75 travel is likely to continue to deter a large proportion of would-be pilgrims from undertaking tlie journey.

The following table shows the number of pilgrims who left Egypt for Mecca in the years 1914 to 1919 :— Year. Egyptians.

1914 . 191,0 , 1916 , 1917 . 1918 . 1919 3 1,701 836 628 829 Total.

2,989 2,459 917 721 3,034 46. Lunacy. In 1914 the Lunacy Division was detached fiom the Public Health Department, of which it had hitherto formed part, and its administration as a separate unit of the Ministry of the Interior has given satisfactory results.

The number of persons admitted into the lunatic asylums averages somewhat over 1,000 a year. The death rate in the asylums rose from 12-25 per cent, in 1913 to 21 per cent, in 1918, but fell rapidly during 1919. Pellagra remains the chief cause of insanity in Egypt.

Resume of 25 years Work.

The following figures covering a period of tvventy-five years (in 1895 the care of the insane in Egypt was first placed in British hands) may be of some interest:— During the last twenty-five years nearly 20,000 lunatics have been treated in the asylum. 1,600 criminals have been examined and reported on to the Tribunals. The annual receipts in payment for teeatment have risen from £E. 226 in 1896 to £E. 12,500 in 1919, and the annual cost of upkeep of the asylums has risQn from £E. 8,000 in 1895 to £E. 106,000 in 1919. The total amount spent during this period in the upkeep of the asylums is £E. 820,000. The number of patients in residence has risen from 440 in 1895 to 2,075 in 1919, and the lunacy staff from 73 to 582.

Re-port on the Lunacy Division for the Years 1914-1918. Admission.

The total number of lunatics officially registered has fallen from 1,329 in 1913 to 1,281 in 1918.

Cost of Maintenance.

The cost of maintenance in the asylums has risen from £E. 22 in 1913 per patient per annum to £E. 42 in 1918, owing to wmr prices.

Organisation.

The separation of the Lunacy Division from the Department of Public Health and the formation of a separate lunacy unit in the Ministry of the Interior took place in 1914. Much benefit has resulted therefrom.

Pellagra.

The scourge still remains the chief cause of insanity in Egypt.

Death Rate.

The death rate in the asylums rose during-the war from 12 per cent, in 1913 to 21 per cent in 1918.

Admission.

Report for the year 1919., The number of lunatics admitted continues to be about 1,000 a year.

[3437 2/—2] L 2 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.