10
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN BENGAL.
the buildings or rooms to be ventilated at a standard rate of purity. To effect this it is not
necessary to place the inmates under the influence of draughts, or to expose them to
the vicissitudes of a cold outside temperature. It is well known that exposure to draughts of
wind of a certain velocity and temperature, and to cold, cannot be borne with impunity
except under very special circumstances, and much less could such exposure be endured by
a class of persons whose constitutions are more or less debilitated, not only as a result of
their mental aberration, but very possibly also as a result of their previous necessitous circum-
stances. Fresh air, and plenty of it, is one of the great essentials for the preservation of good
health; but if admitted with too great a velocity, and of too low a temperature, it then
becomes dangerous—indeed, is the well-recognized cause of many of the chest and bowel
diseases which are frequently met with amongst persons of broken-down and debilitated
constitutions, such as too many of the inmates of our asylums, jails, and civil hospitals, cannot
fail to possess.
Mortality after
admission.
53. No patients died in any of the asylums immediately after their admission, but the
following table (No. 9) shows that 26 deaths occurred after varying periods of confinement
up to six months:—
STATEMENT No. 9.
DISEASES CAUSING DEATH.
Phthisis
...
...
...
...
Pleuro-pneumonia
...
...
...
Epilepsy ... ... ... ...
Diarrhœa
...
...
...
...
Dysentery ... ... ... ...
Debility
...
...
...
...
Cholera
...
...
...
...
Gangrene
...
...
...
...
Tetanus
...
...
...
...
Carbuncle
...
...
...
...
Pneumonia
...
...
...
...
Total ...
Number of cases.
6
2
1
4
5
1
3
1
1
1
1
26
DURATION OF CONFINEMENT.
Under one month.
3
1
1
1
...
...
1
...
...
...
...
7
Under two months.
2
...
...
1
3
...
1
...
1
...
1
9
Under three months.
...
...
...
1
...
...
...
1
...
...
...
2
Under four months.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
1
...
1
Under five months.
1
...
...
...
2
1
1
...
...
...
...
5
Under six months.
...
1
...
1
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
2
DURATION OF DISEASE.
Under one month.
3
2
1
4
1
...
3
1
1
1
...
17
Under two months.
2
...
...
...
3
...
...
...
...
...
1
6
Under three months.
...
...
...
...
...
1
...
...
...
...
...
1
Under four months.
1
...
...
...
1
...
...
...
...
...
...
2
Under five months.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Under six months.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
..
54. On the 31st December the total population " remaining " in the asylums consisted of
1,147 persons (males 906, females 241), and this number was inclusive of the criminal lunatics.
It is thus seen that the total asylum population was at the end of the year in excess of that
remaining on the 1st January by 73 male patients; the number of female lunatics in the
asylum being unchanged.
Criminal lunatics.
55. The following statement (No. 10) shows the statistics of the criminal lunatics
in the individual asylums for the year 1875, and in table No. 2 of the appendix the
collective statistics are given with those of the preceding decennial period:—
STATEMENT No. 10.
Return of Criminal Lunatics in the Asylums of Bengal for the year 1875.
1
ASYLUMS.
Dullunda ...
Dacca
...
...
Patna
...
...
Cuttack ... ...
Moydapore ...
Berhampore ...
Total ...
2
Remaining
on 1st
January
1875.
Males.
50
60
34
13
17
14
188
Females.
5
13
4
...
2
1
25
Total.
55
73
38
13
19
15
213
3
Admitted.
Males.
18
21
12
8
...
8
62
Females.
1
2
2
...
...
...
5
Total.
19
23
14
8
...
8
67
4
Re-ad-
mitted.
Males.
3
1
...
...
...
...
4
Females.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Total.
3
1
...
...
...
...
4
5
Received
by trans-
fer.
Males.
...
...
...
...
...
13
13
Females.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Total.
...
...
...
...
...
13
13
6
Total
treated.
Males.
71
82
46
16
17
35
254
Females.
6
15
6
...
2
1
30
Total.
77
97
52
16
19
36
284
7
Dis-
charged,
transfer-
red, &c.
Males.
11
20
5
2
2
2
29
Females.
...
1
...
...
...
...
1
Total.
11
21
5
2
2
2
30
8
Died.
Males.
6
6
1
2
2
1
18
Females.
2
2
...
...
...
...
4
Total.
8
8
1
2
2
1
22
9
Remaining
on 31st
December
1875.
Males.
54
56
40
12
13
32
207
Females.
4
12
6
...
2
1
25
Total.
58
68
46
12
15
33
232
10
Daily average
strength.
Males.
53.46
56.53
38.33
12.15
14.79 23.51
198.77
Females.
3.85
13.75
4.87
...
2
1
25.47
Total.
57.31
70.28
43.20
12.15
16.79
24.51
224.24
Note.—The totals of columns 6 and 7 do not include the " transfers " from one asylum to another.