Volume 39, Issue 3, September 2008, Pages 326–337
Abstract
In
the nineteenth century natural history was widely regarded as a
rational and ‘distracting’ pursuit that countered the ill-effects,
physical and mental, of urban life. This familiar argument was not only
made by members of naturalists’ societies but was also borrowed and
adapted by alienists concerned with the moral treatment of the insane.
This paper examines the work of five long-serving superintendents in
Victorian Scotland and uncovers the connections made between an interest
in natural history and the management of mental disease. In addition to
recovering a significant influence on the conduct of several alienists
the paper explores arguments made outside the asylum walls in favour of
natural history as an aid to mental health. Investigating the promotion
of natural history as a therapeutic recreation in Scotland and elsewhere
reveals more fully the moral and cultural significance attached to
natural history pursuits in the nineteenth century.
Keywords
- Natural history;
- Moral improvement;
- Asylums;
- Therapeutics
Copyright © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
