2
10. At the close of 1899 there were 79 criminal lunatics confined in the
Lahore Asylum and 11 in that of Delhi. Thirty-eight others were admitted
during the year, making a total of 128 (118 male and 10 female). These,
arranged according to their classification, are—
Judged incapable of making a defence ... ... ...
Acquitted on the ground of insanity ... ... ...
Became insane while in jail
...
...
...
45
42
41
Of these 6 died, 14 were transferred to the non-criminal class, 6 were
sent back to make their defence, one to jail on recovery, and 101 remained
at the end of the year.
11. The following is an abstract of the types of insanity shown on
admission by those received during the year : —
Idiocy ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....
Mania
Melancholia
Dementia
Epileptic ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....
Other forms ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....
Epileplic ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....
Other forms ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....
Epileptic ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....
Other forms ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....
Delusional insanity
...
...
...
...
...
Declared to have recovered or not yet diagnosed
...
...
7
10
76
3
37
0
9
6
3
12. It may be here stated that nothing is more difficult than to assign
the true cause for the insanity of any patient ; and the Superintendent in
his report notes that " it is notoriously a matter of difficulty to do so correctly
in all cases, but in this country the difficulty is increased a hundredfold.
In 9 out of 10 cases the history obtainable is almost invariably nil, and the
only information afforded is that given in the official " statement" received
with each patient on his admission, and usually compiled from vague police
information. The information given as to the history of the patient's illness,
or of himself and family, is always meagre and usually valueless, and frequently
when any verification is possible, is at variance with that of the statements of
friends and relations or of the patient himself after recovery. Such as it is,
this is usually the only source of information, and that from which the table
given in the statements is necessarily compiled."
13. Sixteen cases were admitted during the year in whom the insanity
was attributed to the abuse of drugs. Physical causes accounted for 55 admis-
sions, and moral causes (grief and others) for 15. In as many as 81 cases the
causes were not known.
14. The following is an abstract of the sickness and mortality among
the lunatics for the past year:—
Remaining in hospital on 31st December 1899
...
...
...
Admitted in 1900
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Total ...
Cured
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Relieved and otherwise ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Died
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Remaining in hospital at end of the year
...
...
...
52
384
436
311
38
50
38
It will be seen from Statement No. I that, with a daily average strength
of 471.89, the daily average sick was 41.93 ; that is, just over 8 per cent.
15. There have been 44 deaths in the present Asylum since its opening,
and 6 occurred in the two old asylums before the patients were transferred
here ; making the total of 50 for the three institutions. This, with an average
daily population of 471.89 for the 12 months, gives a mortality rate of 10.59 per
cent. for the same period, while the daily average sick rate was 41.93, 30.44
of which was for males and 11.49 for females, a difference that does not seem
easy to explain.