 $1,575.60 
 
 Connection of reservoir with 8-inch main. 
 
 
 4,441.67 
 
 Addition to laundry. 
 
 
 23,698.40 
 
 Assembly room. 
 
 1892 
 
 1,077.55 
 
 Addition to store. 
 
 
 2,789.00 
 
 Ice-house. 
 
 
 2,328.48 
 
 Piggery. 
 
 
 2,016.66 
 
 Extension of sewage irrigation. 
 
 1893 
 
 3,004.08 
 
 Night attendants’ cottage. 
 
 
 70,000.00 
 
 Expended by*act of the General Assembly in mak- 
 ing accommodations for 250 patients. 
 
 Total, 
 
 $309,178.82 
 
 COMMITMENT OF PATIENTS. 
 
 As 
 
 early as 1867 an act was passed, which with certain 
 
 modifications, has continued in force during all these years, 
 appearing now as Section 487 of the General Statutes, and 
 has provided for the commitment and maintenance of more 
 than 88 per cent, of all the patients admitted. As at present, 
 the act originally contemplated two classes of indigent 
 patients, those who are paupers and those who are not. And 
 it provided that when a pauper in any town may be insane, 
 a selectman of such town shall apply to the judge of probate 
 of the district wherein said pauper resides, for his admission 
 to the hospital, and that the judge on receiving a certificate 
 from a respectable physician that said pauper is insane, shall 
 issue an order requiring the selectman to take such insane 
 pauper to the hospital, where he shall be kept and supported 
 as long as may be requisite. It also provided that “ when a 
 person in indigent circumstances, not a pauper, becomes 
 insane, application may be made in his behalf to the judge 
 of probate for the district wherein he resides, ” who after due 
 investigation, including an examination by a respectable 
 physician, if satisfied that such person is in indigent circum- 
 stances* and insane, shall issue an order of commitment to 
 the hospital, where he shall be kept and supported as long as 
 may be requisite, half of the expense of his support to be paid 
 by the State and the other half by the person making appli- 
 cation for the patient’s commitment. The original act 
 specified that the person making application for the commit- 
 
502 
 
 ment be directed by the judge to take the patient to the 
 hospital. The present law adds a clause leaving it optional 
 with the judge to appoint some other escort, but the respon- 
 sibility of providing a companion for the insane person on the 
 journey is distinctly laid on the court. The principal point 
 of difference between the original and the present law is that 
 at first it was provided that half the expense of a pauper’s 
 support “ be defrayed by the to“wn wherein said pauper resides 
 and the other half by the State ; ” but since 1878 the law has 
 been “ that $2.50 per week of the expense of his support 
 shall be paid by the town legally chargeable with his support 
 and the balance by the State.” Inasmuch as the price of 
 board has been considerably reduced, this throws upon the 
 towns a greater expense than would have been the case if the 
 original act had continued in force. Moreover, the present 
 law, unlike the original, enables a selectman who has applied 
 for a pauper’s commitment to evade paying his board on the 
 plea that some other town is legally chargeable with that 
 expense, and the hospital may even be put to the loss and 
 trouble of ascertaining by a lawsuit what town is legally 
 chargeable. 
 
 For the commitment of insane criminals to the hospital 
 the provisions of the law are ample. The year after the hos- 
 pital was opened, it was resolved by the General Assembly 
 (Private Acts, 1869, Chap. CLIX,) that the trustees of the hos- 
 pital be “ required and directed to make suitable provision 
 for the reception of insane convicts into the institution under 
 their care and direction ; ” and it was enacted that the Gov- 
 ernor, on receiving a report from the warden of the prison 
 that any convict is insane, shall appoint not more than three 
 physicians to examine such person, and upon their certificate 
 of insanity the Governor shall order his transfer to the hos- 
 pital. If the convict recovers before his term of sentence 
 expires, similar proceedings result in his return to prison. 
 If he is still insane at the expiration of his term of imprison- 
 ment, the Governor is authorized to order a further detention 
 
503 
 
 of the convict in the hospital until he shall have recovered. 
 
 — General Statutes , Sec. 3617-3621. 
 
 If any person serving sentence in a county jail appears to 
 be insane, proceedings similar to those in regard to convicts 
 in the State prison may be instituted for his transfer to the 
 hospital, or the county commissioners may appoint “ some 
 reputable physician to make an examination of such 
 prisoner, and if such physician shall be of the opinion that 
 such prisoner is insane,’ and shall so certify to the commis- 
 sioners, they may cause the prisoner’s removal from the jail 
 to the hospital. — Gceneral Statutes , Sec. 3385, 3386, and 
 Public Acts , 1893, Chap. XLYI. 
 
 When any person committed for trial to a county jail shall 
 in the interim appear to be insane, a judge of the Superior 
 Court on application of the county sheriff may appoint 
 u three reputable physicians,” upon whose certificate of in- 
 sanity the judge may order the person to be transferred from 
 the jail to the hospital for treatment until the time of trial. 
 
 — General Statutes , Sec. 1600. 
 
 “ Any Superior Court, City Court, or Police Court in this 
 State, before which any person shall be tried on any criminal 
 charge and acquitted on the ground of insanity or dementia, 
 may order such person to be confined in the Connecticut 
 Hospital for the Insane for such time as such court shall 
 direct,” and any such person may subsequently petition, or 
 the officers of such institution may petition, the Superior Court 
 of the county in which he is confined for his enlargement. 
 But if at the expiration of any specific term for which the 
 court may have ordered him to be confined, the person shall 
 still be insane, the superintendent of the hospital shall certify 
 this fact to the State’s attorney for the county wherein the 
 trial was had, to the end that an order of the court may be 
 procured, authorizing the continued detention of the person 
 in the hospital until recovered from his insanity. — General 
 Statutes , Sec. 1601-1603. 
 
 The next two following provisions appear to have been 
 made with special reference to the commitment of non- 
 
504 
 
 resident persons : 46 On a written complaint, made to any 
 
 judge of the Superior Court, that a person named therein 
 is insane and unfit to go at large, such judge shall imme- 
 diately appoint a committee consisting of a physician and two 
 other persons, one of whom shall be an attorney-at-law, judge, 
 or justice of the peace, who, after such person has been noti- 
 fied according to the order of such judge of the Superior 
 Court, shall inquire into such complaint and report to him 
 the facts of the case and their opinions thereon ; and if, in 
 their opinion, such person should be confined, such judge 
 shall issue an order therefor .” — General Statutes , Sec. 3683. 
 
 44 Any insane pauper, not a resident of any town in this 
 State, may be committed by the Governor to any suitable 
 place of detention, upon the presentation of a certificate 
 signed by a reputable physician that he has found upon ex- 
 amination that such pauper is insane, which certificate shall 
 be sworn to before some officer authorized to administer 
 oaths. The support of paupers committed under the pro- 
 visions of this act shall be paid by the State, the same not 
 to exceed $3.01) a week for each person so committed. — Pub - 
 lie Acts , 1893, Chap. 241. 
 
 44 All honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines, 
 who served in the Union army or navy in the late civil war, 
 in the Connecticut regiments or navy quota from this State, 
 and all such soldiers, sailors, and marines who served in said 
 war in the regiments or navy quota from any other State, 
 who at the time of enlistment therein were residents of this 
 State, and are such residents when applying for such aid,” 
 if insane, are entitled to receive such medical care as may be 
 necessary in the hospital at the expense of the State, on 
 order of the soldiers’ hospital board. — General Statutes , 
 Sec. 3762. 
 
 For twenty years private patients were 44 put in any suit- 
 able place of detention on the presentation of a certificate 
 made within thirty days, signed by some reputable physician, 
 that he has made a personal examination of such person 
 within one week prior to the date thereof, and that such 
 
505 
 
 person is insane, which certificate shall be sworn to before 
 some officer authorized to administer oaths in the State 
 where it is given, who shall certify to the genuineness of the 
 signature thereto, and the respectability of the signer ; and 
 any such person may be removed by the person placing him 
 in such place of detention.” — G-eneral Statutes , Sec . 3682. 
 
 Finally it was enacted that “ except when otherwise spe- 
 cially provided by law, no person shall be committed or 
 admitted to an asylum without an order signed by a judge of 
 probate,” based upon a written complaint that the person 
 complained of is insane and fit to be confined in an asylum. 
 The judge shall appoint a time not later than ten days after 
 receipt of such complaint, for a hearing, at which shall be 
 filed a certificate of insanity signed by two physicians, and if 
 satisfied that the person complained of is insane, the judge 
 shall order him to be taken by some proper officer or any fit 
 person to a designated asylum or other suitable place of de 
 tention. — Public Acts , 1889, Chap . CLXII , Sec. 3-6. 
 
 Since 1889, private patients have been committed in ac- 
 cordance with the provisions of this act. 
 
