PUBLIC DOCUMENT … No. 25.
Fourth Annual Report
of
The Trustees
of the
State Lunatic Hospital,
at Northampton.

October, 1859.

Boston:
William White, Printer to the State.
1859

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Fourth Annual Report
Of the
TRUSTEES OF THE THIRD HOSPITAL FOR INSANE,
AT NORTHAMPTON

To His Excellency the Governor and the Honorable Council:

The Board of Trustees of the Hospital for the Insane, at Northampton, in compliance with the statute, would respectfully submit the following Report.

Since the opening of the institution, a little more than one year ago, three hundred and twenty-one persons have partaken of its benefits. Two hundred and twenty-eight were admitted before the date of the last Report, the greater part from the other hospitals, and ninety-three have been admitted during the year now closed. Of those, forty-five were males and forty-eight were females. Sixty-one have been discharged during the year. Eighteen males and fifteen females were sufficiently well to return to their usual business, and take their place as useful members of society; and nine males and nine females were more or less improved at the time of their discharge. Seven males and twelve females have died. These deaths, however, were from chronic diseases, and do not show any cause of disease existing in or about the hospital. On the contrary, them almost entire absence of other varieties of sickness rather tends to show a very healthy condition of the patients, when their peculiar state is considered. 

The Trustees are happy in the belief that the hospital has a most healthy location, and that every thing is done to secure the good condition of the patients in this respect. They have always been well pleased to observe the cleanliness maintained in every department, and the sweetness and purity of the air in the corridors and sleeping-rooms, believing that the health, and also the good order which prevail are to a considerable degree to be attributed to this cause. The quiet and orderly deportment of the patients is no doubt also owing largely to the mild and rational treatment they receive. They have been, so far, no straps or other apparatus used in the treatment of any patient, excepting in two cases where it was necessary for a while to confine the hands for the purpose of keeping in place some surgical appliances. It is also gratifying to know that no patient is allowed to pine in solitary confinement for that sympathy which his disease peculiarly entitles him to receive. There is no patient in the house who does not have the benefit of exercise in the open air in pleasant walks or rides in suitable weather, and the Trustees believe no effort is spared to relieve the tedious monotony of confinement. The deprivation of liberty to which these unfortunate persons are necessarily subjected, is in itself so great an affliction as to require the most constant exercise of humanity and benevolence to invent and carry out plans and means for its alleviation. 

From the Superintendent’s report herewith submitted, it will be seen that the building and all the apparatus seem to be well adapted to their purpose so far as exigencies have occurred to try them during the first year of their use. There was in the severe weather of the last winter, some want of heat felt at times, but after the alterations which have been made in the steam pipes, it I possible it will not be longer felt. The expense of heating is felt to be large, but the heating of so large a building with rooms twelve feet high, if at the same time properly ventilated, must be expensive; for this there is no remedy. 

A hospital without any provision for the out-of-door exercise of the patients would be regarded as incomplete in its appointments, and such a want could not fail to be felt disadvantageously. Therefore the farm connected with this institution is highly valued, not only because of the crops of hay and vegetables which are already of considerable importance and value, but because it affords the best and most healthful form of exercise for many of the patients. 

Beside the labor necessarily expended upon the crops, there has been much work done in making permanent improvements on the land, by draining and making productive the rougher parts of the farm. The value of the crops this year is estimated at over five thousand dollars, as by a schedule annexed, while the increased value of the land on account of the permanent improvements, would pay a large part of the cost of carrying on the farm.

There is great need of a good barn, as the old buildings now in use are neither large enough nor in sufficiently good repair to afford the required protection to the cattle and crops, and much inconvenience is felt on this account. It would be desirable and economical to increase the number of cows, but with the present small accommodations, this cannot be done. So great is the inconvenience felt to be, and so urgent the necessity of better accommodations, that an appropriation for building a suitable barn and accompanying out-buildings will be asked of the legislature.

Some labor has been bestowed on grading and ornamenting the grounds, and they have been considerably improved in many respects. That part of the ground lying upon the road, and the hill near the entrance, remain in their rough condition, until a suitable fence and gateway can be procured. The grounds are entirely uninclosed, and much inconvenience is experienced on this account. 

Petition was made to the last legislature for means to purchase a few small lots of land, with houses upon them, which occupy a very inconvenient position with respect to the kitchen garden, and which, for several reasons, it is desirable the institution should have control of. If these lots could be purchased, the fence upon the front line could be made straight, and inconvenient neighbors removed. Although the petition for means to purchase was not granted, the Trustees will feel obliged to renew it at the coming session of the legislature, with the hope of better success, and with this, will also petition for means to build a suitable fence on three sides of the farm, with a gateway at the entrance to the avenue.

The expenditures of the institution have been most carefully guarded, and the accounts of the Treasurer will show a small balance of cash unexpended. The action of last legislature, however, in reducing the rate of compensation for the care of the State paupers, and throwing the burden of the salaries upon the treasury of the institution, it is feared will not permit us to show so favorable an account at the close of the next year. Were the hospital crowded with patients, the result might be different, but this condition will not probably exist for some years, unless the exigencies of the other institutions should require another removal of patients for their relief. 

The interests of such an establishment as this, the home of so large a family of sufferers, appear strongly to the feelings of all, and make it especially incumbent on those in any way connected with the administration of its affairs to be vigilant and faithful to the trust. With this feeling, the Trustees have maintained a close supervision of its affairs, and, by frequent visits, have satisfied themselves that all was being done that could contribute to the accomplishment of its beneficent ends.

At the close of the year the institution lost the services of Dr. A. W. Thompson, who had acceptably performed the duties of Assistant-Physician from the opening, and the vacancy thus created has been filled by the appointment of Dr. C. K. Bartlett, formerly of Charlestown. 

A list of the salaried officers of the institution, with the amount of their salaries, is here given:

Physician and Superintendent – Dr. William Henry Prince. Salary, $1,600.
Assistant-Physician – Dr. C. K. Bartlett. Salary, $500.
Clerk —-. Salary, $500.
Treasurer – Eliphalet Trask. Salary, $300.
Engineer —-. Salary, $600.
Farmer – Asa Wright. Salary, $600.

The Inventories of property and of the products of the farm are hereto appended.

All which is respectfully submitted.
ELIPHALET TRASK.
CHARLES SMITH.
FRANKLIN RIPLEY.
WALTER LAUGHLIN.
EDW’D DICKINSON.

Inventory of Stock and Supplies on hand September 30, 1859.

Live stock on farm,	$2,400.00
Produce on farm,	3,670.20
Carriages and agricultural implements,	1,175.25
Machinery and mechanical fixtures*,	4,991.78
Beds and bedding for inmates,	8,896.72
Other furniture for inmates,	14,905.46
Personal property of the State in the Superintendent’s department,	520.00
Ready made clothing,	126.20
Dry goods,	159.74
Provisions and groceries,	654.70
Drugs and medicines,	250.00
Fuel,	1,200.00
Library,	250.00
	$39,200.05

*Under this head are included four boilers, a steam engine, a Worthington pump, a water-heater, and the mechanical fixtures in the laundry.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT.

To the Board of Trustees of the State Hospital for the Insane at Northampton:

GENTLEMEN, — In compliance with the by-laws of the institution the Superintendent presents his second annual report.

A kind Providence has brought us through that most trying period in the history of a new institution, its first year, without accident to detract from the gratification with which we may look upon its results, and has crowned our efforts with a measure of success highly satisfactory.

Death, it is true, has not spared us. We have lost our full proportion of patients by disease, but in most cases this termination was the inevitable result of long continued disease in constitutions shattered and broken down by years of suffering. Our duty was merely to postpone the fatal end, and soothe as we might, the last stages of life. 

Dysentery and fever of the severer forms have been strangers to our halls, and the few cases of acute disease which have come under treatment have yielded readily to remedies. There has been no death from acute disease originating in the house. The healthfulness of the location — our exposure to purifying winds — the dryness of the soil — the efficient system of ventilation and drainage, and the strict attention paid to the laws of health have preserved them from those diseases to which the mental and bodily condition of a great majority of the patients would naturally make them susceptible. 

There is but a small increase in the number of patients over last year, the number discharged and dead having nearly equalled the number admitted. Remote from the metropolis and the great centres of business, situated in the midst of a rather scattered farming population, the institution will not fill so rapidly as those differently located, and it is to be hoped that, for many years to come it may continue to afford all the accommodation our Commonwealth will need for that unfortunate class of its population which seeks relief within our walls.

A year’s experience shows the adaptation of the building and the various fixtures and apparatus to the ends for which they were designed. Their completeness not only leaves comparatively little to be desired, in addition, but experience in their use assures us that no very important alterations or repairs can be necessary for many years to come, to render them and keep them in every respect equal to the demands of an enlightened philanthropy. Those to whose hands are confided the erection and preparation of a hospital for the insane, at the present day, would scarcely be justified in the opinion of the pubic, unless in the plans and arrangements, a decided advance were made over the older institutions. More correct and enlighten views of the demands of this unfortunate class of our fellow beings, and of their proper treatment, are prevailing more and more extensively, and legislative bodies will not fail to see that in order to secure the best accommodations and treatment, the necessary expenditures must be on a liberal scale—that liberality is, in fact, economy. The result of the generous policy of the Commonwealth toward this institution is the possession of a hospital which, in the convenience of its general arrangements, and the adaptation of its various parts to their purposes is probably second to no other,—creditable alike to the generous public to which it owes its existence and to the wisdom of those who so ingeniously planned and fitted it to its ends. It would, however, be unreasonable to expect that, in a work of such extent, involving such a multitude of details of great diversity, every thing desirable had been at once brought together, and in such perfection that experience in its use would fail to suggest an addition or an improvement.

The last winter was entered upon with some anxiety as to the power and efficiency of our untried heating apparatus to do all that might be required of it, foreseeing the great discomfort and inconvenience to which we should be subjected by failure in any part. During the greater part of the season, however, we found ourselves well supplied with heat in every part of the building. A temperature between 60 and 70 degrees was maintained in the lower story, while at the same time, in the upper one, 70 to 80 degrees was a frequent range in ordinary weather. There were periods, however, when the external temperature sank far below zero, and a smart breeze forced the air into every crevice, when it was impossible to preserve a comfortable degree of heat in the lower story for any great length of time. The experience is sufficient to show that under ordinary circumstances the heating apparatus is powerful enough, but that under extremely low temperatures, accompanied, as is often the case here, with violent winds, some increase in the quantity of steam generated, or some change in the arrangement of distributing pipes will probably be necessary. Some alterations have been made during the summer, which, it is hoped, will have the effect of removing the inconvenience alluded to; but another winter’s experience will better enable us to judge whether any more important change in or addition to the apparatus will be needed.

The ventilation of the house is quite successful. We have at all times a constant current of fresh air passing through the halls, and corridors, and rooms, adding much to the health and comfort of the inmates. There is sometimes an unequal distribution from causes which are somewhat obscure, but depending probably on the varying direction and force of the wind as much as on any other circumstance. This, however, being but temporary, and existing to no great extent, is not a source of much or frequent inconvenience. Usually the purity of the air in the different parts of the building is remarkable even in those wards where it is least to be expected, their healthiness, comfort, and quiet attributable to this cause enables us to appreciate the great advantage we enjoy in this particular 

On the 30th September, 1858, the date of the last report, there were two hundred and twenty patients remaining in the hospital, of whom ninety-three were males and one hundred and twenty-seven were females. 

Since then ninety-three patients, of whom forty-five are males and forty-eight are females, have been admitted. Eighty, of whom forty are males and forty are females, have been discharged, or have died, leaving ninety-eight males and one hundred and thirty-five females at the present time.

