Treatment of the insane in the East

on August 6th there was opened on one of the lower slopes of Mount Lebanon, Syria, near to the carriage road from Beyrout to Damascus, a newly-built hospital for the care of lunatics. It has been founded by Mr. Theophilus Waldmeier, a veteran missionary in Abyssinia and Syria, and consists of a central administration block and two pavilions, for male and female patients respectively, accommodating 20 of each sex. 17 patients are already under care. A considerable area of land and gardens for the growth of wheat, olives, and other fruit surrounds the houses. Dr. Wolff, from the Munsterlingen Asylum, Switzerland, is the medical superintendent. This is the first organised lunatic hospital in Syria and it has in consequence attracted much attention, the need for such institutions in the East being great. It will probably be dependent upon support from Europe for a good many years. Dr. Percy Smith is the chairman of the committee in London, which includes amongst others Dr. Robert Jones of Claybury and Dr. Bedford Pierce of York; Sir R. Tangye acts as treasurer.