 This act also affirms the right of persons confined in in- 
 sane asylums to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, 
 and since 1869 the following statute has existed for their 
 protection : “Any judge of the superior court, on information 
 to him that any person is unjustly deprived of his liberty by 
 being detained or confined in an insane asylum, or in any 
 place for the detention or confinement of the insane, or in 
 any inebriate hospital in this State, or in the custody and 
 control of any individual under an order of a court of pro- 
 bate, may appoint a commission of not less than two persons, 
 who, at a time and place appointed by them, shall hear such 
 evidence as shall be offered touching the case ; said commis- 
 sion need not summon the party claimed to be unjustly con- 
 fined before them, but shall have one or more private inter- 
 views with him, and shall also make due inquiries of the 
 physicians and other persons having charge of such place of 
 detention or confinement, and within a reasonable time 
 
506 
 
 thereafter, report to said judge the facts, and their opinion 
 thereon ; and if in their opinion the party is not legally de- 
 tained or confined in such place, or is cured, or his confine- 
 ment is no longer beneficial or advisable, said judge shall 
 order his discharge ; but no commission shall be appointed 
 with reference to the same person oftener than once in six 
 months. The judge before whom any of the proceedings 
 provided for in this section are had may tax reasonable costs 
 at his discretion.” — General Statutes , Sec . 3692. 
 
 REVENUE OF THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 From the outset the law provided that “ the price to be 
 paid for keeping any person in indigent circumstances or 
 any pauper, shall be fixed by the trustees,” and that “ the 
 trustees may authorize the superintendent to admit under 
 special agreements whenever there are vacancies in the hos- 
 pital, such cases as may seek admission.” — Public Acts , 
 1867, Chap . C1I , Secs. 5 and 6. 
 
 Of the latter class only 260 persons have been admitted 
 from the opening of the hospital to July 1, 1893, and all other 
 patients, numbering 6,155, have come under the pauper or 
 the indigent class. It is evident, therefore, that nearly all 
 the revenue of the hospital must have consisted of receipts 
 for the care of these beneficiaries. During the first year, 
 1868-9, the price of board was $4.50 a week for each pauper 
 and indigent patient, but this appeared insufficient. Accord- 
 ingly it was fixed at $5 a week, and so continued until 1877. 
 Subsequent changes have been as follows : 
 
 Weekly price of board, $4.00 from Dec. 1, 1877, to Dec. 1, 1888. 
 
 Weekly price of board, 3.75 from Dec. 1, 1883, to Apr. 1, 1885. 
 
 Weekly price of board, 3.50 from Apr. 1, 1885, to Nov. 1, 1888. 
 
 Weekly price of board, 3.20 from Nov. 1, 1888, to Apr. 1, 1892. 
 
 Weekly price of board, 3.00 from Apr. 1, 1892, to Apr. 1, 1893. 
 
 Weekly price of board, 2.80 from Apr. 1, 1893. 
 
 On this basis the entire cost of maintenance, including 
 pay-roll and repairs, has been provided for. 
 
 In July, 1887, interest at 3 per cent, was obtained by the 
 
507 
 
 trustees on the balance in bank, and since then this has been 
 an item in the revenue of the hospital. 
 
 By vote of the trustees, clothing has been furnished to all 
 pauper patients without charge since January 1, 1892. 
 
 In this connection may be mentioned certain bequests to 
 the hospital. 
 
 First , the Atwater fund, created by the following clause in 
 the will of the late George Atwater of the town of Hamden, 
 dated October 2, 1867 : 
 
 “I direct and require that the said assistant trustees of my 
 estate shall within two years after the death of my said wife 
 Maria, if she shall survive my said daughter Eunice, or within two 
 years after the death of my said daughter Eunice, if she shall sur- 
 vive her mother, convey to the persons who at that time shall con- 
 stitute the board of trustees of ‘The General Hospital for the 
 Insane of the State of Connecticut,’ located in Middletown, to them 
 and their successors in office, all the remainder of my estate, both 
 real and personal, to have and to hold the same in trust for the 
 uses, intents, and purposes hereinafter mentioned and declared 
 concerning the same, viz. : 
 
 “The said trustees of the General Hospital for the Insane of the 
 State of Connecticut shall reserve the whole amount received from 
 my estate as a separate fund (to be known as the Atwater fund) 
 for the benefit of the insane poor of the State of Connecticut, and 
 shall have the right to appropriate and expend the annual income 
 of the fund for the support of indigent insane persons, giving 
 preference to indigent insane persons, if any such there may be, 
 belonging to and having legal residence in my native town of 
 Hamden ; but the said trustees shall not appropriate or expend 
 the principal of the fund.” 
 
 This trust fund was accepted by a vote of the trustees of 
 the hospital, January 14, 1886. 
 
 Second , the Sargent fund, created by the following clause 
 in the will of George D. Sargent of Hartford : “ I give, de- 
 vise, and bequeath to the Connecticut Hospital for the 
 Insane, located at Middletown, Connecticut, the sum of 
 $1,000, in trust as follows : The annual income thereof to be 
 
508 
 
 expended for the support and comfort of Caroline B. Ster- 
 ling, during her life, and at her death the principal of said 
 sum to belong to said hospital to be disposed of as they 
 see fit.” 
 
 Mr. Sargent died in 1886, and in June, 1887, the sum of 
 $1,000 was received from the executor of his estate. It was 
 placed at interest under the direction of the trustees, and 
 the income set apart for the use of the beneficiary, who is 
 still living. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 For the management of the hospital, Sec. 7, Chap. CII, of 
 Public Acts, 1867, provides that “ the trustees are hereby 
 authorized and empowered to make and establish such by- 
 laws as they may deem necessary and expedient for regu- 
 lating the appointment and compensation of officers, attend- 
 ants, and assistants, and for conducting in a proper manner 
 the affairs and business of the institution ; to ordain and 
 enforce a suitable system of rules and regulations for the 
 internal government, discipline, and management of the hos- 
 pital.” 
 
 Accordingly, the board of trustees adopted certain by-laws 
 and regulations and revised them in 1887, designating the 
 duties of the persons employed in the hospital, viz. : 
 
 1. The superintendent, who is required to exercise “ en- 
 tire official control over all subordinate officers,” and over 
 the treatment of all patients ; to conduct the correspondence* 
 and to see that due care is taken of all hospital property. 
 
 2. The assistant physicians, each of whom has under his 
 special care a certain number of patients for individual study 
 and treatment. 
 
 3. The clerk, who keeps all the accounts of the hospital, 
 except those in the hands of the treasurer, and purchases the 
 groceries, provisions, and supplies for the institution. 
 
 4. The farmer, who has charge of the agricultural opera- 
 tions, the butchering, preservation, and distribution of meats 
 and the delivery of freight. 
 
 5. The matron, who has charge of all work done in the 
 laundry and the sewing-rooms. 
 
509 
 
 6. The housekeepers, who have charge of the ordinary 
 domestic matters in their respective households and attend 
 particularly to the preparation of food for the patients. 
 
 7. The supervisors, who have the immediate direction of 
 the ward attendants and instruct them in their duties, such 
 as the management of patients, the nursing of the sick, the 
 prevention of escapes, the care of patients’ clothing and the 
 cleanliness of the wards. 
 
 8. The storekeeper, who, under the instruction of the 
 clerk, takes care of the stock in store and issues supplies on 
 requisition of housekeepers, supervisors, and others, keeping 
 due account of the same. 
 
 9. The mechanics, comprising the engineer, who has 
 charge of the heating apparatus, plumbing, and gas-piping, 
 the joiners, masons, and painters, all of whom are needed to 
 keep the property in repair. 
 
 The list of resident officers associated with the superin- 
 tendent and on his recommendation appointed by the board 
 of trustees, is as follows, the names of those serving in such 
 capacity in 1893 being printed in italics : 
 
 Assistant Physicians — Drs. Winthrop B. Hallock, Calvin S. May, James 
 Olmstead, Henry S. Noble , William E. Fisher , Charles E. Stanley , James 
 M. Keniston , Edwin A. Down, Arthur B. Coleburn, A. Josephine Sher- 
 man, Mary Harley . 
 
 Clerks {Stewards until 1873) — Charles W. Galpin, J. Delos Atherton, 
 Frank B. Weeks, John W. Thayer, Thomas M. Durfee. 
 
 Farmers — Clinton W. Weatherbee, Pliny W. Sanderson. 
 
 Matrons — Mrs. Mary Hallock, Mrs. Margaret Dutton. 
 
 If asked what the trustees, using the forces at their com- 
 mand, have done for the insane poor in these twenty-five 
 years, those who recollect the irregular ridge of farming land 
 on which the hospital has been built, might first point to the 
 pleasing contrast of beautiful lawns with bright flower beds 
 and spacious play-grounds, fringed by abundant shade trees 
 and dotted with buildings. Besides the original hospital, 
 there are now eight other separate structures, varying in 
 capacity from twenty to three hundred beds for the use of 
 diverse classes of patients, who are thus kept in distinct 
 
510 
 
 groups apart from one another with evident benefit. Vari- 
 eties of occupation for patients, at first few, have increased 
 year by year. Music, once limited to the piano, has been 
 cultivated until an orchestra and a band have become ordinary 
 sources of entertainment. So, too, as usually in a home, have 
 the indoor comforts, such as furniture, books, and pictures 
 received additions by purchases and by the thoughtful gener- 
 osity of many friends. Among numerous donations, conspic- 
 uous in value and in the gratification afforded all the time, is 
 the chime of bells, given by one of the senior trustees, which 
 musically intones the passage of each quarter-hour. 
 
