The Meteor was written, printed, and published by the patients of Bryce Hospital. Its original purpose was for the benefit of the patients and to explain the practical operation of the institution to its patrons. Later, it intended to inform the friends and patrons of the hospital, state newspaper editors, and state legislators of the conditions and purposes of the Hospital. It was designed to provide something for everybody. The newspaper was named The Meteor because meteors come as a surprise, appear at irregular intervals, and have brilliant though short, temporary careers. The paper was also meant "to glow with a kindly and generous sentiment to all mankind." It appeared quarterly for five years and then became a "semi-occasionally" because the printer and editor, "disgusted with the succession of years that still found them at the Hospital, determined . . . to print a number only when inclined to do so." The editor also surmised that people would not expect a regular publication from a hospital patient. The Meteor is an entertaining paper, containing both light, amusing articles and serious, instructive essays. There are intelligent examinations of philosophical issues of the day (e.g., Darwinism); psycho-medical discourses on insanity; news of activities, social events, amusements, and of recent construction and newly acquired equipment; critiques of patient-acted plays; biographical sketches of staff members and others; a couple of personal want-ads (e.g., "Wanted: A Wife For A Certain Official of the . . . Hospital . . ."); rich descriptions of life on the ward and, in "Strolls Around the Hospital," of the rapids of the Warrior River, the peach and plum orchards, the woodlands, the blackberry patch, and the hickory nut grove. Short, whimsical articles may question the relationship between love and insanity or draw the line between sanity and insanity as the ability to mind one's own business. In the same issue may appear an analysis of integrity. Besides articles on the value of occupations and recreations for patients, blurbs on various farm productions (e.g., so many Touloose goose eggs were laid during the season) are used as fillers. A question and answer section replies to queries such as "Is Friday really an unlucky day?" with "Yes, but chiefly for persons condemned to be hanged." One item advises visitors, although always welcome, not to view patients as part of a menagerie. Another informs female patients about how a male patient felt at a dance when he was refused dances twice in a row. A few letters to the editor are rather plaintive, as from a patient who describes himself as a victim of mind-reading and nerve-vexing, but some joke with the editor about his various comments; e.g., the nature of women, etc. The description of the "invasion" of the Hospital by the Alabama Press Association is especially funny. Included also are a description of newspapers published in Tuscaloosa, periodic reports of Dorothea Dix's activities, and comments about Dr. Bryce, other staff and Board members, and prominent visitors. In summary the Meteor combined bright, entertaining treatments of subjects and activities which portray experiences at Bryce with serious commentaries which interestingly reflect some of the philosophical, cultural, and medico-psychological thought of the time.
