The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1109, 31 August 1880, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter.

'PUfeJH^ /EVIiJY; EVENING: : 1880. . ,Tho annual report/ furnished by the New Zealand Gpverninent, anent the condition" of our Colonial Lunatic Asylums, and the causes of lunacy* if not, a very valuable document, ia at least an interesting one. It is at least worthy of perusal. The number of registered insane on the ; 31st of December last was 1,056, two hundred - and. twenty nine of .whom werein the ; Auckland asylums, The increase over the previous year was 101, as against an/increase qf ; 81 in-. 1877, 5.6 in 1875, aiM 55'in : 1873/ N^otwithstandihg this the proportion of ihsane to the estimated pppula-tion— l _in every 445 — is still smaller than in England or the

, other colonies. For the, year 1878 it wits, jn. England 1 in 360, in Scotland 1 in 02, in '.' Wew S^uth Wales 1 in ZM^totidrvi Tin: 304. The causes of insanity in 961 casesare given in.;an; table* . 98 remaining unaccounted lor. Intemperance in the i7 useo^ajcohol; figures largely in the r.table, being assigned as a cause, in -84 rri.of th(B>admissidns. : "It is boweeer," ;iays Mr.; Skae, Inspector of Asylums, " right to point out thatthis dreadfully prominent cause of insanity was, in 5 many' instances; combined with others equally powerful; and was often itself an inherited malady or sympton of '^duease. t; ;In the report .qf the; English Commissioners for 1878 intemperance in appears, as a cause, exciting or predisposing, in 21--3 = ";per cent, of the male, and. 7-9 per .cent, of the female, and 14-0 per cent.; of the total admissions into aisylums; for the year. It undoubtedly has a -much larger share in the production, of insanity in _ this country, having been a cause in 1 27 per cent., of the male,, 11 per cent. of the female, and 21 j>er cent, for , the total admissions for yeai% As v ; regards individual; districts, whatever may be. the. .explanation of the fact, it * seems to ,be; a much .more frequent , cause of insanity in, some than in -othersf v Thus in it was ' ttieeauseinß per cent", of ; the roale Sj and in none t ofl the females^admitted ; •whereaS the-percentaige of cases among the male admissions due to this cause : in Wellington was 24, in ,Ghristchurch ? : f27j iff Dunedin 32, in STelson 40, and j in Hbkitika over 50." v^We also learn . frpin the .febledlist of : causes that 12 pßJ^Qns became insane from " emigration and. congenital^ Weakness," 15 v from ijseif abuse 10 .from domestic < ; ; ,trp.ubles, 7- from; anxiety, : 6 from J >ieiigious excitement, 4 • from love disappointment, 2 from, reduction, 1 from remorse, 2 from fright, 4 from

pecuniary losses,. 5 from sunstroke, «fee., &c. The total expenditure on the management and maintenance of ithe insane, during 1878, was £35,360 or £33 9s lOd ."per head. Auckland is worked considerably cheaper than any of the others, the rate of maintenance per head being | £26 8s lOd, as against £27 12s 6d at Dunedin, £31 19s at Nelson, and. £40 5s Bd, at Hokitika. At Auckland the male attendants get £70 a year, a£ Dunedin £100, and in some Asylums higher still. Deficient accommodation is complained of at nearly all the NVZ. Asylums. Last year there were 129 more patients at the Auckland Asylum than there was. room for, and at Christchurch things, appear to have been almost equally bad.