surgeons' reports MASSACHUSETTS TENTH DISTRICT. 221 



from the Western States hut lias in it more or fewer of Massaclmsetts men. Tiie witlidrawal of such 

 a elass of men from our eomniunity increases our ratio of excuii)ts, and correspondingly lessens the 

 ratio of States wliere they are enrolled. 



Again, a large portion of the enjjjloves in our manufacturing establishments are men of foehle 

 health — men who have broken down under severe outdoor labor, and have sought reluge from want 

 in the lighter labor of the mills. 



It will be found, as a general rule, that, in every section of our country where the soil is natu- 

 rally unproductive, the great amount of labor necessary to secure even a moderate return is 

 injurious to the physical well-being of the farmer. This is eminently the case in this district; and 

 if I were called upon to name the fault most conducive to their physical degeneration, I would say 

 they labor too much. # « # 



" Loss of teeth" is a disability for which many have been exempted, and it has often happened 

 in this wise: that drafted men bad more than one cause of exemption, and as both could not be 

 recorded under the difi'erent sections of paragraph 8.5, if this was one it was very common to ex- 

 empt for it. It will be seen that by using one cause of exemption frequently, when others might 

 have been named with equal propriety, the number exempted under that section would at 

 length appear disproportionate; and so of section 9. In all instances, paragraph 85, as it stood at 

 the time of the examination, was adhered to. 



" It is the object of Government to secure the services of men who are effective, able-bodied, 

 and free from disqualifying disease." This is the language of paragraph 91, and it tersely sets 

 forth all the requirements necessary for a good soldier; all who do not possess these are an injury 

 to the service, whether dratted men, recruits, or substitutes. 



It has been the invariable rule at this oflice to examine drafted men in strict conformity with 

 paragraph 85; but in the examination of all others, more especial relerence was had to paragraph 

 90, iirst edition. Regulations of the Provost Marshal-General's Bureau. 



As there is not the slightest probability that, in the event of war, the enrollment-list in a single 

 district would be exhausted before its termination, and as 1 am asked what changes I would rec- 

 ommend in paragraph 85, I would imhesitatingly say, "Adopt but one standard of .examination for 

 all men alike!" I am fully satisfied that the tingerless, myopic, obese recruit or substitute would 

 aflord just as valuable service to Government as though he were a drafted man. The diseases of 

 canq), the hardships and exposure of military life, and the accidents of battle will furnish the 

 needed recruits for the Veteran Reserve Corps without resorting to a draft for that purpose. 



By adopting a more rigid examination for substitutes than for drafted men, we do the latter 

 an injustice. For instance, a man is drafted who has lost the index-finger of his right hand; by 

 the regulations he cannot be exempted; he proposes to furnish a substitute, and actually presents 

 a better man than himself, but with the same disability, yet we are obliged to reject his substitute 

 for the loss, while we hold the principal to service. The same occurs with obesity, myopia, and 

 some other defects. Drafted men frequently fail to see the fairness of such decisions, and I much 

 doubt whether I ever succeeded in assigning a satisfactory reason to them for demanding a greater 

 perfection in the substitute than in the principal ; but so I undeistood the instructions and followed 

 them. A case in point is illustrative: a soldier, who h^^d lost the index-finger of his right hand at 

 the second articulation in the assault on Fort Hudson, and had been honorably discharged by rea- 

 son of expiration of term of service, offered himself as a volunteer at this office; and as he was of 

 good report and had no other disability, and was anxious to re enlist, the acting assistant provost- 

 marshal general of Massachusetts was written to for information, whether, under the circumstances, 

 he was not an acce[)table recruit. He decided in the negative, properly, no doubt ; but these nice 

 distinctions were hard for the jiublic to understand. 



Section 9 in the last revision of paragraph 85 is not an improvement on the corresponding 

 section in circular 100. "Feebleness of constitution" is common to plants and animals: and if the 

 botanist or pathologist had time and patience, he might possibly determine the cause of the abnor- 

 mal condition in a given case. But the surgeon is cal ed upon to decide i)romptIy and summarily 

 ill his examinations, and a single glance of the eye is often siiflicient to discover a man's unfitness 

 for service, while laborious resear<'h might be necessary to determine the lesion on which it (lepvnds. 

 Both "feebleness of constitutiou" and "permanent physical disability" will need to be pretty lib- 