 Furthermore, it may be said that during its first quarter 
 century, approximately 6,400 fellow creatures, unable to take 
 care of themselves, or perhaps dangerous to the public, have 
 been comfortably lodged, fed, and given such medical treat- 
 ment as they needed, in the State’s hospital ; that under this 
 treatment 1,300 patients have recovered their reason, and at 
 least as many more, removed on probation, have been found 
 sufficiently improved to remain away from the hospital; that 
 for 1,400 patients, whose infirmities caused their earthly lives 
 to be ended here, the burden of disease has been lightened by 
 the ministrations of the physicians and nurses in the hospital ; 
 and that some progress has been made every year in the 
 means of contributing to the contentment and happiness of 
 the large number compelled by mental derangement to make 
 the hospital their home. 
 
 And so, as there is always room for improvement, efforts 
 to make things better must needs ever be continued, even 
 redoubled, since the institution has been enlarged far beyond 
 the limit originally contemplated or recommended. Grant- 
 ing that the ideal hospital may contain not more than four 
 hundred beds, it might be said that here are four such 
 hospitals, absolutely distinct from one another and yet united 
 in a single community. And along with the growth from a 
 comparatively simple to a more complex organization, there 
 has been a natural development of methods of management 
 which, it cannot be doubted, will be further moulded to fit 
 the requirements of the future. 
 
MESSAGE OF THE GOVERNOR 
 
 AND 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COMMISSION ON THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 State Charities 
 
 AND 
 
 ON FURTHER PROVISION FOR SUPPORT OF 
 
 ISSAM POOB. 
 
 Made to the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut , 
 January 26 , 1877. 
 
SPECIAL MESSAGE OF THE GOVERNOR 
 
 TRANSMITTING TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY A REPORT OF 
 THE COMMISSION ON STATE CHARITIES AND 
 INSANE POOR. 
 
 State of Connecticut, Executive Department, 
 Hartford, February 1, 1877. 
 
 To the General Assembly : 
 
 Acting under a resolution of the last Assembly, my prede- 
 cessor, on the fifteenth day of November last, appointed a 
 commission to examine into and report upon the administra- 
 tion of our public charities, and the legal provisions made 
 for their regulation and support. 
 
 The members of this commission have given the subject a 
 very careful and painstaking examination, and I have the 
 honor to submit herewith their report. It is a paper which 
 evinces not only careful investigation and critical judgment, 
 but the finest spirit of charity, and justifies the wisdom of 
 my predecessor in selecting the commission. I commend 
 the report to the consideration of the General Assembly, 
 and urge attention to its statements and conclusions. 
 
 If I mistake not, you will find that there is great necessity 
 for retrenchment in the administration of some of our exist- 
 ing charities, and great necessity for enlarging the scope of 
 others. There are two to which, for special reasons, I wish 
 to invite your special attention. 
 
 DISCHARGED SOLDIERS OF THE LATE WAR. 
 
 My official observation, no less than the report which I 
 herewith transmit, has convinced me that the charitable pro- 
 visions of the State for the relief of discharged soldiers of 
 the late war have run into the most serious extravagance and 
 33 
 
514 
 
 abuse. The laws regulating this charity are disjointed and 
 ambiguous, and urgently demand revision. As heretofore 
 construed, they have, to a very considerable extent, converted 
 the hospitals at Hartford and New Haven into mere chapels 
 of ease for discharged soldiers who are able to earn a living, 
 but are too improvident or indolent to do it, and in some cases 
 for mere impostors. These abuses and the rapid increase of 
 expenditures for this charity had attracted my attention 
 some time since, and individual members of the legislature 
 have kindly allowed me to turn their attention to the subject. 
 With the strongest disposition to correct the abuse and check 
 the expenditure, I have found myself without adequate 
 means to do so. 
 
 Some additional legislation defining more accurately the 
 scope of this charity, and guarding its administration either 
 as recommended by the accompanying report, or else cloth- 
 ing the executive, upon whom the economies of this admin- 
 istration must chiefly depend, with a larger discretionary 
 power in the premises, is most urgently needed. 
 
 I desire, so far as I am charged with the administration of 
 the State’s charities, to avoid parsimony on the one hand, 
 and waste on the other. This I will endeavor to do accord- 
 ing to my ability, if the necessary means are placed at my 
 disposal. 
 
 THE INSANE POOR. 
 
 I desire also to emphasize, by one or two additional sug- 
 gestions, the recommendations made by the commission on 
 the subject of the insane poor. 
 
 The Connecticut hospital at Middletown is over-crowded. 
 The whole number there in charge at the present time is 
 four hundred and fifty-four ; there are enrolled and awaiting 
 admission sixty-seven, and this enrollment is increasing 
 every day. The number neither admitted nor enrolled who 
 are inadequately, and in some cases wretchedly, provided for 
 in the towns, is probably greater than all. I join in the 
 recommendation so urgently made by the commission that 
 
515 
 
 other and early provision be made by the State for these 
 most desolate and afflicted children of want and misfortune. 
 
 If unnecessary expenditures have been made upon the 
 hospital at Middletown, this should neither disincline us to 
 this duty nor retard its execution. Public charities are apt 
 to swing like a pendulum from one extreme to the other — 
 sumptuous and sentimental extravagance at one time ; ex- 
 cessive reaction at another, with delayed and stinted pro- 
 visions as a consequence. May I be allowed to suggest, that, 
 if the State shall undertake the construction of a new hos- 
 pital for the insane, it ought not to revenge the prodigality 
 of the old institution — if any there has been — upon the 
 new ? 
 
 Until other and more ample provision shall be made by the 
 State, the existing hospital should be utilized to the utmost ; 
 and, in order that the State may be better able to furnish 
 such other provisions, every reasonable economy should be 
 introduced into the administration of that institution. With 
 these ends in view, I submit to your better wisdom the fol- 
 lowing recommendations : 
 
 1. That no private patients be for the present allowed at 
 said hospital. It is intended for the poor alone, and its rates 
 of charge are charity rates. The number of private patients 
 now there is twenty, and they are charged at charity rates 
 only. The removal of these will make place for others who 
 are poor and friendless, and who are suffering in the cellars 
 and caves of our almshouses. Let the revelations made at 
 Tariffville and New Haven point the argument. 
 
 2. That the price of board and attendance be limited in 
 all cases to four or four and one-half dollars per week as a 
 maximum, instead of five dollars, as heretofore — this sum 
 in case of the State poor (forty in number) to be paid by the 
 State ; in case of the town poor (two hundred and sixty-four 
 in number) two and one-half dollars to be paid by the town, 
 and the balance only by the State. The lowest of these pro- 
 posed rates is considerably larger than is paid in Massachu- 
 setts — the highest rate there being three and one-half dollars 
 
516 
 
 only. The towns which are by law chargeable with the sup- 
 port of their poor should in justice pay the entire board-bill 
 of their beneficiaries. If, however, there be fear that in such 
 an event the towns would be unwilling to encounter the ex- 
 pense and so withhold their insane poor from the benefits of 
 the hospital, the State will surely have done enough to invite 
 them to a discharge of duty by furnishing them one of the 
 most thoroughly equipped hospitals of the country, rent-free, 
 and by paying a weekly bonus of one and one-half or two 
 dollars for each commitment. 
 
 3. That in case of u indigents,” so-called (one hundred 
 and thirty in number) one-half of the board of each shall be 
 paid by the town in which he resides. This sum is now paid 
 by the State, nothing at all by the towns. The result is that 
 many are committed as indigents and pensioned on the State 
 whose pecuniary condition does not entitle them to public 
 charity, least of all to the charity of the State. If the towns 
 are made chargeable with the partial support of this class of 
 persons, the selectmen who apply to the judges of probate for 
 orders of commitment, and the judges who grant such orders 
 upon ex parte certificates, sometimes made by interested 
 physicians and friends, will be put upon their caution, and 
 exercise a wiser and more discriminating judgment. 
 
 4. That the superintendent be clothed with power, under 
 the direction of the trustees, of receiving or rejecting at dis- 
 cretion all persons committed to the hospital, as well as of 
 dismissing those received. I make this recommendation to 
 the end that the managers may feel themselves authorized, 
 first, to give preference to all curable cases. I am advised 
 that when fresh cases of insanity are promptly treated there 
 is a very large percentage of recoveries, and that in chronic 
 cases there is next to none. The curative work of the insti- 
 tution is its best work, not only in itself, but also because it 
 diminishes the number of insane, and so diminishes the pub- 
 lic charge; and second, to give the benefit of the institution 
 to such beneficiaries as are of violent and destructive tenden- 
 cies, and who cannot be fitly or safely cared for and restrained 
 
517 
 
 elsewhere. There are now in the hospital one hundred and 
 fifty-three who are classed as demented patients, most of 
 whom are quiet, submissive, and harmless, and so stolid as to 
 be insensible to the hospitalities of the place. These, or a 
 considerable portion of them, might be returned, if need be, 
 to the care of the towns from which they came, to make place 
 for others whose cases promise hope of cure, or more urgently 
 demand restraint and discipline. 
 
