152
the facts. I have nothing to add on the subject
which cannot be ascertained from the registers of
the asylum.
Question 45.—I remember that when the yearly
inspection for pension took place each year in Sep¬
tember, a number of men, of service only just
long enough to earn pension, came up suffering
from bronchitis and asthma. They were generally
weak and broken in appearance, but this may
have been caused by voluntary starvation. They
would attend the hospital and be cured, and be in
a short time readmitted for the same complaint.
They were, as I have said, of the length of service
which would entitle them to invalid pension. It
was explained to me that they owed their illness
to charas smoking. I did not certify in any case
that the illness of a man who was granted pension
was due to charas. I am bound to state that an
applicant's disease was not aggravated by vice or
intemperance, but I took no notice of the use of
the drug in any of these cases, because I did not
attach sufficient importance to the statements
made to me, and was not sure that they were
correct. I speak only of physical break-down in
this answer. In saying that smoking ganja
induces insanity I refer to the excessive use. My
statement is based on lunatic asylum experience
principally, but also upon my experience as Civil
Surgeon when certifying cases for the asylum.
I do not remember any particular case, but re-
member them as a class. As Civil Surgeon, I
thought it was my duty to ascertain the causes
of insanity. For this purpose I enquired of re-
lations when they came, and, if they were not
present, of the police. I would ask relations what
the cause was. If they said ganja, I should have
considered it quite enough. If the police made
the same statement, I should accept it. As far
as I know, these statements form the basis of the
asylum statistics. But when a man gets over his
insanity in the. asylum, he will sometimes con-
fess to the use of the drug. If the friends told
me, or the man admitted, that he used ganja, I
would make no further enquiry, but assume that
the use was excessive. if the ganja habit were
admitted, I should still enquire as to other causes
—those detailed in the form. I have had cases
in which the use of alcohol and opium has been
admitted as well as that of ganja. When ganja
and alcohol were both admitted, the case would
be entered as one of toxic insanity. But as a
rule I think the cause would be put down to
ganja for preference. In a case where hereditary
insanity was established and the use of ganja
admitted, the case would probably be regarded
as one in which heredity was the predisposing and
ganja the exciting cause, and ganja would be
entered as the cause in the returns. I do not
regard the returns of the lunatic asylums, framed
in the manner I have described, as forming a
satisfactory basis for a scientific opinion regard-
ing the connection between insanity and the hemp
drugs. But the procedure is the best that is
practicable, and the information is all that we
can get. I have no doubt in my own mind, in
spite of the partial discrediting of the statistics,
that ganja does lead to a form of mania. A
great proportion of the cases assigned to hemp
drugs in lunatic asylum reports are in my belief
due to that cause, though possibly the drug is
unfairly charged with a certain portion of them.
I say only " possibly " notwithstanding what I
have said above, because if ganja is the exciting
cause of insanity, I think it is properly entered as
" the cause" whether there was a predisposing
cause or not. There is no advantage in entering
a " cause" which is doubtful, because it will be
of no assistance in the treatment of the case.
But for the purpose of the returns I should never
enter a case as " cause unknown " when the ganja
habit had been attributed to the man. Notwith
-standing this, I cannot go further than to say
that the drug is " possibly " credited unfairly
with causing insanity.
75. Evidence of SURGEON-CAPTAIN W. H . BURKE, Assistant Civil Surgeon, Poona .
Oral evidence.
Question 1.—I am eleven years in service. I
have been Assistant Civil Surgeon for nearly four
years, and Surgeon to the Sassoon Hospital during
that period. I have been in temporary charge of
the Poona Lunatic Asylum for short periods, and
1 was fifteen months in charge of the Ratnagiri
Asylum. I have had no special asylum experience
in England.
Question 45 .—The lunatics found wandering
about in Poona are sent to me for observation.
Sometimes a vernacular correspondence is sent
with the lunatic. As a rule, only a letter is sent
stating that the lunatic is of unsound mind, and
requesting me to examine him and give the neces-
sary certificate for admission to the asylum if he
is found to be insane. As a rule, it is very diffi-
cult to find out anything about the lunatic's past
habits an
d h i s t o r y . W h e n t h e l u n a t i c ' s r e l a t i o n scome up we can discover something. The verna-
cular papers constitute the police report. They
sometimes contain a declaration by the relatives.
I get them read by students at the hospital at the
time that I inspect the lunatic. The papers
generally contain information regarding the con-
duct which proves the existence of lunacy. They
rarely give any information about the cause of
insanity. It is very uncommon for me to see the
man's friends. It happens when the relatives
wish to take charge of the lunatic, and such cases
do not go into the asylum. Sometimes the
lunatics himself gives some account of his past
history. I generally try to see the lunatic's
relations myself if they come. Sometimes the
student in charge of the case takes their state-
ments. The student and I also conduct our exa-
mination in accordance with Form C. In .Ratna-
giri, Form C was always filled up by the Magis-
trate. Here it is filled up by me. In Ratnagiri
the Magistrate sometimes left some details of the
statement blank for me to fill in as Superintend-
ent of the Asylum. The information I give in
Form 'C is generally very incomplete, as I have
only the lunatic to get it from. The important
part of my duty in connection with the lunatic is
the preparation of Form A, the medical certificate
w h i c h c o n t a i n s n o e n t r y a s t o c a u s e . A g a i n s t h e a d 1 2 o f F o r m C , i n t h e c a s e o f G u j a r S h a h , a p p e a r s
the following entry :—" The above mentioned
ganja smoking and religious and isolated habits."
So far as I remember the entry regarding ganja
smoking was based on a vernacular paper. The
man was a fakir, aged 75, and appeared to be
suffering from religious mania, due, in part at
least, to his habits and ways of thought as a