The whole number therefore, under treatment during the year is three hundred and thirteen. These facts are presented in the following table:

Table No. 1,
Showing the Number and Sex of all Patients admitted, discharged, died and remaining. 

	Male.	Female.	Total.
Number of patients remaining, Sept. 30, 1858,	93	127	220
admitted since,	45	48	93
under treatment during the year,	138	175	313
discharged during the year,	33	28	61
died during the year,	7	12	19
remaining Sept. 30, 1859	98	135	233

The excess in the number of females remains large, and has in fact increased since the last report, although of the new admissions the females exceed males by only three in ninety-three.

Of the whole number discharged, eighteen males and fifteen females have recovered: nine males and nine females were improved; and in six males and four females there had been no change for the better. 

Quite a large proportion of those who have left the hospital during the year have been recorded as “stationary,” or “improved.” Two principal causes contribute to this result. On the opening of the hospital, its first patients were received from the older institutions, in which many of them had passed several years, and fallen into hopeless dementia. Thus of the 228 admitted before the last report, ninety-nine, or a littler over forty-three per cent. had been insane for periods varying from two to twenty years, and were most of them in a hopeless condition. Of the whole number admitted, only thirteen, about one-half of one per cent., had been insane less than one year. The chances for recovery are well known to decrease very much and progressively, as the duration of the disease increases, especially after the first year. Therefore the chances for forty-three per cent., nearly one-half or our number, were small and diminishing. 

In addition to this, there were reported last year ninety-eight cases, the duration of which could not be ascertained. Definite information concerning them cannot be obtained, but a large part of them present all the appearance of cases of long duration. Two-thirds of these, or twenty-eight per cent. of the whole, should be added to the number of those the duration of whose disease had, at the time of their admission, exceeded the period at which treatment is most beneficial. This would make a total of seventy-one per cent. Of the whole number of those admitted prior to the date of the last report, whose chances for recovery were small and growing constantly less.

The other cause alluded to above is in fact the foreign lunatic paupers who are not dangerous and not likely to be cured by longer residence in a hospital, are removed and otherwise provided for by the Board of Alien Commissioners. Fourteen patients have been removed by this board during the year, and are recorded—a few as “improved,” the greater part as “stationary.”

Table No 2,
Showing the last Residence of all Patients admitted this year.

COUNTIES.	Male.	Female.	Total.
Hampshire County,	9	12	21
Hampden County,	12	10	22
Franklin County,	8	8	16
Berkshire County,	9	3	12
Middlesex County,	2	1	3
Worcester County,	1	2	3
Norfolk County,	–	1	1
Suffolk County,	1	1	2
Essex County,	1	1	2
Other States,	2	9	11
Totals,	45	48	93

Table No. 3,
Showing the Ages of all admitted during the year.

AGES.	Male.	Female.	Total.
Between 10 and 20,	2	2	4
20 and 30,	13	10	23
30 and 40,	10	10	20
40 and 50,	10	12	22
50 and 60,	5	6	11
60 and 70,	4	4	8
Over 70,	–	2	2
Unknown,	1	2	3
Totals,	45	48	93

Table No. 4,
Showing the Nativity of all Patients admitted.

NATIVITY.	Male.	Female.	Total.
American,	36	41	77
Irish,	7	6	13
German,	2	–	2
English,	–	1	1
Totals,	45	48	93

Table No. 5,
Showing the supposed Causes of Insanity.

SUPPOSED CAUSES.	Male.	Female.	Total.
Ill Health,	2	9	11
Death of friends,	–	6	6
Intemperance,	3	–	3
Pecuniary embarrassment,	4	–	4
Domestic trouble,	3	2	5
Epilepsy,	2	–	2
Masturbation,	2	–	2
Jealousy,	1	–	1
Puerperal,	–	3	3
Suppression,	–	1	1
Religious excitement,	–	1	1
Hard labor,	–	1	1
Disappointed affection,	1	–	1
Unknown,	27	25	52
Totals,	45	48	93

Table No. 6,
Showing the Ages at which Insanity appeared.

AGES.	Male.	Female.	Total.
Between 10 and 20,	6	5	11
20 and 30,	10	15	25
30 and 40,	12	10	22
40 and 50,	10	9	19
50 and 60,	2	3	5
60 and 70,	2	3	5
Unknown,	3	3	6
Totals,	45	48	93

Table No. 7,
Showing the Duration of the Disease before admission.

DURATION OF DISEASE.	Male.	Female.	Total.
Less than one year,	17	19	36
From 1 to 2 years,	2	3	5
2 to 5,	10	9	19
5 to 10,	5	4	9
10 to 15,	4	6	10
15 to 20,	2	1	3
20 to 25,	–	1	1
25 to 30,	–	3	3
Unknown,	5	2	7
Totals,	45	48	93

Table No. 8,
Showing the Civil Condition of all Patients admitted.

CIVIL CONDITION.	Male.	Female.	Total.
Married,	20	18	38
Widowed,	2	7	9
Single,	23	23	46
Totals,	45	48	93

Table No. 9,
Shows the Occupations of the Male Patients.

Farmers,	18
Laborers,	9
Students,	2
Clergymen,	2
Machinists,	2
Bookkeeper,	1
Shoemaker,	1
Whipmaker,	1
Bookbinder,	1
Tailor,	1
Peddler,	1
Mason,	1
Carpenter,	1
Clerk,	1
Miller,	1
Blacksmith,	1
No occupation,	1
Total,	45

Table No. 10
Showing the Causes of Death in those deceased.

CAUSES OF DEATH.	Male.	Female.	Total.
Phthysis,	4	5	9
Maniacal exhaustion,	3	4	7
Epilepsy,	–	1	1
Disease of heart,	–	1	1
Anaemia,	–	1	1
Totals,	7	12	19

Table No. 11,
Shows the Proportion of Commitments.

Committed by Governor,	2
Courts,	48
Friends,	43
Total,	93

Table No. 12,
Shows by who the Patients will probably be Supported.

Supported by State,	18
Towns,	25
Friends,	50
Total,	93

At its last session the legislature appropriated the sum of two hundred dollars for the purchase of books and pictures for the hospital. This amount has been expended as designed, and the pictures now ornament the halls and parlors, imparting to them a cheerful and pleasant air, and affording a never-failing source of interest to their occupants. The addition thus made to our library is a very timely increase of our means of profitable amusement and occupation. 

The importance of innocent amusement of every kind in the treatment of the insane is everywhere felt, and all possible means of relieving the monotony of hospital life, which are innocent and not too exciting, are welcome. To this end, books, pictures, games of different kinds, music, dancing, and various exhibitions, all conduce. Nothing would furnish our male patients with a more suitable and useful amusement than a bowling alley, and it is hoped the means for building one may be obtained at no distant day.

During the winter and spring a singing exercise in the chapel gave great pleasure to a large proportion of the patients, and about once a month a social gathering in the large centre hall, with music and dancing, has been a source of great enjoyment to many, and of undoubted benefit to some.

The usual religious exercises in the chapel have been regularly enjoyed. In the evening the service is by the Superintendent, and on the Sabbath a regular service is performed by one of the clergymen of the village, who officiate in rotation. This method is found to be attended with satisfactory results. The insane do not always lose their preference for one over another of the various forms in which the great vital truths of religion may be presented to them, and their gratification in this respect is secured by the arrangement adopted here. The meetings are attended by a large portion of the patients to their very great benefit. Any impropriety of conduct from want of self-control is a rare exception to the quiet and good behavior which generally prevail. Beside the evening exercises above referred to, the assistant-physician has given a series of interesting readings, consisting of selections from the popular authors, which have furnished a highly gratifying entertainment.

Regular daily occupation of a useful kind will always continue, however, to furnish to those capable of it more real benefit that any mere amusement. Many of the female patients find constant employment in knitting, and in making and repairing garments in the sewing-room. Others, both male and female, are occupied about the laundry and kitchen, the dining rooms, halls and passages, and find at the same time health and recreation, beside rendering really valuable assistance. A large number of the men are regularly employed on the farm and grounds. In fact a large share of the labor is performed by them. It is one of the principal advantages of the farm to the institution that it affords the means of healthful occupation to so large a number who would otherwise be obliged to pass a great part of every day in the halls. The value of this regular daily exercise out of doors can hardly be overrated. Without it it is difficult to secure or maintain health of body or mind.

Prominent among the causes of insanity are many forms of deranged functions which appear in the “tables” under the common designation of “ill health.” These cases are, to a great extent, due to long continued violations of the common laws of health, especially to the neglect of actual out-of-door exercise. Sedentary habits and employments to which females give themselves up, or to which they are forced by circumstances, by depriving their muscles of the necessary amount of exercise, disturb the balance between the muscular and nervous systems, and lay the foundations of those disordered states of the system, which, in many cases, eventually result in a morbid condition of the mind. 

The seeds of the disease, too, are often sown in the earlier years of life, by that vicious system of education which stimulates the growing and susceptible brain beyond its healthy action, and at the same time by long confinement in overheated and crowded school-rooms, deprives the sufferers, during so many hours of the day, of the pure, healthful atmosphere, of which, at that tender age, they stand so much in need. Many a child passes six hours of the day in a close and overheated room, the atmosphere of which is loaded with materials the most deleterious to health. They leave the room jaded and depressed by the influences to which they have been subjected, not even now to refresh themselves by invigorating sports and healthful exercises, but to prepare at home the task for tomorrow, and this done, to retire, too often, for an uneasy and unrefreshing night’s sleep to an apartment from which the pure air is studiously excluded, and in which the foul product of respiration is as carefully retained. The child passes on to adult age with a constitution already enfeebled by his previous habits. With an absorbing interest in and devotion to the cares and excitements of business, he enters on some one, or many in succession, of the various commercial speculations of the day, or on the no less exciting struggle for professional or political distinction. Without regard to the effect of such a course upon the health, with no thought of rest or relaxation, or perhaps seeking relief and amusement in questionable or even vicious indulgences, he rushes on until the overtaxed powers fail, nature asserts the supremacy of her laws, and the sufferer pays the penalty of an unsound mind in an unsound body. 

Females, it is true, after the period of childhood, are not exposed to the same causes of deranged health, nor to the same strong mental stimulus. Many of the habits and customs, however, of our advancing civilization, are not merely unfavorable to the acquisition and preservation of a desirable soundness and vigor of constitution, but are directly instrumental in producing various forms of nervous derangement, which not unfrequently terminate in confirmed mental disease. 

The farm has been under the same efficient management as during the previous year, and has afforded the means of healthful and useful employment to many of the patients. From it we have also drawn a bountiful supply of vegetables and fruits for the use of the household and the farm stock. Several acres of unproductive land have been brought under cultivation and made to give good crops; and other pieces, the produce of which has for many years been nearly worthless, have been brought into good condition, and will now add materially to our resources. 

Several hundred fruit and ornamental trees have been planted, and the greater part of them show promising signs of vigor. One hundred and thirty rods of substantial stone drain have been laid, to the great improvement of the land, increasing considerably the quantity capable of remunerative cultivation.

The contents of the sewer are now carried, by means of proper conductors, to the meadow, and are made to flow over the grass land and upon heaps of muck and compost, thus affording a large quantity of valuable enriching material very much needed upon the exhausted soil. There being no collar under the barn, and the accommodations for cattle very limited, this material from the sewer becomes of great importance to the farm.

One of our principal needs is a new barn of capacity sufficient for housing the crops and cattle necessary to supply the wants of the house and the farm. The old buildings now occupied are exceedingly dilapidated, and are entirely too small for the purpose. The deterioration and actual waste of fodder by being stacked out with no protection from the weather—the difficulty of obtaining a satisfactory performance of the necessary labor in the present crowded, inconvenient, and uncomfortable buildings, make us regret their insufficiency, and hope that our wants, in this respect, will not be allowed to remain long unsupplied. 

