( 6 )
then cultivators and carpenters, each six, unknown five, soldiers four, cooks two,
and various others one each. Few deductions can be drawn from this statement.
Coolies have always headed the list, and unless it may be that coolies and those
without any occupation may, from want of good nourishment and exposure, be
more susceptible to insanity, it is certainly sometimes wonderful how quickly a
wretched and half starved creature will recover his reason without any other
treatment than good diet.
14. Statement No. V. shows the ages of those admitted during the year.
The greatest number admitted was between the ages of 20 and 40, viz., 41;
between 40 and 60, 14; under 20, two; above 60, one. This statement merely
shows the ages of the lunatics on admission, but it gives no idea at what age
insanity most commonly commences.
15. Statement No. VI. shows the types of insanity of those under treatment
in the asylum. Out of a total treated—253—106 were suffering from acute
mania, 27 chronic mania, 38melancholia, 32 acute dementia, four chronic dementia,
four paralysis of the insane, nine idiotcy, 30 imbecility, and three not insane. The
following are the forms of insanity giving admissions during the year according
to their frequency :—acute mania 24, melancholia 13, chronic mania 12, imbecility
six, and not insane three. Of the not insane—two—one male and one female
were tried for murder, but acquitted on the ground of temporary insanity at the
time of committing the deed; one male still remains ; the female died, and the
other male was sent back to Akyab. As in previous years, acute mania gives the
greatest number of admissions, then melancholia. Similarly, acute mania gives
the greatest number of cures, then melancholia.
As I mentioned in last year's report, the history of the insane before
admission is very defective. Regarding the duration of insanity before admis-
sion, the information is defective and not to be depended on. When any inform-
ation is given on the subject it is vague,—generally put down as several months.
Certainly in Rangoon it is frequently the case that no history is given at all;
not being obtainable from the lunatic himself, no friends can be found or traced
out to give any information.
Most cures take place from the recent admissions, and in this asylum many
of the old admissions have sunk into a state of perfect mental helplessness. Many
of those admitted when the asylum was opened in 1871 have now become very
helpless and physically debilitated.
Some of the admissions during the year have been violent, and have required
great care and constant vigilance on the part of the attendants. This year has
especially required greater care, as the cells have been overcrowded, and the
enclosure has been filled with the material for the new cells, giving considerable
anxiety as to acts of violence. No serious accident has occurred during the
year. A few minor injuries from blows have occurred, but they were very slight.
16. Statement No. VII. shows the causes of insanity in those admitted
during the year and also of the total under treatment.
The information under this head is as little satisfactory this year as in
former years: it is both meagre and untrustworthy. Out of 58 admissions,
only in 23 was any alleged cause given. Among the alleged physical causes,
opium, gunja, and spirits where the chief, giving respectively three, two, and two
admissions each. Hereditary disposition was assigned as a cause in two. Loss
of property, fright, and grief were the chief moral causes. Reliable information,
even in Europe, is very difficult to obtain, and in this country it must be much
more so.
17. Statement No. III. shows the hospital statistics during the year under
review. The general health of the patients has been good, admissions into hos-
pital much fewer, but the mortality has been larger than formerly. There has
been no epidemic to increase the death-rate; but it has been chiefly due to many
of the old and debilitated subjects who have year by year been becoming more
and more helpless, and who have passed away from general debility. It is also
due in part to the bad health of many of the lunatics on admission.
Out of the 58 admissions, 28 were in good health, 15 in indifferent health,
and 15 in bad health.