4
STATISTICAL RETURNS OF THE LUNATIC ASYLUMS.
5. These conditions have not yet arrived in Madras ; but with the
advent of industrialism, the spread of education, and the increase in the
competition for this world's goods, they will come in time ; when their
time comes, we must be prepared for an increase in the incidence of lunacy
in the Madras Presidency just as striking, but just as fundamentally unreal
as the extraordinary increase in the lunacy figures in Europe during the
nineteenth century. The times and conditions change, but the men
remain the same—the old adage notwithstanding.
6. A faint foreshadowing of such a change was indicated by
Mr. Molony when he pointed out the high rate of insanity amongst the
Brahmin community, as compared to other sects of Hindus. Here it is
obviously a question of standard. The Brahmin works with his brains
rather than with his hands, and the line between the mentally efficient
and mentally inefficient is drawn at a higher' level.
7. A striking fact brought out in the census report is that in 1901
79 per cent. of all the lunatics in England were under treatment in various
institutions, whereas in Madras in 1911 only 9 per cent. of those actually
returned as insane were so treated, and the proportion to the total of the
mentally disordered (of whom those returned as insane probably only
represent a fraction) would be, of course, much less. This difference is
partly due to the fact that the people of Madras have not yet recognised
the value of institutional treatment in mental disease, and partly to the
reluctance the people feel in removing their afflicted relatives from the
family circle, especially if these relatives are females.
8. Unfortunately, no statistics of the incidence of insanity amongst
the Europeans resident in Madras Presidency are available. It might be
expected on a priori grounds that the rate would be low ; as the Euro
peans in India are picked men and women, and if they break down
mentally, they return to their own country. In the chief remaining
classes, the incidence was found to be as follows :—
Eurasians (which term includes all people of mixed European
and Indian blood), 415 per 100,000 ; Muhammadans, 34 ; Indian Christians,
26 ; and Hindus generally, 19.
9. The high insanity rate amongst the Eurasian community is
difficult to explain. To some extent it is due to a greater readiness to
return their insanes as such ; and doubtless the unequal battle which the
community has to fight in competition with the Indian leads to numerous
mental casualties. Behind these factors there is probably the funda
mental fact that Europeans cannot colonize or perpetuate their race in the
tropics, that degeneration rapidly sets in, and further that races of mixed
European and Asiatic blood are not, as a rule, a biological success. The
lunacy incidence rate, although high, is by no means exceptional when
looked upon from the European standpoint, and compares favourably with
that of Ireland, where in 1907 five hundred and forty-two persons in
every 100,000 were insane.
10. The number of " unrestrained lunatics " in every 100,000 of the
population was in Madras City, 15 * ; in the North division, 19 ; in the
Deccan or North-west division, 18 ; in the Central division, 14; in the
South division, 18 ; and in the West division, 27. In regard to age—those
under 20 years formed 21.27 per cent. ; from 20 to 40 years, 42.74 ; from 40
to 60 years, 29.12 ; and over 60 years, 6.87.
* In the Census Report the Presidency is divided into (1) the East Coast North division, comprising the
Agency tracts and the districts of Ganjām, Vizagapatam, Godāvari, Krishna, Guntur and Nellore ; (2) the East
Coast Central—Chingleput, Madras, Chittoor, North Arcot, Salem, Coimbatore and South Arcot districts ; (3) the
East Coast South—Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura, Rāmnād and Tinnevelly districts, and Pudukkottai ; (4) the
Deccan—Cuddapah, Kurnool, Bellary and Anantapur districts, Banganapalle and Sandur ; (5) the West—Nilgiris
Malabar, Anjengo and South Canara. I have dealt with Madras city as a separate unit.