CH. XII.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 237
have already said, my
ordinary medical practice did not bring me into contact
with them at all. I only came into contact with them in the asylum.
I had no
idea that they were used so extensively as I find on enquiry to be
the case. I have
made enquiry in connection with the attention drawn to the matter
recently."
These are some of the
explanations which may be offered for the submis-
sion by Superintendents of such statistics year by year. Further,
though such
evidence as that of Surgeon-Major-General DeFabeck of Madras shows
most
clearly how little knowledge some heads of the Medical Department
have had
of the untrustworthy character of the statistics, it does not show
this more
clearly than does the mere fact that year after year these
statistics have
been seriously discussed alike by these officers and by the
Governments under
whom they serve.
Further inquiries made by
the
Commission.
521. The Commission were
forced to the conclusion that there was no trust-
worthy basis for a satisfactory and reasonably
accurate opinion on the connection between hemp
drugs and insanity in the asylum statistics appended to the annual
reports.
They felt that they must conduct for themselves as full and
searching an
inquiry as was possible within the time at their disposal into the
history of
a considerable number of cases. As already stated, they selected as
the subject
of their inquiry all the cases admitted into all the asylums in
India in 1892
and ascribed to hemp drugs. They took up each of these cases
separately in
the asylum, and ascertained what information was obtainable in
regard to it from
perusal of the original papers and the asylum registers, and also
by enquiry from
the Superintendent and Asylum officials. Having recorded all such
informa-
tion, they asked the Superintendent of each asylum to conduct
further inquiry
into each case and report finally on it, and they requested Local
Governments
to direct the Magistrates and Civil Surgeons of districts to which
the patients
belong to give the Superintendent all necessary assistance. The
Commission
added: "In view of the importance of this branch of the inquiry, it
is sug-
gested that, wherever this is possible, a careful local inquiry
should be con-
ducted by a trustworthy and experienced Magistrate, in consultation
with the
Civil Surgeon, to ascertain the past personal and family history of
the patient,
and any circumstances likely to throw light on the cause of his
insanity. The
record of this inquiry should in each case be submitted to the
Commission
through the Superintendent of the asylum in which the patient was
treated to
enable him to submit the report above mentioned." All this
information, both
that collected in the asylums and that collected in these further
inquiries, is
recorded in Vol. II Appendices. Only the final report of the
Superintendent is
printed, unless it is inaccurate or incomplete, or unless there is
anything of
interest in the records which he has not noticed. In these cases
notes contain-
ing the points omitted or inaccurately stated, or extracts from the
records,
are appended to his report. Prefixed to these papers is a statement
of the
decision of the Commission on all of the cases, showing very
briefly for
each why it has been accepted or rejected. In a few cases the
results of
the inquiries are unsatisfactory; for it has been impossible
occasionally to get
any further information; and occasionally the inquiry, even though
feasible, has
not been conducted with sufficient care and intelligence. On the
whole, how-
ever, the result is the collection of a body of information about
these selected
cases far superior to anything heretofore available.
60