Materialism in its Relations to the Causes, Conditions, and Treatment of Insanity.

35 pp. An assessment of the philosophical school of materialism by the superintendent of the New York Asylum for Idiots. Despite the use of the word 'insanity' in the title, this is a work on mental disabilities using philosophical terminology. Wilbur established residential institutions for the mentally retarded (Elm Hill Private School and Home for the Education of Feeble-Minded Youth in Barre, Massachusetts [1848], and the New York Asylum for Idiots in Albany, New York [1851]), and played a large role in the movement for education and care for the mentally retarded and the mentally ill in the United States.