 In this way, as it seems to me, this noble institution — a 
 model in plan, equipment, discipline, and comfort — can be 
 made to do its best and largest work under very greatly im- 
 proved conditions of economy. 
 
 To this end I have ventured to commend the able and 
 interesting report of the commission to your careful attention, 
 and to accompany it with such recommendations as have 
 been suggested to my mind by my short official experience 
 and observation. 
 
 The two charities of which I have spoken are very noble 
 and deserving. The State will not willingly consent to stint 
 them ; but they can be made, as I am well assured, very 
 much less expensive to the treasury, and more beneficial in 
 results. 
 
 The recommendations above made, if carried out will, in 
 my judgment, relieve the State treasury from a drain of 
 not less than forty thousand dollars per annum. 
 
 Economy is the lesson of the day in all the households of 
 the tax-payers. Is it too much to ask that this lesson be 
 enforced in the households of charity which the tax-payers 
 have so richly endowed, and are so generously supporting ? 
 
 RICHARD D. HUBBARD. 
 
EEPOET. 
 
 To His Excellency Richard D. Hubbard , Governor of the 
 State of Connecticut : 
 
 The undersigned were appointed as a Commission by your 
 predecessor in office, in accordance with the following resolu- 
 tion, passed by the General Assembly at its session in May 
 last : 
 
 “ Resolved by this Assembly , That the Governor is empow- 
 ered to appoint a Commission, consisting of five persons, to 
 inquire into the administration of the various charitable 
 appropriations of the State, and to revise the laws of the 
 State providing for the support of the State beneficiaries in 
 the various charitable institutions, as in their judgment may 
 be needful to improve such administration, and to report such 
 revision, with any further recommendation respecting the 
 subject, to the next session of the General Assembly ; and 
 also to report to such session whether any further provision 
 is necessary to be made for the support of the insane poor of 
 the State.” 
 
 Our duties have been devoted to the following charitable 
 institutions, to which appropriations are made : the Perkins 
 Institute for the Blind, at Boston ; the American Asylum for 
 the Deaf and Dumb, at Hartford ; the Connecticut School for 
 Imbeciles, at Lakeville ; the General Hospital of Connecticut, 
 at New Haven ; and the Hartford Hospital, at Hartford. 
 
 We have also visited and examined the State poor at 
 Tariffville, where we found between thirty and forty persons. 
 It has been the practice of the State to provide for these 
 paupers by contract, for a specified annual sum, but an 
 allowance is now made for each one of two dollars and fifty 
 cents per week. As a consequence of this arrangement the 
 
519 
 
 expense is much increased, being for the year ending March 
 31, 1876, four thousand eight hundred thirty-eight dollars 
 forty-four cents ($4,838.44) ; and for the following eight 
 months, three thousand four hundred eleven dollars thirty- 
 three cents ($3,411.33). The sum paid in the year in which 
 the contract system ceased, 1872, was fourteen hundred 
 twenty-five dollars ($1,425). 
 
 Although the State now pays a much larger sum than 
 formerly, we have no disposition to recommend a return to 
 the contract system, nor do we believe it is advisable in the 
 case of any paupers. Our feelings revolt at the idea of 
 letting to the lowest bidder the care of the poor; the fear 
 that they may be neglected or abused, and the natural 
 tendency in the keeper to make the most of a bargain, 
 especially if it has been a bad one, will always excite suspi- 
 cions that the poor and helpless may be made the sufferers. 
 Notwithstanding the occasional observation of officials, mis- 
 management may occur, for which under such a system 
 legislation is useless. So many are physically disabled or 
 mentally incapacitated, that they are unwilling to make 
 complaints, or too feeble to bring them to notice. 
 
 As far as our observation extends, but little labor can be 
 expected from the very poor, certainly profitable labor ; a 
 considerable proportion of them, through accident, or their 
 own improvidence, are comparatively helpless. Those, how- 
 ever, whose strength will permit, should be required to labor, 
 and it is desirable, even if it is not profitable ; idleness is 
 demoralizing, and especially so for this class. The spectacle 
 of stout men confined in prisons or almshouses without 
 occupation, is a sad one ; to be deprived of it is one of the 
 severest of punishments ; it neither benefits the criminal or 
 pauper, and returns him again upon society, more idle or 
 vicious than at first. While at this time all labor is in so 
 little demand, it may be impossible to profitably employ 
 them, yet a system properly apportioned to each one might 
 stimulate the industrial capacity of some, and aid in effecting 
 a moral improvement in others. 
 
520 
 
 As a class, the poor are annually increasing, and the proper 
 treatment of this element is demanding our serious conside- 
 ration. In old and populous countries it has always been a 
 vexed question ; it is now beginning to assume proportions 
 with us. In whatever way we may look at it, it will be well 
 to remember that the poor we have with us always, and that 
 if we bear in mind the teachings of our Divine Master, we 
 shall be very considerate of them. In all of our appeals for 
 justice, let us not forget the claims of mercy. 
 
 While we are not disposed to unnecessarily blame Mr. 
 Sanford, yet we do not hesitate to say, that his buildings and 
 accommodations generally are far from being proper or 
 sufficient. All hygienic laws are here set at defiance in the 
 crowded and ill-ventilated rooms, and seemingly nothing but 
 the most urgent necessity would fill them to their present 
 numbers. It was painful to find here several of the imbecile 
 and insane, who should be elsewhere provided for. We have 
 no reason to suppose that the paupers are not comfortably 
 fed and warmed, but the accommodations are far from being 
 sufficient. 
 
 The only official oversight which these people receive, is 
 believed to be that from the comptroller of the State, whose 
 duties are sufficient without this care, which must necessarily 
 be imperfect. 
 
 We found a marked contrast in the condition of these 
 persons when compared with those confined in the Hartford 
 county jail, which was visited on another day. It is not 
 necessary to say that better provision is made for the crim- 
 inal than for the pauper ; but aside from the greater restraint 
 in the one case, the difference was astonishing in all that has 
 regard to the comforts and conveniences of life ; and more 
 astonishing still in all that tends to good order, discipline, 
 cleanliness, and hygienic essentials. Such crowded rooms, 
 ill-ventilated and narrow, if found in any of our penal institu- 
 tions, would not be tolerated for a moment ; there would 
 come a public outcry against such inhumanity, that a change 
 would be compelled at once. We have never seen in all our 
 
521 
 
 previous observations of hospitals, prisons, or almshouses,, 
 anything, so entirely opposed to all received ideas of the 
 proper care of congregated individuals, as we saw at Tariff- 
 ville. We are not disposed to place the blame wholly upon 
 Mr. Sanford ; it is the fault of this system of providing for 
 the poor. 
 
 The care of the criminal class lias been greatly improved 
 within the last fifty years ; safe and comfortable buildings 
 have been furnished for them, with sufficient food, proper 
 ventilation, and means of instruction ; we are even asked to 
 furnish them with books and papers to lighten their weary 
 hours. Having, with reluctance, decided to punish the 
 individual, we have concluded to make that punishment as 
 little irksome as possible, and so if we do not pardon him 
 before the term of his sentence is completed, we furnish him 
 with more warmth, better food, better clothing, more solid 
 and essential comforts and necessaries in fact, than he always 
 before enjoyed, or than our pauper brethren are accustomed 
 to receive. It almost seems as if the kindness of the human 
 heart had been exhausted upon the criminal element of 
 society, and so it has come to pass that the pauper has been 
 crowded to the wall and deprived of his just share in our 
 benevolence. 
 
 We are fully aware of all the difficulties in the way of a 
 change and of the increased expense which such a change 
 would necessitate if the State would congregate its paupers. 
 It is a serious matter for the State to consider whether the 
 time has not come for an earnest movement in a new direc- 
 tion. All over the land there is a complaint of the profes- 
 sional tramps and beggars, too lazy to work, and often too 
 vicious to be honest. While we do not confound this wander- 
 ing class with the poor of our towns, yet the proper considera- 
 tion of the whole subject comes naturally upon us. The 
 legislature has had this matter before it on several occasions, 
 but action has been deferred, probably because the efficient 
 or satisfactory remedy has not been made apparent. It is 
 difficult to handle, but ought not to be forgotten or neglected. 
 
522 
 
 A State which has done as much as our honored common - 
 wealth in the cause of humanity, will not hesitate to do still 
 more when its people are thoroughly in earnest. 
 
 In connection with this subject of the care of the poor, it 
 is well to refer to a system of congregating the paupers of 
 different towns, so that it may happen, as it does at Tariff- 
 ville, that the poor of eight of them are kept by Mr. Sanford. 
 Possibly the expense may be less than at home, but this is 
 doubtful, for a little assistance rendered to a family for the 
 care of a sick or feeble member may be amply sufficient, with 
 the products of its own labor for its own wants. But the 
 pecuniary view is not the only one to be considered ; it is a 
 positive inhumanity also to remove a man from his home, or 
 his birthplace if he has no home, merely because he is poor. 
 He has committed no crime, he has not offended society; he 
 has been unfortunate, sometimes from his own imprudences, 
 sometimes from his limited natural capacity. He has mingled 
 with the people of the town, been brought up with its 
 children, attended its common schools, worked with the men, 
 played with the boys : not unfrequently he is a legal voter, 
 whose franchise must remain unexercised, unless with con- 
 siderable labor and expense: once in each year, perhaps, he 
 finds the hearts of his brethren are yearning for him. What- 
 ever is common to the town is, in a narrower sense, common 
 to him. He is familiar with its families, its incidents, its 
 traditions. As age and infirmities creep upon him they fall 
 with increased severity if he is sent amongst strangers, who 
 care for him for a stipend, and with none of the love of a 
 relative or townsman. Poverty itself is galling enough, but 
 the manner in which relief is afforded may lessen its burden 
 or increase its severity. 
 
