An abundant supply of warm and cold water should be secured; or in some cases it will be found that the cost of supplying this necessary article will neutralize the advantages of an otherwise favourable site.
Baths, water-closets, a store-room, and rooms for washing, are essential in every ward. Warm baths are considered by many authorities to be valuable remedial agents, as well as advantageous to the general bodily health.
The Commissioners have expressed an opinion that incurable paupers may be accommodated in asylums apart from the curable at a mach less expense, and an arrangement for a separate provision for lucurables is required by the new act (s. 27*); but they cannot be aware that while the incurables comprise all the most tranquil and intelligent of the patients. whose society is of great value to the curables, they also comprehend patients who display every different form of in sanity, and require every variety of treatment. It is certainly much to be wished that provision could be imme diately made for all insane paupers ; but we cannot consider that the removal of all hope from a large number of them, by immuring them in an "asylum for in curables," would be the best mode of attaining this object.
The following is a statement of the cost of building and furnishing twenty two asylums, including that of the land, which in some cases amounts to a large sum. The mean cost for each patient accommodated is 1541. 2s. 3d., which is probably more than will be found necessary in most future asylums. The expense of maintaining patients varies from seven to fourteen shillings per week ; this must of course depend in some degree upon the prices of provisions in different parts of the kingdom, and be modified by cheap and dear seasons.
Statistica.—There are in England and Wales 12 county asylums, 5 county and subscription, 11 partly subscription and partly charitable, 1 military, 1 naval, and 142 licensed houses; 14 of which last receive paupers. The hospital of Bethlem, which is exempt from the rules that affect other asylums, is to be added to this number.
Scotland has eight public asylums ; in all of which, we believe, private patients as well as paupers are received ; and some are assisted by charitable endowments.
Ireland has twelve public asylums ; ten of these are district asylums for the poor ; Cork is locally governed, and Swift's Hospital is founded by charter.
Several new asylums are in progress both in England and Ireland.
With a view to present in a few plain statistical tables the results of treatment iu each of the existing public asylums, the writer of this article sent blank forms to each superintendent in the kingdom ; in almost every case they have been filled up and returned, and their contents are embodied in the following tables When information could not be obtained in this manner or from reports, the statis tical tables published by the Commis sioners in lunacy have been resorted to ; but these only extend to the end of the year 1843, and required much correction, as they are not upon one uniform plan. We may instance the tables furnished by Bethlem and St. Luke's as omitting many of the particulars desired by the Commis sioners. In several asylums no average number of patients is given, and the per centages of deaths and cures are calcu lated upon other numbers ; in other asy li: ins which have been opened many years tilt early records are so incomplete as to be useless. In several asylums, even in some recently opened, the published returns do not contain any distinction of the sexes.
The first table shows the whole num ber of patients admitted into the 49 public asylums of the United Kingdom to the latest date to which we can obtain in formation ; being 38,498 males, 38,207 females, and 8,394 of whom the sex is not specified. Thus the admissions of males exceed those of females by 291, or in the proportion of 1 to •9924 ; a scarcely appreciable difference. Of the whole number of insane persons in England and Wales on the 1st January 1844, according to the report of the Commissioners, 9862 were males, and 11,031 females ; thus the females exceed the males in the propor tion of 1 to •894. The greater mortality among men is the cause of this apparent discrepancy.