ANNUAL REPORT ON LUNATIC ASYLUMS.                      5

8. Ages of the Patients.—The following abstract bears out the conclusion come
to in former reports, that insanity is a disease which shows itself most commonly
in the prime of life, between the ages of 20 and 40. Of the total admissions, 69.23
per cent. were between those ages :—

9. Forms of Insanity.—The particulars are given in Statement VI. Of acute
mania 121 cases were treated, of chronic mania 205, of melancholia 42, of acute
dementia 34, of chronic dementia 67, paralysis of the insane 2, idiotcy 20, im-
beciles 5, puerperal mania 4. These numbers indicate pretty well the relative
proportions of the various forms of mental unsoundness coming under observation
in asylums.

The recoveries, as a matter of course, are always in the highest proportion in
the acute forms of insanity, and the results of the last year are given below. They
indicate that prompt treatment and seclusion in an asylum are often efficacious in
restoring to health those recently attacked :—

10. Proximate Causes of Insanity.—I am afraid that the alleged causes of
insanity, as given in the official returns, are not very reliable. They are classified
as physical or moral, and the former causes in this country greatly preponderate
over the latter. 135 cases were said to owe their origin to physical, and 53 to
moral, causes. Of the physical causes of insanity, the abuse of narcotic drugs,
intemperance, epilepsy and hereditary seem to be the most common. Of the moral
causes grief, misfortune, and anxiety :—

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