8
was an inmate of the asylum for nearly 12 years.
She was admitted for dysen-
tery, and having refused all nourishment, gradually wasted away. The other
was also of a female inmate of over five years' residence in the asylum. She
suffered for a long time from maniacal excitement, took little nourishment and
became very anæmic. She remained on the sick list for nearly a month and a
half and died of exhaustion.
The Sir Cowasji Jehángir Lunatic Asylum, Hyderabad, returned 8 deaths
against 5 in the previous year. The ratio of deaths per mille of the total popu-
lation was 54.4 as compared with 34.5 in 1896. The causes were debility 3 and
dysentery, erysipelas, anæmia, epilepsy and hemiplegia 1 each. Of the 8 patients
who died, 3 were very old men aged each about 70 years. Several cases were
admitted in a wretched condition of health and never rallied after their admission.
The death-rate during the year under report, though larger than that of the
previous year, is an improvement on the past years. Taking the past three
years, and comparing them with the previous three years, a marked improve-
ment is noticed. Great care is taken that the patients are not allowed to leave
their barracks in the cold weather before the sun is well up, mattresses have
been substituted for the raised sleeping places, and the long fast from the pre-
vious day's dinner to the next day's breakfast has been abolished by giving a
small meal early in the morning. All these measures have tended to improve
the general health and guard against illness. No cases of pneumonia occurred
during the year under report. In spite of an unhealthy season with a heavy
rainfall and high inundations, malarial fevers have not been prevalent to any
great extent.
There were no cases of injuries of a " major " kind treated in the asylums
during the year under review, excepting that at Poona and Ahmedabad there
were two cases of simple fracture—one of the humerus and other of the right arm
in epileptic insanes caused in each case by a fall.
Statement No. IX is the cash account of the asylums during the year under
review. The total income was Rs. 1,57,616-7-5. Of this, Rs. 1,29,691-9-6 were
received from the Treasury, Rs. 14,510-3-2 from paying patients, Rs. 2,710-11-11
from the Manufacturing Department, being the value at market rates, less cost of
raw materials, of articles supplied to the asylums and sold to the public, and labour
of insanes employed on trees, and Rs. 10,640-4-7 were " book receipts " on account
of work done by the Public Works Department and supply of forms, stationery
and Europe medicines, &c. The corresponding figures for the previous year
were Rs. 1,18,437-15-10, Rs. 14,142-12-1, Rs. 2,697-14-6 and Rs. 17,226-14-3.
The sum of Rs. 63-10-3 was realized by the sale of unserviceable articles as
compared with Rs. 41-5-6 in 1896.
The total expenditure amounted to Rs. 1,57,616-7-5 against Rs. 1,52,550-10-2
in 1896. The cost on establishment was Rs. 52,813-5-11 as compared with
Rs. 53,273-0-3 in the previous year. Rs. 61,085-3-8 were expended on diets
against Rs. 50,983-6-11 in 1896; the increase under this head is attributable
to the comparatively higher contract rates prevailing during the year and the
increased number of patients. Clothing and bedding cost Rs. 6,092-9-9, the
increase of Rs. 711-11-9 over the preceding year being due to the purchase
of a larger amount of new clothing and bedding at higher contract rates for
new admissions as well as for replacing those old and worn out ones at Colába,
Ratnágiri and Dhárwár.
The expenditure on medicines amounted to
Rs. 2,273-9-0 as compared with Rs. 2,141-1-7 in 1396. There is an increase
of Rs. 733-9-11 in the cost of contingencies over the previous year, being due
to the higher contract rates of articles prevailing during the year at all places,
as well as to the higher water-rates being charged from the beginning of the
official year based on the actual consumption of the preceding three years at
the Colába Lunatic Asylum.
If the amounts of Rs. 14,510-3-2 received from paying patients, Rs. 1,336-
5-5 on account of the sale of manufactured goods to the public and labour on
trees, Rs. 63-10-3 realized by the sale of unserviceable articles and Rs. 1,374-6-6
made over to asylums for asylum purposes,—total Rs. 17,284-9-4,—be deducted
from the amounts received from the Treasury and adjusted to Government as