176 surgeons' reports MAINE THIRD DISTRICT. 



The loss of the first and second phahxuges of the first and second fingers of the right hand does 

 not exempt, while their total loss does. It is thought that the presence of the tiiird plialanx of 

 either of these fingers is only an obstacle to the free nse of the next finger below. * * » 



Under ordinary circninstances, a surgeon, with a good orderly and two clerks, can carefully 

 examine fifty men in a day, with an average lot of men, and good order in the room. * * * 



Of the frauds practiced by drafted men to escape, the most common are feigned disease's or 

 infirmities, and mechanical injuries. Feigning or exaggerating deafness has been quite common in 

 this oiBce; but a surgeon of fair shrewdness can usually detect the fraud by observing the habits 

 of men who are decidedly deaf, and entrapping the impostor in his conversation. In this office, an 

 afiidavit is required to prove decided deafness before exempting for this infirmity. 



In examining by pali)ation an internal organ claimed to be lame or tender, the examining- 

 surgeou should manage to keep the man's attention earnestly engaged upon some other organ or 

 subject, and in this way he will save all controversy, oftentimes by the absence of flinching when 

 the organ alleged to be affected is pressed upon. The surgeon is obliged to tnx his ingenuity con- 

 stantly to vary the means of detecting these frautls, as any one device will soon be learned by 

 drafted men outside. * * * 



During the first year of my connection with this board, bribes were not unfrequently offered; 

 but within the last year I do not recollect that my official integrity has been approached by any 

 drafted man or recruit. I would here suggest in passing, as I am about to leave this post, that 

 official integrity in a surgeon is of very great consequence to the service ; for he is at times obliged 

 to withstand the clamors of whole communities. 



One case of fraud occurred in this district, in which an eui'olled man presented him.seU', and 

 had his name stricken from the rolls for an obvious infirmity. Allowing a sufficient length of time 

 to elajise to insure success, he, for hire, came again under an assumed name, was examined, and 

 declared unfit, and thus had his neighbor's name stricken from the rolls. This trick he practiced 

 again for a second neighbor. The only way that suggests itself to me for avoiding such frauds is 

 the summarj' arrest and punishment of the offender when such cases come to light. » * * 



The frauds most frequently practiced by enlisted men are concerning age. The aflidiivit of the 

 individual and certificates of liis friends are seldom reliable. 



Iq these cases, the surgeon must judge, as best he can, of over-age by flabbiness of tlie flesh 

 and by general appearance, and of underage by faulty develojiment. For his own i)rotection, he 

 may take measurements; and, in this office, the girth of arm and leg have of late been recorded. 



Men will sometimes, without flinching, bear deep pressure upon diseased internal organs, and 

 no means has been devised for detecting this species of fraud. * * * 



No inaptitude for military service has been ob.served in this office as being peculiar to the colored 

 race, if the flat foot do not disqualify for long marches. 



The surgeon of this board is strongly of the opinion that, of all the errors in our present 

 enrollment-law, none are fraught with more evil consequences to the service and to good morals 

 than is the system of paying large bounties. Indeed, the use of deception for the acquisitign of 

 bounties has become so nearly universal that the surgeon of this board has very little confidence, 

 indeed, in the veracity of enlisting-offlcers or of their enlisted men ; nor does lie trust much more 

 to their affidavits, further than that they furnish a basis upon which to fall back for protection. If 

 bounties are to be given at all, it is believed that they should be sufficiently large to induce good 

 and able-bodied men to leave lucrative employments; otherwise, they attract only the indolent and 

 unsound. Men should undoubtedly have greater inducements to enter the service by volunteer 

 enlistments than by draft, but it should be profl'ered in the increase of monthly pay, thereby check- 

 mating the game of running away with large bounties ; and, while large salaries are inducing men 

 to volunteer, the draft, with smaller salary, should be made to act as an urging force in the same 

 direction, and should also be held in reserve as a dernier ressort when the attraction of larger pay 

 and the dread of a draft shall have failed to fill a tiuota. * * # 



On the whole, 1 find but very few objectionable features either in the enrollment-law or in the 

 manner in which it has been executed by my superior officers. 



G. A. WILBUK, 

 Surgeon Third District of Maine. 



Augusta, Me., May 20, 1865. 



