3
sent here for observation by orders of the High Court, Patna, was returned to
the Ranchi Jail, 6 male cases were certified harmless insanes and were
released by the committing Magistrate to the care of relatives.
One female was discharged as uncertifiable.
16. Criminal insanes.—The daily average strength of criminal patients
was 568.58 (528.05 males and 40.53 females) against 605.82 (561.16 males and
44.66 females) in the previous year.
It is a matter of regret to have to record that some patients charged with
petty offences, mainly attributable to their insane minds, continued to be sent
throughout the year under report by the committing Magistrates as " Crimi-
nal patients " although they could have been dealt with under the provisions
of sections 13 to 17 of the Indian Lunacy Act, 1912, as non-criminal patients
and sent to this hospital as such for treatment. Several such patients
were
subsequently transferred to non-criminal class on my drawing the attention
of the Magistrates concerned to the matter through the Board of Visitors.
17. Statement no. III gives the religion, sex and residence of the patients
admitted during the year.
18. Statement no. IV gives the previous occupation of the patients
admitted during the year.
19. Statement no. V gives the ages of patients admitted during the year.
It may be noticed that out of 111 patients admitted, 86 were between the ages
of 20 to 40.
20. Statement no. VI deals with the types of insanity treated under
report. Mania, melancholia, dementia praecox and toxic insanity (ganja)
were the principal types treated. During the year under review 11 suspected
cases of post encephalitis lethargica or chronic encephalitis which were
suspected in 1927 were definitely so diagnosed on receipt of necessary histories
from the patients' friends. A fresh case of this fell disease was diagnosed
during the year under report. Chronic encephalitis lethargica is now-a-days
responsible for filling up mental hospitals of Europe and a few sporadic cases
of this disease have now definitely been found in the Ranchi Indian Mental
Hospital.
21. Paying patients.—67 paying patients (54 males and 13 females) were
treated compared with 63 (53 males and 10 females) in the preceding year.
Paying patient wards have not yet been built and the patients in the Male
Section are accommodated in a separate ward in one of the Quiet Patients'
Blocks. In the female Section 1st class paying patients are given separate
rooms so far as is practicable and other classes of patients are kept in separate
wards in the infirmary. Owing to overcrowding several applications for the
admission of paying patients had to be refused.
22. Suicide.—There was no case of suicide during the year under report or
in the previous year, although several serious attempts were made by potential
suicides of both sexes. This speaks well for the rigid vigilance of the attendant
staff in charge of suicidal wards who deserve great credit for this happy
result.
Accidents and injuries.—A few minor accidents and injuries took place
but none were serious. The staff of all grades from the Superintendent down-
wards were assaulted at times by newly-admitted violent or quarrelsome
paranoiac patients. In one case the assault amounted to grievous hurt. A
hitherto quiet patient suddenly struck an attendant on the head with a spade
while working in the vegetable garden of the hospital. In another case a
patient who had several previous convictions to his credit kept at bay 40 atten-
dants by means of a dao (scythe) which he snatched away from a sane
patient working in the garden, and he further declared that he wished to kill
two attendants against whom he had some grudge and that he would kill any
one who attempted to take away the dao from him. This matter was reported
to me and I persuaded the patient to hand over the dao to me and a very
unpleasant situation was relieved.