surgeons' REPOllTS MASSACHUSETTS — SEVENTH DISTEICT. 215 



vice?" I bave the honor to reply, in my ojiiiiion, "The fused European Tiationalities," constituting 

 what is now known as the Xorth AmcricdH Race. 



I entertain this opinion, not because our native recruits are oji the whole more capable, physi- 

 cally, than the foreigners enlisting in our service, but becniise to a physictal development, little if 

 at all inferior to that of other races, is united an intelligence superior to tliat of the aliens with 

 whom they have been compared ; and because to the distinct and homogeneous nationality result- 

 ing from the fusion of many dissimilar races, the latter, as I believe, have contributed each some 

 quality or qualities of mind or body desirable in those who bear arms, and to be found combined 

 nowhere so perfectly as in the citizen-soldiers of our own land. 



That the Irish are most cai)able, physically, of all tlie recruits presenting for enlistment in our 

 service is, I believe, generally conceded. Nevertheless, of the foreigners in our army, the Scotch 

 have proved the most efticient soldiers.* * • # The Germans are considered the least desirable 

 recruits en'isted from our foreign population, partly because they are subject in greater degree to 

 bodily infirmities, partly because more addicted to malingering. 



In estimating the essential characteristics of the best soldiers, much more should be considered 

 than mere physique. Splendor of i)hysical ap[)earance and development, however gratifying to the 

 eye, are of secondary importance corajtared with the mental and moral qualities, which outweigh 

 the merely physical, and which tit their possessor for military purposes better even than the most 

 abundant vitality. 



The number of colored recruits inspected by me does not exceed twenty-four, of whom nearly 

 one-half were rejected on account of physical disability. From this limited experience, I have been 

 unable to form an opinion as to the physical qiialitications of the colored race for military service. 

 The few recruits enlisted compared favorably with those of Caucasian blood; in fact, two of them, 

 mulattoes, presented the finest exami)les of such developmeiit I remember to have seen. Each was 

 over six feet in height: one, a man of prodigious muscular strength, a very Hercules, whose thews 

 and sinews would have done credit to a horse ; the other, although of less athletic frame, displayed 

 a grace and symmetry of form hardly surpassed by the finest models of antiquity. Both were 

 remarkably well proportioned, notwithstanding their unusual stature, and I doubt if their sujieriors 

 iu manly strength and beauty could have been found among our white troops. » # * 



JOHN L. SULLIVAN, M. D., 

 Surgeon Board of Eiwollment Sixth District Massachusetts. 



Lawrence, Mass., June 14, 1805. 



MASSACHUSETTS — SEVENTH DISTRICT. 

 Extracts from report of Dr. David S. Fogg. 



The total number of men examined was 10,569. » * # 



The seventh district of Massachusetts is situated in the eastern section of the State; Concord, 

 its headquarters, being eighteen miles west of Boston. The surface is generally uneven, and quite 

 hilly in the western part ; soil various, and, though generally hard and rocky, it is highly cultivated. 

 Its northeastern boundary is on the Merrimack Eiver, by the affluents of which, including the 

 Nashua and Concord Elvers, the district is crossed from southwest to northeast. On the southeast 

 is the Charles River, flowing into Boston Harbor. On the western pai't is the Assabet, and in the 

 southern the Sudbury, which unite to form the Concord River. Along the borders of the Sudbury 

 and Concord Rivers are extensive tracts of meadows, which are overflowed several months in the 

 year. 



Prevalent diseases are: 1st. Zymotic; particularly measles, scarlatina, croup, typhus, erysipe- 

 las, influenza, dysentery, diarrhea, cholera-int'autum, and rheumatism, lid. Diseases of respiratory 

 organs; bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, and asthma. 3d. Diseases of digestive organs; gastritis, 

 enteritis, peritonitis, hepatitis, and jaundice. 4th. Constitutional diseases ; scrofula and phthisis. 



Among the prominent causes conducive to the general prevalence of these diseases may be 



"Count Mausll'ldt, tht) famous leader of " free lances" in the ttiirty years' war, preferred Scotch soldiers to any of 

 the various nativities which found representatives in his ranks. — B. 



