18
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN BENGAL.
Sickness.
31. Sickness.—The daily average sick for all asylums was 56.5, or 5.5 more than the
average of the five previous years. The sick-rate was, however, rather below the average.
The state of health of lunatics admitted and discharged during the year is shown in table
No. 10, and the diseases from which they were placed on the sick list in table No. 14, appended
to the report of each asylum. With the exception of the outbreak of cholera in Dacca, no
epidemic prevailed in any asylum during the year. The table given in paragraph 11 shows
that considerably more sickness prevailed during the last than the first half of the year.
Industries.
Education.
The Gheel system.
Mechanical
restraint.
32. Management.—There is nothing new to record under this head. Industrial
pursuits continue to be the principal moral agent used in restoring the insane to reason, and
about 90 per cent. of the inmates of asylums are employed in various occupations suited to
their very various conditions and capacities. An attempt has been made at the Moydapore
asylum, apparently with satisfactory results, to educate those lunatics who are likely to profit
by it. The Gheel system of boarding out harmless lunatics has been tried on a small scale
at Dacca; but the experiment is as yet too recent and limited to warrant any opinion regard-
ing its probable success. Mechanical restraint continues to be practised to a small extent
at Dullunda; on this subject I record a few observations below.
Finances.
33. Finances.—The rules which were drawn up in 1872 for the management of the
accounts of the Dullunda asylum, and which were printed as an appendix to last year's
report, have now been extended, with some slight modifications, to all the other asylums of
the province. The main principle of these is that all funds required for all the purposes
of asylums are to be drawn from Government, and all funds received on any account paid
into the treasury and credited to Government. Superintendents are at the same time
permitted a discretionary power of outlay within certain limits, in order to prevent their
being unduly hampered by too stringent regulations. The whole cost of asylums will thus
be exhibited in their accounts, and the whole saving to Government effected by recoveries for
maintenance, and by industrial profits, shown. The accounts of different institutions will also
be capable of accurate comparison, which could not be the case as long as separate funds
existed, varying in amount and conditions in different asylums, the particulars of which did
not appear in the general accounts. As the rule did not come into effect until towards the
close of the year, the accounts of asylums are still incomplete, and do not bear accurate
comparison with each other.
Expenditure.
34. The total expenditure exceeded that of 1872, the amounts being Rs. 1,01,641,
against Rs. 88,057. This is due to several causes—(1) the number of persons in confine-
ment was larger; (2) this item includes, in the case of the Dullunda asylum, all outlay on
every account; (3) the cost of provisions was higher; and (4) the dietaries of the asylums
have been made more generous. In future years the total expenditure column will be still
larger, but the receipts from industrial sales will be capable of deduction. Each patient cost
Rs. 102-8 per annum, against Rs. 97-8-3 in 1872. The Dullunda asylum is the most
expensive, next come Cuttack, Dacca, Moydapore, and Patna. The comparison is not,
however, fair, for the accounts are not as yet rendered on the same plan. The receipts
recovered for the maintenance of patients are less than in 1872—Rs. 1,824-5-6, against
Rs. 2,511-6. The cost of each patient is diminished by subtracting this item to
Rs. 100-10-7, against Rs. 94-11-9. Dacca and Patna have recovered more largely for
maintenance, and Dullunda has fallen off. The items of establishment and diet are con-
siderably higher than last year, because all establishment employed, and all food consumed,
have been included in the Dullunda accounts. In the case of the other asylums, the figures
do not differ much from those of last year. Moydapore has included the cost of superinten-
dence this year, which accounts for the higher establishment charge. I refrain, however, from
pursuing the analysis further on the ground above stated, namely that the accounts are not
fairly comparable with each other. Those of 1874, if properly prepared, ought to be quite
capable of comparison.
Industrial profits.
35. Each asylum continues to profit to some extent by the labor of its inmates. This
happens in two ways—(1) the asylum supplies itself with labor and commodities which it
would otherwise have to pay for; and (2) sells to the outside public produce and com-
modities manufactured by the lunatics, and which are not required in the asylum. The value
of the labor of lunatics is shown in tables Nos. 19, 20, and 21, appended to the report of
each asylum.