 And it is well to consider whether, in attempting to put 
 away poverty out of our sight, we are not doing a positive 
 injury to ourselves. Some of the best points in our nature 
 are excited or heightened by the afflictions we see in others. 
 No better or worthier object exists than the desire to do good, 
 and when the power exists with the desire he is greater who 
 
523 
 
 exercises it than the one who, for selfish ambition, pulls 
 down thrones or builds up empires. It is well to be brought 
 into actual contact with poverty : in the rapid decadence of 
 families we may all experience it. 
 
 THE DEAF AND DUMB. 
 
 The General Assembly, at its session in 1874, made an 
 annual grant of eleven thousand dollars for the purpose of 
 instructing the deaf mutes of the State. The sum had pre- 
 viously been less, but upon representations was increased to 
 the amount above named. It is not specified in the act that 
 the beneficiaries shall be indigent, but provision is made for 
 all alike. It is claimed that as the State engages to educate 
 its children, it should specially do so for this unfortunate 
 class. 
 
 The sum of $175 is charged for each pupil at the American 
 Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb at Hartford, and according 
 to its report for 1876 there were fifty-four pupils supported 
 by Connecticut. The comptroller states in his last report 
 that nine thousand four hundred ninety-one dollars fifty 
 cents ($9,491.50) have been drawn from the treasury upon 
 orders, leaving a part of the appropriation unexpended. 
 This has been the case for several years, but the managers 
 stated to us that a considerable number of deaf mutes were 
 remaining at their homes in different towns, to whom the 
 benefits of an education in this asylum would be a blessing. 
 It is hoped that the provision made by the State will be en- 
 joyed by all for whom it was intended. Perhaps a more 
 extended notice is only necessary to induce parents to send 
 their children here. A course of special education extending 
 from five to ten years cannot well be conducted, except in a 
 school of this character. 
 
 The management seems to be good, the influences are ex- 
 cellent, and there appears to be no necessity for a change of 
 legislation in this matter. 
 
524 
 
 THE PERKINS INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND. 
 
 The annual grant made by the General Assembly in 1871 
 for chis institution, located at Boston, Mass., was $6,000. 
 There has been drawn on orders for the year 1876, $3,425. As 
 the grant has not been wholly used in each year, it is pro- 
 posed by the comptroller that the unexpended balance 
 should be covered back to the credit of the civil list funds. It 
 is supposed that there are yet some in this State who do not 
 enjoy the benefit of this grant, possibly because they are not 
 aware of it. 
 
 A part of the commission visited this school and were very 
 favorably impressed with it. They found here fourteen pupils 
 as the beneficiaries of the State at an expense of $300 each. 
 The progress made in some special departments was truly won- 
 derful; they become particularly expert as musicians and 
 teachers of music, and some of the graduates are enabled to 
 earn a very comfortable living by this exercise of their talents. 
 Anything which promises comfort or aid to these unfortunates 
 is to be earnestly commended. 
 
 We advise no change in the legislation on this subject. 
 
 THE CONNECTICUT SCHOOL FOR IMBECILES. 
 
 In 1873 the General Assembly made an annual grant of 
 seven thousand dollars for instruction in this school, the sum 
 of one hundred and fifty dollars to be paid for each child 
 unless otherwise ordered by the Governor. The comptroller 
 states in his last report that there has been drawn on orders 
 in 1876 the sum of four thousand two hundred ninety-three 
 dollars sixty-six cents ($4,293.66), and thus a part of the 
 grant remains unappropriated. The same remarks made 
 concerning the deaf and dumb and the blind can be made 
 here — that all those for whom this grant was intended do 
 not receive its benefits. The superintendent thinks there is 
 a considerable number of imbecile children in this State who 
 have not yet been brought to this school, but who would be 
 placed in it for instruction if proper measures were institu- 
 ted. It is not creditable that these feeble-minded children 
 
525 
 
 should be allowed to grow up in ignorance, and too often in 
 idleness and viciousness, if it can be prevented. 
 
 This school was incorporated in 1861, is under the direc- 
 tion of a board of trustees, is believed to have been success- 
 ful in its work, and has property in buildings and land which 
 is estimated to be worth sixty thousand dollars, and this, we 
 understand, the directors are willing to turn over to the State 
 if the State will carry on the school and assume an indebt- 
 edness of about seventeen thousand dollars. It is not un- 
 frequently but improperly called Dr. Knight’s school, but 
 this is in no sense true, except that he is its superintendent, 
 was its chief originator, and has been active in its work. It 
 is no more the school of Dr. Knight than is the Asylum for 
 the Deaf and Dumb the school of Edward A. Stone or the 
 Retreat for the Insane the hospital of Dr. H. P. Stearns. 
 When these men die, or are displaced, the institutions will 
 still be carried on, and there is no reason to suppose that 
 anything different will happen at Lakeville. We understood 
 from Dr. Knight that he had no pecuniary interest in the 
 Connecticut School for Imbeciles aside from the necessary 
 support which it gives him and the greater part of the furni- 
 ture in the buildings, worth, perhaps, two thousand dollars. 
 If the State will adopt the school, this he is willing should 
 go with it. 
 
 But the State can do better, certainly for the present ; and 
 it will be well to continue to employ the existing agencies of 
 this corporation, just as it does those for the deaf and dumb 
 at Hartford, for the blind at Boston, and as it formerly did 
 for the insane at the Retreat in Hartford. 
 
 The wonderful energy and perseverance of Dr. Knight 
 should enlist our sympathy and support. Whenever one is 
 found who enters with his whole heart into this subject, gen- 
 erally regarded as so painful, he is deserving of our hearty 
 encouragement. These feeble-minded children are suffering 
 from no faults of their own : they too often bear the burden 
 of others who have violated the laws of health or of nature, 
 so we must have a certain amount of sympathy for them and 
 
526 
 
 aid in giving them instruction, that they may become more 
 useful and less repulsive. 
 
 There are now sixty-six pupils from Connecticut, thirty- 
 three of whom receive an allowance from the State grant of 
 three dollars per week. The cost to the institution of each 
 pupil is five dollars per week ; private pupils out of the State 
 pay larger sums, and so the institution is able to take a few 
 who only receive the State aid. Accommodations are suffi- 
 cient for one hundred and twenty -five pupils, so that the pres- 
 ent number may be considerably increased. 
 
 We would make no suggestions for a change in the present 
 legislation except that it is desirable that the same powers 
 possessed by judges of probate of commitment of insane to 
 the hospital at Middletown should be possessed by them as to 
 the commitment of imbecile children to the school at Lake- 
 ville. 
 
 SICK SOLDIERS. 
 
 In 1865 the General Assembly passed the following act: 
 
 Resolved by this Assembly , That whenever any discharged soldier 
 requiring surgical attendance shall be placed as a patient in the 
 Hartford hospital or in the institution of the General Hospital 
 Society of Connecticut, the sum of three dollars per week for the 
 support of such patient shall be paid from the State treasury to 
 such hospitals respectively, under the direction of the Governor of 
 this State and the executive committee of said hospitals respect- 
 ively. 
 
 Subsequently the act was amended by making the compen- 
 sation six dollars per week instead of three, and has thus 
 been in force to the present time. The promise which the 
 State has made is certainly very generous, and, so far as we 
 are familiar, beyond that of most other States. Connecticut, 
 however, will not be likely to fail in its duty to the defenders 
 of our government, and grudges no necessary or promised 
 expenditure. 
 
 To show the amount expended since the year 1876, inclu- 
 sive, the following table is submitted. The figures were ob- 
 
527 
 
 tained from the comptroller’s office, and it was not easy to 
 ascertain the exact sum paid on account of sick soldiers for 
 each year previous to the above date, as the accounts were 
 not separately kept : 
 
 General Hospital Society, New Haven. Hartford Hospital. 
 
 1870, . 
 
 $5,723.90 
 
 1870, 
 
 $7,743.71 
 
 1871, . 
 
 3,807.43 
 
 1871, 
 
 3,006.84 
 
 1872, . 
 
 5,956.84 
 
 1872, 
 
 2,810.18 
 
 1873, . 
 
 9,926.56 
 
 1873, 
 
 4,863.54 
 
 1874, . 
 
 14,670.87 
 
 1874, 
 
 6,739.74 
 
 1875, . 
 
 18,760.27 
 
 1875, 
 
 10,112.33 
 
 1876, . 
 
 25,037.07 
 
 1876, 
 
 16,051.83 
 
 Total, 
 
 $83,882.94 
 
 Total, 
 
 . $51,328.17 
 
 Total amount paid in seven years, $135,211.11. 
 
