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It would seem, however, that the time has now come when it may be said,
without fear of outside indignation, that personal restraint is good or bad in the
absolute, precisely as it is good or bad in its effect on the individual subjected to
it. That there are cases in every collection of lunatics in which mischief is ob-
viated, excitement tranquillized, exhaustion prevented, and unqualified advantage
of every sort obtained by contrivances which effectually hinder the wild and
dangerous movements of a maniac without putting him to any sort of pain or
injury, is a matter which admits of no doubt; and to refrain from employing such
means in such cases would be to leave the sufferers to the dictates of prejudice,
and as fatal an error as to reintroduce the cruelties of the last century. It is
because I fear that in reporting annually on the use of the modern non-restraint
system in this Asylum, I may lead to the supposition that no person is ever to be
found in the place with his limbs confined, and so to a false impression, that I
desire to make mention of the subject now. Not only has it been the invariable
practice to hinder lunatics, who suffer from ulcers which they injure with their
hands, from doing so by confining their arms to their sides with broad bandages,
but it has been occasionally thought proper to control maniacal frenzy by fixing
the maniac on a mattress, with a broad sheet covering his entire body. Such a
procedure is, as will be seen at once, entirely free from the objection which
attaches to all contrivances which cramp or strain the joints, or otherwise produce
suffering. It needs only to be guarded from being too readily and injudiciously
employed, or too long continued, to become a most humane and useful measure,
and this it has been found to be at Dullunda. Lately a very convenient sub-
stitute for the broad sheet, in cases requiring only the prevention of exhausting
movements, has been devised by the Overseer. It consists merely of a long
canvas bag with a collar fitting loosely on the neck, sufficiently wide to prevent
any very active or dangerous movement of the limbs, without preventing such
change of posture as is necessary for relief. This bag envelopes the whole person
except the head, and its edges are made fast by strong tapes to the cot on which
the mattress is placed.
Not only are such methods as these advantageous and free from mischief in
the restraint they effect, but they can be employed in a verandah or any well
ventilated place, and so the lunatic is kept free from padded rooms and other
places for close seclusion which are used in Europe, but in an Indian climate are
quite inadmissible.
Having used the broad sheet for years in the manner I have described with
good effect, it is satisfactory to find that its employment is now openly advocated
by writers on the subject in England.
Recent periodical literature is my authority for this statement.
The visits of the Official Visitors have been regularly paid. I can add
nothing to the testimony which I offered last year to the character and conduct
of Overseer Bancroft. It is due entirely to schemes which he has devised, and
to the constant exercise of close supervision by him, that the industrial progress