for still further accommodation has been not
less urgently felt. The number of pauper
patients in " Licensed Houses " has also been
well-nigh doubled ; so that the entire number
placed under what, for distinction's sake, we
shall term appropriate superintendence, on
the 1st of January, 1850 (including three
hundred and forty-three inmates of certain
other institutions, distinguished by the name
of Hospitals), was not less than eleven
thousand three hundred and five.

Without farther inquiry, it might very
naturally be inferred from this statement,
that the increased amount of special
accommodation had produced a corresponding
diminution of the numbers lodged in
workhouses, and " farmed out." The fact is exactly
the reverse. From the Third Annual Report
of the Poor Law Board (Appendix, No. 26)
it appears that four thousand six hundred and
ninety-nine insane patients were lodged in
workhouses on the 1st of January, 1850; an
increase of six hundred and thirty-six on the
return of 1843. And so far from there having
been any decrease in the number of those who
are returned as being placed "with their
friends, or elsewhere;" that is, "farmed out"
on some such miserable pittance as we have
mentioned, it would seem, from the same
official document, that no fewer than nine
thousand and thirteen (an increase of four
thousand one hundred and seven on the first-
mentioned return) were so situated on the
1st of January, 1850.

From these very plain and incontrovertible
facts, we deduce the somewhat startling
conclusion that, on the 1st of January, 1850, the
number of insane persons who were maintained
at the public charge in England and Wales
was greater, by nearly one-half, than it was
in the year 1843.

Now, looking merely at the surface of the
subject, it is natural to suppose that the
causes of insanity, during the period in
question, must have been in an unwonted
state of activity.

But such a supposition we conceive to be
as groundless as it would be discouraging and
uncomfortable if it were well-founded. The
causes of insanity are not referable to any
specific agencies, in the ordinary sense of such
a term. We cannot properly describe the
malady, under any circumstances, as an
epidemic disease. Looking over the reach of
centuries, with a complete knowledge of all
the mental and physical elements of social
perturbation and discomfort, we might,
probably, be able to point out occasional periods
at which the reason of multitudes was more
than usually exposed to shocks of vehement
moral suffering, or undermined, either by
habits of exhausting debauchery, or by the
stealthy inroads of physical want. In this
way, we might, perhaps, arrive at something
like a fanciful analogy, but nothing more. It
would be idle, therefore, to argue a point of
this kind, and the conclusion is inevitable,
that many pre-existing instances of the malady
have been brought to light, and that the
discovery of new cases has been greatly facilitated.

"The known numbers of the insane will
always increase in proportion to the facilities
of relief which are afforded; " and the rule
here quoted not only affords a sufficient
explanation of the remarkable facts we have
been considering, but receives at the same
time its own most ample and satisfactory
verification.

An example or two may be sufficient to
afford something like a notion of the
hardship to which the poorest class of insane
persons in many districts may even yet be
exposed, notwithstanding the risk of penalties
incurred from non-compliance with the
directions contained in the 50th Section of the 8th &
9th Victoria, cap. 126. In the same way, some
idea may be formed respecting either the
misery or the callousness which the presence
of such patients must occasion in situations
of the kind to which we here refer.

The first of the following letters is from a
relieving officer in a Welsh Union to the
steward of a County Lunatic Asylum.

                                                        "June 7, 1851.

"Respected Friend, — We have a pauper
lunatic residing in this town, chargeable to the
parish of — , who will have to be removed to
your asylum in a few days. His name is David
Davies, aged about 29 years ; is the son of
David Davies, a weaver, living on the Lower
Green. The boy is a confirmed idiot, and has
been for the last fifteen years confined in a
room at home, wearing what we call a strait
waistcoat. He spends most of his time in bed,
but is so far at liberty as having his feet loose,
so that he can rise when he pleases. The door
of his room is always locked from the outside,
and the window barred. Before the window
was barred, he would sometimes rise from his
bed and break the window. His mother
chiefly attends upon him. When he has
occasion to rise for a natural purpose, he
intimates this to his mother by striking the
floor, as he never could talk. He has had no
clothes on for many years ; and as I shall have
to supply him with some, I would feel greatly
obliged, if you would please to drop me a line,
just to state what clothing is indispensably
required, as I should not wish to incur but as
little expense as possible.

                        " Yours respectfully,

                                    "——

                                             "Relieving Officer."

The subjoined communication is from the
sister of a poor woman who had previously
suffered from severe attacks of mania. It is
addressed to the Superintendent of a County
Lunatic Asylum, under whose care the patient
had been placed on two previous occasions,
and on both of which she had been sent home
well. It may be requisite to explain, that
the sister had called at the asylum a short