4
establishment it is necessary that an asylum for criminals should be as safe
as a prison, without losing its proper character of an asylum for insanes.
Religion, Sex and Resi-
dency of Lunatics.
13. Statements No. 3 show the religion, sex, and residency of the
patients admitted during the year. Of the 325, 100
were English, and all the others were natives of
India, except 8. Of Hindus there were 101 males
and 21 females—total 122 admitted ; of Mussalmans 63 and 11 respectively;
Christians 107 and 11 ; and of other castes 9 and 2.
Previous Employment of
Lunatics.
14. Statements No. 4 give the particulars regarding the kind of
occupation pursued by insanes previous to admis-
sion into the asylums. Of the total, 91 were British
soldiers, 5 wives of soldiers, 40 were mendicants,
and in 49 instances the occupation was unknown ; 22 are put down as
cultivators and 16 as labourers; the rest require no comments. So far as the
inhabitants of this country are concerned, it shows the prevalence of insanity
among mendicants to be very high as compared with other occupations,
and may possibly be accounted for by the privation and exposure to which
they are subjected as a wandering class, though in some instances aberration
may have led to the mendicant life.
Ages of Lunatics.
15. Statements No. 5 show the ages of those admitted. By far the
largest proportion of these are between the ages of
20 and 40, next to these from 40 to 60, and below 20
the number is much smaller, and only 2 were over the age of 60.
Types of Insanity.
16. Statements No. 6 show the types of insanity. Mania, acute and
chronic, account for 508 of a total of 849 ; 287 were
acute and 221 chronic. There remained 131 of
the former, and 156 were admitted, 61 were cured, 22 improved, and 26
died. Of the 221 chronic mania 202 remained, 19 were admitted, 9 cured, 9
improved, and 9 died. The next most important type as regards number is
acute dementia, of which there remained 33; 73 were admitted, 6 were cured,
7 improved, and 9 died. The chronic form of this malady gives a total of
72 remaining, 15 admissions—of whom only 1 recovered, 3 improved, and 12
died—all these evidencing the well-known fact of the curability of insanity
being confined almost entirely to the early stages of the disease. Melancho-
lia gives the next highest number. There remained 32, 44 were admitted, 6
were cured, 8 improved, and 3 died. There were 24 idiots treated, none
of whom were cured, and 1 died. In all the other types only 1, who was
under observation, recovered. Of the total treated 84 were cured, 51 im-
proved, and 65 died.
Causes of Insanity.
17. Statements No. 7 show the causes of insanity. It will be observed
that the cause was not known in 405, or nearly 50
per cent. Physical bear to moral causes the propor-
tion of 360 to 84. Of those known, intoxicants form by far the largest num-
ber—the chief being ganja, which accounts for 146; next, alcohol 30; then
opium 10. In these cases, as might be expected, are found a large number
of cures. Fever was said to cause 24 cases, and 36 are attributed to epilepsy;
only 18 are set down as hereditary and 3 as congenital ; 11 were due to expo-
sure to the sun; 20 are said to have been previously insane.