 The steady and large increase in both of these hospitals is 
 thus readily seen. We are aware that the amount is larger 
 than it ought to have been, and it is doubtless much larger 
 than was originally expected. But it has seemed difficult to 
 put a check to it, partly because the soldiers were earnestly 
 claiming admission, partly because the managers of the hos- 
 pitals gave encouragement to their admission and did not 
 exercise sufficient authority in their discharge, and partly, 
 also, from the ease with which a certificate to be presented to 
 the Governor for his order could be obtained. The supervis- 
 ion or discretion which he could exercise was very limited 
 indeed, nor could he be expected to be familiar with the ne- 
 cessity for admission. In justice to the managers of these 
 institutions it should be said that they have been aware of 
 the abuse of the bounty of the State and thought them- 
 selves powerless to remedy the evil. The legislation was, as 
 Governor Ingersoll characterized it, 44 crude,” and the power 
 which gave it force seems to be the only one able to check it. 
 
 A very strict, but as we think unauthorized, construction 
 of the act would confine its benefit to those alone who re- 
 quired “ surgical ” attendance. In our opinion the term is a 
 general one, comprising both 64 surgical ” and 44 medical ” 
 cases ; indeed, it would not appear to be proper otherwise, 
 for the disability incurred by sickness is greater than the 
 
528 
 
 disability incurred from wounds, many more dying from the 
 former than from the latter ; and for the cure of these men 
 “ surgeons ” are appointed, who alike treat all of them. 
 Massachusetts, in allowing cities or towns to pay monthly 
 the sum of six dollars to any soldier or sailor “ who is now 
 residing within this State, and who is wholly or partially 
 disabled by reason of wounds received in said service, or by 
 sickness or disability contracted therein,” has expressed it 
 better and more definitely than we have. By confining the 
 grant to disability incurred during the war, it has placed the 
 matter in such a position that the expense will probably 
 diminish each year ; whereas by the legislation of this State, 
 and by the construction which has been given to it, the 
 expenditure will naturally increase, as the figures above 
 show, as the soldiers become more cognizant of it, and 
 as age and infirmities come upon them. Although in Massa- 
 chusetts the cities and towns pay to the soldiers the sum 
 named, yet they are reimbursed by the State to a certain 
 extent. Possibly in making the primary expenditure by the 
 towns, the cases undergo a closer scrutiny and become more 
 thoroughly sifted ; and possibly, also, some are put away or 
 neglected, when the more generous action of the State would 
 afford the desired and proper relief. In these instances it is 
 better to err on the side which does too much, rather than on 
 the side which does too little. 
 
 Those who have given this subject attention are divided in 
 opinion as to the application of the act in affording relief to 
 those whose disability was not incurred during the war, and 
 when unprejudiced men hold to contrary opinions, it may be 
 fairly supposed that there is reasonable ground for it. It is 
 often very difficult to determine whether the cause of the 
 disability originated during the war, or subsequent to it. In 
 acute cases of disease an opinion may readily be given, but 
 in those of a chronic nature it is easy to be at fault. The 
 act has been so construed as to mean acute cases of disease 
 whose commencement was perhaps only in the last week, and 
 whose causes were thus immediate and present, having no 
 
529 
 
 relation whatever to injuries or exposures in previous years. 
 And so a case of inflammation of the lungs, or of acute rheu- 
 matism, or a recent fracture of the leg, might be admitted 
 into the hospitals, and they would be authorized to draw six 
 dollars per week for each one. The compensation might not 
 be too much ; the point is, Was this application intended ? 
 
 As we have intimated, it is better to be generous in this 
 matter rather than too exacting; but if, with the checks 
 which we shall propose, the burden is found to be too great, 
 a repeal of the act may be a necessity. 
 
 We found that there were ninety-six soldier patients in the 
 hospital at New Haven on the 29th of November last, and 
 fifty-nine in the Hartford hospital at the same time. A per- 
 sonal examination showed that some of them were not 
 under treatment, and that they ought to have been pre- 
 viously discharged. But too many have come to regard 
 these institutions as asylums or homes, and when discharged 
 from one by reason of cure or for disobedience — expressing 
 it mildly — have soon gone to the other, and so have con- 
 trived to pass a considerable period of time in a very com- 
 fortable manner, at the expense of the State. But these 
 institutions are in no sense soldiers’ homes or soldiers’ 
 retreats ; they were not incorporated as permanent resi- 
 dences for healthy individuals of any class, or even for those 
 who are somewhat feeble ; this was not the intention of 
 their originators. They were founded for the cure of dis- 
 ease, for the medical and surgical treatment of sick people, 
 and should be confined to this, their legitimate duty. Other 
 institutions afford other care and protection, intended for the 
 aged and feeble, for soldiers and sailorfc disabled in the 
 cause of their country. These are properly called homes, 
 and asylums, and rests ; a generous nation ever provides 
 them, and when it neglects those who, taking their lives in 
 their hands, go out as its defenders, then may that nation 
 hang its head in shame. The ingratitude of an individual is 
 enough; the ingratitude of a community is most galling 
 of all. 
 
 34 
 
530 
 
 The general government has provided places for certain of 
 these soldiers, and there is no reason why they should not 
 generally enter them. Of the ninety-four patients at New 
 Haven on the 31st of December, forty-one were without 
 families ; of the ninety-six at the same place on the 29th of 
 November, twenty-one were permanently disabled ; a number 
 of these were consumptives, and twelve were drawing pen- 
 sions which were not always well applied. Of the fifty-nine 
 in the Hartford hospital at the same date, twelve were 
 afflicted with incurable diseases ; of the eighteen admitted 
 previous to April 1, 1876, and still there, one-half were in- 
 curable. Some of these might go, and properly should go, to 
 the homes provided for them by the general government at 
 Augusta, in Maine, at Dayton, in Ohio, at Hampton, in Vir- 
 ginia, and we think at other places. As provision is here 
 afforded them, payment is made twice, if payment is made 
 by the State. By shutting off this class, considerable relief 
 would be found. 
 
 Further relief would also be afforded if the managers of 
 these hospitals were held to a more strict accountability in 
 their admissions and discharges. It should be insisted that 
 no trivial or unfounded complaint procured an admission, 
 and that a discharge should be made as soon as a cure was 
 effected ; and there should be an understanding by the gov- 
 ernment of both hospitals that no unwarranted efforts or 
 strife in procuring patients will be tolerated. If this arrange- 
 ment was rigidly carried out, the number obtaining the aid 
 of the State improperly would be diminished. 
 
 To be still more careful of the interest of the State, and to 
 afford no excuse of injustice to the soldier, it would be well, 
 and in our opinion is very desirable, that two examining 
 surgeons or inspectors should be appointed, who should visit 
 these hospitals at least once in each month, to examine all 
 receiving State aid, and having power to discharge all who, 
 in their opinion, should be discharged. In thus often visit- 
 ing each hospital, and together, and justly exercising their 
 power, it would appear that the State has as much protec- 
 
531 
 
 tion as it can well obtain. These surgeons should be men of 
 character, skilled in their profession, free from any hospital 
 connection, and independent enough to do their duty faith- 
 fully. Probably three hundred dollars each would be suffi- 
 cient annual compensation, and this arrangement would save 
 thousands of dollars to the State. 
 
 If, however, after a sufficient trial, the evils which we have 
 enumerated are still continued, it might be advisable to repeal 
 the original act. It is the opinion of some of the managers 
 that the number will be reduced one-half, and perhaps two- 
 thirds, if these views are carried out. We are unanimously 
 of the opinion that the trial should be made. 
 
 As a further necessity the State should be divided into 
 two districts, the four upper counties constituting one, the 
 applicants from this section to be received only at the hos- 
 pital in Hartford ; the four lower counties forming the 
 second, the applicants only to be received at the hospital in 
 New Haven. An arrangement of this character seems to be 
 necessary, in order to prevent admission into one hospital as 
 soon as discharged from the other. 
 
 THE INSANE POOR. 
 
 No part of the subject committed to us has given more 
 anxiety than that relating to the insane poor. The earnest 
 call for more provision for this class, and its generally recog- 
 nized necessity, has led to its careful consideration during 
 the short time since our appointment. Circulars were sent 
 to the selectmen of the one hundred and sixty-six towns of 
 the State, and returns have been received from about one 
 hundred of them ; they were also sent to clergymen and 
 physicians, who were supposed to be cognizant of some cases 
 which might not otherwise be reported. From these returns 
 it appears that there are now outside of the State hospital at 
 Middletown and the Retreat for the Insane Tit Hartford, be- 
 tween four and five hundred of the indigent insane for whom 
 provision should be made. Dr. Shew states that there are 
 now seventy women waiting admission, “ and a much larger 
 
532 
 
 number would be enrolled if any encouragement of an early 
 admission could be given.” 
 
 That there is a necessity for further provision, all who are 
 familiar with the administration of towns are aware. The 
 claims are numerous and urgent, and as accommodations 
 cannot be found within the State, the patients are of neces- 
 sity sent to institutions without its borders, or are retained 
 in almshouses, or remain with their friends. It is especially 
 a serious matter when the needed relief is not afforded to 
 the acute cases, for here the great benefit of prompt treat- 
 ment is very noticeable ; these cases demand attention, and 
 call upon us for immediate action. 
 
