281
District Surgeon, and which were sent to the lunatic
asylum on my report.
The last sentence of my written answer refers to
eight patients who came to the Jail Hospital suffer
- i n g f r o m s t r i c t u r e s a n d f i s t u l a s o f l o n g s t a n d i n g
who were reported to be ganja consumers. They
were prisoners. Their being ganja consumers
was brought to my notice by their asking for ganja.
The connection of ganja with these cases was that
the drug had in my opinion been taken by these
persons to relieve pain. It could not of course be
the cause of stricture or fistula. They were satis
- f i e d w i t h t o b a c c o , a n d o p i u m . I a m n o t a l l o w e d
by rule to give ganja in the form in which it is
sold in the bazar, and opium is in my opinion a
safer drug. I am not allowed to give ganja in any
form, but I am allowed to give opium to be eaten,
and I gave it in that form. As Medical Officer in
charge of the Jail Hospital I am not at liberty
to give ganja or tobacco to the patients even as a
mode of treatment without the sanction of the Jail
Superintendent. I have not prescribed the smok
-ing of ganja for tetanus or for any other com-
plaint, but have prescribed the tincture and extract
of Cannabis.
Question 53.—The only case which I know of any
violence or breach of discipline connected with hemp
drugs in the Central Jail during the twelve years I
was in medical charge, was that of Ibrahim Khan,
the sepoy above referred to. The average jail
population for the past year, was 1,200. For
short periods I have acted as Superintendent of
this jail.
91. Evidence of SURGEON-MAJOR H. ST. C. CARRUTHERS, Civil Surgeon and
Superintendent, Lunatic A sylum, Calicut.
Oral evidence.
1. I am in my sixteenth year of service,
and have served in both the Civil and Mili
- t a r y D e p a r t m e n t s . S i n c e 1 8 8 2 I h a v e b e e n a l m o s t
entirely in civil employ. I am Superintendent of
the Lunatic Asylum, Calicut, and am also District
Surgeon. The charge of the Asylum has been
with me for nine months. Before coming to
India I was Resident Medical Officer of the Lunatic
Asylum at Alton in Hampshire for four months.
I have never had my attention specially directed to
the hemp drugs before the present enquiry began.
45. The general register of the Asylum is
written up by the Hospital Assistant in charge
of the papers in the case of each lunatic. I
do not see this register unless I specially call for
it, or special orders are required on any point. I
never have as Superintendent of the Asylum
made any enquiry regarding the cause of insanity,
and there are not, as far as I know, any orders re
-quiring me to make enquiry. The Civil or District
Surgeon is the officer who ought to make any en
-quiry that the medical officer has to make. He is
the officer who signs both Form A and Form C. As
Civil Surgeon I have to enter cause of insanity
in Form C. This cause is often entered as un
-known. I cannot recall the precise orders on
the subject, but as a matter of fact I always do
make enquiries, questioning the insane himself, and
sending to the Magistrate if I cannot make a
shrewd guess as to the cause from my own enquiry.
In referring to the Magistrate I send Form C
marked with crosses opposite the heads under
which I want information. Sometimes I make
general enquiry in the Sub-Jail, asking if the police
or others can furnish any information. But no in
-formation is ever obtainable in this way, and to the
best of my recollection the friends of the insane
never attend. I never go beyond such general en
-quiry in the Sub-Jail. Generally therefore when a
cause is entered in Form C it is entered on the
authority of the Magistrate. When I form an
impression or guess as to the cause, I generally
use the word "probably." An entry made by the
Magistrate on the other hand is always definite as
far as my memory servesme.
Before joining the Asylum I suppose I must
have seen a dozen or so of cases and not more attri
-butable to drugs in the whole course of my service.
The insanity in this district is far greater than in
any district in which I have served, and I do not
think I have seen more than two or three
drug cases here. I include opium, but not liquor,
in the term "drugs" in the above answers. I
think the hemp drug cases generally come from
the wandering mendicant classes of the population.
Regarding typical symptoms of hemp drug insanity
I have rightly or wrongly got it into my head that
there is a peculiar expression on the countenance of
every such insane, which I cannot define, but which
once seen can hardly, I think, be mistaken. This
expression is almost as pronounced as the expres
-sion that is present on the faces of patients suffer
-ing from uterine disease. I think the expression
is absent in cases of insanity from other drugs, that
is, presuming that I have any knowledge of the sub
-ject, which I am prepared to admit I have not.
As far as I have seen, hemp drug insanes are
voluble and excited, and inclined to be a little bit
violent, lapsing into the sulky state. In one or
two cases sent to me for observation I have seen
patients after a few days' restraint reverting into
a perfectly rational condition. These last cases
appear to be cases of intoxication rather than in
-sanity. The type might, I think, be described as
acute mania. I have not the least idea what
the duration of such cases is, as I have had no ex
-perience until recently, the patients only passing
through my hands in my capacity as Civil Sur
-geon. In a case of acute mania, where the typical
expression I have described was present, I should
enter it in the certificate as probably due to hemp
drugs. I do not think I know enough about the
subject to say what circumstances would enable me
to assign hemp drugs definitely as the cause of
insanity.
In cases which come before me, the causes, as I
have said, are generally unknown; where they are
known, the statement of cause is based on facts of
which I am not cognisant and for enquiry into
which I am not responsible, and I therefore accept
them. Should a man be sent to me suffering from
insanity, the result of drink, my impression is that
I should have less hesitation in assigning the cause.
My position as Superintendent of the Lunatic
Asylum requires me to take charge of insanes when
they are sent in and retain them until they are fit
for discharge. I am simply keeper, and incident
-ally medical attendant, and not responsible for any
statements and certificates received with the patient
as long as they are in order. The cause of insanity
is a fact worth knowing for the treatment of the
insane. I therefore keep it in view. But I make