On provision for the insane poor of the State of New York : and the adaptation of the "asylum and cottage plan" to their wants ; as illustrated by the history of the colony of Fitz James, at Clermont, France / by Charles A. Lee.
- Lee, Charles A. (Charles Alfred), 1801-1872.
- Date:
- 1866
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On provision for the insane poor of the State of New York : and the adaptation of the "asylum and cottage plan" to their wants ; as illustrated by the history of the colony of Fitz James, at Clermont, France / by Charles A. Lee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.
17/32 (page 17)
![Provision for the Insane Poor in Foreign Countries, and Espe- cially at Clermont, in France. Observations conducted through nearly two years (1849-1862), by care- ful personal inspection of various lunatic asylums in the different countries of Europe, with long- and careful study of the management of our own, have led to the conclusions and opinions enunciated in this paper. But no establishment, as it seems to me, or at least none with which I am acquainted, has so fully and clearly demonstrated the adaptability of the hospital and cottage plan to the wants of the insane poor as the Colo- ny of Fitz James, so called, at Clermont, in France. A detailed account of this establishment was given in two letters of mine, published in the 5th volume of the American Medical limes, and written soon after my visit (July, 1862) in company with Dr. D. T, Brown, the able superintendent of the N. Y. Bloomingdale Asylum. The following resume of this history may prove not uninteresting in this connection. The village of Clermont is situated some 50 miles northeast of Paris, in the department of Oise, in one of the finest and most productive agricultu- ral regions of France. The original lunatic asylum, established here about 1830, was a private establishment, founded by A. M. Labitte, the father of the three brothers who now have it in charge. At the death of the original proprietor, in 1849, the institution was reorganized; one of the brothers taking the general charge of superintendence; another of the agricultural department; while a third attended to the medical management of the males in the asylum proper. A Dr. Woilez was employed for the fermile department. This arrangement continued until the year 1856, when Dr. G. Labitte assumed the principal management, aided by an assistant or adjunct physician, two house physicians, an apothecary, &c. At first, about 90 acres of land were cultivated in the immediate neighborhood of the asylum proper, on the border of the village near which the institution was located. It was soon found that it would be more advantageous to the patients to have the principal farm at a greater distance from the asy- lum, so that the laboring class of patients would have no intercourse with the others. Out of this grew the agricultural colony at a distance of a mile or more from the asylum proper. To carry out this plan a farm of about 500 acres was purchased, pleasantly situated, and the soil fertile, with a small creek running through it, which furnished an abundant and never-failing supply of water. To this farm, after suitable buildings were erected, 40 strong, quiet, chronic male patients were removed from the asylum proper and set to work. The results of this experiment were so successful that other buildings had soon to be erected to accommodate the increasing number of inmates. Improvements and additions have from time to time been made, till a very extensive and complete establishment has been erected, with numerous cottages dispersed over the grounds in four distinct sections, with convenient outhouses, barns, and other farm buildings conveniently located, the entire means having been derived from the profits of the institution. During the last six years during which the system has been fully carried out, the most remarkable success has been witnessed. In a very large proportion of cases the most prompt and well [I. P.] 3](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2101629x_0017.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
