Identifier: insaneinforeignc00letcuoft (find matches)
Title: The insane in foreign countries
Year: 1889 (1880s)
Authors: Letchworth, William Pryor, 1823-1910
Subjects: Mentally ill -- Hospitals Europe
Publisher: New York : G. P. Putnam's
Contributing Library: Gerstein - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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ions. Since my visit to this asylum it has been enlarged, so thatat the date of January i, 1887, it contained 1,543 patients.Forty-seven of these were private patients, for whom aweekly charge of from \/\s. to 20s. was made. The averageweekly cost of maintenance during the year ending JanuaryI, 1887, was 8^^. \d. per capita. LANCASTER COUNTY ASYLUM—PRESTWICH. This is one of four pauper asylums that meet the wantsof a county having the largest population of any in GreatBritain, including, as it does, large centres of life and indus-try like Liverpool and Manchester. According to the lastcensus, Lancaster contained a population of 3,485,611. Onthe 1st of January, 1887, it was estimated to have 83,321paupers, of whom 10.23 per cent were lunatics. The asy-lum at Prestwich is about fifteen minutes ride by rail in anortheasterly direction from the great cotton manufacturingcity of Manchester. The buildings, which are of brick withslate-roofs, are for the most part three stories high. They
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DINING-HALL, PRESTWICH. HEIIOTYPE PDINTINO CO. BOSTON, MASS. PRESTWICH. 95 are surrounded by ornamental grounds. Just inside theentrance gate is a neatly constructed porters lodge, whichis a distinctive feature of English asylums. Indeed, the rulesrespecting the porter and his duties are, in many places, asprecisely and clearly laid down as are those for the guidanceof the medical staff. On approaching the asylum buildings,one is pleased to see that the windows are free from bars.The patients, dressed in drab moleskin, the ordinary attireof workingmen in this part of the country, were at workabout the grounds with wheelbarrows, rollers, and gardentools. At the time of my visit, the resident Superintendent, Dr.Ley, was assisted by four medical officers. There were 529male and 674 female patients ; and the number of attendantsto patients was one to nine. An annexe intended to ac-commodate about 800 patients was in process of construc-tion. This has since been completed and occupied, and

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