This article offers a review of John Conolly's book of 1847 concerning the construction and administration of asylums for the mentally ill, which gives detailed advice on the selection and management of staff and remarks on the role of the medical superintendent.

High Royds Hospital was the third of four large hospitals built by the WestRiding of Yorkshire County Council to accommodate ‘pauper lunatics'. Thehospital was designed by the county engineer J. Vickers Edwards, work beganin 1884 and the hospital was opened in 1888. Pavilions were arranged in anechelon formation with the administrative block, which included a tower andclock, at the centre and the service area behind, the whole linked bycovered corridors. There were wards designated for the care of patients withepilepsy and other special groups. Subsequently there were many additions tothe hospital which included an infirmary, long-stay wards detached from thehospital and a ‘neurosis unit’ built in the modern style in 1938.

A rating scale for depression, intended for international studies of drug treatment, is presented. The reliability between raters differing in training and language was 0·86 (Swedish and English raters) and 0·92 (Swedish and Danish raters); the reliability between two Swedish raters was 0·97. There was a strong correlation between severity of depression as measured on this scale and on a nurses' rating scale (0·87). The correlation with patients' self-ratings of depression was weaker (0·63) but still significant.

Since the formation of the College in 1971 and the introduction of the examination for membership of the College in 1973, preparation of candidates for the examination has been subject to a wide range of influences which have shaped all aspects of psychiatric training. Possibly the most important factor has been the consensus that membership of the College should mark the end of general training and the beginning of specialist training in psychiatry. This is in contrast to some similar diplomas which may be required as an entry qualification to postgraduate medical training (e.g. MRCP) or others which may mark the end of specialist training and be awarded only shortly before achieving consultant status (e.g. MRCPath).

Two separate cases are reported in which a woman believed that her pet dog had been replaced by an identical double. The psychodynamic issues which these reports raise are discussed. In the Capgras delusion the double is usually a key figure in the life of the patient. These reports highlight the fact that this key figure may be a domestic animal.

Forty seven patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) were assessed to ascertain the presence or absence of emotionalism. Thirty eight per cent of the sample reported being more tearful since the onset of PD than previously. Five patients (10.6%) were found to exhibit emotionalism according to specified criteria. Emotionalism in PD is not solely associated with lowered mood or global cognitive impairment.

An example of folie à deux with an uncommon clinical picture is presented. It concerns two spinster sisters, with no past psychiatric history, who became simultaneously manic while on holiday. The “Principal” was clearly deluded; the “Associate” shared these abnormal beliefs. After recovery and eighteen months later, one became depressed and the other shared her suicidal ideas, but this time the roles of the “Principal” and “Associate” were reversed. The shortcomings of the ICD10 and DSM-IIIR in classifying this syndrome are highlighted.