The farm and grounds still remain uninclosed. No fence separates them from the highway, and the public have free ingress and egress at all points, and use the privilege without stint. It is, of course, very desirable that means should be obtained for building a suitable fence upon at least two sides of the farm, with a substantial gateway upon the public road. 

A great amount of labor has been expended on the grounds, and they have been farther improved by grading and planting. Between one and two hundred shade trees have been set and are now in good condition. The groves have been partially cleared of under-growth and paths opened through them; seats and swings have been erected, and they have been made pleasant resorts of the walking parties. A schedule of the products of the farm is subjoined. 

Reference to the Treasurer’s account will show that the expenses have been kept within the receipts, and a cash balance remains in the treasury. This result has been obtained only by the exercise, in every department, of the most rigid economy consistent with the proper administration of the affairs of the institution, and by denying ourselves every thing not considered absolutely essential to the comfort and proper treatment of the inmates. We enter upon a new year, you are aware, under circumstances, in some respects less favorable that those under which this result has been obtained. The legislature at its last session not only reduced the price paid for the support of the State paupers, but passed a law obliging the hospitals to pay from their receipts those salaries which had previously been drawn from the State treasury, thus not only diminishing our income, but materially increasing our expenses. The close of the next financial year may therefore very probably show an excess of expenditures over receipts.

I have again the pleasure of acknowledging our indebtedness to kind friends for contributions to our means of amusing and entertaining the patients. To Dr. L. V. Bell we are under obligations for a large number of flowering bulbs and glasses; to A. W. Thayer, Esq., of Northampton, for books and maps; to Dr. S. A. Fisk, for plants and an addition to the library; to the Hon. Edward Dickinson, of Amherst, for valuable books; to Samuel W. Collins, Esq., for a large and valuable addition to the library, and for pictures; to Mr. Henry Dickinson, Moses White, Esq., Samuel Wells, Esq., and Hon. Charles Dewey, of Northampton, and to Joseph Breck, Esq., of Boston, for plants for the garden; to J. H. Butler, Esq., Charles White, Esq., J. D. Whitney, Esq., J. R. Trumbull, Esq., E. J. Cornell, Esq., Silas M. Smith, Esq., Messrs. Bridgeman & Childs, J. D. Whitney, Jr., Esq., Wm. B. Hale, Esq., Thomas Borland, Esq., Justin Thayer, Esq., C. Fairbanks, Esq., Messrs. Wood & Kingsley, H. Bright, Esq., J. S. Lathrop, Esq., S. T. Spaulding, Esq., for valuable additions to the library.

To Miss D. L. Dix, the untiring and devoted friend of the insane, we are indebted for a large number of pictures.

To T. P. Huntington, Esq., of Hadley, we are under obligations for several hundred strawberry plants, and to Mr. James Squier, of Montgomery, for a hundred and fifty currant bushes, and to other ladies and gentlemen for the kind interest they have in various ways shown in the institution. 

To you, gentlemen, I would express my thanks for you untiring devotion to every interest of the institution, and for the kind and considerate support I have ever received at your hands.

To Dr A. W. Thompson, who has zealously and efficiently performed the duties of assistant-physician during the year now closed, I would acknowledge my obligations. He has resigned his situation to engage in general practice, and takes with him upon his retirement the good wishes of all with whom he has been associated. Dr. C. K. Bartlett, formerly of Charlestown, has been appointed to the vacancy. The other resident officers deserve my thanks for the manner in which their duties have been performed. 

The experience of the year now closed afford abundant cause of gratitude to Him who has brought us safely and successful through its trials and duties. May He grant an equal blessing on the labors of the coming year.

WM. HENRY PRINCE.

Northampton, September 30, 1859.

INVENTORY

Of Stock, Tools, and Produce of Farm, from October 1, 1858, to September 30, 1859.

4 horses,	$700.00
4 oxen,	400.00
8 cows,	450.00
3 heifers,	180.00
17 fat hogs,	340.00
7 store hogs,	100.00
50 shores and pigs,	200.00
live poultry,	30.00
1 team wagon,	85.00
1 horse rack,	20.00
1 extra rack,	10.00
2 top buggy wagons,	180.00
1 buggy wagon,	40.00
1 business wagon,	25.00
1 horse cart,	30.00
2 ox carts,	70.00
1 double sled,	40.00
1 single sled,	30.00
2 ox sleds,	10.00
4 ox yokes,	16.00
11 harnesses,	230.00
8 robes and blankets,	24.00
1 horse rake,	5.00
25 hand rakes,	6.25
20 hoes,	6.00
15 shovels,	10.00
10 manure forks,	7.50
4 spades,	3.00
9 chains,	18.00
4 bog hoes,	2.00
5 small chains,	2.50
8 picks,	4.00
6 crow bars,	9.00
8 wheelbarrows,	8.00
1 corn-sheller,	10.00
5 ploughs,	40.00
3 harrows,	18.00
2 cultivators,	10.00
10 axes,	$5.00
hay forks,	5.00
scythes and snaths,	10.00
carpenter’s tools,	50.00
ice tools,	10.00
baskets and measures,	5.00
plane pick,	5.00
seed and corn planters,	20.00
hay cutters,	20.00
2 grain cradles,	6.00
drills and scrapers,	10.00
grindstones,	10.00
1 ox roller,	20.00
	$3,575.25

Products

38 tons hay,	$456.00
10 “ rowen,	120.00
6 “ swamp hay,	36.00
10 “ straw,	80.00
600 bushels corn,	600.00
150 “ oats,	75.00
150 “ rye,	150.00
20 “ buckwheat,	15.00
20 “ brown seed,	10.00
800 pounds broom brush,	64.00
12 tons corn fodder,	60.00
500 bushels turnips,	100.00
500 “ sugar beets,	150.00
1000 “ carrots,	300.00
500 “ mangel-wurzel,	150.00
4000 heads cabbage,	120.00
40 barrels apples,	80.00
3 “ cider,	10.00
4 tones winter squash,	120.00
10 “ pumpkins,	20.00
1 ½ “ melons,	30.00
40 bushels beans,	$80.00
1200 “ potatoes,	600.00
60 “ onions,	45.00
other vegetables,	250.00
4189 gallons milk,	837.80
50 dozen eggs,	10.00
15 bushels sweet corn,	20.00
20 “ peas,	20.00
30 bushels tomatoes,	$30.00
25 “ cucumbers,	25.00
300 tons ice,	600.00
	$5,263.80
Cash from sales,	1,185.95
	$6,449.75

TREASURER’S REPORT

To the Trustees of the State Lunatic Hospital:

I herewith submit the following statement of the receipts and expenditures of the Treasurer, for the year ending September 30, 1859.

RECEIPTS.

Balance in hands of Treasurer Sept. 30, 1858,	$2,095.58
Received for support of patients,	26,212.55
for animals and products of farm sold,	1,185.95
borrowed from banks,	11,500.00
for sundries sold,	582.53
for State Treas’r on acc’t of appropr’n,	6,000.00
	$47.576.61

PAYMENTS.

For provisions and supplies,	$20,157.04
on account of farm,	4,364.90
wages,	6,484.51
repairs,	1,535.76
paid banks,	11,500.00
contingencies,	1,948.03
improvements,	155.15
Balance in hands of Treasurer,	1,431.22
	$47,576.61

Eliphalet Trask, Treasurer.

We the subscribers, certify that the above accounts of the Treasurer of the Lunatic Hospital at Northampton have been examined by the subscribers and found well kept, properly vouched, with a result as above.

Franklin Ripley,
Charles Smith,
Committee.

October 19, 1859

Citation

Prince, W. H., Trask, E., Smith, C., Ripley, F., Laughlin, W., & Dickinson, E. (1859). 1859 State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton Annual Report (Annual Report No. 4). Northampton State Hospital. Retrieved from https://northamptonstatehospital.org/1859/10/19/1859-annual-report/

Northampton State Hospital Annual Reports originally scanned and published online by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Special Collection and University Archives.

Public Document No. 25.

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT
of
THE TRUSTEES
Of the
STATE LUNATIC HOSPITAL,
AT NORTHAMPTON.

October, 1858.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Third Annual Report
Of the
TRUSTEE OF THE STATE LUNATIC HOSPITAL,
AT NORTHAMPTON.

To His Excellency the Governor and the Honorable Council:—

The Board of Trustees of the hospital for the insane at Northampton, in compliance with the statute, would respectfully submit the following as their Annual Report. 

The functions of the Board of Commissioners for erecting the buildings of this institution were closed under an Act of the legislature, on the first day of October, 1857. The work being then incomplete, the Trustees could not hesitate in regarding it as their duty to proceed immediately in carrying forward what remained to be done, in order that as little delay as possible should take place in its occupancy, which was become very desirable from the over-crowded condition of the two other State lunatic hospitals at Worcester and Taunton.

As might perhaps have naturally been expected in a work of such magnitude and complexity, and especially in one where many of the arrangements were novel and of course to be matured without the advantage of well-tried and generally adopted models and examples, there was more of delay and difficulty than was anticipated. And when everything was nearly ready for the reception of patients early in the past summer, an accident wholly unlocked for, involved a further delay of many weeks. This was the destruction of the Turbine waterwheel at the mill from which the supply of water was furnished, from an iron crowbar having been dropped within its interior when first fitted up some two years previously. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that so unique and extraordinary an accident can scarcely be expected to recur, and even in the event of the failure of the propelling power for the water supply, from that or any other cause, while the hospital was in full operation, a prompt remedy could be availed of to meet the deficiency. 

The first admission of patients to our wards took place, under the order of His Excellency the Governor, on the 16th August, ultimo. This consisted of fifty-one patients from the State hospital at Worcester, comprising those who had been originally committed there from the four western counties of the Commonwealth. Three weeks subsequently sixty-eight others, almost entirely of foreign nativity, were received from the municipal hospital for lunatics at Boston. At the expiration of three more weeks another detachment of sixty-three patients were received from Worcester, and ten days afterward twenty-eight additional from the Boston institution. Eighteen other patients were also received in September when the hospital year closes, making a total of two hundred and twenty-eight inmates introduced in the space of six weeks.

The fact of the transportation, introduction, and domiciliation of so large a number of deranged persons, far greater than our largest institutions contained a few years ago, and this under small opportunities for any acquaintance with the history and characteristics of disease in this great mass, is highly creditable to the discretion, vigilance, and fidelity of all engaged in directing and accomplishing so serious and responsible a duty.

The necessity which required so prompt a relief to the other over-thronged public hospitals would seems to demonstrate that the provision of this third State lunatic institution has not been, as many feared it would prove, a premature duty. Already filled within about twenty of the highest number contemplated by the Act authorizing its establishment, which prescribed its capacity as for two hundred or two hundred and fifty inmates, the larger number being decided on by the Commissioners, the Trustees are not without anxiety that even this will prove inadequate to meet the demands upon it. The other hospitals it is apprehended have been only momentarily relieved from their pressure of claimants. 

In the plans of this hospital, a far more ample space was provided for day rooms, dormitories of the larger size and other collateral apartments than has usually been done in similar institutions. However desirable this liberality of average space to each inmate may be, the Trustees feel that they need not restrict the admissions to the precise number originally had in view in its design. The circumstance of its lofty ceilings and the coercive introduction of almost any amount of fresh air by mechanical means, warrants a still greater number than two hundred and fifty. They are hence satisfied that if the pressure upon our lunatic hospitals of all kinds is to continue and increase as it has done for several years past, it may prove for the best interests of our insane population regarded as a whole, to change the destination of a portion of the apartments referred to and apply them to the necessities of more patients. It I hoped that the aggregate number might be carried up to three hundred if required, without interfering essentially with the comfort and well-being of the whole and without overtaxing the general preparations for classification, heating, ventilating, washing and cooking. Should the admissions continue to be from the same social classes as most of those already received, the objections to expanding the capacity of the hospital would be comparatively insignificant. 

