22
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN BENGAL.
CUTTACK ASYLUM.
Superintendence.
Cuttack.—Surgeon W. D. Stewart was Superintendent during the whole
year.
2. I shall contrast the general results of the past year with the average
annual results of the six years from 1871 to 1876 :—
YEAR.
1871-76
...
...
1877
...
...
Daily
average
strength.
54
49.8
Admitted.
24.16
14
DISCHARGED.
Cured.
8.6
4
Improved.
61
5
Otherwise.
5.6
1
Deaths.
5.6
3
Deaths
per cent.
of mean
strength.
10.37
6.02
Per cent.
of cures
to mean
strength.
15.9
8.03
Per cent.
of cures
to total
admissions.
35.5
28.6
The average strength during 1876 has been 60.7, so that last year it was con-
siderably less, being 49.8. The difference is owing chiefly to the transfer of
15 lunatics at the close of 1876. There were seven fewer admissions than
in the previous year, owing doubtless, as Mr. Stewart remarks, to greater
discrimination being exercised in taking patients into the asylum.
Building.
3. There has been no change in the building during the year. " At 50
superficial feet, 43 patients can be accommodated, but the actual accommo-
dation is more than this, as 12 cells, measuring 86 feet each, are generally
occupied by two men, at a little above 40 superficial feet per man. At 40
superficial feet there is accommodation for 60 patients. Practically this has been
going on for the past six or seven years without detriment to the general health of
the inmates. In jails, where larger numbers sleep together, the superficial area
allowed is 40 feet. In the asylum many of the better behaved sleep in veran-
dahs, thus affording greater space for those who sleep within doors. The
female ward is quite a separate enclosure, with ample accommodation for this
class of patients, who are never in excess. Owing to the fewer admissions and
a smaller population, there was scarcely any overcrowding during the year."
General health.
4. The general health of the inmates has been good since the opening of
the asylum in 1864 ; neither cholera nor small-pox has ever visited it.
Deaths.
5. Of the three deaths which occurred, the first was from debility and
wasting from the presence of intestinal worms; the second fatal case was one
of pulmonary consumption; and the third, one of pericarditis. Mr. Stewart
says that the presence of round worms as a cause of diarrhœa, wasting, and
general low health, has been recognized for years past. " Santonine is given
frequently when suspicion of parasites exists, especially to such as are in the
habit of eating earth, whose appetites are ravenous, who are disposed to
sickness, and who afford other signs indicative of the presence of worms."
Mr. Stewart, on being applied to, states that there is no suspicion or likeli-
hood of the patients making use of foul water as a cause of these worms; and
Mr. Harvey, when visiting Cuttack in the early part of March 1878, was good
enough to inquire particularly into the subject, and in his inspection report,
dated 14th March 1878, the following passage occurs relative to the water of
the asylum: "In this garden is the well from which water for all purposes is
derived. It is built of masonry, and is surrounded by a well-built platform.
This platform slopes slightly outward, and has a drain all round its outer
border, which catches the spilt water and takes it along a small water channel
into the garden some distance from the well. The mouth of the well is fitted
with a wooden cover, in which are two iron doors, usually kept locked, and the
water is brought to the surface by a pump mounted on the cover. At present,
however, the pump is out of order and has been removed for repair, so that
water has to be drawn through one of the iron doors. An iron bucket is used,
and the water for drinking and cooking purposes is raised at a different time
from that raised for bathing and watering the garden. The latter is filled into a
large tub, from which it is carried into earthen vessels as it is wanted, and from
this tub the lunatics might draw such water as they choose for any purpose. I
was told, however, that they did not meddle with it, and that, as a matter of
fact, few of them use water after visiting the latrine." This tub ought to be
removed and a tank or barrel with a tap substituted.
Sickness.
6. The ordinary sickness of the asylum is very trifling, consisting of
mild cases of fever, diarrhœa, dysentery, and catarrh. The daily average
number in hospital was 2.14, and the ratio of sickness to strength, 4.2.