It has several times happened to me during the earlier years of my asylum experience, to observe the occurrence of what appeared to be extensive bruises in the persons of feeble and helpless patients, who were in the hands of skilful and attentive nurses, and in whom such occurrences perplexed not less than they shocked me; as I am now distinctly convinced that these appearances were not owing to external injuries, as I can find them nowhere alluded to in books, and as their repetition is calculated to lead to unfounded suspicions, I think a few observations respecting them appropriate for the pages of this Journal