49
and they flee from imaginary terrors and enemies, believing themselves pur-
sued by fire, floods of water, or rabid animals. The habitual use of these
preparations, no matter what the form selected, has the effect generally of
demoralizing their votaries, of exciting their worse passions, and leads them
to commit crimes of various kinds and degree; but when offences of a more
serious nature are meditated, arising from jealousy, hatred, and revenge,
opium is more frequently had recourse to.
Insanity produced by
their use.
Now when it is remembered that it is the Mahomedans rather than the
Hindoos who are most afflicted with insanity, and
that to a double extent, and that intoxicating drugs
are very largely used by this class and not by the
other, the inference is not an unfair one, that to these are to be debited as
not inconsiderable proportion of the cases of insanity which are met with
throughout the province.
The results on separate
castes should be shown
separately.
That this may be rendered more apparent, in so
far as these affect the different castes, it would be
well, in future, when tabulating the causes of insanity,
to show the castes separately, noting also the sex.
Little or no contribu-
tions received from pati-
ents.
From the annual abstract of patients it will be seen that, with few excep-
tions, the admissions consist either of fukeers and
mendicants, or persons of no occupation. Those
entered as cultivators, labourers, &c., are the ex-
ceptions; and as a class they are generally very bad-
ly off. There is very little income, therefore, obtained towards the support of
the asylum from those who are immediately benefited by it; and in the
case of those few who are differently circumstanced, there is always a great
difficulty experienced in making their relatives contribute towards their sup-
port. As an improvement on the present system, I would suggest that
whenever district magistrates direct the confinement of lunatics, they should
be enjoined in all cases, when doing so, to satisfy themselves either that the
insanes are absolutely paupers with no relatives to help them, or if they have
friends in a position to maintain them wholly or in part, that these should be
obliged to enter into certain approved arrangements to insure monthly
payment towards their support.
Ordinary diseases in
lunatics.
The ordinary diseases in addition to the mental malady affecting the
inmates of the asylum have been fevers, diarrhœa,
and dysentery. From the above causes only 23
cases have occurred.
General health as affec-
ted by site of asylum.
The general health of the inmates of the asylum has been for the last year
remarkably good. The inundation of the Indus,
which yearly covers to a greater or less extent the
land lying to the east and south east of the
asylum, has a considerable influence in determining the amount of sickness,
especially fevers and bowel complaints. The year under review witnessed
but a comparatively small rise in the river, and the amount of inundation in
the neighbourhood of the asylum was, consequently, of trifling extent, which,
in a great measure, accounts for the immunity from fevers and diseases of
the digestive organs. There is nothing, therefore, in the sickness or mortality
during the past year that can be attributed to the position of the asylum, or
the circumstances under which the lunatics are placed.
7 L A