The report of the Superintendent herewith presented gives a lucid account in considerable details as becomes the introduction of a new institution to the community interested in its objects, of the preparations here made and the system to be pursued for attaining its ends. His description of the hospital itself, with its arrangements for classification, inspection, heating, ventilation, water supply, laundry facilities, and culinary appliances, cannot fail to interest those especially who have watched the progress of this class of public charities since their first introduction in this country at no far distant period. Nor will his clear and practical views as to the system to be pursued in obtaining the highest practicable results from the application of medical and moral means be regarded as less important, as the mechanical provisions and moral means must be co-operative to secure the greatest good to the inmates. 

The Trustees need only to refer to the intelligent appreciation, the honorable enthusiasm, the judicious and perspicuous views of the application of means to ends evinced in Dr. Prince’s report, to satisfy your honorable body and the community that the important duties, for the fulfillment of which this last and largest of our hospitals is responsible to a liberal and philanthropic Commonwealth, can scarcely be misunderstood or neglected. 

The Board, with as much care and deliberation as the duty required, and in the light of the systems and experiences of all similar institutions of which they could avail themselves, have prepared a hand-book of rules and regulations for the government and direction of the hospital and defining the duties, qualifications and responsibilities of the various officers and persons employed. This was submitted to your honorable body, as required by law, and having received your sanction and approval, forms a guide by means of which the ends of this great work may be fully and satisfactorily secured, possible errors and abuses forestalled and prevented, and the highest possible standard for the protection, care and cure of the insane attained. A copy of these rules and regulations is transmitted with this Report.

The officers appointed by the Board, and who have been in the discharge of their duties since the opening, are William H. Prince, M.D., Superintendent; Austin W. Thompson, M.D., Assistant-Physician; Mr. C.K. Bartlett, Clerk; Mr. Asa Wright, Farmer, and Mr. Robert M. Whitehouse, Engineer.

The annual report of the Treasurer, Eliphalet Trask, Esq., is also herewith presented, giving a general classification of expenditures under various heads. In the recapitulation of the different accounts he found it impracticable to make an exact and precise division of many of the items comprised under the respective heads of preparation for occupancy and furniture. The method adopted by the Trustees, after much inquiry and deliberation, for the provision of a large portion of the furniture, was to purchase the best materials and employ competent workmen, who manufactured the articles within the buildings, believing that in no other mode could thoroughness, strength and durability be secured. The same mechanics were also engaged indiscriminately upon the other work upon the premises, falling under various heads, and the materials, wood, hardware, paints, &c., used where they might be applied to the best advantage, whether in movable articles, fixed furniture, or in any of the incidental uses requisite for the occupancy and treatment of the patients. So far as means for discriminating existed, the items for what was movable were carried into the latter account, and what was in any way attached to the buildings, such as settees, wardrobes, screens, closets, &c., were charged in the former. 

The Trustees at so early a period after the operations of the institution have commenced, and with so little practical acquaintance with the workings of the system upon which it has been carefully placed, do not feel themselves prepared to enter upon considerations or suggestions relating to the general subject of the insane and their care, or further upon the condition and prospects of this institution. 

All which is respectfully submitted.

ELIPHALET TRASK,
Chairman.

J.C. RUSSELL,
LUTHER V. BELL,
Z.L. RAYMOND,
CHARLES SMITH,
Trustees.

October 20, 1858.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

To the Board of Trustees of the State Hospital for the Insane at Northampton :—

Gentlemen :— In compliance with the by-laws of the institution, the Superintendent presents his first annual report. 

So short a time has passed since the opening of the hospital for the reception of patients, on the sixteenth day of August, that little can be said of its operations beyond a mere statement of the numbers received and discharged, and of the few facts concerning them which were furnished at the time of their reception.

A short description of the grounds, buildings, organization, &c., will not, perhaps, be without interest, and is therefore made a part of this report. 

The farm and grounds connected with the institution were purchased in 185 , and consist of one hundred and seventy-five acres of land in one lot, lying about one mile in a westerly direction from the center of the town of Northampton, separated from it by a narrow river which forms the northern and a part of the eastern boundary of the estate. 

The surface of the ground is beautifully diversified with hill and grove and meadow, presenting delightful views as seen from the windows of the hospital. 

There is a variety of soil upon the farm, much of which is well adapted to agricultural purposes, although, on account of the manner in which it has been cropped for successive years, some time will elapse before it can be brought into a very productive condition. 

There are between thirty and forty acres of woodland, covered with a thrifty of chestnut, pine and hemlock, forming several beautiful groves through which are pleasant walks and drives. 

Near the road which forms the southern boundary of the farm is a neat and substantial house of two stories, built within a few years in a tasteful modern style. It is now occupied by the farmer and his family. Near this house are the barns and outbuildings, which have stood many years, and which cannot much longer continue to afford the necessary shelter to the cattle and crops. 

On the bank of the river a well-constructed ice-house has been erected of sufficient capacity to contain an abundant supply of ice for the use of the hospital throughout the year. These buildings, with the exception of the ice-house, were upon the farm at the time of its purchase. 

The hospital stands on a commanding elevation, nearly in the centre of the farm, fronting the east. It is protected on the north and north-east by a dense grove, but has on the east and south-east an extensive open lawn, over which is an unobstructed view of the town of Northampton and the Holyoke range of mountains, of the broad meadows bordering on the Connecticut River, and the town of Hadley on the opposite bank, and beyond, and higher up the hillside, of Amherst and its college buildings. 

The structure is of brick with slated roof and brown stone window sills and caps. It is in the Elizabethan style of architecture, after a design of Jonathan Preston, of Boston, and with its irregular, yet symmetrical form, its broken line of roof, the gables, grouped windows and other peculiarities of this style, presents a picturesque and imposing appearance. 

It is intended to accommodate two hundred and fifty patients with the necessary officers and attendants, and is arranged for twelve classes of each sex.

The lower story is elevated six feet above the level of the ground, and a cellar eight feet deep extends under the whole building. This preserves the lower story from dampness, and affords ample cellar room for the steam pipe and ventiduct by which the building is warmed and ventilated, and for storage of fuel and vegetables, for the large bath rooms, for a carpenter’s repairing room, a forge, a paint room and the railway on which the food is transported from the kitchen to the dumbwaiters supplying the nineteen dining-rooms.

The plan comprises a centre building four stories high, which, with its extension in the rear, is one hundred and ninety feet deep, and a range of wings on each side, three stories high, giving a front line of five hundred and twelve feet. The stories are all twelve feet high.

From its point of junction with the wings, the centre projects thirty-four feet. Here it has a width of sixty feet, is four stories high, and is surmounted by a cupola which rises to a height of one hundred feet above the ground. From this elevation is obtained a panoramic view of great beauty and extent. 

A portico, with a flight of steps on each side, adorns and protects the entrance. 

The entrance hall is twelve feet wide and thirty-six feet long, and terminates in a spacious rotunda, forty-nine by fifty-seven feet eight inches. Both these halls have a handsome mosaic floor of black walnut and maple. Upon the rear wall of the rotunda rise on each side spacious stairways leading to the stories above, the whole being abundantly lighted by large windows in each story. 

On each side of the entrance hall are two rooms eighteen by twenty-one feet, those on the right being occupied as the general business office and the physician’s room, those on the left as reception rooms. The three stories above contain rooms for the Superintendent and his family and other officers. 

That part of the centre building in the rear of the rotunda, one hundred and four feet in length, consists of a basement and three stories above. The basement contains a central passageway from the outside to the cellar, having on one side the bakery and store-rooms, and on the other the kitchen and storerooms connected with it.

The kitchen is twenty-four by forty-seven feet. It has a brick floor laid in cement, is well lighted, and conveniently arranged for the purpose for which it is intended. It contains a “Chilson’s cooking range” of large size, and seven copper boilers for cooking by steam.

The story above the basement contains a dining-room and sitting room, the ironing and drying rooms, and two store rooms.

The second and third stories are occupied, next the rotunda, by the chapel, a beautiful hall forty-five feet long and thirty-sex feet wide, finished to the rafters in a plain and handsome manner, in accordance with the general architectural style of the building. In the rear of the chapel are sewing-rooms and store rooms, and in the story above, several large sleeping rooms for those employed in this part of the house.

On each side of the centre building is a range of four wings, three stories high; those on the north being devoted to males, and those on the south to the female patients, the rear of the centre building serving as an effectual screen between them. The two sides correspond with each other, and the three stories on each side do not differ in their general arrangement. 

The first wing is one hundred and fourteen feet in length, and consists of a central corridor twelve feet wide with the sleeping changers on each side. These are eleven in number. They are eight feet six inches by eleven feet, and are twelve feet high, each having a glazed window five feet by three. The lower sash is balanced by weights, and is movable at will. Upon the outside of every window in the wings is an unglazed iron sash.

At the end of the hall which adjoins the centre building, is a parlor entered from the rotunda or from the wing, in which patients may have a private interview with their friends. Adjoining this, in the wing, separated from the corridor by a private passage-way, are two chambers where patients who are very sick can be cared for in private or by their friends. The corridor is lighted at the end opposite the centre building by three windows each seven feet high by two and a half feet wide, and, in addition to this, midway of its length, by a large bay window measuring eighteen by seventeen feet on the floor, affording not only light and air to the hall, but a pleasant sitting room, being comfortably furnished in the three stories according to the condition of the patients occupying them. 

There is in each story access to a stairway leading to an outer door, affording a ready escape in case of fire. In the corner of this wing, in the end most remote from the centre building is a large parlor or day-room twenty-two feet square, with large and pleasant windows on two sides. There is also a dining-room twenty four feet long and eleven feet wide, furnished with a substantial table, and benches in the lower story and chairs in those above. There are in each story of this wing a sink-room and water closet; and two closets for clothing, and in the basement a bath-room with six tubs.

The second wing extending in the same direction, is set back from the line of the first, which it overlaps forty feet. Like that it contains in the three stories a central corridor twelve feet wide and one hundred and fourteen feet long, with chambers on each side. 

There is also a parlor of large size and well lighted, a dining-room, closets for clothing, a sink-room, bath-room, and water closet. The hall is lighted at the end nearest the centre building by three large windows, and in the middle by a large bay window twenty by twenty feet on the floor. There are in this wing in each story thirteen chambers for patients. There is also access to a stairway leading to an outer door.

The third wing is placed at right angles with the last, extending to the rear. It is ninety-three feet in length, and is lighted in the centre by a large bay window. In the outer angle where it forms the second wing is a large dormitory eighteen by thirty-five feet, which will comfortably accommodate eight or ten patients. Adjoining this, in the inner angle, is a large room for the attendants of the two adjacent halls. The sleeping rooms are arranged on each side of a central hall, and are of the same size as those in the other two wings. There is also a dining-room, a sink-room, bath-room, and water closet, and one double room for two beds. 

The fourth wing is placed at right angles with the last, and is fifty feet in length. It contains four rooms in each story, including that occupied by the attendant, a sink-room, bath-room and water closet. This wing which is intended for the most violent and excited cases, has a corridor ten feet wide and forty-seven feet long with four sleeping rooms on one side, each of them eleven feet by twelve. These rooms differ from those in the other wings only in their greater size and in having their windows protected by wide screens and sliding shutters. The corridor is well lighted by a large window at the end. 

