3

         11.  Advantages of early mental treatment—It appears that
the public mind in India has not yet been sufficiently educated
as to the advantages of early treatment of mental diseases.
During the year under review 175 patients were admitted into
the hospital as so-called " New Admissions" for treatment,
majority of whom were old chronic cases for whom nothing could
be done but the palliative treatment with no hope of recovery.
This has been our misfortune since the inception of this modern
Mental Hospital which has immense facilities for the treatment
of early cases with encouraging results. Mental disease is as
much curable as any general disease in its early stage. Those
hospitals in the West which are fortunate enough to receive
early cases for treatment, achieve 70 per cent recovery in their
cases. The problem of encouraging early treatment cannot be
solved without securing the co-operation of the public and any
measure which will conduce to this end is worthy of careful
consideration. Apparently a strong odium is attached by the
Indian public to mental disease and unless this is removed no
progress in the treatment of early mental cases is possible in
India.

         12.    Death rate.—The percentage of deaths to daily average
strength during the year 1938 and the two previous years was as
follows :—

13. The chief causes of death during the year under report
were as follows :—

1.  General paralysis of Insanes.

2.  Chronic Dysentery.

3.  Liver Abscess.

4.   Epilepsy.

5.  Rupture of Liver.

6.  Anæmia and polyhelminthiasis.

7.  Kala-Azar.

8.  Malignant Malaria.

9.  Acute Diarrhoea.
10. Gastric Ulcer,