350 SUKGEONS' EEPORTS MARYLAND SECON'D DISTRICT. 



Substitutes aiifl recruits sboiild be tirst carefully examined by the surgeon, and if passed by 

 bim should be sent to rendezvous for from twenty-four to forty eis'lit hours, and tlien be reexamined. 

 At the end of the time specified, the effects of stimuhiuts would have passed off, aud the surgeon 

 would then be able to correct, if necessary, his first decision, and learu the man's true physical 

 condition. ^ 



Stimulants in proper quantities will often give temporary tone to debilitated organs; with a 

 man in this condition, the most experienced surgeon may err, particularly so when so short a time 

 is possible to him for examination, and no op|)ortnnity is allowed for re-examination. Few medical 

 men would be willing to give a decided opinion in private practice upon such examinations and 

 under similar circumstances. 



Direct medical instructions and medical affidavits gave surgeons great trouble, annoyance, and 

 dissatisfaction both at Washington and at home. Stimulants and the love of money made the 

 substitute leave nothing undone to deceive them. 



Of the great use of the Sanitary aiul Christian Commissions during this wicked rebellion, there 

 can l)e no doubt ; if either or both of these commissions had established agencies for enlisting men, 

 and had charged a proper commission for so doing, much loss of money would iiave been prevented, 

 and many men would have been saved to the Government. The funds arising therefrom could have 

 been used lor the benefit of the soldiers, by whose loss and suffering substitute-brokers were made 

 rich. 



Canadians that I have inspected are well-developed men ; how far this may be cbaracteristic 

 of them as a nationality (;annot be learned from these examinations, from the fact that the able- 

 bodied oidy would come this distance to go through the ordcid of a rigid examination, partuiularly 

 so when the most part came for the express purpose of robbing the people and Government by 

 desertion. The Irish and Germans show but little, if any, difference in their physique. The col- 

 ored race have the best physical development, and in that respect have the greatest aptitude for 

 military service. * * # q^-Jj^ colored race are decidedly the best physically devel- 



oped of all nationalities that were examined. This fact goes to prove that the American mode of 

 living deteiiorates us physically more than climate. The colored house-servant shows the same 

 susceptibility to disease as his iiuister and family. The out-door servant- lives more plainly, his 

 habits are more regular, and he labors daily, consequently he has a well-develoi)ed phyfiique. The 

 white man pursuing the same avocation spends the result of his labor freely in his own and family's 

 support, and indulges, in })roportion to his means, in every luxury. Eating destroys more of our 

 people than drinicing. Unceasing mental excitement generally aids our excessive feeding in pros- 

 trating mind and body. Foreigners, particularly the Irish and Germans, on reaching our shores 

 change their almost exclusive vegetable diet to one of animal food ; their ruddy complexion soon dis- 

 appears and is succeeded by a thick yellow skin. We awake in the morning weak and unrefreshed 

 from sleep, and at once put on steam of tea, coffee, or more active stimulants, to set the human 

 machine in running condition. The consequence is premature old age and death. We pride our- 

 selves on our admitted su|)eriority over the colored race. How much of that supeiiority do we owe 

 to climate, soil, aud food, causes operating on us for generations'? Necessity, absolute or supposed, 

 forces a people to mental and physical exertion. Nature yields not of her stores without labor. 

 Mind must act to seek out the most efficient means of opening nature's storehouse. The negro is 

 finely developed in body, but has shown little intellectual advancement. Climate, soil, and food 

 have not stimulated him mentally ; he has had no wife or children to provide for ; his and their 

 «laily food has been provided ; he has no thought, no care for the future ; the hope of bettering his 

 condition or that of his children finds no resting place in his bosom ; he cannot call his- wife and 

 childieu his own ; the only reward of his toil aud the simi)licity of his living is a welldeveloi)ed 

 healthy body. Does the Anglo-Saxon possess any stimulus so powerful as the happiness and 

 ])ros])erity of his family? Take from him the hope of reward and necessity of exertion, and how 

 long would his superiority last"? 



Four hundred years were spent by the Hebrews in Egypt, in servitude to a people among the 

 most distinguished of the Eastern World, and what was the mental condition of the Hebrews when 

 Moses and Aaron took them out of Egypt I Why, they had almost forgotten the God of their 

 fa tlx-rs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The miracles in Egyi)t, the cloud by day, the pillar of lire 