The whole number of rooms in the building which can be used as chambers for patients and their attendants, is two hundred and ten. Six of these are large dormitories capable of containing ten beds, and six are for two beds. Each room is furnished with a substantial and comfortable bedstead and beds — generally a husk and a hair mattress — to which are added, when the condition of the patient will allow it, a looking-glass, bureau, hair, table and strip of carpet. 

The doors and their casings, and the window sills throughout the wings are of chestnut wood, oiled and varnished, and present a handsome appearance. The floors are all of maple, and although not presenting the beautiful coloring of a well-oiled hard pine floor, will probably prove much more durable. 

There is in each hall a water closet containing a cast-iron hopper enameled on the inside, to which the water is admitted by turning a valve by means of a detached key which may always be in the possession of an attendant. On its admission the water passes under a flange which projects inward over the top of the hopper, by which means a downward and circular face. The trap is sunk beneath the floor, the cleansing valve being on a level with the floor. The hoppers and traps are of heavy cast-iron substantially made and well secured, and promise to be convenient and durable, while it is hope the simplicity of their construction will prevent the necessity of frequent repairs.

Each wing, excepting the first, also contains in each story a bath-room furnished with a cast-iron bath tub into which cold and hot water are drawn. An “overflow” pipe to each tub prevents the danger of flooding the floors. In the basement under the first wing a large room is neatly fitted up and furnished with six bath tubs so arranged that although in one room, six patients can bathe under the care of one attendant with as much privacy as if in separate rooms. 

The apparatus for heating and ventilating the hospital is constructed upon the most approved plan.

Although the general neglect of all means of supplying pure air in our dwelling-houses, school-houses, public halls, and other places of meeting would seem to indicate an unaccountable apathy in the public mind on this important subject, yet any one who gives to it a moment’s serious consideration, must perceive that in a large hospital a constant, full and free distribution, at all times and seasons, of fresh pure air is indispensable to the health and comfort of its inmates. In a hospital for the insane this necessity is increased by the peculiar wants of its inmates. To secure this end, so important in a hygienic point of view, various means have been from time to time adopted. Experience, however, has shown that the only means on which implicit reliance can be placed to secure the constant transmission of so large a quantity of air is an apparatus which combines the operations of heating and ventilating. There is foul air constantly generated which must be removed; pure air must be supplied in its place with sufficient rapidity, and, in our climate, this supply must be heated during the greater part of the year. 

The favorite apparatus for effecting this purpose, at present consists of a fan wheel for forcing a current of air through all parts of the building, and ranges of iron pipe heated by steam placed in this current for the purpose of imparting to it a proper temperature. 

The great value of the principle on which this method is based is acknowledged by all who have experienced its effects, while there are still honest differences of opinion as to the best form of fan and the best arrangement of pipes.

This method is in successful operation in the hospital at Utica, New York, where to was first adopted, in those at Worcester and Taunton, in this State; at Providence, Rhode Island; at Nashville, Tennessee; at Raleigh, North Carolina; in the institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and the St. Luke’s Hospital, New York City; in the United States Naval Hospital, Brooklyn, New York; in many of the public buildings at Washington, and in the Academy of Music at Philadelphia. It will also be adopted in the new building now being erected for the female patients in the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane at Philadelphia, at the new hospital in Wisconsin, and in that about to be erected in Virginia. So successful and satisfactory, indeed, has the plan proved wherever it has been tried, that probably no other would be adopted in any new institution of this kind, while many of the older hospitals whose arrangements and means will permit it, will undoubtedly sooner or later substitute this method for others which may now be in use. One great advantage it has over all others is that all furnaces and fires in the building, with all their risks, and dangers, and inconveniences, neither few nor small, may be entirely dispensed with, and the boiler house can be placed at a safe distance from the building. 

The superiority of this method is fairly shown in those hospitals in which it has been substituted for other means. The improved health of the patients has been shown in the decrease of the rate of mortality, and of the number of cases of sickness, while the increased quiet of the wards indicates the greater comfort enjoyed by their inmates.

The arrangement of the apparatus adopted here is as follows.

Sixteen feet in the rear of the centre building is an engine house. This is of brick, two stories high, forty-five feet long and forty-three feet wide. In the lower story are four boilers four feet in diameter and twenty-seven feet in length, each having two flues sixteen inches in diameter. These generate the steam for supplying the engine, and for heating the building, for drying the clothing, cooking, and heating the water for washing and bathing. In a room adjoining the boilers is an engine of fifteen horse-power, which drives the machinery in the wash-room above and the ventilating fan in an adjoining building.

The fan consists of a central horizontal shaft supporting twelve pairs of arms which carry the “floats” by which air is propelled. The arms are seven feet in length, which gives the fan a diameter of fourteen feet. The “floats” are three feet wide and six inches long, (which is the width of the fan,) and are so arranged that the whole or a part of them may be used at pleasure. 

A cast-iron pipe six inches in diameter, conveys the steam from the boilers to the cellar under the rotunda. From this point a three-inch pipe leaves the main on each side to supply the ranges of pipe under the wings. Under the corridor of each wing, and running nearly its whole length there is a brick chamber four feet in width and five in height, in which are suspended, on iron bars, ranges of inch pipe of wrought iron through which steam at low pressure is constantly circulated. That portion of it which has become condensed by circulating through the extensive ranges of pipe, is collected in a large tank of strong boiler iron, and thence returned to the boilers by means of a “Worthington Pump.”

From the brick chamber which contains the ranges of pipe, flues lead directly to the corridors and rooms above. On one side of this hot air chamber is the ventiduct for cold air. From the fan-wheel, the ventiduct, seven feet in width and six feet deep passes beneath the cellar floor as far as the centre of the building where it divides to supply the north and south wings, and rises to the level of the hot air chamber. Into the latter, the air from the ventiduct is admitted through apertures near the bottom of the dividing wall.

A very strong current of fresh air is thus forced by the fan through these openings, across the steam pipe, into the flues leading to the rooms above. 

At intervals of a few feet throughout the length of each corridor are the openings of the warm air flues nine inches from the floor. Ten feet above these are openings into the ventilating flues which lead directly to the attic, from which the foul air escapes through the open windows. The apertures in the warm air flues are covered with immovable cast iron gratings, the valves for regulating the transmission of heat being in the cellar below, where the flue leaves the hot air chamber, and, of course, entirely out of the reach of the patients. Beside the great number of flues in the corridors, every sleeping room has its own heating and ventilating flue which secures a constant circulation of air through the room. Currents of pure air of a mild temperature are thus constantly circulating through the entire building, supplying one of the chief necessities of a hospital for the insane. 

The constant expulsion of so large a quantity of heated air from the building makes this mode of heating and ventilating the most expensive yet introduced into use; but it is at the same time the most effectual one, and the very important sanitary effect of the thorough and constant change of air thus obtained must be considered as cheaply purchased even at a much higher cost. It is, in fact, the only known means by which a quantity of pure air, sufficient for the purpose, can be thrown into a building, and the foul air be driven out with sufficient rapidity to preserve at all times a pleasant and healthful atmosphere. 

The hospital is supplied with water from the river which separates it from the town. A contract for furnishing this important supply was made with the proprietor of a mill situated on the opposite bank of the river at the foot of the hill on which the hospital stands. A powerful double cylinder forcing pump is placed in the mill, and a three and a half-inch pipe laid under the bed of the river, through the hospital grounds, to the fourth story of the centre building, a distance of two thousand two hundred feet. Here the water enters a large wooden tank lined with lead, and from this, is distributed to seven other tanks of similar construction, but of larger size, situated in the attic over the wings. The united capacity of the tanks is somewhat over twenty thousand gallons, which may be considered an abundant supply for ordinary use. In addition to this, however, there is in the rear of the building, near the kitchen a large well from which water may be thrown into the tank over the kitchen by means of the Worthington Pump, to which a pipe is attached communicating the well for this purpose.

In the cellar under the rotunda, is a tank of boiler iron seven feet long and four feet in diameter, containing a coil of brass pipe, through which steam is passed for heating water for bathing and washing. This tank is supplied by a pipe an inch and a half in diameter from the tank in the attic, and by the pressure thus obtained the water is forced into the sink-rooms and bathing-rooms in every story, affording a constant and abundant supply of hot water throughout the building. 

The waste water, and contents of the sewers, and the water from the roofs are conducted in brick drains underground to the rear of the building, where they all meet in the main sewer. This is of stone, three feet eight inches by one foot six inches, with a very rapid fall. At a distance of five hundred feet from the building it terminates in a large cesspool in which its solid contents are collected. From this an open drain conducts the fluid portion down a steep declivity, at the bottom of which it mingles with the waters of a brook flowing through the premises, and is thus conveyed away. If in the future this should be found useful for the purpose, it will be collected and applied to the land as a fertilizer. 

The second story of the engine house is fitted up as a wash-room. It contains two rows of wash tubs of pine plank, placed back to back, with ample space around them on all sides. Each of them supplied with hot and cold water and steam. The is a washing machine of the “David Parker” patent, and a hydro extractor, by which the clothing is partially dried before being hung in the open air. A patent mangle also lends efficient aid in facilitating the labor in this important department. The drying room is fitted with sliding frames on which the clothing is suspended, and ranges of steam pipe for securing a proper temperature, arranged in the ordinary manner. 

One hundred and twenty-five feet in the rear of the southern range of wing, is a stable. It is brick, two stories high, forty-six by forty-eight feet, and affords ample accommodation for all the horses and vehicles required by the wants of the institution. 

The hospital is abundantly lighted throughout by gas, which is supplied by the Northampton Gas Company. This gives to all the halls and parlors a very desirable air of cheerfulness, which stimulates and encourages to social intercourse, and gives opportunity for reading, writing, and various games by which the evenings are made to pass pleasantly and profitably. 

Under the immediate supervision of a competent and energetic person, the farm, which was unfortunately in poor condition, has been diligently worked, and there will be an abundant return for the labor expended on it. The value of the crops, however, is by no means the measure of the value of the farm to the institution. Many of our patients, before entering the hospital, have been accustomed to regular bodily labor, and the opportunity afforded us by the farm for continuing the habit of daily exercise in the open air, is of inestimable value. A number of the patients are daily employed in the labors of the farm, and no accident of any kind has yet occurred to offset the great advantages derived by them from this regular and healthful occupation. 

There have been but one or two attempts to escape, and these, with one exception, were rendered unsuccessful by the vigilance of the attendants, on which we are obliged to rely exclusively, in the absence of walls and fences around the farm. One patient, whose home is within a few miles of the hospital, left the field where he was at work and made his family a short visit. He was, however, reclaimed in a few hours.

By this constant and regular exercise on the farm much of that nervous irritability, which is so troublesome in the wards of a hospital, finds a safe and natural outlet, and at the same time, disordered trains of thought, and morbid states of feeling are interrupted, and a healthy interest in surrounding objects excited and maintained. 

The grounds immediately around the building have been very much improved by grading and planting. Several thousand loads of gravel have been moved, and in place of the unsightly gravel pit and the rough swamp which last year lay in front of the hospital, there is now a beautiful lawn. Ditches have been dug and drains have been laid in several places, and some patches of unreclaimed land have been brought into cultivation. 

The government of the hospital is vested in a board of five trustees, appointed by the governor and council, one retiring every year. In the words of the statute, “The said trustees shall take charge of the general interests of the institution, and see that its affairs are conducted according to the requirements of the legislature and the by-laws and regulations which the trustees shall establish for the internal government and economy of the institution.” The law requires a thorough visitation of the hospital at least once a month by two of the trustees, a quarterly visitation by a majority of the board, and a semi-annual visitation by the whole board, thus providing for a constant oversight of its affairs.

