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cause, cannot be classified under one and the same head of acute mania; yet there is no other
class under which such cases can more properly be placed. The spirit of the above orders
have, however, been implicitly followed in all the returns for 1868. Statement No. 4 shows
that of the 321 cases treated, the insanity was traced in 176 to physical, 34 to moral causes,
and that in 111, or 34.5 per cent., the cause could not be ascertained.
Statement No. 5 shows the race and sex of the patients and the zillahs from which they
came. The tea districts of Cachar and Sylhet still furnish a considerable proportion of the
lunatics. This year 14 individuals (11 males and 3 females), chiefly Dhangurs, have been
admitted. The cause of their insanity is generally traced to intemperance, gunjah-smoking,
and debauchery.
Statement No. 6 shows the trade or occupations of the lunatics admitted during 1868;
the largest number, 25 or 22.3 per cent., came from the agricultural classes. Next come
domestics, then beggars and tea coolies.
Statement No. 7 shows that, as in former years, the largest proportion of the lunatics
admitted were between 30 and 40 years of age; next in frequency were persons between 20 and
30 years, and between 40 and 50 years.
Several cases of congenital imbecility have been admitted; one was a girl, aged 12, who
died of cholera in December; a second, a girl, aged 17, with a large goitre, but no malforma-
tion of body; and a third, a boy, aged 13, whose mental incapacity appeared to have been caused
by starvation and ill-treatment.
Statement No. 8 shows the causes of the mortality during the year, and the average period
of confinement at the date of each death. During the year, 45 deaths, 22.5 per cent., occurred
out of a daily average of 200 inmates—an increase of 5.9 per cent. over 1867.
The mortality during the last three years has been as follows :—
In 1866 it equalled 16 per cent.
„ 1867
„
16.6
„
„ 1868
„
22.5
„
The great rise in the mortality during the past year was owing to several causes, such as
the great prevalence of cholera in the Asylum, the unusual frequency of tubercular disease of
the lungs, and the reduced accommodation available for the inmates.
Of the 45 casualties 21 had not been a year in confinement; three died within a week of
admission, fourteen within six months, and four between six and twelve months. In the
majority of instances those who die within the first year are debilitated and anœmic, and with
the seeds of incurable disease in their systems when they arrive at the Asylum. They gener-
ally get better for some time under the good food and proper medical treatment which they
receive. The improvement, however, is only temporary; they become anœmic and cachectic,
and, as a rule, die of low pneumonia, chronic dysentery, or obscure cerebral disease.
The females were much more sickly than the males in 1868. The former had 14 deaths
in a daily strength averaging 34, while the latter had only 31 deaths in 166. The mortality
among the first averaged 41.1 per cent.; among the second only 18.6, a difference of 22.5 per
cent.
This extraordinary and excessive rate of mortality among the female lunatics can only be
explained by their all being housed in one large ward. This became necessary when the new
female ward was commenced with in April. One or two, when under strong excitement, were
locked up at night in solitary cells. Still there were 30 women sleeping in a dormitory
6