RESOLUTION.
MEDICAL.
Dated Calcutta, the 12th August 1889.
READ—
The Report on the Lunatic Asylums of Bengal for 1888.
Read again—
The Report for 1887, and the Resolution recorded upon it.
The present report is distinguished from its predecessors by its extreme
brevity, being contained in less than seven foolscap pages. The Lieutenant-
Governor is glad to welcome this compression, but desires that the tables
which were given in previous reports, comparing the admissions of lunatics
during the year under review with those in previous years, may be inserted in
future as appendices.
2. In connection with the limited accommodation and the annually
increasing admissions into the asylums, the Inspector-General suggests that
Magistrates and Civil Surgeons should have their attention drawn to the
circular of the Government of India in the Home Department No. 179, dated
the 25th March 1876, which directs that quiet and inoffensive lunatics should not
be sent to asylums unless there is some very good reason for doing so. The
circular referred to had indeed a very immediate and marked effect; but it does
not appear, from an examination of the figures showing the number of admis-
sions in each year, that there is any reason for supposing that its provisions
are less closely observed now than when it was first issued. The circular
was issued in 1876, and while the average number of admissions during the four
years 1873—76 was 450, in the six years which followed it sank to 221, that is,
to less than one-half of what it had previously been; while in the next six years,
1883 to 1888, the average number of admissions stood at 222. Sir Steuart
Bayley considers that these figures show that full effect has been given to the
provisions of the circular referred to above, and it does not appear to him
necessary still further to restrict the number of lunatics sent to asylums.
3. The average population of the asylums during the last fifteen years
is shown by the table which follows, from which it would appear that, for
the present at any rate, the condition is one of equilibrium ; and some dimi-
nution may be hoped for from the measures which have lately been taken in
regard to the admission of criminal lunatics—
YEARS.
1874-76 ... ... ...
1877-79 ... ... ...
1880-82 ... ... ...
1883-85 ... ... ...
1886-88 ... ... ...
Average yearly
admissions.
428
236
206
232
212
Averapfo yearly
deaths and
discharges.
389
317
209
197
212
Average popula-
tion (on 31st
December).
1,117
952
866
917
945
4. The increase in the number of criminal lunatics, which is referred to
in paragraphs 7 and 8 of the Report, has, as stated above, already engaged the
attention of Government, and it is hoped that the procedure introduced at
the instance of the Special Committee, which was appointed to consider the
question, will have the effect of reducing the number of admissions.
5. With reference to the Report for 1887, the Government of India
pointed out the inconsistency between some of the entries in Statement VI and
those in Statement VII, the former statement showing epileptic and toxic insanity
as types confined to the Berhampore Asylum; while the latter statement indi-
cated epilepsy and the abuse of drugs as physical causes of insanity among
lunatics present in all the five asylums of the Presidency. The Inspector-
General explains that such apparent inconsistencies are inevitable owing to the
absence of any general agreement as to the definitions of the terms employed.
6. Another point which calls for special remark is the unusually large
number of escapes. The Lieutenant-Governor will be glad to learn whether
any special precautions have been taken to prevent this in future.