STATISTICAL RETURNS OF THE LUNATIC ASYLUMS                        7

46.   Visitors.—All the three Asylums were visited by the Inspector-General of
Prisons during the year 1917. The monthly inspections by the official and the
non-official visitors have been regularly carried out and their reports were satis-
factory. They were annually inspected by the Hon'ble Surgeon-General
W. B. Bannerman, I.M.S.

47.  Inventory of stores has been carried out periodically and the stock is
efficiently maintained.

48. The service books have been verified and found correct.

49. Concluding Remarks.—In the Madras Asylum the most serious want is
an electric installation. This is an urgent necessity. The head office of the
Superintendent is still located in a general block built for patients, thus depriving
the Asylum of accommodation for 16 more inmates. The building is further
unsuitable as an office. Now that the population of the Madras Asylum is steadily
increasing, a new office block is becoming a pressing need—vide my letter No. 6
Bl./380, dated 26th March 1918. The Vizagapatam Asylum stands in need of a
compound wall in place of the present prickly-pear hedge. A separate hospital
building for male patients is also required as one of the cottages is being used at
present for that purpose thus depriving the Asylum of its full accommodation.
Since there is an increase in the admission of filthy patients in the Vizagapatam
Asylum, increased accommodation in the shape of a few cells is also necessary.

                                                                    I have the honour to be,
                                                                                   Sir,
                                                                 Your most obedient servant,

                                                         G. G. GIFFARD, Lt.-Col., I.M.S.,
                                            Offg. Surgn.-Genl. with the Govt. of Madras.