Annual Report of the Massachusetts Commission on Mental Diseases Of

l^^^'#^t:'''t;^'ii' i *v'iX§:^^i"i«V*vtXir:t^;*';tvA''^?: tooa-fiAta « * ei«i or o».w»lmam ooQptfc. Public Document No. 117 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT Massachusetts Commission on Mental Diseases THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS FOR THE Year ending November 30, 1918 BOSTON WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS 32 DERNE STREET 1919 Publication of this Document approved by the Supervisor of Administration. YKAFi I 1 A TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Members of the Commission and List of Officers, 5 Letter of Transmission to Governor and Council, 7 Duties of the Commission, 9 Activities of the Commission, 10-18 Review of the Year : — All Classes under Care, 19,20 The Insane, 20,29 The Feeble-minded, . 29,30 The Epileptic, . 30,31 Report of the Pathologist, . 31-57 Report of Committee on Training Schools, . 58 Report of Director of Social Service, 59-63 Commitments for Observation and Temporary Care, 63-65 Stability of Service, . 65,66 Capacity for Patients, ..... 67-69 Institutions : — Public 70-109 Private, ....... 109-112 Unlicensed Homes, ...... 113 Family Care of the Insane, .... 113-115 The Commission : — Proceedings of, . 116 Estimates of State Expenses for 1919: — The Commission, ..... 116 Maintenance appropriation, .... 117 Special Appropriations, .... 118-120 Financial Statement of Commission, . 120, 121 Support Department, ..... 122-125 Deportations, ....... 125, 126 Transfers, ....... 127 Financial Department, . ... 127, 128 General Matters : — New Legislation, ...... 129-141 Twenty-year Statement as to Special Appropriations, 142-144 Financial Statistics, ....... 145-182 General Statistics, ....... 183-237 Directory of Institutions, 238-251 Index, . ....... 255-260 Membees of the Massachusetts Commission on Mental Diseases. Nov. 30, 1918. GEORGE M. KLINE, M.D., Chairman, Beverly. JOHN B. TIVNAN, Salem. HENRY M. POLLOCK, M.D., Boston. CHAS. G. DEWEY, M.D., . Boston. ELMER A. STEVENS, . Somervilie. OFFICERS. LOWELL F. WENTWORTH, M.D., HARLAN L. PAINE, M.D., Assistant to Director. Assistant to Director. Nellie F. Ball, Statistician. Alice M. Brown, Senior Stenographer. Clara L. Fitch, Senior Clerk. Elizabeth F. Dinsmore, Clerk. M. Louise Small, Clerk. Sara J. Greene, Clerk. Elmer E. Southard, M.D., Pathologist. Myrtelle M. Canavan, M.D., Assistant Pathologist. Oscar J. Raeder, M.D., Assistant Pathologist. Lillian D. Rider, Stenographer. Ellen R. Scott, Laboratory Assistant. Warren A. Merrill, Financial Agent. Rebecca J. Greene, Bookkeeper. Cora E. Norris, Senior Clerk. Edith A. Stevens, Clerk. John I. Robinson, Bookkeeper. Grace D. Cook, Clerk. Elwin H. Forristall, Investigator of Farm Problems. Francis B. Gardner, Support Agent. Paui A. Green, Visitor. Maude F. Freethy, Senior Stenographer. Frederick R. Houghton, Visitor. Mary L. Ballou, Clerk. Elbert L. Arnold, Visitor. Frances C. O'Connor, Clerk. Alfred W. Bosworth, Chemist. Hannah Curtis, Director of Social Service. Mabel G. Gragg, Visitor. Department of Family Care. Transportation Agents. Fred A. Hewey. Claire T. McInnerney. Reginald H. Johnston, Laboratory Assistant and Messenger. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/annualreportofmass1918mass2 ©l)e dommontoealth of Jtla00acJ]U0£tt0 State House, Boston, July 25, 1919. To His Excellency the Governor and the Honorable Council. The undersigned, members of the Massachusetts Commission on Mental Diseases, respectfully submit the third annual report of the Commission for the year ending Nov. 30, 1918. The matters, however, relating to general statistics cover the year ending September 30. GEORGE M. KLINE. JOHN B. TIVNAN. HENRY M. POLLOCK. CHAS. G. DEWEY. ELMER A. STEVENS. Stye dommnntoealtf) of Jttassactyusette REPOET OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION ON MENTAL DISEASES. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. The Massachusetts Commission on Mental Diseases was established by chapter 285 of the General Acts of 1916, suc- ceeding the former State Board of Insanity. The Commission has general supervision of all public and private institutions for the insane, feeble-minded and epileptic persons, etc., and it has the right of investigation and recom- mendation as to any matter relating to the classes under care. Each State institution has, however, its own board of trustees appointed by the Governor and Council. The direct powers of the Commission concern the interrela- tions of institutions and matters which are common to them all, such as the distribution and transfer of patients, deportations of patients to other States and countries, claims to support as State charges in institutions, etc. The expenditure of money under special appropriations for new buildings and unusual repairs is under the control of the Commission, which is required to prepare plans for new buildings and to select land to be taken for the purpose of any new or existing institutions. The Commission also analyzes all requests for maintenance appropriations. The laws regarding the insane and other classes under care will be found in chapter 504 of the Acts of 1909, and amend- ments thereof. 