Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-03-05

desirable restraint, anI life spent
/ mostly in the open air and sunshine.
| 1t offered every hope OF recuperation
| to the enfecblcd victims of disease. 1t
! furnished them the most cheerful pros
! poets and happicSt of environments.
The mind. before, vacillating upon Il
multitude Of objects, had presented to
| it something which struck the fancy,
enlisted the feelings, and concentrated
and absorbed the attention. The dis
tancc between the patients and their
more fortunate fellowncn was dllin-
ished. and Il healthier tone Of thought
and feeling were soon apparent in con-
duct and conversation. The DISPOSE
| ton to dwell entirely on their own dis
ability was gradually weakened. One
witnessing. the JOY of the patients in
their new-found freedom; the return Of
| the flush of health to the once pa!lid
check, the awakening of interest in the
world ana things about him. and the
beginning of self-confidcnce in the for
mer apathetic dweller within wards;
the order and general good feeling that
prevailed: and contrasting these with
conditions in the general wards of in
sane hospitals. where necessarily per
SO,lal liberty is more restricted. could
not fail to recall the words of Shake
spcare. when he said.
Sweet rccrea tior barred. what doth cnslIt.
But moody and dun melancholy.
kInSrl2n to dull and comfcrtless dcSp'ir,
And ut her E"CiS. 4 huge infectious trnu],
OF pale GiSt"mpclIturcs, and foes to life"
AS to the results of the two months
stay at he island last summer statis-
tics can give no just estimate. How
ever, the words of DIR. Sanborn whose
interest and guiding Judgment led TO SO
successful Il termination OF the cx-
pertinent. deserve quotation. Sum-
ming ny tho results. he says: "Of the
- mon who received the benefits Of this
temporary sojourn. 4 recovered and
were discharged and returned to their
iomcs on their arrival at the hospital.
Several others were very much bcnc-
fed and III gave evidence of recllpcr-
atcd physical powers. OF the 2S fe-
males, eight made good recOvcrieS and
were discharged soon after their return
to the hospital, and the entire party
gave evidence of strengthened physical
conditions. Notwithstanding this re-
markable showing in the number of re-
cCverinS of both sexes it would be IN
fair and might be misleading without
an explanation. Nearly ell who were
restored were regarded as recoverable
cases before leaving the institution for
the island. and possibly everyone might
have regancd their mental equilibrium
here, but il is fair to presume that the
rc"oNcries would have been more lin
cernG. and that they would not have
returned to their homes in such robust
health. and consequently there would
not have been observed that absolutely
complete recovery of mind. This new
movement. attended as it has been by
q success fully meeting the cXpCcta
tionS of tn" most SanGlIinc, should be
regarded as having passed the expert
mental stage: ana we are CT the
opinion that in the future at least four
months should be devoted to this meth
cd Of recreation for our patients feel
ing assured that such treatment will
be obtained rs will result in our OBJ
scrvance of increased rccoveries from
sickness both of body and mind"
y NJ