surgeons' reports NEW YORK TENTH DISTRICT. 257 



iiic,i<k'iit to ii military life would (jiiiokly dovi'lop niid contirm tbe disease. I would respectfully 

 suf;y;est that sueli cases be left somewhat to tUe discretion of the examining surgeon. 



Section L'O. There are soldiers now in the Army, imperfectly examined at the time of tlieir 

 enlistnient, who have served three years, and jet have scarcely a natural tooth — the want being 

 admirably sui)plied by the art of the dentist. The excellent purpose wbijih artificial teeth fulfill 

 should, I think, operate against exempting those jierfectly qualified in every othei' resjject, and who 

 arc often abiindanrly able to send a icpresentative recruit. 



Section 25. External li;emorrhoids are Irequeutly of very considerable size, cause extreme suf- 

 fering, and totally unlit for ordinary duty. When they have existed for a long time, and do not 

 seem amenable to treatment, it would seem that they should entitle to exemption. « * * 



In the mouth of September, 1SG4, some one thousand three hundred recruits and" sub.stitutes 

 were examined at this office, giving, as an average, about fifty i)er day. Of that number, about 33 

 per cent, were accejited. Were it not that in a large number of eases the disabilities were apparent 

 at a glance, it would have been simjily impossible to have examined that number in the given time. 

 I do not think that a surgeon can examiiK? over tirenti/Jivc men per diem thoroughly and satis- 

 factorily. 



The drafted man obeys his summons to ai)|iear before the board of enrollment unwillingly; he 

 shreivdly revolves in his mind all the probable avenues of escape ; and, after a day's work of exam- 

 ination, the surgeon is led to exclaim with Falstafif, "Lord ! how this world is given to lying !" The 

 dratted man wears a truss for an imaginary hernia : he complains of pain in the side and haemoptysis 

 in a chest where the respiratory murmur is as distinct as the rustling of the leaves of autumn in a 

 windy day. He has kidney disease, but his complexion is ruddy and his muscles are as hard and 

 elastic as those of a gymnast. He is deaf, or was so last week or last year, and is fearful of a 

 relapse. His poor liver (if he but knew the technical names, it would be fatty, cirrhosed, or hepa- 

 tized) is diseased, and yet he supports a large family by his daily toil. He has rheumatism in 

 every joint ; has weak eyes, dyspepsia, asthnni ; and even confesses himself a degraded onanist from 

 his youth up, in order to evade the i)ereniptory mandate. To substantiate these claims by cor- 

 roborative evidence, he produces long and wearisome affidavits from his good natured family-physi- 

 cian and his sympathizing friends. He stands before you forswearing his strength, his virility, his 

 man'hood, and, with a countenance more expressive of fear than that of many a gallows-sentenced 

 knave, he endeavors to evade the just ser\ ice which fealty and loyalty demand of hiufi in his coun- 

 try's cause. 



The recruit or substitute, if he has any defect, comes before the surgeon systematically pre- 

 pared to deceive him, if possible. Thoroughly drilled and trained in the hands of the shrewd 

 broker, he is prepared to adhere to his original statement with great pertinacity. Immature boys, 

 from fifteen to seventeen years of age, were daily presented, who unblushingly declared themselves 

 to be pver eighteen. Many such boys were presented at this office, who had not even arrived at the 

 age of puberty. To meet the emergency, old men were supplied with false teeth, had their hair and 

 beard dyed, though their feeble appearance told too plainly they had passed the meridian of life. 

 From the i)roximity of this district to New York, it is not remarkable that part of the froth and 

 scum of a large city should float toward us. The early calls nearly, if not quite, exhausted our dis- 

 trict of those who were willing to enlist from patriotic motives. Under the later calls, our quotas 

 were chiefly filled from a barbaric horde which centered in New i'ork. In the zeal of supervisors 

 to fill respectively the quotas of towns and their own places, no moral or physical standard of 

 excellence in the recruit was ever demanded. If he but added a unit to the quota, it was suffi- 

 cient. If the surgeon was conscientious, and faithfully performed his duty, he might well be proud 

 of the variety, depth, earnestness, and abundance of the curses which he received. 



I think many " bounty-jumpers" were enlisted at this office. I know of no especial regulation 

 which calls for moral excellence in a substitute. The "bounty jumper" has almost invariably a fine 

 l)hysical conformation, and, save a susi)iciou, there is nothing on which to reject him. I woidd 

 respectfully suggest that, in the event of any future calls, no recruit be enlisted unless he bring.s 

 ample testimonials of his character and stability of purpose; and that each drafted man sliould be 

 held to closer responsibility for the character of his representative substitute. 



The exaggerations of disabilities upon the part of dralted men,.and their coucealme:;! 1 y 

 33 