The Trustees appoint a Physician and Superintendent, an Assistant-Physician, a Treasurer, a Clerk, a Farmer and an Engineer, and determine their salaries.

The Superintendent, who must be an educated physician, is “the chief executive officer and head of the institution in all respects.” He is required “to visit all the patients personally once every day, and to five all requisite attention to their medical, moral and physical treatment.” He also receives and answers “all communications relating to the hospital or the patients therein.” He provides for all the wants of the hospital, purchases all supplies of food and clothing, and is responsible for a judicious and economical use of the same. He appoints the subordinate officers, and engages the “services of such attendants, male and female, and such laborers and help in the several departments, as the wants of the hospital may require,” and is responsible to the trustees for the proper and efficient performance of their duties.

The Assistant-Physician must also be an educated physician. He has, under the direction of the Superintendent, a general supervision of all the patients; he assists in the medical duties, attends to the preparation and administration of all medicines prescribed, has charge of the dispensary, medicines, instruments, &c., attended to the temperature and cleanliness of the halls and dormitories, and the exercise and amusement of the patients, and sees that the directions of the Superintendent are executed by all employed about the patients. In the absence of the Superintendent he officiates as his substitute. 

The Treasurer, under the direction of the Trustees, receives, holds, and disburses all moneys received from any source for the use of the hospital.

The Clerk keeps the records of the institution, and has charge of the books and accounts. He has also special charge of all repairs of the building, and performs such other services as may be required of him in maintaining the good order and discipline of the establishment.

The Farmer, under the direction of the Superintendent, has charge of the farm and garden, barns, teams, implements, vehicles, &c., used about the farm. He takes care of such patients as are placed under his charge for employment and exercise. He also keeps an account of the stock and property of the farm, and of the crops, &c., and keeps the roads and fences in repair. 

The Engineer has charge of the steam boilers and engine and all the machinery and apparatus for heating and ventilating the hospital. He also keeps in repair the aqueducts and reservoirs, gas pipes and fixtures and all the apparatus of the water closets and sinks. He has charge of the boilers and fires, and is responsible for the proper and economical use of fuel. 

Besides these officers, there is in both male and female departments a Supervisor, who has immediate over side of the patients and their attendants. They pass their time in the different halls, and see that the by-laws of the institutions and the directions of the Superintendent and the Assistant-Physician are faithfully carried out by the attendants and all persons employed therein, directing and aiding them in all efforts to amuse, interest and employ the patients. They also take charge of the clothing and effects of the patients, keeping an exact account of all articles brought to the hospital by or for them, and seeing that they are restored to them at the time of their discharge.

A Housekeeper has “charge of the domestic arrangements of the institution,” and is responsible for the economical use of all provisions and stores belonging to her department. She super intends the cooking and distribution of the food, and has the care of such patients as are employed about the kitchen.

A Seamstress has charge of the sewing room and all goods purchased for her department. She attends to the making and repairing of all garments and bedding, and has charge of all patients employed in her department. 

A Laundress takes charge of all washing and ironing, sees that the clothing is collected, or properly washed and ironed, and again distributed, and is responsible for the safe keeping of those patients who are employed in her department.

A Baker has the care of the bakery, and of the flour and all materials used therein, and sees that the house is supplied with well-made and wholesome bread, and such other articles as may be directed. 

The Attendants have the immediate and constant care of the patients; they sleep and take their meals in the halls in which they are employed; they see that patients committed to their care rise in the morning at the proper time, that they are properly washed and dressed, they they receive their food at the proper time, that their beds are properly aired and made up, that the dormitories, floors, stairs, windows, &c., are kept clean and in good order; that the patients in their care have occupation and amusement through the day; that order and peace is preserved among them, and that they retire in proper season, and are safely and comfortably lodged for the night.

Placed in constant contact with their patients, and having unrestricted intercourse with them, their influence is powerful for good or evil, and the success of a hospital as a curative institution, is, to a considerable extent dependent on their fidelity and natural adaptation to the performance of the peculiar duties of the office. The mere performance of prescribed duties in the wards, however promptly and well done, cannot be considered as by any means fully satisfying the demands of the position. There must be an active, sympathizing interest felt in their unfortunate charge, a desire to promote the cure of the patients committed to their care, by constant watchfulness over their conduct and their intercourse with one another, over their amusements and their daily habits, and a determination to make their comfort and well being the object of paramount importance. There is constantly some patient to be soothed, or consoled, or amused, or constrained, and unless attended to at the proper time and in a judicious manner, an opportunity for making a favorable impression upon the disease is perhaps lost through a momentary neglect, or an improper manner. Few persons possess all the qualities which go to make up the perfect attendant. The selection of the most suitable from the great number who offer themselves is often difficult, but we have reason for congratulation in having been able to secure the services of an able and efficient corps.

The importance of employment and amusement as curative agencies is fully appreciated, and all the means at our disposal are freely made use of. The farm and large vegetable garden afford ample opportunity for the best kind of exercise for our male patients, the greater part of whom have been accustomed to daily labory before entering the hospital. There is also much work yet to be done in the pleasure grounds in cutting brush, cleaning paths in the groves, grading, and preparing for fencing, &c., which will afford occupation to many of the patients in suitable weather. Haymaking and harvesting have furnished employment to a large number. For unpleasant weather and the winter season, however, we need something different. Our present workshop, although to a certain extent useful, is too small, and is otherwise inconvenient for the employment of many at one time. We need a larger room more conveniently situated. We also very much need a bowling alley, which is everywhere found to afford the most attractive form of amusement to the greatest number of patients. A building might be erected without great cost which would contain two bowling-boards, a carpenter’s room, and another room in which other work could be done by the male patients, and which would be of incalculable benefit to them in winter, and in inclement weather, when labor out of doors is impossible. We have few patients who would not be benefited by the opportunities which would thus be afforded for exercise out of the halls.

Many of the females, and some of the males esteem it a privilege to be allowed to assist in the kitchen in the preparation of the food, &c., and many of the females find pleasant and healthful occupation in the wash-room and the ironing-room. Quite a number are constantly employed in the serving-room, and others in their halls in making up garments of various descriptions; and many others who are not capable of managing a garment of any kind, are yet able to knit, and by the alacrity with which they seize the implements, and the perseverance they display in the use of them, show that they derive much comfort from the employment thus afforded. One patient who has passed several years of her life in the very closest confinement, with scarcely the vestige of humanity remaining, is now daily employed in this way with much benefit, although she has not yet recovered the power of speech nor the upright position since her release from close confinement some years since. 

Various games are in constant use, and with reading, &c., serve to break the monotony of confinement for those capable of enjoying them. 

We have the beginning of a library, a few books having been purchased, while we are indebted for others to the kindness of friends. A small annual appropriation for the increase of the library is respectfully recommended. 

We hope soon to be able, either by th liberality of friends or otherwise, to place on the bare walls of our corridors and parlors some pictures and maps, than which there is no more fruitful source of instruction and amusement for a large class of patients. Newspapers and periodicals, however old, appear to be more eagerly sought for than books by many of the patients. For several of the former we have subscribed, but the number is quite too limited to supply the constant demand, and it is occasionally increased by the purchase of their exchanges from the two publishing offices in this town.

A large proportion of our family attend the regular religious exercise every evening in the chapel. The services on Sundays are conducted by the clergymen of the village in rotation, and are attended and enjoyed by a great majority of the patients. Perfect decorum prevails during the exercises, and they are listened to by all with respectful attention. The Sabbath is a trying day to our patients, on account of the abandonment of their usual occupation and recreation, but the general quiet which prevails throughout the house is gratifying, indicating that a large proportion of our household feel, and are disposed to manifest, a proper respect for the day. Many who are talkative, noisy and profane in their halls put such restraint on themselves as to conduct with perfect propriety in the chapel. There has been no serious disturbance at any time during a service, and perfect propriety of manner is observed in passing to and from the chapel. Beside the comfort and consolation many receive from listening to the soothing words of the inspired pages, the exercise of self-restraint called forth by the place and the occasion is of the greatest benefit to many more.

We have been enabled thus far to dispense with the use of all means of personal restrain, no apparatus of any kind having as yet been used upon any patient; simple temporary seclusion in one of the ordinary sleeping-rooms, with the window glass properly guarded, bring the only means of the kind thus far used for restraining or controlling the more excited and protecting others in the same hall from violence. One patient, who, from the want of proper accommodations in her former place of confinement, has for some time before her admission, been chained by the waist, has now the range of one of our halls, and by the change wrought in her temper and habits, shows that she appreciates the greater liberty allowed her. The same patient, having at a former period worn the leather mittens as a protection to her neighbors and keeper, acquired the habit of rubbing the backs of her hands upon the walls in the attempt to remove them, and a soft cloth covering is still sometimes necessary to prevent the abrasion of the skin and covering from the bones. We do not believe it either possible or judicious to refrain from the use of restraining apparatus in all cases, conceiving that, in some instances, the use of mild means of this kind is better for the patients than the constant interference of even the most judicious and faithful attendant. But, at the same time, the violent manner, the general irritation, the habits of resistance and obstinacy, the loss of self-respect and self-control, which are the direct effects of long confinement in strong rooms or in restraining apparatus, make it most desirable to avoid the use of such means whenever it is possible to do so. 

Although with one or two exceptions our whole family sit regularly at their meals at tables furnished with knives and forks, crockery ware and glasses, no damage has yet resulted from the liberty thus enjoyed, and any breach of decorum is the exception to the general propriety which prevails at the tables. 

By constant care and attention, several patients who were exceedingly unfortunate and disgusting in their personal habits have been much improved, and offer flattering prospects of an entire change in this respect. One of our patients who does not sit at table, and whose appearance and habits render her exceedingly offensive to the other patients in the ward, is an idiot girl of nine years of age, who instead of passing the remainder of her days in hopeless imprisonment in a hospital for the insane, should be made the recipient of the bounty of the State in an institution whose means are better adapted to the demands of the case.

The health of our family has been good, but two cases of severe sickness having occurred in our wards. A young man was brought to use from a neighboring town suggesting from fever, and for several days after his admission his life was despaired of; but he finally rallied, and we have the pleasure of seeing him now restored to his usual health with a decided improvement in his mental condition. A feeble old man was sent in from an adjoining county, suffering under the combined effects of poverty, intemperance, and exposure. He has gradually failed, and is now quite sick. 

With our elevated situation, dry soil, good drainage, good water, good ventilation, and freedoms from crowded halls, we should be exempt from the attacks of these epidemics which are so often the scourge of hospitals differently situated in these respects. 

The following tables will show the condition of the hospital at the present time, and give a summary of the information furnished us concerning the cases admitted. That they are not more complete is to be regretted, but the desired information may probably, in part at least, be obtained, and can be made to appear in a future report.

Table No. 1
Shows the Number and Sex of those admitted, discharged, and remaining.

Sex.	Admitted.	Discharged.	Died.	Eloped.	Remaining.
Males,…	99	6	–	–	93
Females,…	129	2	–	–	127
Totals,…	228	8	–	–	220

The first party of patients was removed to this hospital from that at Worcester, by order of His Excellency the Governor, on the sixteenth day of August. It consisted of fifty-one patients, being the greater part of those who had been committed to that hospital from the counties of Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden and Berkshire.

On the seventh of September a party of sixty-eight was removed here from the hospital at South Boston, and on the twentieth of September another party of sixty-three from the hospital at Worcester was received. On the thirtieth of September another party of twenty-eight was received from the same source. The other eighteen patients were from other sources. In their transportation and subsequent treatment no accident of any kind has occurred to any one although in the short space of seven weeks we received nearly two hundred and twenty entire strangers into our halls. This table shows that already, in less than two months, the hospital has received over nine-tenths of the whole number for which it was intended. In addition to the two hundred and ten from the other hospitals, we have received eighteen patients from other sources, and if the same rate should continue, the house will very soon be entirely filled, because a large proportion of those received from the other hospitals are old and probably incurable cases, which must continue for many years to occupy our wards.

