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ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

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SECTION IV.

GEOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

PAPERS FOR 1898

I.-A Historical Sketch of our Canadian Institutions for the Insane.1

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.

By T. J. W. BURGESS, M.B.

(Read May 25th, 1898.)

GENTLEMEN,

One of the regulations of the Royal Society of Canada is thus laid down: "It shall be the duty of the president of each section to prepare an address, having reference to the special objects of the section, for each annual meeting." It was so manifestly impossible for any one man to accomplish such a task, according to the letter of the law, in a section which embraces all the branches included under the general title, "Geological and Biological Sciences," that from the very inception of the society the rule has been

"More honor'd in the breach than the observance."

Like my predecessors in the honourable position of president of this section I have, therefore, deemed it wise to select a subject relating to the science to which most of my life's work has been dedicated; for psychiatry, in its relation to the care and cure of a constantly increasing multitude of insane, has become of the greatest practical importance to all medical scientists and social economists.

1 The writer desires to express his indebtedness and gratitude to the following gentlemen for valuable information supplied :- Mr. J. Black, M.P.P., Fredericton, N.B.; Mr. G. C. Coster, St. John, N.B.; Mr. W. K. Reynolds, St. John, N.B.; Dr. G. A. Hetherington, Medical Superintendent, Provincial Lunatic Asylum, St. John N.B.; Hon. Sir Richard J. Cartwright, G.C.M.G., Ottawa, Ont.; Dr. R. M. Bucke, Medical Superintendent, Asylum for Insane, London, Ont.; Dr. D. Clark, Medical Superintendent, Asylum for Insane, Toronto, Ont.; Dr. J. Robinson, Assistant Superintendent, Asylum for Insane, Toronto, Ont.; Dr. S. Lett, Medical Superintendent, Homewood Retreat, Guelph, Ont. ; Rev. C. E. Cartwright, Kingston, Ont. ; Dr. C. K. Clarke, Medical Superintendent, Rockwood Hospital, Kingston, Ont.; Col. A. H. Todd, Ottawa, Ont.; Mr. Sheriff Ferguson, Kingston, Ont.; Mr. Allan McLean, Kingston, Ont.; Dr. N. H. Beemer, Medical Superintendent, Asylum for Insane, Mimico, Ont.; Dr. A. H. Beaton, Medical Superintendent, Asylum for Idiots, Orillia, Ont.; Dr. W. T. Reynolds, Assistant Superintendent, Asylum for Insane, Hamilton, Ont.; Dr. W. K. Ross, Assistant Superintendent, Asylum for Insane, Brockville, Ont.; Dr. A. Vallée, Medical Superintendent, Quebec Lunatic Asylum, Quebec, Que.; Dr. G. Villeneuve, Medical Superintendent, St. Jean de Dieu Asylum, Longue Pointe, Que.; Mr. A. Perry, Montreal, Que.; Miss M. R. Charlton, Assistant Librarian, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Que.; Mr. E. R. Smith, St. Johns, Que.; Dr. E. S. Blanchard, Medical Superintendent, Asylum for Insane, Charlottetown, P.E.I.; Rev. Dr. A. Anderson, Charlottetown, P. E. I.; Dr. G. L. Sinclair, Medical Superintendent, Hospital for Insane, Halifax, N.S.; Mr. J. R. Anderson, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Victoria, B.C.

From the many themes presented by this branch of knowledge it has seemed to me that a sketch of the development of our Canadian institutions for the insane would be of the most general interest. At the same time, it may be not altogether void of value, inasmuch as the history of some of the older asylums, like that of many other ancient buildings, has become, with the lapse of time, greatly involved in obscurity. For the task I have set myself, the collection and preservation of such scattered details as are to be found, I fully recognize the limitations of my fitness, and crave your pardon if in my ignorance I omit anything that should find a place therein.

Saved by virtue of her youth from participation in the horrible cruelties which stain the annals of the history of the insane from the fall of the Roman empire to the beginning of the present century, Canada has yet no reason to be proud of her early treatment of this unfortunate class. With her, as in nearly all new countries, the care of the insane has shown a gradual process of evolution. We find, first, an era of neglect; then, one of simple custodial care with more or less mechanical restraint; and, finally, the present epoch of progress, in which the various provinces of the Dominion, with the exception of Quebec and Nova Scotia, have accepted the maxim announced by Horace Mann, that the dependent insane are the wards of the state, and as such to be cared for in special governmental institutions. In which epoch also, in the construction of such buildings, the idea of detention is subordinate to that of cure, or, failing cure, that the hospital for the insane shall be no longer a prison but a home.

