6
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN BENGAL.
Sex.
Need of more
minute
information.
castes" were therefore relatively more numerous in 1873. Males constituted 76.7 of the
admissions, and females 23.3, against 79.1 and 20.9 in the previous decade. The admissions
of females were therefore relatively more numerous. It appears from both returns that
the females of the several classes distinguished formed a relatively larger share of admissions
in the following order:—Christians," other castes, '' Hindus, and Mahomedans. As I remarked
in my last report, these castes, or class divisions of the population, are too vague to be of
much practical utility, or to throw much light on the etiology of insanity. A more minute
division of castes is necessary; for the object is to group communities possessing special
personal and social features and customs, so that these may be studied in relation to the
amount and description of insanity which they furnish. Dr. Wise has again noted some
interesting information under this head.
Districts.
15. The districts from which lunatics have been received are shown in tables (No. 5)
appended to the report of each asylum. The figures noted in this table from year to year
are of local interest and use, but do not bear general discussion; for, as Dr. Shircore remarks,
other circumstances than the abundance of lunacy or the reverse no doubt govern the
number of insane persons transmitted to asylums by different districts. A statement (table
No. III) has been prepared in the appendix, showing the number of lunatics received from the
several districts of Bengal during the last 10 years. This exhibits well the very great differ-
ence which exists in the numbers of insanes sent to asylums from the several districts, and
confirms Dr. Shircore's remark that more lunatics are received from the district in which an
asylum is situated than from districts more remote from it. It also shows that Sylhet, a district
which, Dr. Wise has remarked, furnishes a disproportionate number of lunatics, stands high
in the list. The reason of this apparently excessive prevalence of lunacy in Sylhet has not
yet been satisfactorily explained. The number of lunatics and idiots living in each district
when the last census of Bengal was taken has been noted in the table in question. They
bear no relation to the asylum figures. As I remarked in my last report, these returns are
probably not entitled to much reliance.
Age.
16. Age.—Statement No. 5 shows the admissions, discharges, and deaths of the year
according to age represented in decades. Most admissions took place between 20 and 30;
the decades 30 to 40, 40 to 50, 10 to 20, 50 to 60, and 60 to 70 following. This corre-
sponds with the results of previous years. The relative number of females admitted between
40 to 60 is again higher than of males.
This may be due to the climacteric period of females falling within these decades. The
aggregates of admissions of the preceding 10 years, shown in table No. VI of the appendix,
exhibit the same circumstance, and tend to show that the conclusion drawn from the
annual statistics rests on a basis of truth. The largest proportion of recoveries to treated
took place in the decade 10 to 20, and most deaths in the decade 50 to 60. These results
differ slightly from those observed last year, in which the recovery rates were highest between
20 and 30, and the death-rates between 40 and 50.