services of, or to marry him or her without approval of the board of managers of the institution.

1916 C 320 amending C L 1909 (Penal) C 40 by adding s 1250-a.

Rhode Island.-The name of the Rhode Island School for the Feeble-minded is changed to Exeter School.

1916 C 1381 amending G L 1909 C 103.

Virginia. The duties and powers of the State board of charities and corrections are extended, with special reference to the feebleminded. [For a provision concerning the duties of the board in relation to dependent children, see 1916 C 436, summarized on page 35.] It is now specified that this board shall license and inspect private institutions caring for the feeble-minded and supervise the placing out of feeble-minded children. The board formerly had these duties in relation to dependent and delinquent children, but feeble-minded persons were not specified. Further, the board is now required to visit from time to time all feeble-minded children placed in homes and is given the right to place them elsewhere if the rules laid down by the board are not followed. It is required to keep a register of the feeble-minded; to take such legal steps as may be necessary to protect feeble-minded persons in any town or county; to institute proceedings for commitment and registration of all feeble-minded persons; to give notice and instructions confidentially to parents and guardians of such mentally defective children as are not dependent upon the care of the State and are not a menace to themselves and others. The board is instructed also to deport such nonresidents of Virginia as may be found within the State and liable to become charges upon the State when in the judgment of the court deportation is necessary.

1916 C 104. For duties of State board of charities, see 1908 C 276; 1910 C 289; 1912 C 309; 1914 C 147, 350.

A law concerning the commitment of feeble-minded persons is enacted. Formerly such commitment was subject to the provisions concerning the insane except in so far as special procedure was set forth in the act (1912) governing the colony for feeble-minded white persons or in the act (1914) governing the colony for feeble-minded colored persons. The new law is a substitute for the sections relating to commitment in these acts and includes, with amendments, the special procedure of these earlier acts, incorporates with it certain provisions from the laws governing the insane, and adds certain new provisions. The precedure set forth in the present act is summarized below, and provisions which did not formerly appear in any statute are indicated as new. [It should be noted that the act of 1914 was more detailed than the act of 1912, and certain provisions not desig

nated as new in the following summary applied formerly to colored patients but not to white patients.]

A feeble-minded person is defined [new] as "any person with mental defectiveness from birth or from an early age, but not a congenital idiot so pronounced that he is incapable of caring for himself or managing his affairs, or of being taught to do so, and is unsafe and dangerous to himself and to others and to the community, and who, consequently, requires care, supervision, and control for the protection and welfare of himself, of others, and of the community, but who is not classable as an 'insane person,' as usually interpreted." When a person is supposed to be feeble-minded, any reputable citizen may file a petition with the circuit or corporation court, or, in vacation, with the judge thereof, or before a justice in the city or county in which the alleged feeble-minded person lives, setting forth the facts under oath ["under oath" new] and stating [new] the person's financial condition, and the names and financial condition of the persons, if any, having custody over him, and of his parents, guardians, brothers, and sisters.

The judge or justice shall issue a warrant ordering the alleged feeble-minded person to be brought before him and shall summon as witnesses not only two physicians (one of whom shall when practicable be the family physician of the feeble-minded person and neither of whom shall be related to him) and other persons competent to testify, but also [new] the persons named in the petition. The judge or justice and the two physicians shall constitute a commission to determine whether or not the person is feeble-minded; and, if they find that he is feeble-minded and is not under such care as to insure the welfare of himself and of others, they shall file with circuit or corporation court a written report containing their conclusions and recommendations.

If commission reports that the person is not feeble-minded, he is discharged and the petition dismissed. If he is deemed feebleminded, the court, or the judge in vacation, may appoint a guardian of the feeble-minded person and also the same or a different person as guardian of his property, or he may commit the person to a State institution for the feeble-minded or [new] to a private institution approved by the State board of charities and corrections. Pending admission into an institution the person may be committed to the custody of the city or county superintendent of the poor. The person adjudged feeble-minded has right of appeal to the supreme court of appeals. [Formerly appeal was allowed from unlawful confinement, but court was not specified.]

If person is committed to an institution, the clerk of the court shall send a copy of the order of commitment to the State board of charities and corrections and two copies to the superintendent of the in

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stitution, who shall receive the patient as soon as there may be room. for him. The superintendent shall examine the papers and return them for correction if he discovers any irregularity in the papers or has reason to believe that the person is illegally committed. Upon receiving the patient the superintendent indorses the commitment papers and returns one copy to the court. The superintendent is to be notified of time and place of hearing upon any petition for the removal of the patient or for variations in the order of commitment. [Provisions for filing of papers with State board of charities and corrections and for examination and indorsement of papers by superintendent are new.]

Before being delivered to an institution the patient must be clean, properly clothed, and free from contagious disease, and he must have been successfully vaccinated against smallpox. He shall be delivered, at the expense of the county or corporation from which he is committed, at the nearest railroad station or steamboat landing. The superintendent shall appoint an attendant to conduct the patient to the institution; female attendants [new] shall be provided for female patients. The cost of conveying the patient shall be paid from funds appropriated for his support.

Upon admission to an institution the patient shall be under special observation for not less than two months ["two months" new], and his mentality shall be tested by the superintendent and by an expert approved by the board of directors of the institution. Expert was formerly approved by State board of charities and corrections. If after observation and examination the patient is considered to be not feeble-minded or not a suitable subject for care and treatment, he shall be returned to the city, county, or institution from which he was committed.

