3
Mortality.
The number of deaths fell from 130 in 1909 to 126 in 1910 and 89 in 1911.
The average mortality, however, for these years was high as compared with the
previous triennium, namely 115 against 72. The ratio per cent. of deaths to
the daily average strength was 8.7 as compared with 12.8 in 1910 and 13.1 in
1909. The mean death rate to the daily average strength during the three
years 1909—1911 was 11.5 against 7.5 in 1906—1908.
The following table shows the ratio per cent. of deaths to the daily average
strength at the several asylums during 1906—1908 and 1909—1911
respectively:—
Colába
...
E.
I.
Naupáda, Thána ...
Ratnágiri ... ...
Poona ... ...
Dhárwár
...
...
Ahmedabad
...
Hyderabad
...
...
1911.
Males.
10.1
2.5
23.6
2.4
3.9
1.4
4.6
9.0
Females.
...
6.6
11.3
...
8.2
...
5.5
...
Total.
6.3
4.0
211
1.8
4.7
1.1
4.8
8.3
1910.
Males.
9.2
3.9
25.9
3.8
6.8
5.9
5.8
12.3
Females.
...
7.1
56.6
4.0
16.2
...
...
...
Total.
6.0
5.0
31.1
3.9
8.5
4.5
4.9
11.5
1909.
Males.
...
6.9
28.0
...
10.7
4.4
7.0
12.7
Females.
...
5.0
37.0
10.8
3.8
4.8
10.4
...
Total.
...
6.2
30.0
2.9
9.3
4.5
7.6
11.9
Mean of Triennium,
1909-1911.
Males.
4.1
3.9
25.6
2.5
6.8
4.4
5.8
11.3
Females.
...
7.0
84.4
38
7.6
...
5.3
...
Total.
3.0
5.0
27.4
2.8
7.0
3.3
5.7
10.5
Mean of Triennium
1906 -1908.
Males.
...
6.4
7.0
2.8
11.4
4.6
7.0
10.9
Females.
7.8
5.5
4.9
11.0
8.3
9.7
5.2
25.0
Total.
2.9
6.1
6.9
5.1
10.7
5.9
6.7
12.1
From these figures it will be seen that Naupáda has by far the largest
mortality of any of the asylums. Something of this is due to the condition of
the patients on admission, many of whom have been obtaining a precarious living
by begging in Bombay and are admitted in varying stages of debility, but,
allowing for this, the death rate is very high. It was swollen in 1909 by an
outbreak of Cholera, but in 1910 and 1911 also the number of deaths was large.
Diseases of the bowels are very prevalent and the exact cause has not yet
been ascertained. An enquiry into this is now going on. The situation of the
Asylum has nothing but its proximity to Bombay to recommend it. It is
water-logged in the time of the S. W. Monsoon and the very heavy rains and
continual damp render it a most undesirable place for the treatment of insanes
who stand such conditions badly. Pneumonia and tuberculosis cause a number
of deaths each year and Malaria is very common.
Of the 210 deaths which took place at this asylum during the triennium
there were 41 from Cholera, 44 from Diarrhœa, 20 from Dysentery, 21 from
Pneumonia, 15 from Tubercle of lungs and bowels, 49 from fever and debility
and 10 from other causes. Of these, 29 deaths occurred among persons who
were admitted in a very bad state of health and died within a month of their
admission and 25 occurred among persons who were old and weakly.
The mean death rate at the other asylums was low as compared with the
previous triennium.
STATEMENT No. II.
Criminal Lunatics.
5. The total number of criminal lunatics confined in the several asylums
in the year 1911 was 201—males 190 and females 11—as compared with 196—
males 181 and females 15—in 1910 and 199—males 181 and females 18—in 1909.
The average population for the three years was 184 males and 15 females
against 168 males and 22 females for 1906—1908. The daily average strength
was 161.5 against 153.6 in 1910 and 156.5 in 1909, the mean strength for the
triennial period under review being 157.2 as compared with 141.0 for the
previous period.