358 surgeons' reports — Maryland — fifth district. 



uatnially resist our desire to satisfy ourselves experimentally of the existence of hernia. He 

 brings convincing medical testimony of his having had the complaint. May not some of these 

 cases, during the lapse of twenty-four months, have eventuated in radical cnres? These men, I 

 judge, should be exempted. 



Deafness is a disability almost always exaggerated by those partially deaf; and, notwithstand- 

 ing the utmost care, I feel satisfied that the number exempted is above the proper ratio. For no 

 other disability are certificates so readily obtained, and are of such little value. The best we can 

 do is to procure a history of the case, ascertain the present, condition of the organ by observing 

 the man's manner, and, by a regulated tone of voice in conversation, judge for ourselves whether 

 the deafness be so decided as to leave no doubt of his unfitness for service. But so important is 

 this sense, especially in doing picket-duty, that doubt always favors the man's exemption. This 

 affection is feigned generally by whites. 



A very ingenious deception, simulating disease of the skin, was attempted in one instance, 

 with temporary success. A colored man (drafted) procured from a physician some liniment or 

 ointment. This application produced excessive pnstulation, and, having been cunningly applied at 

 intervals so as to represent successive crops of pustules, I was led to exempt him from the present 

 draft. The fraud was, however, soon discovered, and the man arrested and sent to camp. 



Frauds in respect to age are frequently attempted by recruits and substitutes, as well as by 

 the drafted — the former with a view of entering, and the latter to avoid, the service. Boys under 

 eighteen years of age often offer themselves as recruits or substitutes, many of whom do not hesi- 

 tate to make affidavit that they are of legal age. The act for enrolling and calling out the national 

 forces very wisely limits the minimum age at twenty years, and I very much regret that the regu- 

 lation with regard to recruits and substitutes fixes the minimum at eighteen years. I have 

 determinately rejected all those in whom the two upper deutes sapientise are not fully developed ; 

 wherein the pubes is not fully invested by hair, with other marks of virility ; when the chest at 

 medium between inspiration and expiration does not measure thirty inches; and when the cutis of 

 the hand is not hardened, indicating ability for labor. A well-developed chest at eighteen years of 

 age I consider indispensable. On the other hand, a recruit or substitute presenting himself with a 

 face newly shaved, and the hair well trimmed and combed or brushed, at once awakens suspicion, 

 and a close examination generally reveals the fact that the beard has been removed because gray, 

 and that the hair has been dyed. The wrinkles about the eyes and mouth, and the well-worn 

 teeth, if they are not already much decayed, furnish additional evidence, if wanting, that the per- 

 son is over forty -five. 



Questions with regard to the age of drafted men are much more difficult of solution. A time- 

 honored custom enters the ages of the members of the family in the Sacred Volume. Repeatedly 

 have we seen this record altered or replaced, and, in many instances, so awkwardly done as to be 

 evident to the least observant. The oath of parents we have been unwillingly taught not to 

 respect. Gray-headed men, over age, have represented their drafted sons of the same name, and 

 brothers have exchanged names, the one presenting himself being entitled to exemption; so that it 

 is only by the testimony of neighbors, and through a strict physical examination, that we can 

 determine these cases with any degree of accuracy. 



Aptitude for service. — I consider myself justified in the opinion that our own western people 

 possess the greatest physical aptitude for military service, as has of late been exempllBed in Sher-' 

 man's great march through the Southern States; a march as remarkable for its length as for the 

 powers of endurance dis})layed by the soldiers. As far as we have ascertained, the number of sick 

 and stragglers was remarkably few, and well may these men display this great endurance when we 

 consider they are the pioneers of our country, inured to constant hardship and exposure, so that 

 their entrance into the military service is but a continuance of the hardship and exposure under 

 which they have lived and thriven. 



The French are, in many respects, quite equal to the above, perhaps superior to tliem in sobri- 

 ety and abstemiousness, and in that irrepressible and inexhaustible cheerfulness and buoyancy of 

 spirits which so usefully sustains in vicissitudes. They are also active and impetuous, but are, I 

 think, inferior to our people in stern resolve and in patient endurance. 



The Irish deservedly stand high as possessing many soldierly qualities; but 1 cannot indorse 



