LUNATIC ASYLUMS OF BENGAL.
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15. The total mortality, 77=8.26 per cent., against 84=8.74 per cent. in
1892, was slightly lower, and its incidence in each asylum as under :—
Dullunda ...
Dacca ...
Patna ...
Cuttack ...
Berhampore ...
Total ...
1892.
Deaths.
20
23
26
...
15
84
Percent-
age on
daily aver-
age strength.
7.77
9.71
10.62
...
7.39
8.74
1893.
Deaths.
21
20
16
...
20
77
Percent-
age on
daily aver-
age strength.
8.49
8.51
7.04
...
9.8
8.26
In Dullunda there were 21 deaths as compared with 20 in 1892. Five of
them were from brain disease, three from old age and debility, four from
chronic lung disease, four from bowel-complaints (including one sporadic cholera),
and one each from fever, cancer, heart, liver and kidney diseases.
Dacca had 20 deaths as compared with 23 in 1892, two from the exhaustion
of mania, four from anæmia, five from lung disease, six from bowel-complaints
(including one cholera), and one each from erysipelas, fever and old age. There
was no death from influenza, and both it and cholera prevailed epidemically in
the town.
At Patna there was a marked fall in the mortality, 16 deaths against 26
in 1892. Of these, three were due to brain disease (two epilepsy), three to old
age and debility, five to lung disease, four to bowel-complaints and one to fever.
Cuttack had no death either in 1892 or 1893. At Berhampore four of
the 20 deaths were due to brain disease, seven to disease of the lungs, three
to bowel-complaints (one cholera), three to liver, two to kidney disease, and one
to tetanus.
16. Injuries and accidents numbered 10, as compared with 11 in 1892
and 16 in 1891. Six were at Dullunda. Three of these were cases of assaults
by lunatics on lunatics. One lunatic inflicted a severe scalp wound on another.
The warders who did not prevent the quarrel were dismissed. Another inflicted
numerous slight flesh wounds with a piece of tin during a quarrel at night.
The warder who allowed the tin to be left in the cell was punished. A female
lunatic threw a stone at another, inflicting a slight scalp wound. The asylum
authorities were not to blame. An old blind lunatic, led to the latrine by an
epileptic, fell and fractured his thigh. The Deputy Superintendent, who was an
Assistant Surgeon and who allowed this, was censured. An epileptic broke her
leg by falling down in a fit, and an old woman her arm by slipping in the latrine.
At Dacca, a patient struck by a jamadar and two keepers sustained a fracture of ribs.
They were dismissed. A second man also fractured his ribs by an accidental fall
against a masonry platform. At Patna, a man had his arm broken in a fight
between some lunatics. A jamadar and two warders, who should have prevented
the fight, were dismissed. An old woman at Cuttack had a finger broken by a
stone pestle falling on it. Berhampore had no case either of injury or accidents.
All the cases recovered. The Superintendent of Dullunda complains that
repeated changes in the Deputy Superintendents—there were four during
the year—has been detrimental to discipline and has unsettled the asylum
routine. The changes were unavoidable, but the present man is likely to
remain, and discipline should now be maintained without difficulty.
17. Escapes.—At Dacca, a non-criminal lunatic sent to the bazar with
a basket of vegetables disappeared in the crowd. The keeper in charge of
him a man of long service and good character, was reduced in grade and pay.
A similar case occurred at Berhampore, and three keepers were fined for negli-
gence. Both men were recaptured before the end of the year ; these were the
only escapes.
18. Statement IX—Finance.—This statement has been remodelled by order
of the Government of India, as set forth in their Resolution No. 8 Medical/393, dated 13th
B 2