C. Palmer, successfully inaugurated the "colony" plan in connection with the Michigan Asylum for the Insane at Kalamazoo. A farm of two hundred and fifty-six acres, two and one-half miles from the parent institution, was acquired; and upon it a house was erected, intended to accommodate forty patients. In addition a large dairy barn was built, and patients were transferred, cautiously at first, but with more confidence later, until the house was filled. This experiment proved so successful that additional land was purchased until now the institution has three hundred and twenty patients colonized on two farms. Much of this land is black, rich, fertile soil, known as celery land, and is very productive. It is not the aim to grow field crops, but rather to utilize the labor of patients in gardening and in the production of such forage as tends to maintain a herd of cows. The sewage from the cottages is disposed of by what is known as the Intermittent Sub-surface System. Electricity is carried from the main institution to light all the cottages and for power to pump water into a water tower from which it is distributed to the several houses. A daily supply of such necessities as are required is transported at present by means of horses and wagons, but it is hoped before long to have communication by electric car. In my judgment a mistake was made in building the houses too large, as it would be better to erect a colony house to accommodate from ten to twenty patients or even fewer than buildings to accommodate from forty to seventy-five. A better classification, more homelike surroundings, and more natural life can be secured in the smaller than in the larger houses. A colony situated thus near the parent institution has several things to commend it. In a crowded hospital it will always afford speedy relief, as houses can be erected and made ready for reception of patients within six months. To construct and organize a new asylum after the plans of those established in this state would require at least three or four years. Life at the colony is better adapted to the class of patients for which it is intended than the life in the larger institutions, because it affords a greater freedom, tends to cultivate in the insane habits of self-reliance and self-control. It provides, in connection with suitable accommodations, occupation for patients who are able and willing to work. This occupation may be so organized and directed as to prove remunerative to the state as well as one of the most important aids in the treatment of the chronic insane. It affords opportunity for ready change from the parent institution to the colony and vice versa. This change, within certain limits, exercises a salutary influence over many patients. The individual who for any reason does not do well in the main building often is greatly benefited by a change to the colony. Occasionally one is found, however, to whom residence at the colony does not seem to be adapted; and he is in every way much more comfortable at the parent asylum. This scheme provides the most economical plan for the increasing numbers of insane, and it reduces materially the cost of their maintenance. The productive labor of the patients is so directed that the results find ready consumption within the institution, and it is not the intention to utilize patients' labor by selling its products. A physician resides at the colony and is ready at any time to give medical attention to any patient requiring it, besides having a general oversight and direction of the detailed affairs of the colony. In the establishment of a colony in connection with any existing hospital for the care of the insane, I should recommend a farm not more than three miles away with ready means of access and communication, with an ample water supply, facilities for sewage disposal from the cottages, and productive land calculated for gardening or for the maintenance of a herd of cows. Four years ago there was completed and opened at the Michigan Asylum for the Insane the first psychopathic hospital in connection with a large asylum, so far as I am aware. We do not use what Dr. Tomlinson calls the "euphemistic phrase," but simply call it the hospital. It is used for the acute cases among women. By this I mean the cases of so-called acute mental disorder, and not those suffering from bodily sickness. This hospital has forty-five beds. To it are taken all the cases that upon admission seem to be recoverable, and these are given every possible attention that may promote their comfort or ultimate restoration to their normal condition. In the treatment of these cases, massage, electricity, hydrotherapy, a special diet kitchen, skilled nursing, and careful medical attention all play an important part. It is our theory that the indigent patient is entitled to the benefits of everything that may promote relief in her case. Her health is, in fact, her chief item of capital, and she needs this, not only on her own account, but for the benefit of her children ; and nothing that the state can do to hasten the return of health can be considered money unwisely spent. We supply all the nurses required, most of whom are graduates from the Asylum Training School. If a patient gets along well with the partial attention of one nurse, well and good; but, if she requires it, she is entitled to the attention of two or three or more. In this hospital is given such surgical attention as patients' conditions may require. We do not operate to cure insanity, but we operate for the relief of any cause of irritation that may reflexly or otherwise tend to the production of distressed mental states. Just at present, with forty patients in the hospital, there are fourteen nurses, there being two cases of recent operation requiring more or less constant special attention. Dr. E. C. RUNGE, St. Louis.