( 18 )
Ashraff Khán, the criminal lunatic, who was reported last year as having attacked and
severely injured the jamadár, and to have been locked up ever since for security, has been
gradually restored to his liberty, and now he goes about free and unrestrained among the other
lunatics. He has even within the last few weeks been made to consider himself a kind of
Assistant-keeper, and has helped to keep order among the lunatics. He is a man, however, who
requires constant watching. On one occasion, in the hot weather, he refused to leave his
sleeping ward until he had seen me, and I found the reason was that he thought he had been
cheated of his proper quantity of food by the jamadár, whom he still looks upon as his enemy,
and who he believes wishes to kill him. He first asked me the weight of the bread and dál
which he ought to get, and on being told this he brought out the whole of his previous day's
rations, which he had hidden away in a corner untouched, and he requested that it might be
weighed there and then. Fortunately both the bread and the dál, although they had been kept
so long, were rather over the prescribed weight. He was a little crestfallen at the result, but
apparently satisfied, and I have heard no more complaints since. I mention the circumstance
to show what unfounded suspicions occasionally come across the man's mind; and during
these there can be no doubt that he is prepared for any deed of violence, for, while questioning
me about his rations, his whole manner was most excited.
Caste of lunatics.
5. Of the 30 lunatics admitted during the year, 7 were Hindus, 17 Muhammadans, and
6 belonged to other castes.
Sex of lunatics.
6. Twenty-six of the number were males and 4 females.
Types of insanity.
7. The types of insanity were as follows :—
Thirty-six acute mania, 29 chronic mania, 3 melancholia, 13 acute dementia, 23 chronic
dementia, 1 idiotcy, 3 epileptic mania, and 2 not insane.
One of the epileptics has an interesting history. She is a girl of about 8 years of age,
and is said to have been found in the jangle by a man when ploughing his fields, and was
believed by him to be a " wolf-child." When brought to the Asylum, she was extremely
timid, and tried to hide herself in corners; she could not speak, but only uttered a peculiar kind
of whine. When any one went near her or spoke to her she seemed afraid of being struck, and
held up her hands to defend herself. There were some scars on her arms. When food was
given to her, she always smelt it before putting it to her mouth. Great pains were taken with
the child to try and draw out any latent intelligence that might bo in her, but repeated severe
attacks of epilepsy have reduced her to even a lower state of idiotcy than she was in before.
Alleged causes of insanity.
8. Of the alleged causes of insanity 60 were of a physical, and 24 of a moral, nature.
The physical causes were mainly indulgence in intoxicating drugs or
liquors which accounted for 36 of the number, the remaining 24 being
fever and heat. Of the moral causes grief claimed 15, anger 3, fear 2, and loss of property 4.
Cost per head.
9. The cost per head has been still farther reduced this year,
and is now only Rs. 88-15-0.
Buildings.
10. During the year the 5 strong rooms which were being built on the ruins of those
which fell down in the rains of 1875 have been completed. There is
no fear of even the most violent lunatic being able to force his way
out of these.
Treatment and manage-
ment.
11. In the treatment of the insane the chief reliance has been put upon healthy occu-
pation and amusement. After a long struggle, and with every kind of
opposition thrown in the way by the Asylum establishment, I at last
succeeded in starting some manufactures in July last. A small sum of money was advanced by
me to the Deputy Superintendent as a working capital, and with this the necessary materials
were purchased. Since then the lunatics have ground all the wheat used in the Asylum. The
women are chiefly employed in spinning cotton, and some of them spin very well indeed. The
thread made by them is used by the men in making carpets and niwár. Some men are
employed in making twine out of sann, which is afterwards worked into tát mattresses for
the use of the Asylum; others help in the cook-room or the garden, and none are allowed to be