The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-10


your serious and earnest attention.
PURDUE UNIVERSITY.
invite your attention also, with pleasure, to
the very able and interesting report of the trus
tees and faculty of Purdue University. 1t pre-
SCENTS, with consciseness and perspicnity de-
serving special commentator, the condition, the
work and the needs of the several departments
of that institution Its new president has entered
upon his work with great zeal and energy, and
with wise comprehension Of the sphere of this
university in the States system Of education.
hope that it will be your pleasure promptly to
provide for the payment Of the debt necessarily
incurred by the trustees on account of want Of
means occasioned by the failure, two years since,
of the general appropriation bill. Il
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. z
The State Normal School, under its efficient
superintendent and able corps of instructors,
continues to increase in usefulness. The in
struction is notable for its thoroughness, and
the number OF students steadily increases.
STATE LIBRARY.
The subject Of the State Library is one that
should be Of special interest to the Legislature.
The books are provided with peculiar reference
to the wants Of the members and officers of that
body, and of the State officers. The selection
of new books should not be confided to single
person, but to a competent number of persons.
whose occupations indicate a possession of the
knowledge which would enable them to make a
ludicious selection. A member Of the
Legislature needing informatio during the ses-
sion, to enlighten him with respect to
his duties, or a State officer needing like in
formation, should have the assistance when
practicable. of a librarian who can instantly re-
fer to whatever has been written upon the subject
which he desires to read or investigate. Libra
rians in all the great libraries, trained per-
sons, chosen for the variety and freshness OF
their knowledge, and a faculty of finding, with
instantaneous facility. whatever is contained
in the books in their charge. The State Library
should, in my opinion, be placed in charge of the
State Board of Education, and that board should
select the librarian. The board was established
in 1879, and is composed OF the Governor, the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Pres
ident of the State University, the president of
Purdue University, the president of the State
Normal School and the superintendent of com
mon schools of the three largest cities of the
State. Its fitness for an intelligent perform
ance of the duties proposed WILL believe, be
recognized by you and by the people of the. State
generally.
THE INSANE.
The trustees of the Indiana Hospital for the
Insane report the cost per capita for the mainte
nance of its insane during the last fiscal year
$177.02 patient, as against 1914 patient during
the years 1883 and 1884, and as against $l85 pa
tient during the years 1881 and 1882 Most of
this reduction is ascribed to the reduced price
of provisions during the year 1884.
At the last session Of the Legislature urged
elements that shall be regarded as making up
the per capita expense of our benevolent and
penal institutions. Sometimes all repairs of a
merely temporary character have been treated
times they have not been so regarded and
no uniform rule of estimation has ever
existed. In the asylum for Feeble minded
Children the salaries of officers and teach
ers. school books. medical stores, and fuel
and light which are obviously a part of
cgynh tad xrall af
every kind Until a fixed and ineligible rule
shall have been prescribed by the Legislature,
the relative expense per capita of maintaining
the inmates of the several institutions can
never be ascertained, and the reports will in
most cases be misleading. / advise, on account
of the difficulty Of distinguishing between tenn
porary and permanent repairs that repairs
shall not be taken into the account.
invite your particular attention to the graft
flying statement that the experiment of the dis
use of mechanical restraints in the treatment
of he.insane begun little more than yearsnce.
has proved satisfactory, and that it is deemed to
have been demonstrated that hospital for the in
sane can be managed without conining the
inmates in cribs or tying them to stationary
objects or using other of the milder mechanical
restraints which until lately have been used in
American hospitals In foreign hospitals, it is
well known, the use of such restraints has been
abandoned to a much greater extent than in the
hospitals of the United States. Kind treatment,
dutleu WITH cdScu lids USeu lOuuu
to be more effective means for restoring the
durable and governing the incurable than any of
the Severer methods.
also invite your attention TO the experience
of the Indiana hospital during the last year in
relation to the use of alcoholic liquors as a
remedial agent among the insane. 1t is stated
that spirituous liquors have been found detri-
mental to insane patients, except in cases of low
vitality, and that, even in such cases. other
remedies have been found to be preferable. At
hn..,
in an impartial and scientific spirit. with refer
ence to the effect of alcoholic stimulants in
of mental disease, this contribution will be
deemed of interest
The recommendation of the trustees concern
ing the necessity of purchasing small strip Of
ground adjacent to the northern line of the hos
pital. to prevent houses in a village near ii
hospital from being built inconveniently near 10
the department. for women, is commended u
your earnest consideration.
The extensive new building constituting rarr
of the hospital, designed exclusively for won.pn,
was completed on the Cd day Of June, 1884 At
that time some claims for work done remained
unsettled, and slight question existed whet her
the act contemplated dissolution Of the pro-
visonal board appointed to construct the build
ing, until these claims were paid But believing
that the expense of keeping the board in exist
ence should cease as soon as the building had
been completed, and that The Trustees of the
Indiana Hospital might properly adjust these
to be dissolved in conformity to what believed
to be the requirement of the act by which it was
created
Insanity among women is known to be largely
owing to diseases peculiar to their sex. The
deicacy which recos from the necessary con-
ditions of treatment is often heightened by the
fact that reason is not at the helm to control
emotion Upon obvious grounds, therefore,
urged upon the Legislature at its last session
the appointment in the womens department of
at least one woman physician The Legislature
neglected to consider the recommendations but
the good sense of the trustees has made up for
the neglect A lady of excellent attachments in
the medical profession has been appointed a
physician in that department., and the trustees
and the superintendent unite in acknowledge
the value of her services.
THE ADDITIONAL HOSPITALS FOR THE INSANE.
By the act passed at the last session of the
General Assembly providing for the building of
three additional hospitals for the insane, the
Governor was required to appoint four commits
sioners 1.-TWO from each of the principal political
parties) who. together with the Governor.