Eight patients have been discharged. Two of them returned to their friends, and six were taken in charge by the Alien Commissioners. Most of them were here but a few days, and their condition did not change. We do not claim to have contributed much to their recovery during the few days they remained with us.

Concerning sixty-eight of the two hundred and ten patients received from the other hospitals we received no information whatever, and have not yet been able to obtain it. The previous history of many other patients could not be learned at the hospital where they were first admitted, and, from the nature of the cases, their progress toward recovery has not been such as to enable the patients to give any reliable account of themselves. Hence the number of facts in regard to them which we are obliged to enter as “unknown” or “not ascertained.” What we have been able to learn concerning them is condensed into the following tables:—

Table No. 2
Shows the last Residence of all Patients admitted.

The Hospital at Worcester,	142
The Hospital at South Boston,	68
The McLean Asylum at Somerville,	2
Hampshire County	5
Hampden “	2
Berkshire “	2
Franklin “	1
Suffolk “	1
Middlesex “	1
Essex “	1
Worcester “	1
In other States,	2
Whole number admitted,	228

Table No. 3
Shows the Ages of forty-eight Patients.

Less than 10 years,	1
Between 10 and 20 years,	5
20 and 30 “	26
30 and 40 “	41
40 and 50 “	46
50 and 60 “	21
60 and 70 “	7
70 and 80 “	1
Total,	148

Table No 4.
Shows the Nativity of all Patients admitted.

American,	56
English,	3
Scotch,	1
German,	6
Italian,	1
Portuguese,	1
Irish,	160
Total,	228

Table No 5.
Shows the supposed Causes of Insanity in forty-four Cases.

Intemperance,	8
Epilepsy,	5
Masturbation,	5
Ill-health,	4
Disappointment in love,	3
Pecuniary embarrassment,	2
Hard study,	2
Family troubles,	2
Puerperal,	2
Fright,	2
Excessive use of tobacco,	1
Religious excitement,	1
Homesickness,	1
”Spiritualism,”	1
Turn of life,	1
Excessive use of opium,	1
Death of wife,	1
Loss of property,	1
Hard work,	1
Unknown,	184
Total,	228

Table No. 6
Shows the Ages at which Insanity appeared in one hundred and sixteen Cases.

Under 10 years of age,	2
Between 10 and 20 years,	12
20 and 30 “	35
30 and 40 “	43
40 and 50 “	17
50 and 60 “	5
60 and 70 “	1
70 and 80 “	1
Unknown,	112
Total,	228

Table No. 7
Shoes the Duration of Insanity before admission in one hundred and thirty Cases.

Less than 1 year,	13
Between 1 and 2 years,	18
2 and 5 “	33
5 and 10 “	34
10 and 15 “	16
15 and 20 “	7
20 and 25 “	3
25 and 30 “	4
30 and 40 “	2
Not ascertained,	98
Total,	228

The duration of the disease before coming under treatment, is an important element in the estimate of the probability of its cure, a large proportion of recoveries taking place within the first year. This fact should prevent the too common retention at home of patients recently attacked, until recovery is nearly hopeless, while the fact that recovery does sometimes occur after many years should prevent any one being deprived of the advantages of hospital treatment on account of the long duration of the disease.

Insanity is a chronic disease, the majority of cases extending over many months or years, and of many it is impossible to say whether they are curable or entirely hopeless. This should teach us not to despair and not to relax our efforts for the improvement of those even who have been longest deprived of their reason. And if cases of full restoration are rare after a long continuance of the disease, many may by constant and unremitting case and attention be prevented from sinking into that state of utter fatuity and helplessness to which they so strongly tend.

From the nature of the case, a large proportion of the patients in every hospital for the insane cannot hope for restoration. Their disease has been of long duration, their chances of recovery become less every year, and they become at last permanent residents. Hence, one of the most important and trying duties of the officers of a hospital is the proper care and management of this large and constantly increasing class. If neglected, they are sure to deteriorate, many becoming repulsive and disgusting; if well cared for, they do not repay by any striking results the care and attention bestowed upon them, and it is therefore difficult to secure for them that constant care and untiring sympathy they so much need and seem so little to appreciate. The almost utter hopelessness, however, of cases of chronic dementia, give a saddening effect to the halls of a hospital where they abound. Under other circumstances a new hospital would contain a comparatively small number of these cases, but as this institution has received the greater part of its inmates from two older ones, it has a much larger number of this class that would have accumulated in many years.

Table No. 8
Shows the Civil Condition of one hundred and forty-seven Patients.

Married,	59
Unmarried,	80
Widowed,	8
Not ascertained,	81
Total,	228

Table No. 9
Shows the Occupations of eighty-six Male Patients.

Farmers,	14
Teachers,	3
Clerks,	2
Painters,	2
Sailors,	4
Blacksmiths,	2
Operatives,	4
Shoemakers,	6
Laborers,	32
Merchant,	1
Physician,	1
Clergyman,	1
Student,	1
Morocco dresser,	1
Cordwainer,	1
Mason,	1
Tailor,	1
Wood-cutter,	1
Cabinet-maker,	1
Cigar-maker,	1
Machinist,	1
Barber,	1
Trader,	1
Peddler,	1
Color Mixer,	1
Bootmaker,	1
Not ascertained,	13
Total,	99

It will be seen from this table that a large proportion of our male patients are common laborers. They are mostly foreigners who have learned no trade. Driven from their early homes by poverty, ignorance, and delusive hopes, they are thrown on our shores, and left to contend as they may with the new circumstances around them until disappointment, or sickness, or intemperance, or other form of vice extinguishes the feeble light of reason and consigns them to a lunatic hospital. They are unpromising patients. They do not recover in so large a proportion as others, and consequently contribute largely to swell the number of incurable cases which crowd the wards of our hospitals.

Table No. 10
Shows the Proportion of Commitments.

Number of committed by the Governor,	210
Courts,	11
of Boarders,	7
Total,	228

Table No. 11
Shows by whom the Patients will probably be supported.

Supported by the State,	189
Towns,	30
Friends,	9
Total,	228

It is a pleasant duty, in concluding, to acknowledge our indebtedness to several friends who have shown their interest in the institution by contributing in various ways to its means of usefulness. We are under obligations to that eminent and devoted friend of the insane, Dr. Edward Jarvis, of Dorchester, for several volumes of Treasury Reports and other valuable works; the Melanethon Smith, Esq., of Jamaica Plain, for several volumes of Harper’s Magazine, a valuable addition to our library; to the Hon. Z. L. Raymond, of Greenfield, for four hundred and twenty-five strawberry plants of the finest varieties; to Joseph Breck, Esp., of Boston, for a large number of plants for the garden; to William Justin Sackett, of Springfield, for shrubs and plants; to Dr. Luther V. Bell, of Charlestown, for a donation to the medical library; to Messrs, Hopkins and Bridgman, of Northampton, for a number of volumes for the library; to Mr. F. Goodwin, of Northampton, for books, a picture, and seeds.

I cannot conclude without making grateful acknowledgment of the kind and liberal support I have ever received from your Board in the laborious duties connected with the completion, furnishing, organization and general management of the hospital. My thanks are also due to Dr. A. W. Thompson, my able assistant, for the faithful and zealous performance of the duties of his office, and to the other resident officers for the readiness with which my wishes have been complied with, and the promptness with which their duties have been performed. 

With gratitude to Him who has brought us thus far without accident, asking His blessing on our future labors, we enter on the duties of the coming year in the hope that the institution may not fail to accomplish all that may reasonably be expected, and with the determination that it shall merit the confidence of its friends and the gratitude of those who receive its benefits.

WM. HENRY PRINCE.
Northampton, September 30, 1858.

Inventory of Stock, Tools, and Produce of Farm.

5 oxen, at $88	$440.00
4 cows, at $52.50	210.00
3 horses, at $200,	600.00
1 yearling, at $20,	20.00
15 hogs, at $9,	135.00
Live poultry,	15.00
1 large team wagon,	100.00
1 horse rack wagon,	25.00
1 extra rack,	12.00
12 hand rakes, at 25 cents,	3.00
1 business wagon,	30.00
2 buggy wagons, at $40 and $35 each,	75.00
1 horse cart,	30.00
2 ox carts, at $35,	70.00
1 double sled,	40.00
1 single sled,	30.00
1 ox sled,	8.00
4 ox yokes, at $4	16.00
1 horse rake,	5.00
10 hoes, at 30 cents,	3.00
12 shovels, at 50 cents,	6.00
5 manure forks, at 75 cents,	3.75
2 spades, at 75 cents,	1.50
9 chains, at $2,	18.00
4 bog hoes, at 50 cents,	2.00
5 small chains, at 50 cents,	2.50
10 picks, at 50 cents,	5.00
6 crow bars, at $1.50,	9.00
10 wheelbarrows, at $1.50,	15.00
1 corn sheller,	10.00
5 ploughs, at $8,	40.00
3 harrows, at $6,	18.00
1 cultivator,	3.00
7 harnesses, at $11,	$77.00
8 robes and blankets,	24.00
5 axes, at 50 cents,	2.50
7 hay forks,	3.00
3 augers,	1.00
6 scythes and snaths,	9.00
Ice tools,	10.00
Baskets and measures,	3.00
Plough, pick, and carpenter tools,	11.00
Seed and corn planters,	16.00
Hay cutter and grain cradle,	11.00
Steel drills and scrapers, drag, 2 grindstones,	18.00
2 wagons, $85 and $95 each,	180.00
2 harnesses,	45.00
Robes, &c.,	31.00
	$2,442.25

Products of farm:—

26 tons hay, at $12,	$312.00
4 tons rowen, at $12,	48.00
4 tons swamp hay, $5,	20.00
500 bushels corn,	450.00
225 bushels oats,	140.62
24 bushels buckwheat,	18.00
100 bushels broom seed,	30.00
5 tons oat straw,	40.00
10 tones corn fodder,	40.00
1,000 bushels turnips,	200.00
100 bushels beets,	30.00
100 bushels carrots,	30.00
4,000 heads cabbage,	120.00
1,000 pounds broom brush,	60.00
30 barrels apples,	45.00
6 tons pumpkins,	12.00
40 bushels white beans,	80.00
50 bushels Chenango potatoes,	25.00
44 bushels State of Maine potatoes,	22.00
5 bushels Early Carter potatoes,	2.50
19 bushels Early June potatoes,	9.50
214 bushels Merinos,	$53.50
511 bushels Dovers,	383.25
31 bushels Black Carters,	15.50
637 bushels Jenny Linds,	159.25
3 ¾ tons winter squash,	113.64
650 pounds summer squash,	9.75
14 bushels sweet corn,	21.00
15 bushels peas,	15.00
42 bushels tomatoes,	42.00
31 bushels cucumbers,	31.00
Other vegetables,	100.00
963 gallons milk,	195.60
51 dozen eggs,	10.20
8 barrels cider,	12.00
	$2,876.31

TREASURER’S REPORT

To the Trustees of the State Lunatic Hospital :—

I herewith submit the following statement of the receipts and expenditures of the Treasurer for the year ending September 30, 1858:—

RECEIPTS.

Balance in hands of Treasurer, September 30, 1857	$97.19
Received of State Treasurer on account of appropriations of 1857,	14,000.00
Received of State Treasurer on account of appropriations of 1858, as follows, viz.:—
for construction of hospital,	11,696.00
for furnishing hospital and grading grounds,	28,638.73
for working capital,	10,000.00
for contingencies,	1,665.27
for animals and products of farm,	356.91
for support of patients,	73.39
	$66,527.49

PAYMENTS.