 But there is another and larger class — the chronic insane 
 — for whom something must be done. For a majority of 
 these there is now no fit provision outside of the State Hos- 
 pital ; as a consequence, many of them are in almhouses, 
 without that special care which is necessary, and which their 
 helpless condition demands. We have no desire to reflect 
 upon anything which we have seen or have heard, but are 
 determined to present this matter in such a light that we 
 trust will lead to a kindly action on the part of the General 
 Assembly. 
 
 “ How serious a matter insanity is few can realize, unless 
 they are brought in immediate contact with it. We talk 
 about ordinary sickness which afflicts the body as being un- 
 fortunate or severe, but how much more so that which, in 
 addition, seizes upon both body and mind ? ” It falls with 
 severity upon any household, but with especial weight upon 
 those of narrow fortunes. The neighborly kindness which 
 comforts and assists during an illness or an injury requires 
 but little of expense and of time, but the care of insanity is 
 a heavier burden, extends over a longer period, interferes 
 with the necessary arrangements of families, and requires 
 the assistance of many persons ; the gratuitous aid of neigh- 
 bors soon becomes fatigued, and the required assistance 
 from the town also becomes expensive ; neither is satisfac- 
 tory, and the case is ill-managed and troublesome. 
 
It is possible there are some who are incredulous as to the 
 necessity of further provision for the insane, and some may 
 even doubt whether any State provision is necessary at all. 
 But insanity is so serious a disease that it falls altogether 
 out of the line of common illness. Its treatment is so dif- 
 ferent that but few are competent for its management, possess 
 the requisite tact and patience, or the necessary means of 
 cure. A town can very well undertake to provide for its in- 
 habitants in an epidemic of small-pox or scarlet fever ; it 
 can furnish the necessary attendants, and food and medicine, 
 when required, for its poor afflicted with fever, or dysentery, 
 or rheumatism. No special nursing, or care, or appliances 
 are required beyond those with which all are familiar, and 
 which are readily and cheaply to be found ; nothing extraor- 
 dinary is needed, and the necessary relief is at once 
 afforded. But too often the violence of insanity requires a 
 patient and skillful aid, and comforts and appliances which 
 are not easily obtained. And it should not be forgotten that 
 brutal men and brutal women, and sometimes those, too, 
 who would shudder if such terms were applied to them, are 
 guilty of the most intolerable cruelty to the insane in their 
 management of them, or in their efforts to carry out a 
 fanatical idea, that these persons “ must be made to mind.” 
 Such cruelties, if committed in an insane hospital, would 
 arouse the land. 
 
 The feeble condition of the insane would in itself seem to 
 warrant a special treatment, for as a mental disease is more 
 serious than an ordinary illness, putting it out of the power 
 of the afflicted one to help himself, so it would seem that he 
 possessed a natural claim for the help of his fellows. The 
 man full of life and energy can provide for himself, and is 
 satisfied ; he needs no staff to lean upon, or outstretched 
 hand to guide him on his way. But if insanity falls upon 
 him, he is like a ship without a rudder, and needs control 
 more than a child ; he neither provides for himself or for 
 others, misinterprets the good which is intended him, and 
 injures, too often, his dearest friends. The State provides 
 
534 
 
 for the deaf and the dumb, for the imbecile and the blind ; 
 it has agreed to furnish funds for their instruction, even as we 
 have shown, beyond the claims yet made upon it. It has 
 also done a noble work for the insane, but has not yet come 
 up to the claims made upon it. What is needed is an exten- 
 sion of that work. In the great race of life the feeble 
 and afflicted must be given a fair chance ; the poor and needy 
 must be helped on their way. 
 
 At Tariffville we found about ten who were either insane 
 or imbecile. They ought not to be there ; it is no proper 
 place for these feeble persons, and it is an outrage upon hu- 
 manity, a disgrace to the civilization of the State, and a sad 
 reflection upon our Christianity that they are there at all. 
 We will not be silent or smooth this matter with pleasant 
 words, and end by saying, “ This is all very well for them.” 
 It is not well for them, and no one with the love of God in 
 his heart and true love for his fellow-men can honestly say 
 it. We shed our tears over the distant and repulsive Fejee 
 Islander, and mourn the wrongs of the barbarous Sioux In- 
 dian ; but here, right here, in this Christian commonwealth, 
 are men and women kept day after day, by the authority of 
 the State, in a condition which should shame a savage or 
 tingle the cheek of an infidel. Complaints like these are 
 too often passed by as idle words, or as the mutterings of 
 dreamy enthusiasts ; but if anything was needed to show the 
 necessity of further legislation, it was found in the miserable 
 arrangements and provision for the insane at this place. It 
 is most painful to be obliged to speak as we have of the es- 
 tablishment at Tariffville, and we are unanimously of opin- 
 ion that it should not longer be tolerated. It is the misfor- 
 tune of complaints like these that they are supposed to be 
 directed against individuals ; it is the system which is at 
 fault, which compels its insane and imbecile poor to be kept 
 in such a manner. 
 
 We found in the almshouse at Hartford eight or ten peo- 
 ple, who were as comfortably cared for as could be expected 
 at that place. Most of the insane poor of this town, 
 
535 
 
 amounting to about sixty, who are not accommodated at the 
 State Hospital or at the Retreat, are sent to the asylums at 
 Brattleboro, Vt., Butler Hospital, Providence, Concord, N. 
 H., and even to Maine. Notwithstanding this, all are not 
 accommodated, even some acute cases, which call loudly 
 upon our sympathy. At the New Haven almshouse there 
 were fifty-four of the insane in the different rooms of the 
 building and in cells in a special department. A few of these 
 were lying upon loose hay, were without much clothing, and 
 were in a very filthy condition. No one was more sensible 
 of the defective arrangements and the necessary wants than 
 Mr. Bradley, the keeper. 
 
 The subject of increased accommodations for the insane 
 poor has come to be regarded as necessarily attended with 
 great expense. This is not strange when we consider the 
 amount which has been required in this State, and the very 
 large sums expended or contracted for in others. It has ex- 
 cited the astonishment of foreigners that we have lavished 
 so much upon our pauper insane hospitals, and it is begin- 
 ning to excite the astonishment of reflecting men here that 
 it was ever considered as necessary. It is not unjust to the 
 specialists to say that a large share of this is due to them- 
 selves ; it was to be supposed that the men who had given 
 special attention to the subject were likely to be the best in- 
 formed. The responsibility, however, must be shared by the 
 different managing boards, and by the citizens of the loca- 
 tions selected. But there are indications of a change of 
 opinion, and it is beginning to be recognized that very large 
 and very expensive establishments are neither proper nor 
 necessary for the pauper chronic insane. The cry which has 
 been raised, that nothing is too good for these people, has 
 nothing of force in it, unless it is essential for their comfort 
 or cure. It is well to bear in mind, however, in this vibra- 
 tion of opinions, that there is a parsimony in expenditure 
 which may defeat the very objects we have in view. We do 
 not give gold watches or fine pictures as the playthings of an 
 infant ; a rubber doll or a coarse engraving are equally ac- 
 
536 
 
 ceptable. The folly of a neighboring State which has 
 erected buildings for this class at an expense of thirty-six 
 hundred dollars for each bed, and the extravagance of an- 
 other which has spent millions upon an unfinished building, 
 are examples of warning for us. Dr. Earl of Northampton 
 is beginning to see that there is too much of “ extravagance,” 
 nor does he recognize that very expensive buildings or fit- 
 tings are necessary for the care or comfort of these people. 
 Speaking of the institution at Danvers, he says : u For at 
 least one-half of the cost of construction of the hospital, 
 nothing is added to its excellence as a curative institution, 
 and no compensation is gained in any way at all commensu- 
 rate with the amount of money disbursed.” If equal com- 
 fort and protection is afforded, then all the money which is 
 put into such a building, which does not aid in a cure, is 
 almost spent in vain. 
 
 For a large part of the chronic insane the prospect of cure 
 is dark indeed. Dr. Shew, in one of his reports, stated that 
 only about two per cent, of the patients in the State Hospi- 
 tal were curable. Perhaps the percentage is larger now, 
 probably it is, but it accords with all authority to say that 
 few only are likely to be cured. If this fact is sufficiently 
 recognized, it may in the future help us in our endeavors. 
 
 It may be inferred from what has previously been said that 
 we do not regard it as possible for the towns to make adequate 
 provision for the pauper insane within their own limits. A 
 few large ones might do it with greater cost to themselves 
 than now, but for the smaller ones it is utterly impossible. 
 The ordinary almshouse is neither convenient nor proper, and 
 so associate care has become the necessity ; it is cheaper and 
 better for all. 
 