—I speak for myself when I say that some of our brethren of Wisconsin are not pleased with the county system. I could tell you of one of our friends who saw, in one of the county asylums a patient working in the farm-yard; and the superintendent, not a medical man, said: "What is the matter with that man? He has been here three years. He had been a schoolteacher. When he came here, he was the best company you could imagine; and now he is like a log. What did that?" It was the county asylum. It is a place of mental assassination. QUESTION. Are the patients in the county asylums not under medical care? Judge LYON.- Each county asylum has a physician. The physician is not necessarily the superintendent. He is required to visit the asylum twice a week during the year, and as much oftener as called by the superintendent. The evening was closed by an address on the "Village Care for the Insane," by Miss Julia C. Lathrop, of Chicago, illustrated by lantern slides showing cottages, care-takers, and patients in France, Belgium, and Scotland (page 185). Adjourned at 10.30 P.M. TWELFTH GENERAL SESSION. Tuesday morning, June 3. The Conference was called to order by the President at 9.15. The following hymn, dating from the eleventh century, was read by the Rev. Ernest Van Dyke, of St. Aloysius' Church, for the devotional exercises: Come, thou holy Paraclete, Send thy light and brilliancy. Father of the poor, draw near; Come, the soul's true radiancy. Thou in labor rest most sweet, Veni sancte Spiritus, Veni pater pauperum, Consolator optime, In labore requies, In aestu temperies, In fletu solatium. O thou Light most pure and blest, Of thy faithful company. Where thou art not, man hath naught: What is soiled, make thou pure; What is rigid, gently bend; Strengthen what goes erringly. Fill thy faithful, who confide With thy sevenfold mystery. And in heaven felicity. O lux beatissima, Sine tuo numine, Lava quod est sordidum, Flecte quod est rigidum, Da tuis fidelibus, Da virtutis meritum, Mr. A. Johnson for the Executive Committee reported the following change to be made in the Rules of the Conference: "After the word 'three' adding the words 'or more,'" allowing the election of more than three Vice-Presidents. Voted. The Committee on Organization reported, and the report was accepted and adopted. The list of officers elected will be found on page ix. The report from the Committee on the Finances of the Conference reported through the chairman, Mrs. E. E. Williamson, as follows: The committee appointed to consider the finances of the Conference respectfully submits the following report: For several years past it has been customary for the Conference to ask the Local Committee of the city where the Conference meets to make a contribution of about $800 for the expenses of advertising and reporting the Conference. After full consideration your committee believes that, while the localities should be invited and encouraged to assist the educational work of the Conference, the Conference itself should provide further funds for this purpose. Your committee respectfully recommends that a sustaining membership be created at ten dollars ($10) per year, and that at least one hundred (100) such memberships be secured. We also recommend that, in accordance with the foregoing, Rule I., paragraph 3, of the Conference, be amended to read as follows: — The annual membership fee shall be $2.50, and the sustaining membership fee shall be $10 annually. These membership fees shall entitle each member to a copy of the Proceedings and other publications of the Conference. The PRESIDENT. EMILY E. WILLIAMSON. H. H. HART. This report has been already submitted to the Executive Committee, and meets with its approval. On motion the report was accepted and adopted. Mr. B. Pickman Mann moved that a registration fee of one dollar should be made a condition of registration. The motion was not seconded. Mrs. Williamson asked that the Treasurer might make a statement to the Conference on the matter of publication of the Proceedings. The President called on Mr. Crozier. Mr. ALFRED O. CROZIER, Treasurer of the Conference. It was thought best to make some change of this kind. When we go to a city, we do not feel like asking $800 toward the reporting and publishing of our Proceedings, putting ourselves in a mendicant attitude in asking for money which, they might think, we should furnish ourselves. I am in favor of receiving money from the locality where we meet, but not in asking it as a gift, nor for the purpose of publishing the Proceedings. I think the money we ask should be for the local expenses, such as halls, advertising, etc. Instead of asking for $800, I think it would be better to ask each locality to furnish us with three or four hundred members at $2.50 per member, to whom the Proceedings would be sent. One of the purposes of this Conference is educational, and you cannot get educational benefit unless the people become interested in it and read the Proceedings. I think this method a good one, that it will be properly received, and that it will give us just as much money and at the same time relieve us of the embarrassments of the past. We want to put our work on the right basis, so that it will occupy a dignified position. I believe the time has come when the Conference should occupy a larger place in the field of philanthropy. Discussion should be followed by action. If we here find from the wisdom and experience of the distinguished delegates in attendance that a certain line of action in |