2
(a) Tried and acquitted on the ground of
insanity ... ... ...
(b) Found incapable of making a defence ...
(c) Became insane while
undergoing
imprisonment
...
...
...
42
25
31
5. The criminal population of the Lahore Asylum still keeps increasing,
the number of both sexes at the commencement of the year 1899 having been
71 and at the end of it 79 as against 72 and 71 in 1898. The daily average
strength, however, shows but little fluctuation— 73.51 in 1898, 75.21 in
1899. With reference to the classifi-
cation as given in paragraph 23 of
the report and quoted on the margin,
there would seem to be no doubt
as to the actual existence of insanity in (b) and (c). With regard,
however, to (a), it may be noted that the number of persons acquitted on the
ground of insanity is steadily increasing, the numbers having been 18 in 1896,
39 in 1897, 25 in 1898, and 42 in 1899, which lends color to the supposition
previously expressed that the Courts may be more ready now than formerly to
accept the plea of insanity.
6. The expenditure during the year under review increased by a sum of
Rs. 2,538-14-7, making the average cost per head Rs. 110 against Rs. 107 in
1898. The increase was due to an unusual and apparently unavoidable expendi-
ture on clothing. There was a satisfactory increase of Rs. 743-2-8 in profit
on labour ; but apparently there was no garden work, nor does anything appear
to have been done to afford reasonable amusement to the patients. For the first
time for some years there were no escapes, which, considering the notoriety
the Asylum has had in this respect, speaks well for the watch and ward.
DELHI ASYLUM.
7. In this Asylum also there was an increase of strength, there having
been 133 patients at the commencement of the year 1899 and 138 at the end
of it. The total population also rose from 180 to 196 and the average daily
strength from 130.61 to 139.96.
8. Although the admissions to hospital increased from 47 in 1898 to
89 in 1899, the latter year (the one under review) appears to have been a not
unhealthy one, for the percentage of cures to daily average strength in the two
years rose from 14.55 in 1898 to 20 in 1899, while the percentage of deaths
to the average daily strength fell from 10.71 in 1898 to 5.71 in 1899, the average
death percentage being 10.19.
9. The criminal population of the Delhi Asylum remained at much the
same strength as in the previous year, the daily average having been
11.90 in 1898, 11.31 in 1899. The numbers remaining on the 1st January
and 31st December 1899, respectively, corresponded exactly, the figure being
11 in each case.
10. There were 2 escapes from the Asylum, resulting in recapture in
1 case. There was a small decrease in expenditure, the cost per head falling
from Rs. 89 in 1898 to Rs. 83 in 1899. The profit on manufactures was
much the same as in the year 1898. The Lieutenant-Governor is pleased to
learn that the garden was again worked satisfactorily, but regrets that nothing
was apparently done to provide the patients with amusements.
11. Taking the two Asylums together, His Honor observes that while at the
Lahore Asylum most of the admissions were Muhammadans, at Delhi they were
mostly Hindús. This is probably due to the fact that the Muhammadan
religion prevails in the north of the Punjab and the Hindu religion in the
neighbourhood of Delhi. It is also noticeable that the patients came mostly
from among the following classes:—cultivators, agriculturists, beggars,
labourers and sepoys. Mania and melancholia were the principal types of insanity
admitted. Charas-smoking, toxic and moral causes were the chief pre-
disposing influences.
12. It only remains to add that the year 1899 is the last one for which
the report will embrace the statistics of two Asylums. As noted above, the new
Lunatic Asylum for the whole of the Punjab has been completed and brought
into use, so future reports will deal with it alone.