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men whose insanity was ascribed to ganja. Some
refused to answer. But some said their insanity
was due to ganja. I do not think any said it was
not. I do not remember how many said their
insanity was due to ganja. Of course, if such
men got a hint beforehand that I was going to
ask about ganja, they might say ganja, whatever
the facts were. The men I examined were the
sixteen men then shown on my register as ganja
insanes. They were not promiscuously selected.
I have asked other insanes whether they used
ganja outside. They usually say "no," even
those who did use it. I did not ask any other
insane whether his insanity was due to ganja.
The fact that all of those sixteen who answered
said they used ganja, and that other lunatics
denied it even when they had used it, does
not lead me to conclude that the former
had got a hint, for I sent for them one by
one. I am not prepared to say that I knew that
any of those who denied it had really used it out-
side; but I say they would deny it even if they
had used it.
On the whole, then, I think that when the
police ascribe insanity to ganja it may be fairly
accepted as reliable.
When a man is received at the asylum, I receive
with him the medical certificate and descriptive
roll. The cause is entered in the general register
from the police statement, i. e., from the descrip-
tive roll. We have nothing whatever to do with
it. It is entered by the overseer in charge of the
asylum, and ought to correspond with the entry
in the descriptive roll. I compare it when the
page of the case book is being prepared. I never
compare the entry in the general register. Where
the descriptive roll showed that the man was
addicted to ganja, but that the cause was "un-
known," "unknown" should be entered in the
general register and case book. For these books
are filled up when the man comes in. I never
alter any entry in the general register. The state-
ments of the annual report are prepared from the
general register by the asylum overseer.
I have no doubt that the statement* of asylum
procedure given by the witness, Betha Ram Surma,
asylum overseer, is quite accurate. If the Super-
intendent tried to keep the register, it would be
constantly in arrears when he was out; so the
overseer must be held responsible. I certainly do
not approve of the procedure described. I think
that, whatever is entered in the papers, should be
put on the books; and nothing should be altered
except by the Superintendent. The thing goes
on now as it did. There is no order for change.
But if I found out that such alterations were
made I should have forbidden it. I have no
reason to think that the register entries are at
present more in accord with those of the descrip-
tive rolls than they were in 1892, for the two men
are the same.
I think that the register entries are inaccurate
as they stand. The entries of the descriptive rolls
should have been copied. It is wrong to enter
cause merely from the statement of habits in the
descriptive roll. If, on the other hand, the over-
seer were to alter an entry from enquiry from the
lunatic, that would make the entry in the register
more accurate if the original entry were "un-
known." I think the lunatic's opinion as to
what made him insane would be well worth
having. If the man admitted the use of ganja it
would be nothing; but if he attributed his insanity
* Read over to witness.
to ganja it would be of value. I do not think we
ever discover the cause of insanity in the asylum,
therefore we never alter the heading in the regis-
ter. The register does not concern me in the very
least as far as the point of cause goes. There are
no typical symptoms of hemp drug insanity. We
never diagnose the cause in the asylum. The
diagnosis of cause is wholly based on information
received in the descriptive roll. We have nothing
to say to it once the man is admitted.
I sometimes make enquiries as to cause, such as
asking a man about his habits, and so on, for my
own satisfaction in regard to the case before me.
But I make no record of them at all.
I think the "general register" of the asylum
very inaccurate, and that any return prepared
from it would be very inaccurate. Even if the
entries in the register had corresponded with those
in the descriptive rolls, I think the returns would
not form a sound scientific basis for any theory
regarding the connection of hemp drugs with in-
sanity. There is nothing scientific about it. At
the very best the information is from miserable
units, the police enquiry or the statements of luna-
tics themselves at the best.
The views that I have set forth regarding in-
sanity of a permanent nature resulting from hemp
drugs are based solely on my asylum experience
and my knowledge of the effects of these drugs.
My opinion, based on asylum experience, is that
insanity of a permanent type may be produced by
ganja. The asylum experience I refer to is my
conversation with lunatics every day. Some of
the hopeless cases in the asylum are, so far as I
can judge or ascertain, truly ganja cases. I base
this on the statement of the lunatic alone. This
is the sole basis of my opinion as to the cause;
and I know one case of permanent insanity where
the lunatic says it was due to ganja. There is no
other case.
In regard to the effects of the drugs, I mean
what I have seen in people taking the drugs just
as I know the effects of alcohol. I have never
seen a man actually take the ganja, although I
have tried to get people to do so. I have only
had the statement of the man himself as to having
taken the drug. This experience is outside the
asylum. I have not had the cases for observation
for any length of time, not more than half an
hour. The result of any observation is that he is
like an ordinary drunken man. He yells and
shouts and gesticulates wildly, and is often violent
to those about him. I have never heard of any
of these cases becoming insane.
My own personal experience, therefore, does
not prove to me that the drug causes insanity. I
never saw any man take the drug; and I never
had a man sufficiently long under observation to
see the development of insanity. I do not think
I could distinguish between the intoxication of
liquor and ganja from the appearance of the man.
Smell of course would show. I think a little
touch of dhatura would not be at all unlike ganja
intoxication. Dhatura might lead to insanity. I
had a case of a man in Sylhet who became insane
from dhatura. I do not think that dhatura
insanity could be distinguished from ganja in-
sanity. But it would be possible to diagnose
dhatura intoxication from hemp drug intoxication.
The dhatura case above referred to had gone past
the intoxication stage and become chronic.
My statement as to there being no case of a
female whose insanity is due to ganja is based on
a census I caused to be made in the asylum.
I
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