39
10. Twenty of the patients are criminals; their crimes are specified in
the asylum report. It will be sufficient here to state that 9 of them are murder-
ers. Their cases are all of very enhanced character, with two exceptions,
indeed, seemingly hopeless in respect of duration and phase. They have
been employed since July last in grain-grinding, and prepare all the flour
required for the numerous patients of the Huttesing Hospital. The super-
intendent remarks that "any very decided improvement in cases so pro-
nounced is, perhaps, scarcely to be expected, but so far work has certainly
proved to be in the interests of order and good behaviour, as it has unques-
tionably been conducive to physical health."
11. Referring to the females, of whom there are 19 remaining at this
date, 1 is almost well and 3 are improving. It is generally notable of them
that prospects of recovery are less favourable, partly owing to emotional
influences and temperament, and partly also that their cases are, as a rule,
more enhanced, and, inferentially, of longer standing; while the difficulty
of maintaining order among them, as compared with the men, is a familiar
fact. The superintendent notes with satisfaction that "since the introduc-
tion of grain-grinding as an employment, some 18 months ago, they have
been orderly and quiet, exhibiting a corresponding improvement mentally,
as best expressed in the fact that the recoveries have more than doubled."
He commends this occupation as one that "has proved most beneficial in
averting impending paroxysms of excitement; while it has, moreover, the
very great advantage of recalling home associations, and awakening feelings
and influences that for the time speak for them. "
12. In respect of causes, 30 of the cases are ascribed to the abuse of
ganja, "a fruitful factor in the production of insanity, especially among the
vagrant mendicant classes of aboriginal blood." It is probable, however, that
there are others due to this cause, as, in the difficulties of obtaining trust-
worthy information, conclusions have mostly to be based on observation of
habits and addictions as disclosed while under treatment. Dissipation and
vice, in conjunction with poverty and its demoralizing accompaniments and
surroundings, are no doubt the prime agents here. But the abuse of opium
of itself has not at any time appeared as an efficient in the production of in-
sanity. The superintendent also notices that social causes are represented,
as betrayed by the prevailing hallucinations, and he adds that emotional in-
fluences are seldom encountered as a cause except in the educated.
13. The accommodation consists of 58 distinct rooms, each of 800
cubic feet, provided with separate window and door, with suitable provision
for ventilation; 6 rooms on the associated principle, a large convalescent
ward, and a central hall. The whole is arranged in 4 compartments opening
on the latter, by which alone there is communication with the outside. The
plan thus affords alike the means of classification, easy supervision, and per-
fect security ; while in its subdivision and its homely unpretentious arrange-
ments, it adequately meets the requirements of the classes it was designed
for, a matter of much importance in the interests of the insane, whose reason
will often speak for them, surrounded by familiar things.
14. The management is based on a recognition of the intimate relations
existing between mind and body. The primary aim is to diffuse among the
inmates a spirit of cheerful contentment, in view to awakening interest and
creating confidence, and, "above all, to seek to improve the physical health,
and engage the attention by exercise and employment in the open air." No
mechanical means of restraint are ever in use, nor is there any padded room.