H.—lo

1878. NEW ZEALAND.

LUNATIC ASYLUMS OF NEW ZEALAND (ANNUAL REPORT ON.)

Presented to loth Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency. The Inspector of Li tnatic Asylums to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetabt. Sik, — Inspector of Lunatic Asylums' Office, Wellington, 26th July, 1878. I have the honor to lay before you the following report on the condition and management of lunatics and Lunatic Asylums in New Zealand. The number of lunatics in asylums on the 31st December, 1877, was 872, of whom 581 were males and 291 were females. Their distribution is shown in the following tabular statement: —

These figures show a total increase of 81 over the numbers at the end of the preceding year. The annual increase for the last five years has been as follows : — Year. Increase. 1873 ... ... ... ... ... 55 1874 ... ... ... ... ... 77 1875 ... ... ... ... ... 56 1876 ... ... ... ... ... 61 1877 ... ... ... ... ... 81 Total 330 Tables giving the usual statistical information published in Asylum reports will be found in the Appendix. Admissions. —The total number of patients received into Asylums during the year, inclusive of 45 re-admissions, was 362, and of these 250 were males and 112 were females. This is a much larger proportion to the average number resident than that which usually exists in other countries. The ratio which the number of admissions bears to the population is generally regarded as a more reliable measure of the prevalence of insanity in a country than that of the number of lunatics in Asylums at any given time to the population. The admissions into Asylums in this colony last year were in the proportion of 1 to 1,144 of the general population, as estimated by the Begistrar-General in March. This is a considerably larger proportion than that which obtained in 1876 in Victoria and New South Wales, which is stated in the reports of the Inspectors of Asylums in those colonies to have been respectively 1 in 1,431 and 1 in 1,749; and it is also larger than that which is found at Home. 1.—H. 10.

Patients. ASYHTIIS. Increase over 1876. Male. Female. Total. iuckland Sew Plymouth... Yapior Wellington kelson ffokitika Uhristchurch Dunedin 128 1 11 61 32 49 126 173 55 1 7 88 is is 78 7<; 183 2 18 99 50 67 204 249 20 2 3 21 4 10 11 14 Total 581 291 872 81 Increase orer previous Year ... 58 88 8]