80 



THE CHARTS HERNIA. 



with increase of age is marked ; and their increase with increase of height, though less 

 in degree as well as regularity, is noticeable. The division " Nativity " has interesting 

 features, notable among which is the fact that the Indians of the United States were 

 alone exempt from this most prevalent class of maladies. 



CHART XIV. 



HERNIA. 



Statistics of hernia have always been a favorite study among surgeons — especially 

 military surgeons — and we find them wonderfully complete in the medical records of 

 all civilized nations. The chart numl^ered XIV, which shows the relation of hernia to 

 certain conditions which distinguish Class I, is submitted without extended comments ; 

 but Chart XL, which shows its relation to localit}^, is more fully considered. It will 

 be seen that the indications are in accord with the general rules, except as regards 

 height, in which respect there is a marked similarity to the indications of Charts VIII 

 and IX. The mean ratio of rejection shown by this chart, which includes volunteers 

 and substitutes, should not be taken as an indication of the physical aptitude of the 

 nation, because many men, who by reason of hernia had been kept out of the army 

 until after large bounties were offered, were tempted thereby to offer themselves ; but 

 the figures of Chart XL, on hernia, give the ratio rejected among drafted men, and 

 should, for purposes of comparison, be used in judging of the prevalence of hernia in 

 this country as compared with others. It is, however, very difficult to form well- 

 grounded conclusions from the naked results, as so many circumstances must be given 

 due weight as modifiers. The relative prevalence of the different kinds or forms of 

 hernia is given in the following tabular statement, condensed from Table 19, which gives 

 (as regards hernia,) the result of the examination of 334,321 "recruits, substitutes, 

 drafted and enrolled men, of various nativities :" 



From this statement it apjoears that inguinal hernia was the cause of about eighty- 

 t\\o per centum of all rejections on account of hernia, and that the cases of right inguinal 

 hernia exceeded in number all the rest. Other tables confirm, in a most conclusive 

 manner, this latter indication, to wit : That inguinal hernia of the right side is fixr more 

 jirevalent than that of the left. The cases of umbilical and of ventral hernia wei-e 

 about erpial, but inconsiderable in number as compared with right inguinal. 



