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83. Evidence of SURGEON MAJOR-GENERAL W. F. DEFABECK, Surgeon-General
with the Government of Madras.
Oral evidence.
Question 1.— I am Surgeon-General with the
Government of Madras. I have served in this
presidency and Burma since 1857. All but
twelve years in Burma and three years at home
have been passed in the presidency. When asked
to furnish the names of medical officers in this
presidency who would be competent witnesses re-
garding the hemp drugs, I omitted my own name,
because, though I would willingly have given
evidence, I felt that I was not able to offer a
sufficient amount of evidence from independent
Observation.
Question 45.—My experience is that it is a
very rare thing to meet with any case in which
the hemp drug has caused evil effects on the
health of the population. Apart from insanity,
no evil effects have been brought to my
notice. The statistics of the three lunatic
asylums in the presidency show the connec
- t i o n b e t w e e n t h e h e m p d r u g s a n d i n s a n i t y .
As to whether these statistics are trustworthy,
I should rely entirely on the opinion of the
medical officers in charge of the asylums, with the
exception of certain district officers. Other in-
formation gathered from the Police or other lay
sources I would not accept as reliable. The
statistics of the lunatic asylums are, as I under-
-stand, based on professional opinions. And these
opinions are based on the medical officers’ observ-
-ations in the asylums, the facts furnished by
in sanes in lucid intervals, and the statements of
friends and relatives of the insanes. The medical
officer might get at the information regarding the
hemp drug habit in the same way as he might
ascertain whether the insanity was due to loss of
money or friends, disappointment in love, or
quarrels, so he might find that he had the habit of
charas or ganja smoking. I have never had
charge of a lunatic asylum. The practice which
I have described relative to the enquiry as to
cause of insanity is the practice which I know to
he followed by the Superintendents of Asylums.
In each case in which the cause of insanity is
given in the returns furnished to me, I accept
that cause as based on sufficient data. In cases
where the Superintendent himself has had no
opportunity of examining the friends or relatives
of an insane, and the cause is entered on informa-
tion furnished by the Civil Surgeon, the certify--
ing officer, I should consider the statement of
cause reliable, if the Civil Surgeon had had the
case under observation long enough. Where the
Civil Surgeon had no information, and the cause
was entered on information furnished by the dis
- t r i c t o f f i c e r , I s h o u l d t h i n k t h e s t a t e m e n t o f c a u s e
decidedly reliable in some cases. In the last
category a reliable case would be one in which a
European officer certified the cause from personal
observation or enquiry conducted by himself in
person. I should think a European district officer
would be well acquainted with the products of his
district, and the drugs of the country, and would
therefore he able to form a reliable opinion on the
effects of the hemp drugs in any given case. That
is the reason why I issued a circular to Superin-
tendents of Asylums, directing that when Form
C did not mention the cause of insanity they
should apply to District Magistrates for that in-
formation. I should say that a Superintendent
who considered himself bound to accept the cause
given in Form C, and to enter it in his Register
and annual statement VII as the cause of insanity,
was labouring under a misapprehension. If I found
that the entries in statement VII were based on
Form C, I should not regard them as reliable ;
they might be correct, but they would require
corroborative evidence. If I found further that
the enquiry in regard to cause was never made by
the district officer, but by a Subordinate Magis
-trate or through the Police, I should regard the
cause assigned as much less reliable. As Surgeon
General I have had no opportunity of making
enquiry regarding causation apart from the statis-
tics supplied to me. Diagnosis of hemp drug in-
sanity does not depend solely on history. I con
-sider that it is the duty of the medical officer to
observe the case, and base his diagnosis on the facts
he observes, and those he may elicit from the
insane in lucid intervals.
84. Evidence of SURGEON-LIEUTENANT-COLONEL S. L. DOBIE, Principal Medical
Storekeeper, Madras.
Oral evidence.
Question 1.— I am Principal Medical Store-
- k e e p e r , M a d r a s . I h a v e b e e n o v e r t w e n t y - o n e
years in the service, entirely in this presidency
except when on service. I have been four years in
all in charge of the Madras Lunatic Asylum
(three years and then one). I had an appoint-
-ment in the Hampshire Asylum before I came out
for two months ; and in a large private asylum
in London for seven months in 1877. I have no
other special experience of lunacy. I cannot refer
the Commission to any literature on the subject
of hemp drug insanity. I have never made any
post-mortem examinations of brains, nor can I
refer to any showing whether tissue changes are
found in cases of hemp drug insanity.
Question 45.—I put in printed copies of my
letters to Dr. Warden of 6th and 20th October
1893. I adhere to the views therein expressed as
to the generally untrustworthy character of the
statements of Medical Officers, Medical Subordi--
nates and Magistrates, as to the cause of insanity
(vide letter of 6th October). As to my letter of
20th October, by saying that “I am responsible"
for the entries as to cause, 1 mean that I did not
leave the entry of cause to be made from Form C
by subordinates. Whether I wrote it myself or
not I was responsible that the cause entered was
what I myself decided to be the cause, and not
merely what was entered in the papers. In my
letter of 6th October I say that “I must assure
myself that the cause has been entered in my
own handwriting." When I got to the asylum,
I found that it had not been entered in my hand-
writing in the general register, but in another book
(in an index) in pencil by me : an index in which
names are entered as patients come in. I thought
I had entered it also in the case book, but I had
not done so in all cases I find. I find some such