Dr. Eugene Riggs, of St. Paul, Minn., U.S.A., the Chairman of the Committee on the History of the Treatment of the Insane, appointed by the National Conference of Corrections and Charities, read the report at its twentieth annual meeting, held June 12-18, 1893, at Chicago. The article is evidently drawn up by himself, and endorsed by the Committee. It constitutes an interesting and valuable review of the progress made in the care of the insane, the first era being that of neglect, the second that of detention more or less severe in character, and the third that in which we live, including the last twenty years. Dr. Riggs commences with the dawn of intelligence in the care of the insane in England in 1792, when the Retreat at York was founded. The period between this date and 1815 is recognized as one coincident in France with the beneficent work of Pinel, reinforced a little later by that of Esquirol. “Since that time both there and here (America) the battle for the increasingly intelligent application of that principle has been going on.”
Joint Annual Meeting of GAMM and DMV - Braunschweig 2016 Overview of the Sections