NEW BRUNSWICK.

To New Brunswick is due the honour of having been the first of the old British North American provinces to make special provision for its

insane.

While the population of the province was yet sparse, and the insane but few in number, each county cared for its lunatics as best it could, the law authorizing "Any two Justices of the Peace to issue a Warrant for the apprehension of a lunatic or mad person, and cause him to be kept safely Dr. G. F. Boddington, Medical Superintendent, Provincial Insane Asylum, New Westminster, B. C.; Dr. D. Young, Medical Superintendent, Asylum for Insane, Selkirk, Man.; Dr. N. B. Gillies, Medical Superintendent, Asylum for Insane, Brandon, Man.; Dr. G. M. Dawson, Director, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ont.; Mr. A. G. Irvine, Warden, Manitoba Penitentiary, Stony Mountain, Man.

He would also beg to express his thanks to Dr. C. K. Clarke for the view of the old asylum at Kingston, and to Mr. J. Ross Robertson, M.P., for permission to use the views of the old Toronto Jail, Parliament Buildings, and University Branch Asylum. These were copied for him from Mr. Robertson's "Landmarks of Toronto," by Dr. R. Tait McKenzie, Montreal.

To Dr. J. V. Anglin, Assistant Superintendent, Verdun Hospital, Montreal, he is under great obligation for many helpful suggestions and criticisms in his careful revision of the manuscript.

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locked in some secure place directed and appointed by them, and if they deemed it necessary, to be chained." Under this law the indigent insane were confined in jails and poorhouses, while those able to bear the expense were sent to asylums abroad.

In the early thirties, the lunatics in county institutions had increased to such an extent, and at the same time there were so many others scattered throughout the province whose friends were desirous of having them cared for, that it became absolutely necessary to make some proper provision for their accommodation. We find, accordingly, from the minutebooks of the old sessions of the peace, that at the session held on the first Tuesday in September, 1835, a committee was appointed to prepare a petition to the legislature "for the passing of a law for the better providing for and securing of lunatics within the Province." On the first Tuesday in December following, the mayor submitted the draft of a bill for establishing a provincial lunatic asylum as prepared by this committee. It was read, approved, and handed to Mr. Robinson, M.P.P., to present.

The case, however, was too urgent to await the action of the legislature ; consequently, as a temporary expedient, at the suggestion of Dr. George P. Peters, a small, wooden building in the city of St. John, originally erected as a cholera hospital in 1832, was converted into an asylum for lunatics. For a description of the structure we are indebted to a letter of Dr. P.ters, dated November 28th, 1836. Herein it is stated: "The lower part of the building has been divided into two sides, one for the males and the other for the females. For the purpose of separating as much as possible the more violent from those who appear inclined to conduct themselves in a moderate way, these sides have been subdivided; the male side into a day-room (if a mere passage can be so called) and five sleeping rooms; the female side into a similar day-room and four sleeping rooms."

This institution, the first of the kind in Canada, was situated on Leinster street, not far from the present jail premises, and continued in operation for a little over thirteen years. The date of its opening was November 14th, 1835. For evidence of this fact we have the old minute-books before referred to. From these we learn that at the June session, 1836, the grand jury reports having visited the jail, the poorhouse, and the lunatic asylum, and been much gratified with the inspection; while at the session of March 14th, 1837, mention is made of the "lunatic accounts,"

1 Appendix to Journals of House of Assembly of New Brunswick, 1875. Report of the Medical Superintendent of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum for the year 1874, p. 3.

2 At this session a report was received from Mr. George Matthew, giving a his tory of the asylum and its progress to that date. Unfortunately, this report was not put on the minutes and is not to be found, spite of a careful search of the vault in the clerk's office kindly made for me by Mr. W. K. Reynolds of St. John. It is probable that this, with many other old and valuable documents, was stored somewhere outside the vault at the time of the fire of 1877, and that it was then destroyed.

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