surgeons' reports NEW HAMPSHIRE THIRD DISTRICT. 187 



its iiiiirked diiniiuition in numbers is popularly ascribed to tliis cause. There are two locali- 

 ties ill this district where the inarrinj;e of cousins has prevailed to sni^h an extent that two or three 

 leelile, uiiderwittcd, or detbriiied children in one family is no uncommon si<;lit. It is from these 

 ])laces tlmt most of the e.\eiiii)ts under section 1, in the sui)plementary draft, were conscripted. 

 Under the onler for diminishing' town-quotas by striking from the rolls the names of men per- 

 manently disal>li'd, it was the practice of town agents to brin^' members of this class to the ollice 

 for e.\emi)tion ; and by jjersonal iminiry I ascertained that in almost es-ery instance the exempt 

 was the offspring of first cousins, and in one horrible case of idiocy the victim was the child and 

 gramh-Iiild of first cousins. So great jin evil has this become that a few years since a bill was 

 intioduccd into the State legislature making the marriage of first cousins a penal offense, and many 

 important facts were adduced t > prove the serious consequences resulting from such unions. In 

 one family the oldest child was an idiot ; the second, deaf and dumb ; and the third, deformed and 

 imperfectly developed. In another family, from the same town, the second child was blind from 

 its birth, the iris being entirely wanting; and the third, a puny little wretch, was perfectly covered 

 with scrofulous ulcers. These facts might be multiplied enormously, but want of space forbids. 

 Enough has been said to prove that, in the absence of otTier known causes, this mai/, to a cer- 

 tain extent, account for the extraordinary number exempted under section 1 in the State of New 

 Hampshire. 



Under this head, it is, perhaps, proper to report a very peculiar case occurring in this office 

 during the first draft. A conscript ai)peared in the office for examination who came as near being 

 a geiuiiiie hermaphrodite as any repurted case. The man was about thirty years of age, five feet 

 four inches in height, with very little beard, but a luxuriant growth of hair about the pubes. The 

 breasts were largely develo[)ed ; the hips broad; the hands and feet smiill. The penis was 

 small, but well developed, and occui)ying the place of the 'clitoris. The labia majora were 

 well developed, and the commissure decidedly marked. At the lower portion of each labium 

 a small testicle could be felt, and the cord could be traced to the ring. The vagina was a merecMj 

 de mc 01 about one inch in dei)th. The history of the case was curious. Until the age of nineteeu 

 he wore the habiliments of the female, and associated only with females, conducting himself, 

 according to his own account, precisely as did Achilles when introduced among the daughters of 

 the Grecian king. At this age, his parents, becoming convinced of their mistake, changed his 

 garments and the family-residence at the same time. He has been twice married, but has had no 

 issue, notwithstanding both marri:iges were consummated. 



The answer to the third question is intimately connected with the second, and the answer 

 having been, therefore, already partially given, it is pei haps unnecessary to add more concerning it. 

 I would, however, state that, admitting typhoid fever to be the prevalent disease of the distiict, 

 aciiuse may be found for it in a portion of this region where the fever ])revails most. I allude to 

 tiie existence of very heavy river-fogs, arising from the Connecticut and its large tributaries at 

 certain seasons of the year. It has long been noticed that the fever usually commences in Sei)- 

 tember, and is not fatal during that and the following month. Now, these fogs generally appear in 

 the latter part of August, and continue for more than two months, constantly increasing in density, 

 and begin to disappear at the advent of frost. During these months, it is common for these fogs 

 entirely to obscure the sun until D or 10 o'clock a. m., when they gradually dissolve, and a fine day 

 always ensues. If the inhabitants were to guard against the influence of this moisture by means 

 of warm clothing during the earlier i)art of the day, I am convinced that many more would 

 escape than do ; but the farmer wears the same suit of linen or cotton in the cold dampness of 

 the morning that he does in the dry heat of noon, thus inviting, and, as it were, ofi'ering a premium 

 to the disease. 



Our first and third drafts were made during the prevalence of these fogs, and it often hap- 

 pened that men were drafted who were at the time prostrated by the fever. The ofdce of the dis- 

 trict is situated in the valley, and it also occurred more than once that men drafted from the 

 country remote from these influences, and obliged to pass several days at the office, were seized 

 with the fever shortly afterward, either at their own homes or at the draft-rendezvous at Concord- 

 Notwithstanding our entire immunity from intermittent fevers, still there are seasons when typhoid 

 prevails as an epidemic, and of whicli I have already stated the cause in part. 1 refer to the state. 



