SUKGEONS' REPORTS NEW YORK NINETEENTH DISTRICT. 2G9 



inouial iiffectioiis aud ilioumatism aud iuflaininatory fevers prevail mostly in winter and spring sea- 

 sons; dysentery and remittent fevers, iu tlie siininier and autumn. Tliis locality is also more or less 

 subject to such prevailing epidemics as scarlatina, measles, mumps, &c. Diphtlierialias been quite 

 prevalent at different seasons, for the last four years, in these counties; some localities suffering 

 to greater extent than others. At one season it apjtears to be confined principally to the upland 

 regions, and at another season to the valleys. 



Many in this section, especially of the female sex, f;ill annually victims to consumption, owing, 

 no doubt, to the very great changeableness of this climate and tiie many suddcu variations of tem- 

 perature. This section is remarkable in that respect; the thermometer often indicating a change 

 of thirty to forty degrees in twenty-four hours. 



The inhabitants of this district are mostly of New EuglaUd origin, (except a considerable number 

 of Scotch in Delaware County,) and aie principally devoted to agricultural pursuits. They are, as a 

 people, intelligent, industrious, frugal, temperate, loyal, and law-abiding; the better-educated and 

 most induential class being of high toned morality, observers of their duties and obligations both 

 toward God and man. School-houses are found at short intervals all over this district, with many 

 well sustained and prosperous academies or higii schools. In each county and iu every village, 

 numbers of churches point their spires to heaven. # » * 



There were more men disqualified for military service (in accordance with the Eegulations of 

 the Provost-Marshal General's Bureau) in consequence of hernia and loss of teeth than from any 

 other disease or disability. Hernia is of so frequent occurrence from the fact that the people are 

 mostly of a laborious class, subject to lifting heavy weights, and of weak muscular systems, which 

 weakness is induced, to some extent at least, by substituting so extensively poi'k for beef iu their 

 daily food. The premature loss of teeth, so otteu found, is owing in part- to the scrofulous tenden- 

 cies of the people ; also to want of care and cleanliness of the teeth, and to the unhealthy condition 

 of the digestive organs, with improper diet, hot drinks, and excessive use of tobacco. 



The sections of paragraph 85, as a set of rules, are very well advised, and as complete, perhaps, 

 as they could be iu the same compass. It is extremely difflcult to lay down rules under which there 

 will not be exceptional cases ; as, for instance, there are many cases of hernia where the persons so 

 affected are able to perform the most laborious duties without inconvenience, and without a truss 

 or support. Ou the other hand, the sectiou '• Developed tuberculo.sis," if interpreted literally and 

 adhered to rigidly, would place some in the service totally unfit for military duty. If none but 

 such as are tit aud competent to their duties as examining-surgeous were placed in that highly 

 responsible position, it were better to give greater scope to the jiulgmeut of the surgeon in these 

 regulations. # * * 



With a competent assistant, one hundred recruits are as many as it is proi)er for a sui'geou to 

 examine per day, although, during the first week of last September, with sucli facilities as I had, 

 by examining from early morn until dark, and taking only fifteen to twenty minutes for dinner, I 

 succeeded in examining nearly two hundred per day. This included signing their papers, three for 

 each accepted man. But, to a man of ordinary health and constitution, such labor is unendurable 

 for any length of time. 



As to the frauds practiced, their name is legion — the wearing of trusses where no hernia exists, 

 feigning diseases of kidneys aud weakness of back and loins, dilating the pupil of the eye with 

 beUadonua, feigning deafness, &c. With recruits it is not so easy a matter to conceal i)rominent 

 or disqualifying defects. But many who evidence muscular strength, agility, and capability of 

 performing the common duties of military service, would, upon re-examination at the place of ren- 

 dezvous, or when sent forward to their regiments, feign debility, lameness, &c., aud sometimes 

 thus succee;i iu deceiviug those whose duty it was to reexamine them. To overcome these difficul- 

 ties, watchfulness, shrewdne.ss, and sagacity on the part of the surgeou are the most reliable resource. 



The majority of those examined by myself weie native-born citizens, of the Anglo-Saxon race. 

 Some of these were fine specimens of manly physique, lacking more iu compactness of form and 

 build than in any other particular. There was a limited number of Irish, Germans, Scotch, Welsh, 

 French, and quite a number of Canadian French, born in Canada. As a class, iu the kind of I'f'lJ- 

 sique which I consider best adapted to military service, viz, medium height, well-developed muscular 

 system, full chest, compact joint.s, closely-knit straight spine, full breadth of shoulders, round 



