machine that forms the worm. Finally, the groove in the head is cut, and the work is complete. The perfect, undeviating regularity with which each separate piece of mechanism performs its part, in harmony with the rest, forming hundreds of screws Successively, and all of perfect shape, is truly wonderful; nor do I recollect to have seen any manufacturing establishment in the United States, that gave me more interest than the screw factory at Taunton. XV.-TAUNTON LUNATIC ASYLUM. AFTER a pleasant walk with a companion to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, which is one of the prettiest in Massachusetts, we resolved, as I was provided with a letter of introduction from my quaint old friend the Dorchester postmaster, to pay a visit to the Insane Hospital, in the suburbs of Taunton,-an institution said to be the finest and best conducted in the country. I was courteously received by the chief medical superintendent, Dr. Choate, and shown through the various wards by his assistant, the surgeon, who seemed to have great influence over the unhappy patients. The men's department-which I visited first-is divided into an upper and lower section; the first appropriated to those, whose friends pay for their maintenance, the latter to those, who, being unprovided for, are supported by the State. On each side of the corridors are the patients' bedrooms, with bathrooms supplied with hot and cold water, and all the modern improvements for warming, ventilation, and cleanliness. Everything, in short, seemed done that could alleviate the maladies of the patients. I perceived, however, the same whimsical characteristics in the inmates here as at South Boston. One I noticed, of gentlemanly mien, clad in a gaily figured dressing-gown, who kept himself aloof from the rest, as if it were beneath the dignity of so great a personage to notice them :—“ such a trait," remarked the surgeon, "is common with patients of every grade, however humble, but this unfortunate is truly of good and wealthy family. His case, however," continued he, "is not so pitiable as that of those yonder moping, disconsolate patients, who sit listlessly for hours, never heeding the entrance of visitors, or the strange vagaries of their companions." Another unfortunate he pointed out, who seemed to have free ingress and egress, of the wards-in fact, much more liberty than the rest; and I was told that he was an inveterate drunkard, who, when he had the opportunity, would drink himself into a maniacal frenzy, and that, consequently, his friends had placed him here that he might be out of the reach of those stimulants which had proved his bane. I could not help thinking within myself, how many in my own country would be benefitted by a similar discipline; and I really do W B wonder, that while idiots, deaf and dumb, blind people, and lunatics have been so nobly provided for, no effort has yet been made to establish an institution for reclaiming confirmed drunkards. A third patient was shown, who had arrived (a few hours before my visit) in a light waggon; and so violent had he been during the transit, that it had been necessary for four men to hold him, though he was strapped down to the vehicle. Immediately on his arrival, however, Dr. Choate ordered him to be set free, and placed in a ward already occupied by about forty others, when he became perfectly docile, sat down quietly, answered the questions put to him by his inquisitive companions, and conversed apparently with as much rationality as if he had never been subject to restraint; a satisfactory proof this, how much more can be done by moral suasion than physical coercion. The only other case that I shall notice, was one of a wealthy young American gentleman, whose insanity had been brought on by intense religious excitement of the kind called Spirit-rapping. When we entered his ward, our ears were saluted with a volley of abuse, directed to the surgeon, and bitter complaints as to his treatment and needless confinement; and our guide's little attention to him only the more exasperated his indignation. In fine, he grew quite furious, and threatened to dash my conductor's brains against the wall, unless his wrongs were redressed. Hereupon the surgeon promised to intercede for more indulgence, but at the same time, he gave the excited patient a severe penetrating glance, which at once cowed his courage, and brought him to a state of tranquil obedience; nor had we proceeded far in our walk, before he came back to ask the medical gentleman's pardon for the outrage with which he had threatened him. Little hope, I was told, could be entertained of his ultimate recovery. Our next visit was to the women's department-the arrangements of which nearly resemble those of the male. The first patient that met my eye was a young girl, who was crying and moaning most piteously; and I was informed, that this was a very common indication of female insanity-a sort of monomania, for which no cause could be assigned, but which did not fail to awaken the curiosity and sympathy of her fellowsufferers. The most affecting case, however, that has ever yet come under my notice, was that of a young lady, confined to her bed in a little room apart from the rest. She was only about nineteen, but, though so young, at the point of death. When we entered, she partly turned round, and her countenance bore, as is not unusual in such cases, the impress of returning reason prior to dissolution. The surgeon felt her pulse, and whispered in my ear, that she was sinking fast; nor could I help thinking how this bud of fair promise had been blighted-how the joy of her family and friends had been turned by her infirmity into poignant sorrow. I was pleased, however, to see what kind and affectionate attentions she received from her unhappy companions in confinement, and what care they took to bring her daily, fresh bouquets of wild flowers to adorn her dying bed-a plain proof, that even though the lamp of reason burn dim, the affections and sympathies still continue undiminished in warmth and power. "The anxiety of those around her," said my guide, "has daily been more intense, nor scarcely can I enter the ward without being led to the poor girl's bedside; for these unfortunates imagine, like some sane persons, that our art can accomplish miracles. However," added he, "her sufferings will soon be over, for the pulse already is nearly imperceptible, and the unerring sign of returning reason leaves but little doubt of her speedy death." I inwardly prayed that the Almighty might take her to himself, and left as deeply affected as the surgeon, who was a most humane and feeling officer: this affecting scene is touchingly pourtrayed in the following sonnet :which was written impromptu by a kinsman of my own, to whom I had mentioned the circumstance, and which now appears in print for the first time. Upon a couch she lay-young, sick, and pale, She who had trod the hill and flow'ry dale A village Flora, wandering by the stream; The lustre from her bright blue eye was fading, |