ascertain and record the history of each case and keep a diary of the same so long as the patient shall remain in the Asylum. He shall see all the patients at least once a day and such of the males as are under medical treatment oftener if necessary, and report the results of his observations to the Superintendent. He shall look to the warmth, cleanliness and ventilation of the halls, to the exercise and amusements of the patients, and see that the patients are properly treated, and do any other duty connected with the medical department of the Asylum required by the Superintendent. He shall wait upon company, give them all suitable information, and show such part of the building and grounds as are open to their examination. "ART. 9. It shall be the duty of the Apothecary to take care of the office, prepare and put up all medicine, see that all prescriptions be properly administered, and ascertain as far as may be, the effect of the same. He shall perform the duties of librarian and take care of the books belonging to the library. He shall see to the bathing and shower baths, shall keep the record of the clothing of the male patients as they come and leave the Asylum, and do any other duty required by the Superintendent. "ART. IO. It shall be the duty of the Auditor in the month of July annually to audit all the accounts of the officers of the Institution, take an inventory of all the property of the corporation, also take an account of all the claims in favor of and against the Institution, so as to show its true standing on the first day of August annually. For which services he shall be paid a reasonable compensation to be fixed by the Trustees. "ART. II. That the Trustees shall from time to time fix the price of board of the patients, and no patient shall at any time be admitted for a less price than that prefixed by the Trustees, or by their direction, and upon the admission of patients to the Asylum good security shall in all cases be required. "ART. 12. No moneys shall be expended or debts contracted, except for the ordinary expenses of the establishment, unless directed by the Trustees. ART. 13. Every officer receiving and paying out the moneys of the Institution shall keep a regular cash account of all moneys received and from whom received, and all moneys paid out and to whom paid and for what purpose paid, which amount shall be laid before the Trustees at their meeting for their examination. "ART. 14. The Superintendent shall lay before the Trustees at each monthly meeting a statement of the number of patients received, discharged or deceased during the month previous, stating the name and place of residence of each patient, the time of their admission with the security taken therefor, the time of their discharge or decease, and if discharged, whether cured or improved or not." "After adopting the foregoing By-Laws and examining into the concerns of the Institution, and condition of the patients, made choice of the following officers until the next annual meeting, to wit: OFFICERS OF THE BOARD. Samuel Clark, Chairman. N. B. Williston, Treasurer. Asa Keyes, Auditor. RESIDENT OFFICERS. Wm. H. Rockwell, Superintendent. Deborah K. Baker, Matron, David T. Brown, Assistant Physician. Henry M. Booth, Apothecary.* "Voted, To send a special agent to the Legislature the approaching session, to attend to the interests of the Asylum before the Legislature, and to procure an increase of the appropriation for the insane poor, and Asa Keyes was chosen such special agent." The Legislature of this year passed the following Act, which was approved October 27th, 1845, and remained without alteration for near thirty years. It is introduced as showing that the annual sum drawn from the State during this period, was for the care of the insane poor and no other purpose; many seeming to entertain the impression that it was devoted to providing additional room at the Asylum, as the grants previously referred to, except the last, were. "AN ACT in addition to an Act for the Relief of the Insane Poor, approved Oct. 30, 1844. "It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, as follows, "SEC. I. Instead of the sum mentioned in the first section of An Act for the Relief of the Insane Poor, approved October 30, 1844, the Trustees of the Vermont Asylum for the Insane may *The salary of the farmer, at this date was fixed at $300 per annum; that of the matron at $208; of the assistant physician at $300; that of the apothecary, board and tuition. annually in the month of August draw from the Treasury of this State the sum of Five Thousand Dollars, for the purposes expressed in and subject to the provisions of said Act. "SEC. 2. There shall be annually appointed by the Legislature a Commissioner of the Insane, whose duty it shall be, monthly, or oftener if need be, to visit said Asylum, with the Trustees or alone, to examine into the condition of the Institution, the receipts. and expenditures, the management of the patients, and the general welfare of the Asylum, and to make report thereon annually to the Legislature." This last section was suggested by Dr. Rockwell. While it did not clothe this official with any authority in the management, which from the beginning was vested solely in the Board of Trustees, it gave the State an agent with free visitorial power, to observe and report to the Legislature each year, whether or not the wards or beneficiaries of the State were properly cared for, and whether the money appropriated toward their support at the Institution was or was not applied in the manner provided and designed. This office of Commissioner of the Insane was continued for thirty-three years, when it was abolished and a Board of Supervisors of the Insane created, with some additional powers. The cost of the extension of the east wing effected this year was $6,325.66. RECORD OF 1846. HE Trustees' Report of this year contains the following opening paragraph: TH "At the time of making our last Report we were suffering for want of sufficient accommodations for our patients. The buildings, which were then in course of erection, have since been completed, and we rejoice to state that we have accommodations for three hundred patients; as large a number as we think can be properly taken care of in one Asylum.” The superintendent reports one hundred and ninety-seven admissions, and one hundred and sixty-nine discharges; two hundred and ninety-one remaining. Some remarks upon ill-advised visits to patients deserve notice, and are as true now as then : "Next to premature removals are the injudicious visits of friends and acquaintances. These visits serve to awaken former associations, which greatly disturb the minds of the patients and create a desire to return to their friends. Not unfrequently has the recovery of a patient been retarded weeks and even months, by an injudicious visit. These remarks do not apply with so much force to those cases which are incurable. But frequent visits of friends or acquaintances may make them dissatisfied with their situation, and less comfortable inmates of an institution. "While on this subject we wish to be distinctly understood. We have never refused the immediate relatives of the patients from having an interview, and have always allowed them to do so when they have wished it. In some few cases we consider it advisable for the relatives to see the patient, but in most cases we consider it injurious. We always state our opinion candidly to the relatives, of the probable effects of an interview, and then leave it entirely to their own decision. It is left to the discretion of the superintendent whether it is expedient for any but the relatives to have an interview with any particular patient. The relatives often make a special request that the patient shall not be exhibited to his acquaintances, so long as he remains insane." The following shows the financial result of the year: A purchase was this year effected of forty-nine square rods of land, contiguous to the first purchased estate, for use as a cemetery. This was bought of Mr. Addison Brown, for the sum of $92, and has since been preserved to that use. Cost of construction thereon of a receiving tomb $58. The following officers were chosen at the annual meeting of this year: OFFICERS OF THE BOARD. Samuel Clark, Chairman. N. B. Williston, Treasurer. Asa Keyes, Secretary. Epaphro' Seymour, Auditor. RESIDENT OFFICERS. William H. Rockwell, Superintendent. James M. Shearer, Farmer. Deborah K. Baker, Matron. Francis A. Holman, Assistant Physician. Henry M. Booth, Apothecary. |