( 26 )
1884-85
..
..
..
..
1885
.. .. .. .. ..
1886 .. .. .. .. ..
l887
..
..
..
..
..
Percentage
of females
to total
admissions.
24.76
24.58
21.43
12.56
3. The figures relating to the sex, race, and age of the patients admitted do not
exhibit any very noticeable features.
The proportion of females was, however,
exceptionally small as shown by the
figures in the margin, and the number of
Native Christians was lower than for
several years past. As usual, three¬
fourths of the lunatics admitted were
between the ages of 20 and 40. Seven
persons under twenty years of age were received and only two over sixty.
4. The increase in admissions occurred entirely at the Calicut asylum, where 44
insanes were received in 1887 against 9 in 1886. Of these 23 belonged to the Mala-
bar district and 6 to South Canara as compared with six and one, respectively, in
the previous year. No explanation of the sudden rise appears and it will be referred to
the Collectors concerned for remarks. It seems probable that it is due to greater
activity on the part of the police in arresting wandering and possibly harmless luna-
tics—a course which does not wholly recommend itself to the Government. The other
districts of the Presidency do not show much variation. 42 lunatics, whose residence
was Madras, were admitted as compared with 48 in 1886. From the return showing
previous occupations of the lunatics, it appears that 28 " private soldiers" were
received in the Madras asylum and no " sepoys," but turning to statement III, it is
found that the total number of European and Eurasian males was only 24 and several
of these must be included under other heads than private soldiers, e.g., armourer
serjeant, lieutenant, corporal, driver, &c. It seems likely, therefore, that the classi-
fication is wrong and that sepoys have been included in Madras under private soldiers.
On the other hand, three sepoys were admitted at Vizagapatam and no soldiers, but at
Calicut two soldiers and no sepoys. 37 lunatics had no previous occupation against 38
in the previous year and only 4 in 1885. Here it would seem that there has been
some change in procedure, for the number, whose previous occupation is shown as
"unknown," has fallen from 68 in 1885 to 14 in 1886 and 22 in the year under
report. Apparently greater care has been taken in the last two years to ascertain
whether patients admitted have ever exercised a calling.
5. Statement No. VII deals with the supposed causes of insanity. As the figures
there given refer to the whole number of cases under treatment and not merely to
admissions, there is less change from year to year. In 460 cases out of 797, the causes
of insanity were entirely unknown, while 240 cases have been ascribed to physical and
97 to moral causes. In the previous year the number of unknown cases was even
larger, viz., 533; it is satisfactory that the attempts to trace the origin of insanity
have not been entirely unsuccessful. The return showing types of insanity has been
revised in accordance with a new nomenclature of diseases and accordingly differs from
those in previous reports. Three hundred and sixty-three cases are shown under the
head of '' Mania " and 240 under that of " Dementia," and there were also 51 cases of
melancholia, 39 of idiotcy and 33 of tonic insanity, the latter all males. No inform-
ation is given as to the forms of insanity that show the largest percentage of recoveries,
but chronic cases are generally the least hopeful, and the gradual accumulation of
patients of this class in the asylums tends to lower the proportion of recoveries. This
explanation, however, does not affect new cases and the Government regret to find that
only 35.26 per cent. of those admitted in 1887 were cured against 45.46 per cent. of
the admissions in the previous ten years.
6. The general health of the inmates of the Madras asylum was less favorable
than for several years past. 18.97 patients were on the sick list each day, being
with one exception (1880-81) the highest number in the last eleven years, and the
death-rate rose to 8.87 per cent. against 6.68 in 1886 and was the highest since
1882-83. The principal causes of deaths in this institution were chronic pneumonic
phthisis (13) (which, as the Surgeon-General explains, is very common among insanes),
dysentery (5), apoplexy (4), and meningitis (3). The unfavorable statistics presented
by the Madras asylum appear to be in a large measure due to the heavy mortality
among newly-admitted patients, the death-rate among these being as high as 26.66
per cent. for both sexes, and among females alone reaching 38.09 per cent. In the
two other asylums, the health of the inmates was everything that could be desired.
The daily average number of sick continued to be extremely low, and the death-rates,