The Lunacy Blue Books

Extract

The Annual Reports of the Commissioners in Lunacy possess a special interest to those who are engaged in the care and treatment of the insane, taking, as they do, a comprehensive survey of facts which can ordinarily be viewed only from a limited standpoint; and they have a general interest for the public, because these facts bear a distinct and an intimate relation to questions which materially affect the wellbeing and progress of society. At no period has this been more the case than at the close of a year, which has been marked by a concentration of public attention upon the seclusion and treatment of insane persons such as has not occurred since the passing of the Lunacy Acts towards the middle of the century. Moreover, the burden of insanity has been yearly increasing, and its fiscal relationships have assumed an importance which the diminished prosperity of the country has brought into more than ordinary prominence.