22
fever, 2 were hereditary, and 6 congenital. Dr. Wyllie says :—" That there
should be a large number in which the cause is unknown, appears inevitable
considering how little we are conversant with native home-life, and the diffi-
culties, in particular, in obtaining information regarding the large class of
vagrant mendicants apart from what may be deduced from habits and addic-
tions as disclosed while under treatment."
Deaths.
98. The deaths on the daily average strength were 8.3 per cent.—5.5 for
males and 21.6 for females; to admissions they were
30 per cent.—33.3 for males and 22.7 for females; but
on the total treated they were 6.4. The rate for the last ten years was
5.56, but it is manifest that the rate must increase pari passu with the
increase of the permanent population, or in an inverse ratio to the admissions ;
or again, in other words, the longer the average residence of the insanes the
higher must the death-rate be. The deaths were—2 from dysentery, 2 from
decay, 1 phthisis, 1 anœmia, 1 suicide, 1 Bright's disease, and 1 epilepsy. The
patients who died of phthisis, Bright's disease, and epilepsy had these dis-
eases on admission to the asylum. Dr. Johnson says of the 7 persons who
died in the ten months he had charge, 1 had been over 7 years in the
asylum, 2 over 4 years, 2 over 1 year, and 2 less than a year; and in reference
to the suicide he says:—" One of these (a criminal) committed suicid e by
hanging himself with a rope made of his clothing while in his sleeping cell
during the night. He attached the rope to the window pivot, only 4 feet from
the ground, and managed to effect his purpose by bending his legs, in which
position the body was found." Dr. Wyllie adds :—" The event was altogether
unforeseen, and deceased was in his usual state at 3 A.M. on the morning of
his death when visited by the warder on duty, with whom he conversed."
Remaining at close of
year.
99. At the close of the year, 113 insanes remained, or 5 more than the
asylum is intended to contain; 84 are cases of mania,
2 melancholia, 15 dementia, 6 idiotcy, and 6 imbecili-
ty. Dr. Wiehe remarks in " analyzing the present
condition of these patients, that 6 are convalescent, 15 are improving, 78 are
stationary, and there are 14 whose state of mind offers but little hope of
recovery."
Length of Residence of
the Insanes.
100. One insane has been 35 years in the asylum, while 38 have been
less than a year, 21 have been between 1 and 2 years,
33 from 2 to 5 years. There are 92 in the first quin-
quennial period, 29 in the second, 10 in the third,
4 in the fourth, 2 in the sixth, and 2 in the seventh. Dr. Wyllie states :—
" The mean period of residence of each case for the year was 286 days
to 287 in England and 246 in Bengal asylums (Report for 1873); the corre-
sponding figure for the past decade being 253.2. Thus the residual population
is shown to have reached the English standard, a result not due alone to
accumulation of chronic incurables in the efflux of time, but rather because
the admissions have necessarily been restricted from want of room, and no
longer bear the same relative proportion to population as in past years."
Ages of the Insanes.
101. Between the ages of 20 and 35 years, 87 of the inmates became
insane, and Dr. Wyllie says the ratio of incidence
was highest among males between the ages of 25
and 30, while in females it was highest between 30 and 35.