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regulations given by the Government of India regarding the discharge of crimi-
nal lunatics. About 20 criminal lunatics, now declared to be sane for various
periods, are awaiting the completion of their terms according to their crimes
and types of insanity.
As already stated two escaped, but were re-captured. The two peons in
charge were heavily fined.
11. Statement III shows the residence, religion, and sex of the lunatics ad-
mitted during the year. Rangoon gives the largest number of admissions,
Moulmein next, and then Akyab.
The Burmese, as formerly, head the list, then the Hindus and Mahomedans.
12. Statement IV shows the occupation of those admitted during the year.
Generally their occupations are not known, many have none; they are mere
waifs and strays without any history and without friends. Of those known,
coolies form one-fourth the admissions, then come cultivators, and one or two
from the various other occupations and trades. No conclusions can be drawn
from this except that the poorer and worst fed and nourished people give the
greatest number of admissions.
13. Statement V shows the ages of those admitted, the greatest number
being between 20 and 40 out of 96 admisssions, but it can give no idea of the
commencement of the insanity.
14. Statement VI shows the types of insanity of those under treatment
in the Asylum. Out of a total of 354 treated 122 were mania acute or chronic,
120 melancholia, 50 dementia, 1 idiocy, 11 epileptic mania, 14 gunja-smoking,
6 opium-smoking, 1 opium-eating, and 12 spirit-drinking, 5 brain disease, 3
consecutive insanity, 4 other forms, and 5 not diagnosed.
The admissions during the year follow much the same order of frequency:
mania 38, melancholia 36, dementia 9, epileptic 3, spirit-drinking 3, gunja-
smoking 2, opium-smoking 2, others 2, and consecutive 1.
These, I may say, are the usual types of insanity here in frequency of admis-
sions, but even in mania it is unusual, unless in a very few cases, to find the
lunatics violent. Any history of the lunatic before his admission is in most
cases nil. Most of those brought are waifs without relations or friends, and are
only brought to the Asylum when they are in a helpless state or are violent and
troublesome.
Most of the admissions are in a wretched state of health when brought;
many are carried from the gharry or dooly bringing them into the hospital
at once. The Burmese do not trouble themselves much about their lunatics so
long as they are quiet and harmless, and give no trouble, but as soon as they
are violent and become helpless through sickness and disease, they send them
to the Asylum in a wretched state of health to die and swell the mortality of
the Asylum. With the exception of a few the admissions have been quiet and
harmless, and no serious accidents have occurred during the year.
15. Statement VII shows the causes of insanity of those admitted during
the year and also of the total treated.
This statement is a very unsatisfactory and an unreliable one in Rangoon.
As before stated, in almost every case no history is given, and that given is both
meagre and untrustworthy. Among physical causes gunja-smoking, opium-
smoking, spirit-drinking, fever, and epilepsy give the most frequent causes of
admission during the year; among moral causes grief, loss of property, and
domestic troubles. Few or any deductions can be drawn from this statement
from want of reliable information.
16. Statement VIII shows the hospital statistics and death-rate during
the year. It is with regret that I have to bring forward the high mortality
during the year, and the more so that since I have taken charge I am unable to
point out any particular cause for the death-rate being above previous years or
that it was due to any particular cause that could have been avoided. Certainly
there was nothing in the diet, water, or sanitation or cleanliness of the lunatics
or cottages that could be pointed out. No doubt the state of health on admis-
sion has a good deal to do with the high mortality.
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