black bile. The belief that this type of sickness would respond to
conventional treatment, however, did not completely dominate the
theories on insanity; some seventeenth-century authorities considered
insanity not an illness but an incurable, disgraceful condition.

One of the fullest accounts of a case of insanity in
seventeenth-century Virginia describes the plight of poor John Stock of
York who kept "running about the neighborhood day and night in a sad
distracted condition to the great disturbance of the people." The court
authorities ordered that Stock be confined but provided such "helps as
may be convenient to looke after him." The court, in a sanguine mood,
anticipated the day when Stock would be in a better condition to govern
himself.

HOUSING OF THE SICK

If the doctor, surgeon, or nursing persons could come to the patient's
home, little advantage could have been obtained in the seventeenth
century by moving the patient. The need did arise, however, to care for
persons outside the home. For example, an individual without family or
close friends might find it more convenient to move in with those who
would care for him on a professional basis, or newly arrived immigrants
and transients might need housing.

Quite in harmony with the needs of the period were the men and women
willing to take in a sick person in order to supplement their incomes.
Illness forced one colonial Virginian to offer in 1686 to grant his
plantation and his home to the person who would provide a wholesome
diet, washing, and lodging for him and his two daughters. The
beneficiary was also to carry the sick man to a doctor and to pay all
of his debts. It is probable that the man provided these services only
on this particular occasion, but by such special arrangements the
century housed its sick. The number of ill persons provided for by
relatives under similar arrangements or even without any compensation,
must have been even greater in a period without hospitals and nursing
homes.

On occasions, in the seventeenth century, the physician took the
patient into his own home, but not always without some reluctance. Dr.
Wyndham B. Blanton, in his search of the Virginia records for this
century, found an interesting account of Dr. George Lee of Surry
County, Virginia, who in 1676 had an unfortunate experience in letting
accommodations to a pregnant woman. Living in a house she considered
open and unavoidably cold, and having only one o