The facts are almost identically the same in regard to the average jail officer. His knowledge of laws of sanitation or proper rules for government of prisoners under his control is little greater than that of the prisoners themselves.

To be counted against the efficiency of the officer, also, is the ineradicable inclination of the ordinary jail-keeper to pursue the line of least resistance. This inclination leads him to leave undone many important duties, and to do harmful things or permit them to be done in order to avoid displeasing the prisoners. It is a common occurrence for a jailer to excuse his derelictions of duty by quoting the wishes or opinions of his prisoners. This inclination to do the easiest thing is particularly fruitful of bad results in the management of any system of mechanism which requires careful, timely, or fre quent attention, in order to insure its successful operation. But, be the jailer well fitted for his position in all other respects, he is a rare officer who has the power of command necessary to maintain order among the prisoners, who, as a rule, are strangers to discipline.

As long as the county jail system obtains, as at present organized, this condition will continue. The number of jails and their small size will make it impracticable to secure trained officers or to pay salaries sufficient to secure the services of efficient men. Political conditions, too, must be reckoned with in a majority of the States; and these lead to frequent changes in officers and to the selection of men for political reasons without regard to personal fitness for the duties intrusted to them. The impossibility of greatly changing these conditions, for many years to come, leaves for us no alternative. We must so construct our jails that they will serve their purpose as well as possible within the governing circumstances.

The local authorities, who control county revenues and have the final word, belong to one of two classes. Those in one class believe all that is necessary in a jail is a building of four massive walls, a few small windows heavily barred, and a strong door, with just sufficient division of the space inside to keep the sexes from indiscriminately mingling together. They maintain that, if people do not like. the "accommodations," they should keep out of jail, and usually remark with conclusive and sarcastic emphasis that the county cannot afford to run a first-class hotel for its criminals. They sometimes add that they, the officers speaking, have managed to live in comfort without sewers, water-works, bath-rooms, ventilators, etc., in their

homes, and they do not see the wisdom of providing such luxuries for criminals at the expense of groaning tax-payers.

The second class of local officers whose opposition will have to be met is a large one, and is increasing. When a new jail is to be built, they place themselves in the hands of an ambitious architect. They propose to erect a jail which will be a "credit to the county," and incidentally a monument to themselves; for their respective names and official positions will be deeply and conspicuously graven upon the corner-stone. They know that prisoners huddled together, without outdoor exercise, must be given special facilities for fresh air, cleanliness, the disposition of sewage, etc. They have some idea of the desirability of restricting the association of prisoners. The real needs fall in happily with their inclination; and the architect, with a fee in view proportionate to the cost of the building, helps matters along by suggesting this and that improvement and addition. Above all, the new jail must be an imposing piece of architecture as seen from the outside. It is here that boards of State Charities and other general officers having an advisory supervision over the erection of jails must bear their share of the blame. In the desire to encourage the building of jails in which due provision may be made for the physical and moral welfare of prisoners, we are prone to encourage the installation of an excessive amount of apparatus, often at an extravagant cost.

Jails constructed by either class of local officers are likely to fall under practically the same conditions after a little use. Those which are primitive in arrangement are gloomy, damp, filthy, and filled with noisome odors, while the prisoners are in promiscuous association. These conditions might be much improved by a vigorous and intelligent administration, but that is not to be had.

On the other hand, the jails which are equipped with all the latest devices of sanitary science run a rapid course of degeneration, and soon reach a condition little, if any, better than that of those devoid of such equipment. Recklessness and ignorance on the part of prisoners and jailers, and a disinclination to attend to the details of work which are necessary in the proper use of sanitary or safety appliances, play havoc with the achievements of science. Heating equipment quickly gets out of repair, and remains so permanently. Ventilating apparatus becomes choked so as to be useless, or the contrivances for regulating the air currents are ignored or are broken

