THE CHARTS LOCALITY — HERNIA. 



89 



service. The existence of a hernia is so easily proved that, no doubt, in many dis- 

 trict:^ where the eifect of reducing- the number of names on the enrolhnent-hsts was 

 fully understood, the local authorities, or even interested private individuals, caused 

 the names of enrolled men who were manifestly disabled, especially by reason of her- 

 nia, to be stricken from the lists, which, being thus reduced as to numbers, would war- 

 rant the assignment of a smaller quota of the men called for, to be drafted in such 

 districts. This will, to a certain but indeterminate degree, account for the great dif- 

 ference of the ratio of rejection on account of hernia in the different States. A state- 

 ment of the relative prevalence of the dift'ei-ent kinds of hernia will be found in the 

 comments on Chart XIV. 



As shown in this chart, the millesimal ratio rejected from the 501,002 drafted 

 men — which is, of course, the mean ratio for all the States — was 31.631. This is so 

 nearly the same as that in the case of the conscripts of all France for three years, and 

 of the department of the Seine for a period of eleven years — which was, for the former 

 31.200, and for the latter 31.5^00 — that it is Avorthy of notice. Mr. Henry Marshall, in his 

 work " On the Enlisting-, Discharging, and Pensioning of Soldiers, etc.," in commenting 

 upon these ratios of rejection in France, says: "The similarity of the statistical results 

 on this subject among the conscripts of all France for three years and among the 

 conscripts of tlie department of the Seine for the period of eleven years is very remark- 

 able." Mr. Marshall gives the ratio of i-ejection on account of hernia among the 

 recruits enlisted in the Dublin district, the North British district, and in the German 

 Legion ; showing for the tirst a ratio of liJ.OOO, for the second 7.100, and for the third 

 9.C00. But these tigures are of no consequence in a discussion of the physical apti- 

 tude of a nation for military service ; for, as has been pointed out in the introduction 

 to the tables, in time of peace, or at any other time when no great inducements to 

 enlistment in the form of bounties are offered, men with hernia will not present them- 

 selves. During the War of the Rebellion, however, such large bounties were offered 

 that multitudes of men, tempted thereby, presented themselves as volunteers or as 

 substitutes, with the hope that they might be able to conceal a hernia or other defect 

 until after the bounty should have been paid to them. Owing to this, the ratio of rejec- 

 tion among volunteers and substitutes, as may readily be believed, actually exceeded 

 tliat among drafted men. The table given by Mr. Marshall is here copied, and to it 

 are added the results obtained from the records of this office. 



station, etc. 



Dublin district 



Nortli British district 



German Legion 



Franco 



Department of the Seine 



United States, (volunteers, etc.) 

 United Stales, (drjiited men) . . . 



J 



12 



CO =5 



4J ZL 



1, 184 



69 



:i65 



3,948 



834 



S-2, 285 



15, 847 



o o . 



•lag 

 rt o oj 



'18 9 



19. 000 

 7.100 

 9. 000 

 31. 200 

 31.900 

 44.475 

 31.C31 



I 



