2
STATISTICAL RETURNS OF THE LUNATIC ASYLUMS
and 60, 23.57 ; and upwards of 60 years, 1.46. A comparison shows that there was
a marked increase in the admission of patients above the age of 60, by 2.17 in the
present triennium over the past, as many as seven patients past the age of 60
having been admitted in the Madras Asylum.
6. Religions, races and castes.—The admissions under Europeans and Eurasians
were 55, Indian Christians 91, Hindus 497, Muhammadans 131 and other
castes 53 and the proportions in percentages were Europeans 6.65, Indian
Christians 11.00, Hindus 60.10, Muhammadans 15.84 and other castes 6.41.
The corresponding proportions for the previous triennium were 11.66, 9.11,
56.86, 16.77 and 5.59, respectively. Hindus as usual form the majority, next in
order are Muhammadans, Indian Christians, Europeans and other castes. The
number of Europeans admitted for the present triennium shows a decrease from
11.66 to 6.65 as compared with the figures of the previous triennium.
7. Previous occupation.—During the triennium under report among the
compulsory male inmates, general labourers formed the largest number admitted,
totalling 131 ; next come those having ' no occupation ' being 104; cultivating
tenants 78. The ' Army Imperial ' accounts for the admission of 47 (39 of these
military insanes were received in Madras Asylum, 7 in Calicut and 1 in Vizaga-
patam), shopkeepers otherwise unspecified were 34, writers unspecified 23,
service of the State 21, cooks and other in-door servants 36, beggars 25. There
were 9 students included under the heading ' no occupation.' Among the male
voluntary admission there were 3 tailors, 1 from service of the State. Of the
compulsory female insanes under the heading ' no occupation ' there were 83,
general labourers were 17, domestic servants 15, beggars 6. There was only
one voluntary admission among female insanes and she was a student.
8. Previous residence.—Among the 55 Europeans and Eurasians admitted
during the triennium 28 resided in Madras, 5 in Nilgiris, 5 in Malabar, 4 in Banga
lore, 3 came from the overseas, 2 from Hyderabad (Deccan) and one from each of
the following places :—Burma, Poona, Bellary, Gōdāvari, Coimbatore, Chingleput
and Tanjore. Of the 91 Indian Christians admitted 36 resided in Madras, 7 came
from the overseas and 8 from the Malabar district. Among the 497 Hindus
treated, 109 were of Madras, 79 of Malabar, 25 of Vizagapatam, 17 of Tinnevelly
and 12 of Trichinopoly. The total number of Muhammadans admitted were 131,
of these 31 were from Madras and 50 from Malabar. Of the whole total
admitted Madras contributed the highest number, namely, 228 (27.57 per cent),
Malabar being next with 148 (16.69). In 1915 two cases were admitted from
the Andamans, 2 from Colombo and 1 from Bhartpur (Jaipur) ; in 1916, 10 cases
were admitted from the Andamans and 1 from the overseas ; and in 1917, 41 cases
were received from the overseas, 2 from Burma and 1 from Poona.
9. Types of insanity.—The principal types of insanity admitted excluding
re-admission in the Asylums during the triennial period under notice were, in their
order of frequency, viz., (i) Mania 424 or 55.28 per cent, (ii) Melancholia 116 or
15.12 per cent, (iii) Delusional insanity 98 or 12.78 per cent, (iv) Dementia 73 or
9.52 per cent and (v) Insanity due to Cannabis Indica 87 or 11.34 per cent on the
total admission. But with reference to the actual number of patients (the total
population) treated, the order of frequency was (i) Mania 1,313, (ii) Dementia 772,
(iii) Melancholia 395, (iv) Delusional insanity 303, and (v) Cannabis Indica 159. The
largest number of admissions were under ' Mania.' A good many cases of dementia
have remained in the Asylum from year to year. This accounts for the high
numbers of this type. There were 73 cases of mental stupor and 4 cases of general
paralysis of the insane treated in the Madras Asylum, while 7 cases of mental
stupor and 3 of general paralysis of the insane in Vizagapatam Asylum during the
present triennium. No case of either of these types of insanity were treated in
the Calicut Asylum. The result of treatment of the above types of insanity is
exhibited in Statement No. VI.
10. Causes of insanity.—The commonest "predisposing causes" oflinsanity
were mental instability as revealed by previous attacks (133 cases) ; hereditary
insanity (93) and critical periods in life such as evidenced by puberty and