MOYDAPORE LUNATIC ASYLUM.
113
rainy seasons, when labor and exposure are great, and the result a matter of doubt, anxiety,
and depression, and the tendency to insanity considerable. The returns from Dacca, Dullun-
da, and Patna, for 1871, seem to corroborate this.
Districts from
which lunatics were
brought.
18. Admissions to Zillahs.—As noted in previous reports, the lunatics are often from
other zillahs than those in which the police find and the magistrate commits them. Con-
sequently, asylum statistics cannot be compared safely with the population of the districts
from which the insanes are sent The census returns themselves are the better guides to
accurate conclusions.
Race.
19. Admissions to Race.—The Mussulmans are one-third fewer than the Hindoos.
Occupation.
20. Occupations.—Cultivators were the most numerous admissions among' the males, and
beggars among females.
Insanity among
cultivators;
21. Occupation as a cause of Insanity.—In considering the causes of insanity in relation
to occupation, we find only 2 of the 12 cultivators' insanity occasioned by ganjah.
Cultivators.—The other causes were—three fever, one heat, two hereditary taint, one
brain disease, one epilepsy, one fear, and one grief.
shop-keepers.
Shop-keepers.—Of the seven shop-keeper admissions, four were caused by ganjah, two by
grief, and one by failure in business.
and beggars ;
Beggars.—Of the seven beggars, two were ganjah, one heat, one brain affection, and three
from grief. Thus, insanity among cultivators is most affected by disease and least by
dissipation. Among shopkeepers most by dissipation, and next by disordered emotions; while
among beggars all three causes are prevalent.
Age of those
admitted;
* See general statement
No. 5.
22. TABLE 7.* Admissions to Age.—The greatest percentage of admissions was between
30 and 40, and next between 20 and 30 years of age. In the first 20
years of life no case occurred ; in the second 20 there were 30 admis-
sions; in the third 20 there were 13 ; and in the fourth 20 there were none. Thus we find
that when men should be in the greatest vigour of mind and body they are the most liable
to disordered intellect. No doubt the struggle for existence is greatest, and the passions
strongest at this period of life and anxieties and excesses produce the effect noted.
of recoveries;
23. Recoveries to Age.—It is, however, at the same period that recoveries are most numer-
ous, the brain is not exhausted and repair is quicker and easier. The power to repair rapidly
declines with advancing years ; the decline of life being against the renewal of mental equi-
librium and natural nervous action.
of fatal cases.
Deaths to Age.—One death occurred in each of the decennial periods, 20-30, 30-40, and
40-50. All were males.
Deaths to Sex.—The females were healthier, their average sick being 0.04, than the males,
whose average was 1.66. Not one of the former suffered from a serious or fatal disease.
Recoveries more
common
among
females.
The percentage of recoveries was much greater among females than males. Their
quieter lives and pettier anxieties in their family duties, their minor exposure and less hard
labor, with their fewer and less injurious dissipations, leave them less liable to insanity, and
more easily returnable to their normal condition.
Duration of in-
sanity prior to ad-
miss on.
24. TABLE 8. Duration of Disease prior to Admission.—The duration prior to admission
has been more carefully noted ; collateral inquiries have been made where possible, so as to
check the police statements, This statement is, therefore, in most instances correct.
c 1