SURGEONS' REPORTS NEW JERSEY FIRST DISTRICT. 283 



Tills t;ii)!c .■-liows tlic same rcsnlt as cxliibili'd in a incvious i(>]ioit, iiaiiu'ly, that horuia occurs 

 uioic liiMHR'iitl.v on tlie iljilit than on the Icit side of the hodv. I'lofessor Gross states, as a reasou lor 

 tills, that most men are right iianded; and It Is [)rol>al)ly tiie tllH^ one, (or hernia is most f're(|nently 

 caused by violent muscular exertion, and the muscles of the right side of the body, being generally 

 more develoiied than those ou the other side, exert a greater pressure upon the abdominal viscera. 

 It is j)roper, however, to state that a record was kept of a large number of these men, as to whether 

 they were jightor left handed, and the ii'sult was that no laiger i)ro|)()rtiou of those rui)ture{l in the 

 lelt side were found to be left-handed than of those ati'ected on the right side. Jt is a notable fact 

 that some men who have hernia suffer so little inconve'iiience from it as not to be aware of its 

 existence. It has happened several times that dratted men have been examined, who stated that 

 they were perfectly sound, and who only appeared "to let the doctor see them," and yet had a con- 

 siderable protrusion of intestine through the abdominal parietes, which they seemed to consider 

 perfectly normal, and by which they said they were never annoyed. Still more frequently has it 

 hajipeiied that men with hernia have claimed exemption on other grounds, without ever alluding to 

 the iniirmity, and some of them no doubt, to. this day, think they were exempted ou the familiar 

 claim of "a weak back." 



.The number of cases of deafness and ])urulent ott)vrlKea was one iiuudred and two, there being- 

 sixty four of the former and twenty-seven of the latter. The cause of otorrhea was, iu mo.st 

 instances, ascertained to be scarlet fever, of which it is the Irequent sequel, Deafness is showu to 

 be of frecjuent occurrence. Very generally it is of long standing, dating hom childhood, and unac- 

 companied by auy disease of the external ear. It is more common among the natives and residents 

 of the rural districts than in those of the large towns. From the fact of its comm«ncirg so early 

 in life, it is prol)ab!e that its origin is due to cold, causing inflammation and change of structure in 

 the internal auditory apjiaratus. Infants and young children are too oi'ten insufUciently protected 

 by clothing from the vicissitudes of a variable climate^ though in the pure air of the country they 

 are better able to resist the imflamraatory diseases of internal organs of the body, which carry otf 

 so many of the children in cities. 



The large number exempted under the head of " permanent physical disability " (one hundred 

 and forty-one in all) was com[)osed of those who, for want of sufificient muscular development, were 

 not able to bear arms; of those who were debilitated and emaciated by chronic disease, the nature 

 of which could not be accurately diagnosed ; and of those who were affected with several disquali- 

 tications, each one of which was by itself insutiicieut to exempt and classify under paragraph 85, 

 Eevised Regulatious, but which, collectively, left no doubt of the man's nnfltness. A considerable 

 number of men were found who did not weigh one hundred pounds, especially among glass-blowers, 

 who, as a general rule, are a very thin and i)oorly-developed class of men. A singular fact in 

 regard to these latter is that they are usually fpiite free from serious organic disease ; and, accord- 

 ing to the observation of one of the oldest glass-manufacturers iu the State, as well as of physicians 

 practicing among tiiem, they live to a fair average age. Many men were found between the ages 

 of twenty-five aud forty-five who appeared to be utterly broken down in constitution, without the 

 appearance of any one organic lesion sufficient to account for their disability. With the functions 

 of most of their organs impaired, with an exhausted nervous system, and a feeble circulation of 

 impoverished blood, they present striking pictures of premature decay. They w ere distinguished 

 not so much l)y their occupations, for they were men engaged iu various pursuits, as by their resi- 

 dences in localities known to be poor in resources, where hard labor and exposure are necessaiy to 

 obtain a livelihood, much less a competency, and where the facilities for obtaining a generous diet 

 are deficient even for the well-to-do. 



Organic diseases of internal organs was another ground for the exemi)tion of a considerable 

 number. Those released under this liead suffered diiefly from aftections of the thoracic viscera; 

 very few were found having serious disease of those of the abdomen. Organic disease of the heart 

 was found to be rather frequent. In fact, nothing has more impressed itself upon me during these 

 examinations than that (^irdiac affections are more common among Americans than they are among 

 Europeans. Very many of the former are the subjects of functional disturbance, varying in degree 

 from a slight irritability of the heart's action up to its most serious form, involving change in its 

 organic structure. Those thus affected are, for the most i)art, healthy and vigorous looking men, 



