The Royal Commission appointed two years ago to inquire into
the law and treatment of lunacy issued its report last week. It makes a great advance along the line of the theories that lunacy is generally a curable illness and not to be clearly differentiated from physical illness, and that certification should not be the first step towards treatment, but the last resort when treatment has failed. The Commissioners recommend changes and extensions of the duties of local authorities and visitors, and that the cost of maintenance of detained persons should be transferred from the Poor Rate to the County or Borough Rate ; and the whole administration should be associated with Public Health Administration rather than with the Poor Law. They note the growing reluc- tance of doctors to incur risks at law through certifying persons wrongly, and recommend further protection for the profession.
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