2
Females.
This branch still continues under the supervision of the Franciscan
Sisters who render unfailing devotion
towards their charges. There has never
been any overcrowding here. The same remark as to the want of separate
rooms applies here as on the male side, but this has now been remedied by
the conversion of one of the sleeping barracks into cubicles. In addition 4 new
annexes are being provided, each consisting of a separate enclosure with a
large room. These compounds will be an immense boon for the noisy, filthy, and
destructive, and will also be useful in the segregation of infectious cases. The
diminution in the general accommodation owing to the conversion of a barrack
into cubicles has been more than compensated for by the building of these
annexes. The female hospital has been entirely renovated by the substitution
of conglomerate flooring and a dado of minton tiling which apart from enhanc-
ing the appearance of the rooms has contributed to the greater comfort and
sanitary condition of the patients. A very pleasing feature is the continued
growth in the number of the inmates and what more emphasises the great
popularity of this branch of the asylum is the increasing number of the better
class of Indian women who are being brought here for treatment. The
European ward is not sufficient for the requirements of the province, and it has
occasionally been found necessary to refuse admission. Failing the speedy
completion of the Ranchi asylum it will certainly be necessary to increase the
accommodation for this class at Lahore.
Types of cases.
The largest number admitted belongs to one or other of the forms of
Mania including Haschisch and it
accounts for 48.62 per cent. of the total
number of admissions during the triennium. Out of this number Charas,
Bhang and other toxic drugs form 15.36 per cent. Next in number is
Melancholia with 13.78 per cent. and lastly varieties of Dementia 13.40 per
cent are the most frequent types. Of these Dementia Praecox shows an
increasing number. Idiopathic Mania and Melancholia (the German Mania
Depressive) which was formerly so rare out here exhibits a gradually increasing
number and is found chiefly amongst the more literate class of patients, a
feature which should not be lost sight of as years go on, an indication of an
increase in the growing education of the general population For the first time
there has been an admission of a case suffering from general paralysis of the
insane ; but it occurred in an European and calls for no special comment. This
disease has never been known here in an Indian patient.
Violence, destructiveness, and dangerous habits continue to be the car-
dinal feature of the Punjab insane and this for the obvious reason that the
harmless are rarely if ever brought for treatment and the type of race from
which he comes, the Pathan, Jat and Punjabi Muhammadan is more boisterous
and truculent than the down country man.
The percentage of cures continue satisfactory being highest in the year
1912, making 22.71 per cent on the average strength and 62.50 per cent on
the admissions. This high standard of recoveries has continued though in
somewhat smaller numbers in the two following years. It is chiefly the acute
Hemp drug cases that make a rapid recovery and account for the large pro-
portion of the cures. The exhaustion Psychoses usually recover, provided they
are admitted early and one cannot too much emphasise the benefit of early
admission for treatment in all cases of insanity especially those due to an ex-
haustive cause, a delay of 10 days making all the difference to their ultimate
recovery.
Attendant Staff.
The same difficulty is experienced in obtaining an efficient and reliable
class of attendant. The very objec-
tionable nature of the work, which is
both dangerous and dirty, no doubt deters a better class of recruit from present-
ing himself. Every inducement has been made to obtain suitable men, but
without avail ; as a greater attraction the pay of these men will still further
be raised with effect from the ensuing financial year; and the rates to be
adopted compare extremely favourably with most other classes of the same
status.