surgeons' reports — NEW YOKK — FOURTEENTH DISTRICT. 259 



with reference to exemptions fioin enrollment. Xo record was kept of tliose whose claim was 

 rejected, thongli in many cases a far more carefnl examination was required tlian where exemption 

 was granted. It would, therefore, be no exaggei'ation to state the number of examinations at 

 twelve thousand. # # * 



This district comprises the counties of Albany and Schoharie. The Hudson Eiver forms the 

 eastern boundary of the former, while the western is formed princii)ally by the Helderberg, a spur 

 of the Catskills. On the eastern border, the soil is argillaceous; then followed by a line of sand 

 some two or three miles in width; then a gravelly loam until near the Helderberg, where it is 

 rocky. The country over its whole extent is rolling, traverse<l by many streams, which take 

 their rise in the western hills and run rapidly to empty into tLe river. Schoharie is principally 

 hilly, with rich valleys; tbe soil rocky and stony, or in the valleys a rich loam. In Albany County, 

 the inhabitants are engaged largely in manufactures; in the northern part, principally of cotton 

 goods, while in the city of Albany proper there are iron foundries. The remainder may be styled 

 mercantile and laboring people, such as are found in large cities, while the country portion is 

 almost wholly agricultural. The county of Schoharie has a population chiefly devoted to agri- 

 cultural pursuits. 



There are no diseases prevalent in this district which arise from any peculiarity of soil, climate, 

 or geographical formation. It may be fairly termed a healthy section of country. No particular 

 disease or disability has operated prominently to disqualify from service. * # # 



Paragraph 4, section G. Developed tuberculosis. I think this disease should be more accu- 

 rately defined. The rules for auscultation and percussion are now so well established, and their 

 knowledge so uniform among the profession, that the mere expression "developed tuberculosis" 

 leaves ground for cavil, and often brings ill feeling against the surgeon. Tuberculosis is really 

 developed so soon as a deposit takes place, and prolonged expiration, with dullness on percussion, is 

 detected; and yet hundreds of persons exhibiting unmistakably these physical signs pursue with- 

 out any restraint tlieir daily avocations, and may for years remain in good health unless some 

 depressing vital influence favors the softening. Tlie expression should be, '■'■tuberculosis, with 

 unmistakable evidence of softening. ^^ With the presence of moist rales at the summit of the lung, 

 there is usually so marked a constitutional cachexia that any doubt is at once dissipated. 



Section 23. Hernia. Some limitation should be made to this section. However slightly the 

 afi'ection incommodes, or prevents the man from walking, laboring, or i^erforming his daily avoca- 

 tions, it relieves its subject from service. The great extent to which this is carried is shown by my 

 report of those exempted from enrollment, where every fourth man was exempted on account of 

 hernia. Yet great care was taken to exempt no person for this cause unless the disability was pal- 

 pable and manifest. It seemed the more unjustifiable as it released so large a proportion of the 

 agricultural population, men who were accustomed to perform hard labor, who could well endure 

 the fatigues of a soldier's life, and who, by wearing a truss, never experienced the slightest incon- 

 venience. So long as hernia can be perfectly restrained by a truss, it should not disqualify a 

 drafted man from service. Guard and provost duties could be performed by him, while its limita- 

 tion would tend to equalize the burdens of the draft in any given community. 



Section 20. Loss of teeth. This should be coupled with the further restriction of evident 

 imi)airment of the general health. Many with teeth of either jaw wanting are in every other way 

 qualified for military service. Teeth for the tearing of the cartridges are not now needed. It is 

 for mastication of the food they are deemed most requisite. Where the general system seems to 

 be strong, well nourished, and of good vitality, their loss is not so important in the production of 

 diseases of the bowels as to permit the release from service of so large a chiss as this section 

 embraces. • * # 



With clerks and assistants sufiicienfto attend to all the preliminaries of recording, undressing, 

 and getting the man ready, and with the proviso that the surgeon confine himself exclusively to 

 examinations, he could, in my opinion, examine twelve men an hour with accuracy, or one Mindred 

 and twenty men in a working-day of ten hours. 



The frauds of drafted and enrolled men to escape service which are most to be guarded against 

 would seem to be met by securing for examination tlic identical person drafted and enrolled, and 

 not au unsound pro-tempore namesake. It is believed few attempts at downright deception in Icign- 



