3
80, Europeans and Eurasians 56, Native Christians 11 and other castes 36, the
corresponding figures for the previous year being 173, 105, 68, 22 and 24,
respectively.
Statement No. IV treats of the occupation of those admitted. Labourers
furnished the largest number of admissions, viz., 37, mendicants coming next with
36, artisans and domestic servants 30 each, soldiers 27, merchants and traders
17, and clerks and cultivators 16 each. In 35 cases the previous occupation
was not reported, and 47 were said to have had no occupation. The remainder
in small numbers belonged to various occupations.
Statement No. V.—With regard to ages, 25 were under 20 years on admis-
sion, 260 were between 20 and 40 years, 65 between 40 and 60 years, and one
was above 60 years.
Statements Nos. VI and VII give the various types and causes of insanity
among the lunatics treated. Mania, as usual, was the form of insanity most
frequently met with, accounting for 701 cases. The numbers treated for
melancholia were 312, dementia 161, idiocy 68, delusional insanity 53 and mental
stupor 5. Specific causes were assigned in 698 cases, of which 555 were physical
and 143 moral, as compared with 576 and 130 in the previous year. Of the
physical causes, the use of intoxicating drugs and over-indulgence in spirituous
liquors, previous attacks, fever and mental trouble accounted for most of the
admissions. The cause of insanity was unknown in 609 cases against 581 in
1906. Unknown causes still figure largely in the returns owing to the
difficulty of obtaining an accurate history of the individual insanes, a great
number of whom are either mendicants or have no friends to give an account of
them or of their previous habits.
Statement No. VIII gives the cash accounts of the Asylums. The total
expenditure amounted to Rs. 2,28,833-2-10, as compared with Rs. 1,97,345-2-2
in 1906. If the sums received from paying patients and from the sale of goods
to the public and those made over to the Asylums for Asylum purposes, &c., be
deducted, the net cost would be Rs. 1,65,902-14-0 against Rs. 1,42,165-3-10 in
the previous year. The increase was mainly due to a larger amount having
been spent on works done by the Public Works Department, viz., Rs. 29,131-0-11
against Rs. 13,745-8-11 in 1906. The increased charges on diet, bedding and
clothing and medicines are attributable to the larger number of insanes treated
during the year.
Statement No. IX is a return of the sanctioned establishment as it stood on
31st December 1907. The monthly cost amounted to Rs. 6,125-8-0, as compar-
ed with Rs. 5,538-8-0 in 1906.
Statement No. X shows the results of manufactures in the Asylums, which
yielded a profit of Rs. 3,997-8-11, as compared with Rs. 3,242-6-3 in 1906. The
average number of insanes employed on manufactures was 332.3 (275.7 males
and 56.6 females) against 342.0 (284.5 males and 57.5 females) in the previous
year.
6. The official visitors were regular in their attendance, and I have much
pleasure in reporting that the Superintendents of the Asylums conducted their
duties with zeal and ability.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
J. P. GREANY, M.D., Surgeon-General, I. M. S.,
Surgeon-General with the Government of Bombay.