188 



luent tbat a dry season, with the consequent drying-np of the sinaller streams, is almost in- 

 variably followed by dyseutery in certaip localities. In other places, howe%-er, within the district, 

 typhoid fever is the result. It would seem as though the operating agencies are not suliiciently 

 potent to produce intermittent fever, but are enough to cause typhoid. 



I have examined the various sections of paragraph 85 very carefully, and I am at a loss either 

 to object to them as they stand or to .suggest alterations. If any change were made, it is pos.sible 

 that the loss of either eye might be held as a cause of rejection or exemption. * * 



I have to state it to be my opinion that no surgeon can do himself or the Government Justice if he 

 attempts to examine more than lifty men per day. I am aware that, under pressing circumstances, 

 from sixty to ninety have been examined, and 1 have mysj'lf, upon one occasion, examined eighty men ; 

 but I am convinced that it is wrong for any surgeon to attempt so much labor, both upon his own 

 account and that of the service. In my method of examination, it is necessary for me to go throngli 

 the motions of the hands, arms, &c., in order that the recruit, in imitating, may give me the proof 

 1 desire respecting his muscular development, and in many cases I am obliged to make my mean- 

 ing clear by jumping, running, &c., and, as may well be imagined, fitly repetitions of this active 

 course of calisthenics are about as many as can well be endured by any man, however vigorons and 

 strong. The practice of receiving foreigners totally ignorant of English has added immensely to 

 the labor of the surgeon, and has often been a sore trial to his temper and patience. 



In guarding against the frauds practiced by recruits, it is necessary to premise that the con- 

 script and the volunteer are governed by widely different purposes. The former exaggerates every 

 symi)toni, and feigns disability, to escape the draft, while the volunteer conceals physical defects 

 as much as possible that he may enter the service and receive the bounty. The conscript comes to 

 the ofitice attended by the town-officers and family-physician, fully prepared to prove that he has 

 been considered an unsound man.for years, while the calloused skin of his broad palm, and the 

 ruddy glow of his face and neck are silent but irresistible witnesses against him. As a rule, 

 however, I have never received auy testimony, either oral or written, from third parties, unless the 

 disability claimed was by its nature latent or undiscoverable. In eases of epilei)sy and asthma, I 

 have admitted evidence under oath, but in all others I prefer to rely upon the result of my own 

 investigation, as the certificates with which the conscript's hat is loaded evince more of sympathy 

 than of common honesty on the part of the deponents. The diseases most frequently feigned iu 

 this district have been deafness, blindness, rheumatism, and disease of the heart. A very few 

 instances occurred of willful sacrifice of the front teeth, but these men were held to service. 



The very vague maladies, known in the rural districts as the " liver and kidney comi)laints," 

 were [lerliaps the most common claim of the conscript, but no exemptions were made under either 

 of these heads. Varicose veins were produced once or twice by means of a ligature bound tightly 

 about the limb for a few hours before the examination ; but this fraud is so transparent that it 

 could not escape detection. Perhaps the malingerer who feigire deafness is the most dithcult to 

 unmask, but I think I have succeeded in most instances. I seat the recruit in a chair and sit down 

 in front of, and close to, him. I then place my watch against one of his ears, and in a very loud tone 

 ask him " if he can hear thaV He usually answers yes. I then withdraw the watch a few inches 

 and in a lower tone of voice repeat my question. This I repeat several times, gradually withdraw- 

 ing my chair, and at each repetition sinking my voice until it becomes scarcely more than a whisper. 

 The attention of the man being fixed upon the watch, he does not notice that you have trebled the 

 distance between you and carried the voice to so low a pitch. Again, with regard to blindness; 

 I tiiink I have never failed in detecting the malingerer by a very simple process. I tell him that I 

 wish him to accompany me to a place I have prepared to test the eye-sight. I then go entirely over 

 the building, up stairs and down, through the outbuildings and grounds, taking especial care to 

 select the worst route ])ossible, over logs, boxes, and impediments of all kinds. In most instances, 

 the man avoids the difficulties of the rough and rugged way, and arrives at the full dignity of an 

 accepted conscript. Heart-disease is frequently feigned, and the attempt made to deceive the sur- 

 geon by indu(ang functional derangement of that organ by the excessive use of tobacco and whisky. 

 1 have noted a few instances where men have remained at a hotel for a week before presenting 

 themselves, and devoted their whole time to chewing, smoking, and drinking. Of course, this pro- 

 duces exaggerated action and fluttering of the heart, which is increased by the exercise in the 



