No. S.B./130 OF 1885.
FROM
THE SURGEON-GENERAL WITH THE
GOVERNMENT OF BOMBAY,
To
THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT,
General Department.
Bombay, 31st March 1886.
SIR,
I have the honour to submit, for the information of His Excellency the Gov-
ernor in Council, my Administration Report on the Lunatic Asylums of this
Presidency for the year 1885, together with summaries of the reports by the
Superintendents.
2. The asylum buildings are generally in good order. At Colába, Hyder-
abad and Ahmedabad only ordinary repairs have been effected. At Dhárwár,
under Government Resolution No. 1762, dated 16th November 1885, a building
formerly used as the old Civil Hospital and really part of the asylum will, before the
end of the financial year, be converted into 10 additional cells. At Poona an ad-
ditional ward for 5 female lunatics has been constructed and the escape of a
patient necessitated adding to the height of a wall and transferring a partition a
little to one side. The conservancy and water-supply at all the asylums is satis-
factory. Gardening has not been very fertile in produce ; at Ahmedabad there
was a failure of vegetables early in the year. At Dhárwár the total realizations
under this head amounted to Rs. 130. At Hyderabad a daily supply of vegetables
was furnished to the inmates. At Colába there is no garden. The accommo-
dation afforded by the asylums has not been sufficient for the wants of the Pre-
sidency, but under the agrrangements made at Dhárwár, as mentioned above, by
the use if necessary of a part of the jail at Ratnágiri, and with the approaching
opening of the new Ratnágiri Asylum, there will, for some time to come, be
plenty of accommodation.
3. The general health of the asylum population was, with the exception of
the outbreak of cholera at Dhárwár, referred to in the summary of Surgeon-
Major McConaghy's report, very satisfactory, and the mortality was less than in
1884, the number of deaths being 48 as compared with 59.
4. The usual statements are appended and I beg to offer the following re-
marks for the information of Government.
Statement No. I., giving the admissions, discharges, &c., of lunatics in the asy-
lums of this Presidency, shows that the total population during the year was 899
against 920 in the previous year; of this number 760 were males and 139 females.
There were 213 males and 18 females admitted, and 5 males and 1 female re-admit-
ted. The number discharged was 221, including 203 males and 18 females; of
these 63 were cured, 156 were transferred to friends (137 improved and 19
unimproved), two were discharged otherwise (1 escaped, and 1 transferred to the
Colába Station Hospital).
The deaths numbered 48 against 59 in the previous year. On the 31st
December 1885, 516 males and 114 females, total 630, remained. The daily
average strength was 537.6 males, 115.6 females, total 653.2, as compared with
626.4 in 1884.
The percentages of cures and deaths to the daily average strength were :—
Cured ...
Died ...
Males ... ... ... ...
Females ... ... ... ...
Males ... ... ... ...
Females ... ... ... ...
10.0
7.7
7.6
6.0
Total ...
Total ...
9.6.
7.3.
The percentages to admissions were :—
Cured ...
Died ...
Males ... ... ... ...
Females ... ... ... ...
Males ... ... ... ...
Females
...
...
...
...
24.7
47.3
18.8
36.7
Total ...
Total ...
Total
26.5.
20.2.
B 1358—1