EPILEP'TIC COLONY. An establishment that differs from an asylum or a hospital for epihpti• patients, in that it. consists not of one building or a group of buildings in which the pi tienLs are kept for treatment. hut of a large farm, in which groups of epileptics live in cot tages or in corny •cgregated buildings. and spend their ti ne In gardens, mit of doors, or in workshops, ehool hole-es. gvnam.:ia. amusement build ings, and chapels, hospitals. and lihniries. The great t improvement in previously hopeless •fISCS and the largest proportion of cures arc secured in the colony system, with little drugging and with natu ral and hygienic conditions of life. The first epi leptic colony, that of Bethel, at Bielefeld, in the Prussian Province of Westphalia, was es tablished with four patients. The celebrated pastor, Friederich von Bodelschwingh, first took charge of it in 1872. It has been marvelously successful. With its officers, physicians, nurses, and employees, and over 1600 epileptics, the colony contains over 3600 persons.
The patients are about equally divided in num ber between the sexes. About 8 per cent. are cured; about 21 per cent. are discharged im proved; about 21 per cent. leave unimproved; about 20 per cent. die. About 61 per cent. of the cured are under 18 years of age. Only 47 out of Over 5000 patients have been turned over to in sane asylums.
Several other colonies have been established in Germany; there is one in Zurich, Switzerland; one in Holland; and one was established at La, Force, near Lyons, France, by John Bost, a clergyman. At Chalfont Saint Peter, Eng land, a farm of 135 acres was purchased in 1893 by the National Society for the Employment of Epileptics, and the first building was opened for patients in August, 1894. There are six houses, with accommodations for 66 men, 24 women, 24 girls, and 24 boys. England's second colony for epileptics was established at Warford, near Al derlcy, Cheshire, in 1900, upon an estate of 400 acres. Detached buildings capable of holding 24 inmates have been erected.
The Craig Colony of New York, at Sonyea, the most nearly complete and most extensive in this country, was informally opened for patients Feb ruary 1, 1S96, starting with l900 acres of well cultivated fields, fine orchards, and productive market-gardens, with about thirty buildings al ready thereon; residences, barns, and shops, the latter used in broom-making, canning fruits and vegetables, etc. On the grounds arc building-stone quarries, brick-clay deposits, and many acres of standing timber. A sawmill and a flouring-mill
stand on a rapid stream, which divides the tract of land into halves. The property formerly was the site of a settlement of thrifty Shakers. It is the largest in use for this purpose in the world, and is ideal in situation and facilities. An ath letic field has been built where the patients engage in bicycling, tennis, baseball, and track sports. There is a military company of boys and young men, which has regular drills. A band of about twenty pieces gives concerts from time to time. 'Instruction is given, at the schools, in reading, writing, letter-composition, language, arithmetic, drawing, kindergarten work, clay-modeling, and basket-weaving. There is also a class in manual training. The census, September 30, 190], was as follows: 440 males, 303 females, total 743. During the previous fiscal year 198 males and 61 females were admitted; the deaths numbered 36; 12 were transferred to asylums as insane; and SO were discharged. The net gain for the year was 131. The death-rate for the year was less than 5 per cent. The per capita Post of main tenance has decreased with the increase of popula tion. With an average daily attendance of 251 in 1597-98, the annual per capita east was $200.02. In 1900-01, with an average daily attendance of 676.41, it was $164.12. The total cost of main tenance was $130,611.45, which was reduced by home production of canned goods, hay, grain, fod der, and vegetables, to 8111,117.96.
The State of New Jersey set apart, in 1898, a farm of 187 acres on the Sourland Mountain, near Skillman, Somerset County, for the estab lishment of an epileptic colony. Later it ac quired the adjoining farm of 213 acres, on which buildings are being erected for the reception of the ION epileptic patients who are wards of the State. The Massachusetts colony for epileptics was opened in 1898 at Mon son, and comprises 237 acres, one-half of which is tillable. It shelters over 250 patients. A private corporation, known as the Pennsylvania Epileptic Hospital and Colony Farm, established in 1898 a colony of thirty patients at Oakhourne, on a farm of 110 acres. Illinois began to establish her State epileptic colony at Notch Cliff, near Elsah, in Jersey County, to accommodate the 4000 or 5000 epileptics in the State, and Texas began to es tablish a colony for epileptics near Abilene in 1902.