30
RANGOON LUNATIC ASYLUM.
[Part I.
Statistics.
STATEMENT No. XXV.
Daily average number
...
...
...
Per cent. of average
strength.
Admitted
...
...
...
...
...
Discharged
Cured ...
...
...
...
Improved
... ... ...
Otherwise
...
... ...
Deaths
...
...
... ... ...
Total discharges and deaths
... ... ...
1872.
36.5
235.6
84.9
5.4
0.0
13.7
104.1
1873.
81.67
135.9
50.2
15.9
0.12
11.0
78.3
Restraint.
Each criminal lunatic had separate accommodation. Neither solitary con-
finement nor mechanical restraint was employed during the year.
Employment.
The majority of the inmates (69.71 per cent.) were kept constantly em-
ployed—
Every lunatic who showed any readiness to work has had some occupation. The principal
work of the men has been in the arrangement of the grounds required to make them habitable,
safe, and properly drained and levelled ; for these purposes large masses of earth have been
moved to fill up hollows and protect the buildings from water in the rainy season, and
quantities of bricks and rubbish have been gathered up and removed. This work is far from
completed and must occupy still another year owing to the great extent of the place. The
women have been employed in wheat-grinding and in picking and spinning cotton.
Buildings.
About Rs. 1,500 worth of necessary work was thus accomplished by the
lunatics. Considerable progress was made with the buildings and enclosure
walls. The women's ward has been surrounded by a wall of 12 feet high.
The western portion has been nearly completed, enclosed by a pucca wall 8
feet high. The criminal quarters and its enclosure wall have advanced and the
separate quarters for ordinary lunatics completed. The remodelling of the
barracks for males was being proceeded with, but the alterations in the hospital
had not been commenced.
Garden.
A garden is being gradually developed and trees are being planted in
various directions.
Finances.
On the subject of cost, the Superintendent premises that " a new institu-
tion, and especially one so extensive, must cost more in outfit, watching, &c.,
than the older and more compact asylums." Each inmate cost Rs. 100-13-10,
but the item " clothing" was, of course, very heavy, as a complete new outfit
had to be procured, and this expense will not appear in next year's accounts.
So with establishment, as the inmates increase, the cost will necessarily lessen.
Each diet cost Rs. 30-11-4. Only five inmates were maintained by their relatives.
Diet.
The diet was as follows:—Atta 12 chittacks, dhal 2 chittacks, ghee 1¼
seer per 100 persons, salt 12½ chittacks per 100, and spices 1 anna's worth
per diem. This, it is stated, proved to be sufficient for the generality of
lunatics; besides the above, it was necessary to give such extras as soups and
country wine to the sick and weakly.
Furniture.
Each inmate is supplied with a wooden bedstead with a mattress or tât
to lie upon.
Inspection.
Deputy Surgeon-General C. M. Smith, F. R. C. S., inspected the asylum
on March 6th. His report is accompanied by a plan, and he remarks :—
If this plan be compared with the plans submitted with my former report, it will
show how extensively the original design has been altered and modified. I append a report
from the Civil Engineer containing an account of the work that has been in progress during
the year, involving an expenditure of Rs. 39,762, and though much still remains to be done,
it shows how extensive the destruction of the old pucca buildings has been, and that each of
them has had to be remodelled, i. e., rebuilt, so that now scarcely a vestige of the old
materials remain.
The various alterations &c., are thus described in detail, and Dr. Smith
observes concerning the present state of the asylum—
With such a state of incompleteness in the buildings of the asylum, it has been im-
possible to introduce anything approaching to proper classification and discipline among the
lunatics, and I regret to be obliged to call attention to the warning contained in my previous
report regarding the non-isolation of the female lunatics, as the fear I then expressed has
been unfortunately realized, and one of the female patients is now enceinte.
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The criminal lunatics are still unprovided with any distinguishing dress. They are
allowed to mix freely with the other inmates, and are employed in out-door work. The only