The Treatment of Lunatics, historically considered.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 27, 1894, Page 675

. Paper.—” The Treatment of Lunatics, historically considered,” by F. G. Ewington, Official Visitor to the Auckland Asylum. Abstract. The lecturer considered that mind was one of man's best endowments. It made us heirs of the ages; enabled us to live the past over again, and anticipate the future; also to move amongst buried cities and extinct civilizations, and almost feel the heart-beat of our ancestors. The light of reason enabled Newton to deduce the law of gravitation from a falling apple; Galileo to infer from the sympathy between two magnetic needles that men at great distances apart might converse together; Edison to treasure up the human voice in the phonograph; Darwin to conceive and expound his marvellous theory of the origin of species; and Aristotle and Shakespeare, and other immortal leaders of thought, to sway empires vaster and more glorious than ever fell to the lot of political rulers. The lecturer then showed how necessary it was to realise the greatness of mind, in order to realise the seriousness of its ruins. He gave instances of patients under Illusional and delusional insanity, also of some suffering from mania and idiocy. The lecturer next proceeded to show the necessity for public vigilance, and then emphasized the fact that the lot of the insane to-day might be any man's to-morrow, through fright, joy, grief, or a break-down in running the pace that kills in modern industrial life. After dwelling on the value of hope, the lecturer showed that in ancient times Hippocrates and others held very humane and scientific opinions on insanity and its proper treatment. Some illustrations were then given of cruelty practised in the Middle Ages, when lunatics were burned as witches or killed as demoniacs. Thence the lecturer proceeded to modern times, and showed how shamefully patients were bound, flogged, chained, caged, held up for public exhibition half drowned in surprise baths, chained in stalls, nearly

killed in rotating swings, left from Saturday till Monday in chains unattended, and otherwise ill-used. Mr. Ewington warmly eulogized Dr. Conolly, father of Mr. Justice Conolly, a celebrated lunacy reformer, and showed a portrait of him on the screen, and described a magnificent trophy given to him by the public in 1852 for ameliorating the condition of the insane. He also spoke of Gardner, Hill, and Churchworth as reformers in the same cause. Mr. Ewington pointed out that mechanical restraints are still used in 219 asylums, and assured his audience that the only safety was in good doctors and attendants, efficient official visitation, and a free Press. He spoke warmly in praise of Dr. Macgregor and the Auckland staff, and assured his audience that the insane were better cared for than they could be in their own homes. The lecturer next disposed of various misconceptions: (1) That attendants are less kind than relatives; (2) that lunatics are unkind to each other; (3) that lunatics are not sensitive; (4) that they are fools; (5) that all lunatics are dangerous; (6) that the asylum is not the best place; (7) that lunatics are always cutting capers; (8) that it is no good for friends to visit them. Mr. Ewington, in conclusion, dealt with the following needful reforms: Legal assistance at first examinations; better provision for classification; single rooms required, for which (in Auckland) £3,000 had been voted; convalescent homes; and lastly, funds should be given to needy discharged patients. At the conclusion of the lecture a warm vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Ewington. Sixth Meeting: 20th August, 1894. Professor F. D. Brown, Vice-president, in the chair.