28
Re-admissions.
125. Dr. Holmsted in his report says:—" There were 3 re-admissions
of insanes brought back by friends, two of these not
brought in the year under report, but only 1 re-
admission is shown in the returns." He remarks that the bringing back of
insanes in this way is an evidence that the general management and treat-
ment are well appreciated, and as further evidence of this he adds:—" Several
who have been discharged and live near, come to visit the asylum, and, if
they are feeling unwell, to ask for medicine."
Caste of Inmates.
126. No Christians, Parsis, or other castes were treated; the insane
population being Hindu and Mussalman in the pro-
portion of about 3 of the latter to 1 of the former.
Employment of the In-
sanes previous to admission.
127. Dr. Miller states most of the inmates were cultivators or religious
mendicants previous to becoming insanes. Dr. Holm-
sted takes no notice of this subject in his report.
Districts from which sent.
128. During the year, 16 lunatics were received from Kurrachee
Collectorate, 16 from Hyderabad Collectorate, 10
from Shikárpur Collectorate, 4 from Upper Frontier
District, and 1 from Thar and Párkar District.
Contributions towards
Maintenance.
129. None of the patients or their friends contributed anything
towards the expense of their maintenance. It is not
known whether any of them could pay anything or
not; but the Magistrates when sending insanes to
asylums might try to furnish information on this subject to Superintendents.
Ages of those admitted.
130. Only 2 of thoseadmitted were under 20years
of age, the great majority being between 20 and 40.
Causes of Insanity.
131. The chief cause of insanity in Sind is the abuse of ganja;
but the Superintendent considers that it is so in
those already predisposed, rather than a universal
cause in those using it. The following particulars of a case of temporary
insanity are very interesting and instructive :—" A fine and very powerful
Belooch sepoy was admitted for mania, produced by a mixture of bhang and
stramonium which was given to him in a prostitute's house. For three days
he was kept in 'the quarter-guard (of his regiment) bound down in a state
of violent delirium; he was then admitted into the asylum in anticipation of
an order. Purgatives and cold affusion were the remedies chiefly employed,
and he recovered after a week." The physical are said to produce insanity
three times more frequently than the moral causes. Something was known
of the causes in 89 cases and nothing in 55.
Types of Insanity.
132. There were 55 cases of acute mania—46 males and 9 females.
Eight of the former and 2 of the latter were cured.
Four and 3 respectively were improved, and 5 males
and 1 female died. There were 46 cases of acute dementia—38 males and
8 females. Four males recovered, 4 improved, and 6 died ; 1 woman died.
Treatment and Occupa-
tion.
133. Dr. Miller in his report says:—" Dr. Holmsted continues, and with
good result, the same line of treatment as formerly
reported, the main feature of which is out-door em-
ployment. In his own wards :—' Our chief means of
cure is labour : if we can persuade a lunatic to labour, we have hopes of him ;
even if not curable he will become harmless.
Our chief work is employ-