 The absolute necessities for the pauper chronic insane are 
 that they should be comfortably housed and clothed, carefully 
 watched, and properly fed and warmed ; for these purposes no 
 costly buildings or extravagant furnishing are necessary. So 
 many of them are comparatively quiet that a large corps of 
 attendants are not required, and some of them are able to 
 
537 
 
 perform considerable labor. Dr. Shew says that 46 about 
 forty per cent, of all the men are regularly employed on the 
 farm and grounds ” of the hospital ; and the value of the 
 farm products is estimated at nearly eleven thousand dollars. 
 Occupation is essential for every one ; it is a healthful and 
 curative agent for all, and is a very essential necessity in all 
 penal, reformatory, or charitable institutions. The absence 
 of employment is one of the worst features which we have 
 seen at any time, whether it was in hospitals for the insane, 
 in almshouses, in prisons, or asylums for the inebriate. 
 
 We are convinced that there is a necessity for further pro- 
 vision for the pauper insane, and especially the pauper 
 chronic insane, in this State. As a remedy we would suggest 
 a suitable location in a healthful region, where land is cheap, 
 water abundant, and access convenient. Plain and simple 
 buildings for the accommodation of two hundred of the insane 
 need not and should not be expensive, and would be sufficient 
 for a commencement ; additions could be made as necessity 
 required. By removing the more tractable cases from Mid- 
 dletown, room would be afforded for the recent and violent 
 ones, which are now loudly demanding relief. 
 
 So large a number of our population become insane that it 
 is well for all of us that proper attention should be given to 
 these unfortunates. In this day of whirl and extravagance 
 no one can tell who may be the next sufferer : 44 Whosoever 
 thinketh he standeth, let him take heed lest he fall.” 
 
 Though not ’ coming within the scope of our inquiry, yet 
 relating to it, we venture to make a suggestion concerning 
 the criminal insane. A certain number of these are now in 
 confinement in the State prison and in our common jails ; we 
 were told that there were ten of this class at the General 
 Hospital for the Insane at Middletown. It is respectfully 
 submitted whether this association is advisable ; the mingling 
 of the criminal with our honest poor is repugnant to all feel- 
 ings of respect or propriety. Suitable accommodation should 
 be made by themselves, either in the State prison or in one 
 of the county jails. The probable expense would be no 
 
538 
 
 greater than at present, better care would be secured, and 
 much relief would be afforded by putting them in one 
 location. 
 
 We have endeavored to give this subject the consideration 
 which its importance demands. Ours is not the only State 
 which is anxiously examining and endeavoring to learn its 
 duty with reference to various charities. There is danger 
 that we may be led into extravagance by our enthusiasm or 
 by ill-digested plans. All new projects, therefore, and all 
 development of old ones, should be carefully examined, in 
 view of the rights and interests of all. It was well said by 
 Governor Tilden, in his address before the Social Science 
 Association in 1876: “ While we exercise every sentiment 
 of humanity ; while we do all in our power to relieve misfor- 
 tune and to overcome evils, and apply discipline and enforce 
 reformation, at the same time we must bear in mind that the 
 industrious millions who keep out of the poorhouses and peni- 
 tentiaries are also entitled to the consideration and the care 
 of the government.” 
 
 A bill is herewith submitted, embracing the several sug- 
 gestions on our State charities, and also a resolution concern- 
 ing the insane poor. 
 
 H. Sidney Hayden, 
 Benj. Stark, 
 
 Gurdon W. Russell, 
 C. A. Lindsley, 
 
 Wm. Deming, 
 
 Commission by 
 }> Executive 
 appointment . 
 
 y 
 
 January 26, 1877. 
 
539 
 
 General Assembly, January Session, A.D. 1877. 
 
 Whereas, the arrangements made for the accommodation of the 
 insane poor are insufficient for the accommodation of this unfor- 
 tunate class of persons in this State, therefore, 
 
 Resolved by this Assembly , That the Governor, with the advice 
 and consent of the Senate, be authorized to appoint a commission 
 of three persons to select a suitable location for a second hospital 
 for the insane poor, procure proper plans for a building that will 
 accommodate two hundred persons of that class, together with an 
 estimate of the probable cost of such accommodations, including 
 all charges, and make a report in the premises to the next General 
 Assembly. 
 
 AN ACT IN ADDITION TO AN ACT CONCERNING PAUPERS, 
 BEING TITLE 15 OF THE GENERAL STATUTES. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
 
 Assembly convened : 
 
 Section 1. No town shall make any agreement to furnish sup 
 port or maintenance of any of its poor in any place outside of the 
 town in which the pauper resides, unless such town shall have 
 established a poorhouse in such place according to the provisions 
 of the tenth section, part one, chapter two, of said title; and the 
 selectmen or town agent of any town who shall make any such 
 agreement shall forfeit the sum of fifteen dollars a month for each 
 and every month such agreement shall be continued, to be re- 
 covered by any person, .in an action brought on this statute. 
 
 Sec. 2. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are 
 hereby repealed.' 
 
RESOLUTIONS IN REGARD TO H. SIDNEY HAYDEN. 
 
 The Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 We, the trustees, desire to have entered upon our records an 
 expression of our regard at the voluntary retirement of Mr. Hay- 
 den from our board, and our appreciation of his long and valuable 
 services. To no citizen of our State is a greater debt of gratitude 
 due for the amelioration of the condition of its insane than to Mr. 
 Hayden. From the very inception of the plan for the founding of 
 our insane hospital before 1865 to last July, when he retired, he 
 has been untiring in his devotion to and work for the afflicted in 
 mind of the State. The present condition of this hospital, of which 
 we are so justly proud, is in a great measure due to his unflagging 
 zeal. No weather was so inclement, or call so inconvenient, that 
 he could not attend to his charitable duties here; in the early days 
 when the income was not always sufficient to meet the expenses, 
 loaning his personal credit, and aiding all by his advice and mature 
 judgment. His absence will long be felt at our meetings, and his 
 memory ever be held in affection and esteem. 
 
 Resolved , That the above resolution be entered upon our records, 
 and that the secretary transmit an engrossed copy of the same to 
 Mr. Hayden. 
 
 Attest, 
 
 J. W. ALSOP, 
 
 Secretary Board of Trustees. 
 
 Middletown, Conn., Nov. 4, 1889. 
 
541 
 
 O N one occasion the Hon. Richard D. Hubbard said : “ We 
 put up monuments, but we write no history.” 
 Connecticut delayed providing for her unfortunate insane 
 for many years ; much longer than other States. It is now 
 twenty-five (25) years since we entered upon the work. No 
 State has ever accomplished more in one quarter of a cen- 
 tury or more to the satisfaction of all parties interested. 
 
 The trustees, superintendent, and treasurer have made 
 annual reports ; the trustees a reprint in one volume of the 
 first to the twenty-first inclusive ; the first superintendent a 
 history of the first ten years, and the present superintendent 
 a memoranda of the history to the present time. 
 
 Although our Governors, wardens of the State prison, and 
 the hospital trustees have made frequent requests of the 
 legislature to provide for the insane convicts at Wethersfield, 
 it has not been done, perhaps because their reports were 
 mislaid and other matters seem to demand more immediate 
 attention. Regarding it a privilege and duty, I offer to the 
 present legislature a reprint of all the reports that have been 
 published by those now in office and by the honored dead 
 whose names are found in the second report, that of 1868. 
 If my friends or any member of this present legislature 
 desire further information respecting this great charity, it 
 will afford me pleasure to confer with them. 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN. 
 
 Windsor, Conn., Feb. 20, 1895. 
 
ADDENDUM. 
 
 I recommend the Humane Committee of each Legislature 
 visit the Hospital and report, as the work done there is highly 
 important for the State and many families. Other States 
 entered upon this work at an early date although none have 
 accomplished more than ours. I recommend the trustees 
 secure the re-appointment of the members if in the interest 
 of the Hospital. If this had been done the Hon. Robbins 
 Battell would have continued to represent his county from 
 1866 to 1895. This great charity had no better friend, nor 
 will it ever have. He gave freely ; the clock with its chime 
 of bells, as one illustration, his personal expenses and his 
 valuable time, — all that he could do for this noble charity ; 
 yet the Superintendent’s memoranda records “ services ended 
 in 1891.” This record is unjust to ourselves. 
 
 I recommend the trustees be directed to decline all con- 
 ditional gifts, as they serve without compensation. In my 
 judgment this service is one of the best features in the 
 Charter, and may it ever continue. All conditional gifts for 
 the care and support of the insane should be referred to our 
 private incorporated hospitals. 
 
 I desire to call the attention of the present General 
 Assembly to that part of the Trustees’ Twenty-first Report 
 respecting the wrong done by transferring the criminal 
 insane to a curative institution. Since reading that part of 
 Governor Coffin’s Message referring to this matter and also 
 the report of the Warden of the State Prison at Wethers- 
 field, I am much encouraged, the time is near when this 
 important matter shall receive attention. To be well done 
 it should be done quickly. 
 
543 
 
 I direct attention to the reports of the Treasurer, Mr. M B. 
 Copeland. Prom them you will learn he has placed to the 
 credit of the State a large sum ; thus by collecting interest 
 on amounts in hand from time to time, thereby assisting 
 the towns by reducing charges for care of their insane. 
 
 H. SIDNEY HAYDEN. 
 
 Windsor, March 4, 1895. 
 
i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 \' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBAN A 
 
 3 0112 041750545