The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-14 00:00:00

EATH IN A LUNA I'IC ASYLUM.

Yesterday an adjourned inquest was held before
Mr. Baker and a jury at the Five Bells, Bow, on the
body of John Milk, who died in Grove louse Asy-
lum. The proceedings were cominenced by reading
the deposition of Thomas Lynch, a keeper employed
in the establishment, who was examined on Thurs-
day, which was to the effect that the deceased was
forty-two years of age, that he came from the parish
of All Saints, Poplar; that he had been in Grove
House Asylum since October last; that for the last
!'ortnight he had complained of a pain in his bowels;
that he was seen by the medical gentleman twice ;
was very much excited, and was confined at niat
with flannel bands on his wrists,,leaving his hands
free for giving play and motion. He went to bed on
Sunday night in a violent state, in a crib boarded at
the sides and ends. In the night he contrived to get
his legs and part of his arms over the crib, and
bruised his legs, but not seriously. That he was in
a ward with fourteen other lunatics, in the infirmary ;
that the witness sat up till twelve o'clock, and slept in
the ward ; that the deceased was quiet during the
night ; that at four o'clock in the morning he
was found sitting up, quite dead; his head was on
the side of the crib, and his legs were over the
side, his feet upon the floor; his face was downwards.
Restraints were not used without the authority of the
medical gentleman.
Mr. Baker, the surgeon, was then examined, and
stated that he found the deceased plump and in good
condition; the body exhibited nothing remarkable
externally, except a slight bruise on the breast; on
moving the integuments, six ribs on the right and five
on the left side were found fractured. The lungs
were not punctured ; they were largely adherent,
marking old inflammation. The heart and liver
were healthy, the small intestines inflamed, and the
mucous membrane destroyed in places. The brain
was particularly soft, and in some places destroyed,
and from the state of it the patient could not have
lived for any length of time. He imagined death
to have been caused by the injury to the chest, which
would act more readily on a man whose brain was in
such a condition. The fracture of the ribs might
have been caused by pressure on the side of the crib ;
they were fractured outside ; the discolouration of the
chest was indicative of the fracture.

The jury having expressed a strong opinion
that, in such an establishment, there ought
to be a man sitting up all night with
his eye on the patients, proceeded to examine
the bandages, and stated that they considered the de-
ceased had been more tightly bound than was repre-
sented by the keeper.
The room was then cleared, and the following ver-
dict returned, after a deliberation of nearly an hour :
—" That the deceased was labouring under a defec-
tive condition of the brain, which predisposed him to
death, without any violence. That he was found
dead enclosed in a crib, and that his ribs were frac-
tured apparently by violent pressure of th • chest from
his own action, bein; at the time under restraint from
flannel bandages round his wrists, but how or Iv
what means the said fractures were caused, whicn
were of very recent date, no satisfactory evidence
had been given to the jurors, and the jurors recom-
mend fur the future that a constant vigilance should_n
be exercised with lunatics in the establishm
r
order to prevent a recurrence of a futurceur
accident.rence with
The C9RONER expressed his f
the verdict. This was the second caseulic
on
ofivdheearteh
there
fractured ribs in Grove-house
would be his duty to Asylum.
was any want of caution 1
instruct the jury to return a veenredipctleoefedmaienstlhauegphetesril
and it was the duty of any
of he aesuyaltueme
t,ettoi pnr 00-f
tion of Mr. Byas, the keeper
vide every means and carefor
life.