SURGEONS' REPORTS — VERMONT — FIRST DISTRICT. I'Jl 



in flie production of these diseases, as they prevail about eciually upon our liigliest inliabited mouut- 

 aiu-districts, and in the lowest valleys. This is strictly an agricultural district, where the labors 

 of the hnsbaudmau are so rewarded that he — 



" Feels not tlie wants that pincli the poor, 

 Nor i)lajj;ne8 that hanut the rich man's dcoi." 



The inhabitants are generally sober and industrious, and reside iiriuoii)ally in rural districts, 

 although there are many villages containing from five hundred to three and tour thousand inhabit- 

 ants each, where considerable manufacturing is done, and where many jn'isons of European birth 

 are employed. These are mostly Irish, and are the only ones who made resistance to the enroll- 

 ment. Still this does not alter the general rule that the inhabitants are .sober, industrious, think- 

 ing, and law-abiding citizens. # * # 



The prevalence of pnenmonia, the frequency of phthisis, the general ])revalence of typhoid 

 fever, diphtheria, scarlatina, and rheumatism, i)articularly tyi)hoid fever and diphtheria, as an en- 

 demic, in this district, has had a very great effect in destroying the cfiioiency of men for military 

 service ior the past two years. # * # 



A large number who had diarrhoia on the peninsula, and were discharged from the service in 

 1.SC2, were still laboring under its debilitating effects when the draft was made, and added largely 

 to the numbers who were not able to do military duty. Another cause which increased relatively 

 the number of exemptions is the early emigration of the most vigorous and healthy young men to 

 the Western States, and who thus go to make up the flgliting regiments of the West. * # * 



As to the kinds of labor or occupation which appear to cause or jiroduce disqualitication for 

 military service, I should say that fractures, old dislocations, and rheumatism were more common 

 among quarry-men and slaters; hernia and varicose veins among lumber-men, and men employed 

 ill cleariug lands, than among those pursuing other avocations. Merchants, shoemakers, and tailors 

 seem to possess less physical strength thau those engaged in agricultural labors; but there is not 

 diversity enough in the occu])ations of men in this district to produce any very marked efiect upon 

 the physical condition of its inhabitants. 



Perhaps there could not have been a more perfect set of rules formed, without long experience 

 in esamiuiiig drafted men for military service, than the different sections of paragraph 85, Revised 

 Kegulations for the Government of the Bureau of the Provost-Marslial-Geueral. Possibly some 

 alteration in section 3 would enable the epileptic to make more satisfactory proof of his disability. 

 The epileptic is seldom seen by the i)hysi('iau during the paroxysm ; he is told by the bystanders 

 that the man fell down in a tit; he calls it epilepsy, and certifies to that fact, when it may be the 

 incursion of some febrile disease, where, perhaps, the man never had a fit previously. * * * 



If the drafted man were obliged to produce testimony that he has had a lepetition of fits ilur- 

 ing the previous year, and if the recruit who declares he never had a lit in his life, should be retained 

 in service until the surgeon can be satisfied as to the non-existence of this disability, there would 

 be fewer discharges on this account. 



Permauent physical disability (section 9) does not seem to cover those cases of debility follow- 

 ing, typhoid fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, and diphtheria, which may recover in months, or may never 

 recover, but which clearly incapacitate the man for service for months to come ; perhaps this sec- 

 tion could be altered so as to include such cases. 



* * * After some experience, it was found that forty or fifty men were all that could 

 be examined in a day and Justice be done to all parties. 



There are very few enrolled or drafted men who do not claim disability of some kind, and of 

 course demand exemption ; more frequently on account of chronic rheumatism, or disease of the 

 heart or lungs, or the man says he has "liver complaint," weakness and pain in the back, or some 

 two or three of all the diseases that he has ever heard spoken of. Very often he is honest in 

 this; he does not suffer much now, but the physician has told him that he is not well yet, and he 

 comes armed with his physician's deposition, certifying that the man never made a good recovery 

 from pneumonia, or disease of the heart or kidneys, and that the least exposure will bring a return 

 of his disease, which will endanger the man's life, and that he is entirely unable to do military duty. 

 Another comes forward drawn down on one side, with short cough and panting breath, declaring 



