280 surgeons' reports — new yokk — twenty-se\'enth district. 



tent fevers loiiiieily prevailed to a cousideiable extent in lliis eonnty ; bat, in latter years, the typo 

 of fever lias been of a lower grade. Many of tbe inhabitants have entailed npon themselves 

 rheumatism in its varioifs Ibniis, produeins pufflness and distortion of the joints. Tbe general 

 character of the people is good and industrious. Their principal oecnpation is farming; but tliere 

 are also a number of esteusive manufacturing establishments. 



The diseases most prevalent in Steuben County are of a bilious and typhoid character. The 

 occupation of the people is industrud. TLeie are many good farms and extensive mills for 

 maiiufacturiug lumber, &c., which is, perhaps, the staple business of tbe country. IVIany fractured 

 liiid)s, and some of tlieni badly united, were presented from the lumbering regions of Steubeu. In 

 some towns of this county there was a great want of teeth among the natives, the reasons foi 

 which I am unable to give. 



lu Allegany County tlie diseases are similar to those of Steuben. In this couuty there are 

 many extensive lumbering establishments, and consequently many cases of hernia, princiiially 

 inguinal ; and I have noticed that as usual the right side is nujst frequently affected. Octcupatiou 

 is mostly farming; a very industrious people. 



In presenting my views or making any suggestions on paragraph 85, Revised Eegulations 

 ProvostMarshalGeneral's Bureau, I shall touch it with great cairtiou, and handle it very lightly 

 for various reasons. If every surgeon was an honest man — a man of sterling integrity — then I 

 would speak decidedly ; but, as it has been during the two years past, I do not know just what to 

 say on this point. Cuder the sixth section, it would seem that the surgeon should be allowed to 

 exercise some discretion. Where there is excessive haemorrhage from the lungs and tuberculosis 

 is not fidly developed, it wo'uld seem that the surgeon should be allowed to exercise his judgment. 

 Also, under section 11, the surgeon, if honest, and a man of judgment, should be allowed to exercise 

 it. Near-sightedness (section 13) I have found in some instances to be so bad that it appeared to 

 me the man would be useless as a soldier. Section 20 affords an opportunity for the practice of 

 frauds, and is not sufficiently definite; this is also the case with .section 25. I have examined a 

 few cases of varicocele (section 29) which really ought to have exempted the suiijects. * * 



To examine men carefully and accurately, I think Jiffi/ men per day would be a sufficient day's 

 work; and here it will be. remembered that two hundred enlistment-papers are in that case to have 

 the surgeon's signature, so that each day's work may be closed u|). 



The frauds most practiced by drafted and enrolled men to escape servicre are feigning rheuma- 

 tism, diseases of .some internal organs, epilepsy, or deafness. To avoid these, we were accustomed 

 to place the men under the solemnities of an oath, and give them to understand that if any man 

 swore falsely he would be reported to the grand jury of his county. Many men who complained 

 of being .so feeble that they were unable to do any labor proved upon examination to have hands 

 as hard as a horse's hoof almost, evidently the result of laboring hard every day. 



The principal frauds attempted to be practiced by recruits and substitutes were in the matter 

 of age, by representing that they were eighteen years old and upward when perhaps thej' were 

 not more than fifteen or sixteen, or that they were not forty five when in reality they were more 

 than fifty years old. The oath adu)inistered would in some instances detect this fraud; but boys 

 have many times sworn ])Ositively to an absolute falsehood, and even old men have been guilty of 

 the same crime. I know of no one rule to apply to these cases. We have resorted to every kind 

 of strategy to detect the various deceptions; but in some instances we have entirely failed, and 

 boys have been admitted into the service, who, on account of their age, should have been rejected, 

 and perhaps men too old have sometimes also been accepted. * # * 



The American [iresents the greatest [ihysica!, mental, and moral aptitude for military service. 

 Were we to view them sim[)ly on the development of the muscular .system, perhaps the German 

 would outweigh them ; but my experience is that the German has not the elasticity or nerve, nor 

 the proiH'lling power that the American has. I, therefore, award to the American citizen the 

 greatest physical aptitude for military service. 



My e'xi)erieiu5e as to the physical qualifications of the colored race for military service is lim- 

 ited. Their muscular system is betier developed than that of any class of men I have examined f 

 the muscle is more full and distinct, statuling out with greater prominence, but they are more slow 