The superintendent shall provide training, suitable employment, and [new] such medical and surgical care as may better the condition of the inmates.

Any person maliciously contriving the commitment of a person who is not feeble-minded or any person violating any provision of the act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to fine of not more than $1,000, or to imprisonment for not more than one year, or both [new].

Specific provision [new] is made for transfer of patients from an institution for the feeble-minded to an institution for the insane and vice versa.

Furloughs may be issued by the superintendent, at his discretion, if the cost is met by the inmates granted furloughs or by their friends; and [new] if they can not pay the cost of a furlough the institution may do so.

Voluntary patients may be received by a State institution provided [new] no indigent person who has been committed is thereby denied admission. The receiving of any voluntary patient shall be reported to the commissioner of State hospitals and the special board of directors [of the institution]. Charges for voluntary patients shall be fixed by the commissioner of hospitals and the general board of directors of State hospitals and may not exceed the cost of care, maintenance, and treatment.

Forms for papers used in carrying out provisions of the act shall be prepared by a committee consisting of the superintendents of the State colonies for the feeble-minded, the secretary of the State board of charities and corrections, and the commissioner of State hospitals for the insane.

As soon as room is available at the appropriate institution, no feeble-minded woman of childbearing age shall be received as an inmate of any almshouse [new].

This act includes a provision [given more fully in 1916 C 312, summarized below] concerning examination of prisoners of doubtful mentality, who have been brought before a court for any cause.

Former provisions are repealed only in so far as they are inconsistent with the present act, and apparently any points affecting commitment of the feeble-minded not otherwise specifically provided for are subject to the general provisions concerning the insane.

1916 C 388. For former law governing colony for feeble-minded white persons, see 1912 C 196; for former law governing colony for feeble-minded colored persons, see 1914 C 346. For provisions in law governing the insane not found in either 1912 C 196 or 1914 C 346 but included (with amendments) in 1916 C 388, see Code 1904 ss 1669 as amended by 1910 C 102, 1671-1673, 1675–1677, 1685, 1688, 1690, 1697, 1698 as amended by 1912 C 168, 1699-1702; 1914 C 248. For general law governing the insane, see Code 1904 ss 1660-1713c and the following acts amendatory and supplementary thereto: 1906 C 115, 189; 1908 C 184; 1910 C 102, 319, 320, 321; 1912 C 168; 1914 C 248, 313, 334.

The judge of any court [specifically including the juvenile court] is authorized to direct some officer of the court or other suitable person to institute proceedings leading to inquiry concerning the mental condition of any person brought before the court for any cause, who appears to be feeble-minded. The act provides for care and detention pending inquiry and for observation of mental condition for from 60 days to 6 months, and specifies that in certain cases the test of mentality shall be applied with assistance of expert designated by State board of charities. Former statutes permitted mental examination only of criminals suspected of insanity and of children brought before a juvenile court.

1916 C 312. For juvenile-court provision, see 1914 C 350 s 4; for provisions for criminal insane, see Code 1904 s 1660 as amended by 1910 C 319; s 1682 as amended by 1910 C 320 and 1914 C 313; s 1687 as amended by 1910 C 321; ss 4030-4035. See also 1916 C 388 s 10.

Commitment procedure is eliminated from the act governing the colony for feeble-minded white persons (part of the Virginia State Epileptic Colony). [For present procedure, see 1916 C 388, summarized above.] The following changes are made in provisions of the act:

The relation of this colony to the Virginia State Epileptic Colony in regard to management, records, etc., is more clearly defined. Children not under 8 years of age [and, as formerly, women 12 to 45] are to be given preference in admitting patients to colony. The superintendent is specifically instructed to provide for the training, suitable employment, and medical care of patients. A special teacher for children of school age in the colony is to be provided; these children are to be included in the school census. The superintendent is to employ an expert in making mental examinations to test condition of all patients from time to time and to act with State board of charities and corrections in making such tests as law or board may require. The definition of feeble-mindedness is reworded; it now corresponds to that in the general commitment act [see 1916 C 388, summarized above] except that the clause in that act exempting congenital idiots without defining them is omitted, and the following provision is added: "No feeble-minded person of the class commonly known as 'congenital idiots'—that is, whose mentality is not beyond that of a normal child 2 years old-shall be admitted to the said colony until a separate building has been provided for that class of feeble-minded persons." The former law governing the colony for feeble-minded white persons provided that no congenital idiots were to be admitted.

Feeble-minded males are to be cared for at the State epileptic colony until a separate building can be provided for them at the feeble-minded colony.

1916 C 106 amending 1912 C 196. Compare 1916 C 388.

The act governing the colony for feeble-minded colored persons is amended by eliminating the commitment procedure [for present commitment procedure, see 1916 C 388, summarized above] and by rewording the definition of a feeble-minded person to agree with that found in the commitment act [1916 C 388, summarized above] except that the clause in that act exempting congential idiots (without defining them) is omitted.

1916 C 207 amending 1914 C 346.

The income from the estate of a person committed to a State institution for insane, epileptic, or feeble-minded shall be paid to the steward of the institution for the purchase of extra comforts for the inmate, but must not be applied to the cost of ordinary maintenance. Such payment, however, shall not exceed $200 annually unless specifi