and never replaced. Drain-pipes are clogged, and continue for months, sometimes for years, unopened. Water-pipes become leaky, and the water is shut off pending repairs which may never be made. Flush tanks in closets get "out of fix "; and the closets go unflushed, though not unused. Reservoir tanks in the attics are allowed to get dry and leaky, and are never used again. Bath-rooms are abandoned because the water-heaters burn out and repairs are not made, or because the drain-pipes are closed and nobody takes enough interest to clear them out. Sewer gas fills the building, and no one knows what it is or has the interest to look into the cause. Systems of lever-locks, by which the jailer may lock or unlock any cell from outside the prisoners' cage, fail to operate, with the result that the cells are left always open. Food elevators refuse to run; and the boys are brought down and turned in with the men, to save carrying food upstairs, or perhaps the women are brought into one tier of cells in the men's department, in hearing, if not in sight of the men, for the same reason. The complex and costly contrivances designed to facilitate the proper administration of the jail thus contribute, under actual conditions of operation, to defeat that purpose. Many a jail have I inspected in which expensive and complicated equipment has thus contributed directly to the creation of intolerable conditions. Without such equipment, prisoners and officers know that what is done they must do themselves; and the duties, being simple, require little intelligence or skill. With the equipment, too much reliance is placed upon machinery, and not enough upon brain and brawn.

We may venture the hope that in time to come our jail systems may be so changed that officers in charge will be selected because of personal fitness and experience. Until then we must compromise with our wishes, and build our jails to fit existing conditions. By careful observation we must determine to what extent improved sanitary and safety devices may be successfully introduced. We shall find it necessary to sacrifice ingenuity and delicacy to strength and simplicity. It will be found better to have a few conveniences which are appreciated and easily managed than many with consequent neglect. We must build with a view to durability and solidity. If a malicious prisoner sees nothing which, by its apparent weakness, invites destruction, his destructive tendencies will be discouraged The careless or reckless prisoner will then no longer be a source of endless expense for repairs. Escapes, which are constantly made

possible by reason of the weakness of what are meant to be improved appliances for health or comfort, will be greatly reduced in frequency.

With the ignorant or indolent officer in mind, let us make the number of different duties placed upon the jailer as small as possible; and those which are essential let us so magnify, by our methods of construction, that they cannot be neglected without results immediate and disastrous. There are many competent and conscientious men in charge of jails, but their tenure of office in the greater part of the country is short. Their successors may be incompetent or indifferent to duty. Like a chain, a governmental system is no stronger than its weakest part. While searching and hoping always for competency, we must prepare, for incompetency. Let us so contrive in our jail building that, in his search for the easiest way of performing his work, the jailer will find the right way.

IV.

Epilepsy.

COLONY CARE OF THE EPILEPTIC.

BY H. C. RUTTER, M.D.,

MANAGER OF HOSPITAL FOR EPILEPTICS, GALLIPOLIS, OHIO.

The Ohio Hospital for Epileptics at Gallipolis, Ohio, is the pioneer institution of its kind in the United States. A brief history of what it has accomplished, with a word as to its future hopes, will be of greater interest than any personal opinions or theories I could. present.

The problem of providing proper accommodations for epileptics of all classes, especially for those with unsound or defective minds, has engrossed the attention of persons interested in nervous and mental diseases for many years. In Ohio, as far back as 1879, a bill for the establishment of a separate institution for their accommodation and treatment almost became a law, passing one branch of the legislature. Not, however, until 1890 was a law enacted providing for the establishment of a hospital for epileptics and epileptic insane. All epileptics resident in Ohio are eligible for admission to this institution up to the measure of its capacity, each county being entitled to a number proportionate to its population. No discrimination is made on account of mental condition, age, or sex.

The buildings, as originally planned, consisted of stone cottages, having a capacity of 50 beds each, located symmetrically about a group of executive buildings and connected by tunnels with a central power-house, which was to furnish heat and light for all, and a central kitchen and bakery, flanked by two congregate dining-rooms, one for each sex. The whole group, with estimated accommodations for 1,000 patients, was planned so compactly as to cover scarcely more than 25 acres, leaving the balance of 100 acres of the