10 COMMISSION ON MENTAL DISEASES. [Jan. APPOINTMENTS. Charles G. Dewey, M.D., was reappointed a member of the Commission in October, 1918, for a period of four years. Dr. Dewey has been actively interested in the work of the Com- mission since his appointment in 1916. Dr. Samuel W. Crittenden resigned in June, 1918, to become assistant surgeon at the United States Marine Hospital in Chel- sea, Mass. Dr. Crittenden was appointed assistant to the director of this Commission in September, -1916, after a service of sixteen years and a half as assistant physician and assistant superintendent at the Boston State Hospital. Dr. Harlan L. Paine was appointed assistant to the director in October, 1918, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dr. Crittenden, and is especially fitted for this position. He graduated from the Tufts Medical School in 1908, served a year at the Cambridge Hospital, and entered the State service as assistant physician at Danvers State Hospital in 1909. He remained at Danvers until March, 1914, when he was appointed assistant superintendent at the Gardner State Colony, which position he resigned to become assistant to the director. Miss Hannah Curtis was appointed director of social service work in June, 1918. This position was created for the purpose of organizing and standardizing the social service work of the State institutions. Miss Curtis is particularly qualified for this position. She is a graduate of the school for social workers, received her training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and special- ized in associated charities and in investigations. She entered the employ of the Danvers State Hospital in 1913 as head social service worker, where she remained until appointed to her present position. Early in 1918 the Commission decided to obtain the services of a man with special training in agriculture in order that the farming activities of all the institutions might be observed and the results analyzed. The farm records for the previous year were carefully studied, surveys of the institutional farm activities made, and conferences held that there might result a better 1919.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 117. 11 correlation with other departments. Programs were outlined for the production of food, such as milk, pork, potatoes and garden products, based upon the requirements of the institution population. An important function of this service is the assistance rendered in analyzing the annual budget of farm requests, and standardization as far as practicable. Mr. Elwin H. Forristall was appointed farm investigator. He is a graduate of the New Hampshire State College, receiv- ing the degree of B.S. in Agriculture in 1897, and M.S.C. in 1900. Mr. Forristall's experience is as follows: two and one-half years in charge of agricultural and horticultural work at New Hampshire College Farm and Experiment Station, Durham, N. H.; about four years in charge of the Walker-Gordon Modi- fied Milk Company's Farm, Charles River, Mass.; and nine years with the Massachusetts . Agricultural College as superintendent of farm and its branches. At each of these places he had charge of all purchases and sales. For four years he was in charge of the Cortland County Farm Bureau, Cortland, N. Y., and in December, 1915, was appointed agriculturalist in the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, which position he resigned in March, 1917, to become director and secre- tary of the Federal Land Bank of Springfield. DEATH OF DR. ERNEST V. SCRIBNER. Dr. Ernest Varian Scribner, superintendent of the Worcester State Hospital, died on June 14, 1918. Dr. Scribner graduated from the Bowdoin, Me., Medical College in 1881, ranking second in his class. After leaving college he was appointed assistant physician at the Worcester State Hospital. At the end of one year his health failed and he removed to North Dakota. In 1884 he returned East and became assistant superintendent of the Worcester Insane Asy- lum (now the Grafton State Hospital), and in November, 18913, following the resignation of Dr. Hosea M. Quimby, he was appointed superintendent at thirty-five years of age. This position he held for a period of twenty-two years, at the expiration of which he resigned to accept the superintendency of the Worcester State Hospital, where he died after a comparatively 12 COMMISSION ON MENTAL DISEASES. [Jan. short illness. With the exception of two years, his entire pro- fessional life of thirty-seven years was spent in that special department of psychiatry which he chose early as his life work. The trustees of the Worcester State Hospital, in their annual report, pay the following tribute to Dr. Scribner: — In his death both the hospital and the State have lost a faithful and efficient servant. For more than thirty years he devoted himself to ameliorating the conditions of the insane in every way which science and humanity could suggest. To Dr. Scribner no inmate of the hospital became a mere case.

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