For construction of hospital,	$13,903.25
preparation for occupancy,	9,118.83
grading grounds,	3,765.01
furnishing hospital,	24,195.99
animals, labor, tools, seeds, &c., for farm,	4,930.62
For provisions and supplies,	$8,038.38
contingencies,	479.83
Balance in hands of Treasurer,	2,095.58
	$66,527.49

ELIPHALET TRASK, Treasurer.

We have examined the foregoing accounts of the Treasurer, and find them correctly cast, with proper vouchers for the same.

Charles Smith,
Zebina L. Raymond,
Auditors.

September 30, 1858

Citation

Prince, W. H., Trask, E., Russell, J. C., Bell, L. V., Raymond, Z. L., & Smith, C. (1858). 1858 State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton Annual Report (Annual Report No. 3). Northampton State Hospital. Retrieved from https://northamptonstatehospital.org/1858/10/01/1858-annual-report/

Northampton State Hospital Annual Reports originally scanned and published online by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Special Collection and University Archives.

PUBLIC DOCUMENT….No. 11.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

To His Excellency Henry J. Gardner, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and to the Honorable Council:

The Trustees of the State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton, submit the following as their 

SECOND REPORT:

The hospital buildings not having been completed, their duties have been limited to the management of the real estate, and to the improvements of the grounds about the buildings. The appropriations for the latter purpose were made at so late a period, that they have not been able to accomplish so much as they hoped to do, or as was desirable. 

The schedule hereto annexed, marked (A.) shows the kind and estimated value of the property on hand, belonging to the State; and the schedule marked (B.) being the Report of E. Trask, Esq., the Treasurer, shows the amount of money received from the State, and also, in general terms, the amount and objects for which the money has been expended, and the balance on hand at this date. The improvements of the grounds will be continued to the close of the season. 

All which is respectfully submitted.

ELIPHALET TRASK,
CHARLES SMITH,
HORACE LYMAN,
Trustees.

September 30, 1857.

[A.]

Account of Stock, Tools, Produce, &c., on Farm at Insane Hospital, Northampton, Sept. 30, 1857.

6 hogs, $20,	$120.00
3 pigs, $6,	18.00
1 pair oxen,	225.00
1 pair horses,	500.00
1 single horse,	250.00
1 cow,	60.00
1 pair team harnesses,	41.00
1 plated harness,	25.00
1 common harness,	12.00
1 team wagon,	110.00
1 Express wagon,	60.00
1 buggy wagon,	50.00
1 ox cart,	65.00
1 horse collar,	3.00
3 halters,	3.00
2 stall chains,	1.00
2 large chains,	3.00
10 hoes,	6.00
6 rakes,	2.00
3 grass scythes,	3.00
2 bush scythes,	2.00
4 scythe snaths,	4.00
4 axes,	5.00
2 stub hoes,	2.00
2 hatchets,	2.00
3 hay forks,	2.00
Augers, hammers, bitts, &c., &c.,	12.00
2 ploughs,	30.00
1 harrow,	14.00
1 cultivator,	6.00
1 hay cutter,	8.00
1 corn planter,	14.00
1 horse rake,	8.00
25 shovels,	25.00
1 gravel digger or subsoil plough,	28.00
5 manure forks,	5.00
1 ox yoke,	5.00
7 pails,	2.00
11 wheel-barrows,	28.00
2 iron bars,	3.00
3 corn-slashers,	1.00
1 broomcorn scraper,	1.50
1 spade,	1.00
25 picks,	31.00
2 whips,	2.00
2 baskets,	1.00
1 saw,	1.00
1 tape line,	.50
13 grain bags,	3.00
30 guano bags,	3.00
1 riding bridle,	1.00
23 bushels cider apples,	5.00
15 barrels winter apples and barrels,	40.00
3,500 cabbages, &c.,	280.00
2 acres turnips,	100.00
1 acre Swedish turnips,	100.00
1 acre beets,	25.00
Lot pumpkins,	20.00
Lot squashes,	2.00
4 acres beans,	60.00
30 tons hay, $12,	360.00
1 acre broomcorn,	30.00
4 acres potatoes,	200.00
12 acres corn,	600.00
Lot oats,	20.00
1 lantern,	1.38
1 fluid can,	.38
1 axe,	1.50
2 jars grape preserve,	7.50
Part barrel pickles and barrel,	3.50
	$3,664.26

[B.]

TREASURER’S REPORT.

To the Trustees of Insane Hospital, Northampton:—

RECEIPTS.

Received from State Treasurer, July 21,	$3,500.00
”.    “ “.   “ August 29,	2,500.00
	$6,000.00

PAYMENTS

Paid on account of farm, teams, tools, labor, &c.,	$2,981.33
Paid on account grading grounds, &c.,	2,204.37
Incidentals, (expenses of Trustees. &c.)	717.11
Balance in Treasurer’s hands,	97.19
	$6,000.00

E. TRASK, Treasurer.
Northampton, Sept. 30, 1857.

The undersigned have this day examined the accounts of E. Trask, Treasurer, and the vouchers for the same, for the year ending September 30, 1857, and find them correct. The balance in his hands carried to new account, is $97.19.

CHARLES SMITH.
HORACE LYMAN.

Citation

Trask, E., Smith, C., & Lyman, H. (1857). 1857 State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton Annual Report (Annual Report No. 2). Northampton State Hospital. Retrieved from https://northamptonstatehospital.org/1857/10/01/1857-annual-report/

Northampton State Hospital Annual Reports originally scanned and published online by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Special Collection and University Archives.

SENATE….No. 8.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

To His Excellency Henry J, Gardner, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and to the Honorable Council :—

The Trustees of the State Lunatic Hospital, at Northampton, submit the following

REPORT:

After their appointment, one of the first subjects which claimed their attention was the extent of their powers, and of course of their duty, as to the building for the hospital which is in process of erection. After a careful examination of the acts of the legislature bearing upon the question, they became satisfied that the superintendency of the building had been untrusted, exclusively, to the commissioners appointed for that purpose; and they have, therefore, forborne any interference with that trust. They entertained no doubt, however, that the care of the real estate, connected with the hospital, properly belonged to themselves. 

Upon inquiry they found that the management of the farm had been undertaken by S.S. Standley, Esq., one of the commissioners, and in consequence of the late period in the season at which they received their commissions, they deemed it expedient to request Mr. Stanley to continue in the management, to which he consented. His account is annexed to this Report. 

The receipts from the farm during the present year are not to be considered a test of its productiveness, as little has been done upon it, more than was necessary to preserve the crops growing on the land.

The site of the hospital is excellent, and in natural beauty the scenery about it can hardly be surpassed; but though the commissioners have availed themselves of the advantages of the situation in a judicious manner, yet after the building is completed, much will remain to be done before the objects contemplated by the legislature can be realized. Much labor will be required for the removal of the earth about the north-westerly angle of the building, at which point the foundation is sunk several feet below the surface of the soil; avenues and walks are to be opened, and planted with shade trees and shrubbery; fences are to be made or repaired; a suitable portion of the land is to be prepared and in closed for the use and convenience of the inmates; stock and farming utensils are to be provided; and the necessary furniture for the hospital is to be purchased and placed in the building. 

The attractiveness of the place, and in some degree even the usefulness of the institution, will depend upon the manner in which the grounds are laid out and arranged. The Trustees have been desirous of fixing upon some general plan of improvements, which can be gradually carried out, in part, it is hoped, by the voluntary labor of the patients. With this object in view, a majority of them have visited several similar institutions; they have also consulted a gentleman of taste and experience in this department, who has examined the grounds, and aided them by his suggestions and advice, but they have not found it necessary to commence its execution. 

The Trustees take the liberty to subjoin an estimate of the amount of money which in their judgement ought to be expended during the ensuing season, the expenditure of a large part of which will be required before the hospital can be opened for the reception of patients. 

CHARLES R. FORBES
HORACE LYMAN
ELIPHALET TRASK

Northampton, December 24, 1856

ESTIMATE BY TRUSTEES

Fencing farm,	$3,000.00
3 horses,	450.00
2 pair oxen,	350.00
1 ox cart,	80.00
1 horse cart,	50.00
1 two horse wagon,	125.00
1 one horse wagon,	100.00
1 buggy wagon,	100.00
5 harnesses,	90.00
Ploughs, harrows, chains, shovels, hoes, forks, rakes, wheelbarrows, &c.,	155.00
20 cows, at $40,	800.00
Hay and grain for teams,	600.00
To pay for farm labor,	2,500.00
Horses and carriages for hospital,	1,500.00
Salary for superintendent, assistants, and help,	3,000.00
Grading grounds and making roads,	6,000.00
Gas fixtures and gas,	3,500.00
Crockery and cutlery,	3,000.00
House furnishing goods for superintendent, assistants and help,	4,000.00
Furnishing 150 rooms for patients, at $20	3,000.00
”    “ 100 “     “ 15,	1,500.00
”     “ halls,	5,000.00
500 tons coal, at $8,	4,000.00
For contingencies,	5,600.00
	$48,500.00

Trustees of the Northampton Insane Hospital in account with 
S.S. Standley.

Credit for moneys received : –
June 1,	for 5 loads gravel,	$0.30
7,	for 2 months rent of shanty,	4.00
11,	for grass,	15.00
July 7,	for pasturing,	15.75
	for grass,	20.00
	for land rent of mill,	13.00
	for pasturing,	10.50
Sept. 18,	for pasturing,	6.00
	for potatoes,	10.00
	for rent of house,	50.00
31,	for rent of shanty,	8.00
Nov. 1,	for rent of shanty,	2.00
	for pasturing,	8.25
	for potatoes and apples,	5.91
	for land rent,	5.00
	for land rent,	6.00
	for rent of shanty,	2.00
		$196.71

Bills due for land rent,	$20.00
house rent,	37.50
land rent,	13.00
apples and potatoes,	3.00
apples and potatoes,	8.75
	$82.25

Amount of Stock on hand.

120 bushels corn, at 80 cents,	$96.00
30 bushels potatoes, at 40 cents,	12.00
5 bushels beans,	10.00
2 tons straw,	12.00
10 pigs,	45.00
4 pigs,	40.00
8 tons hay, at $12,	96.00
	$311.00

Amount of Moneys paid.

Sept. 18.	To cash for 2 pigs,	$10.00
23.	To cash for 10 pigs,	30.00
Oct. 7.	To cash for 2 pigs,	14.00
11.	To cash for lumber,	11.50
11.	To cash for 3 shovels,	3.37
13.	To cash for 2 hoes,	1.50
13.	To cash for 3 baskets,	1.50
13.	To cash for 3 buckets,	.50
Nov. 10.	To cash for 1 crowbar,	1.19
10.	Use of cultivator and plough,	1.50
15.	Repair of harness,	4.00
17.	Irons for whiffletrees,	2.50
Dec 5.	Repair of ox-yoke,	1.17
5.	Sled,	38.50
	Use of ox-sled,	1.25
		$122.48

Recapitulation.

Amount of moneys received,	$196.71
Amount of bills paid,	122.48
Amount on hand,	74.23
Amount of bills due,	82.25
Amount of stock on hand,	311.00
	$467.48

S.S. STANDLEY
December 10, 1856

Citation

Forbes, C. R., Lyman, H., Trask, E., & Standley, S. S. (1857). 1856 State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton Annual Report (Annual Report No. 1). Northampton State Hospital. Retrieved from https://northamptonstatehospital.org/1857/01/01/1856-annual-report/

Northampton State Hospital Annual Reports originally scanned and published online by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Special Collection and University Archives.