SUKGEONS' KEPOKTS KENTUCKY FIRST DISTRICT. 



363 



ural advantages for drainiug, and from tbc nature of the ...il being such as to hold the water which 

 accumulates during winter and spring, and including the eflects of shade from huge trees and 

 stronger undergrowth, it will be found that much water is consequently reuunwl Mud dampness 



engendered. . , ^ i i ■ » *^ 



Descending again to the first table, or lowlands, they are characterized not only as subject to 

 overflow, but by the depth and fertility of their soil, the luxuriant growth and height ot their lorest- 

 trees, with their thick foliage and shade, and the profusion of fallen leaves and accumulating 

 drifts that decay with time, moisture, and summer heat. 



The following are the prevailing diseases: remittent fever, intermittent lever, bilious lever, 

 pernicious fever, congestive chills, typhoid pneumonia, chronic congestion of the liver, chronic and 

 acute congestion of the spleen, dyspepsia, anemia, dropsy, small-pox, measles, scarlet fever, ery- 

 sipelas, latent pneumonia, cancrum oris, tousilitis, bronchitis, .jainsy, diphtheria, asthma, simple 

 pneumonia, flux, diarrhoea, mucoenteritis, spinal irritation, neuralgia, and rheumatism. 



The causes of the above diseases are manifestly malaria, sudden changes of temperature, wet 

 and dampness of the earth, humiditv of the air, continued heat of summer, exposure to the contin- 

 ued cold of winter, peculiar electric states of the air and earth, epidemic causes, excessive exercise, 

 and the want of comforts that necessarily exists in a sparsely-settled country. 



In peaceful times, the inhabitants are hospitable, temperate, social, and industrious, with a 

 good deal of manifestation of enterprise. 



There beiu--' but one, city in the district, and but few towns of importance, the agricultural 

 interests are th"e greater; hence the people are mostly farmers, and some are enterprising ones; 

 the rest are merchants, artisans, and traders. 



Of the sections of paragraph 85, Eevised Regulations Provost-Marshal-General's Bureau, I 

 would suggest the following alterations in sections 5, 22, 29, and 32; the additions being in italics: 

 Section 5. ''Ftinctional us well as organic disease of internal organs which have so seriously im- 

 paired bis general health as to leave no doubt of his incapacity for military service and which 

 prevents him from pursuing any equally laborious occupation iu civil life ; and any of the xdiopatlm 

 feccrs ichlle in progress that would of necessittj incapa, itate Mm for the same." 



Section 22. "Excessive deformity of the chest or limbs, or excessive curvature of the spine sut- 

 flcient to prevent the carrying of arms and military equipments. Caries of the spine, ribs, or ster- 

 num, attended with ulcerati»>n." 



Section 29. "Confirmed or malignant sarcocele, or organic disease of the cord ; hydrocele, it com- 

 plicated with organic disease of the cord or testicle. Varicocele of itself is not disqualifying." 



Section 32. "Fractures, irreducible dislocations, rupture, or serious injury of ligaments, or an- 

 kylosis of the large joints, or acute as well as chronic disease of the joints or bones that would pre- 

 vent marching, or otherwise unfit the man for military service." 



Through necessity, the ottice has l)een removed several times to different points in the city since 

 it was established here, with attendant discomforts and disadvantages. But latterly three rooms 

 were secured : one for the use of the board and one or two attending clerks; another was occupied 

 by the main clerical force; the third, or largest, was kept mainly for a reception-room^ where 

 dratted men, substitutes, and recruits were received, and kept until disposed of. * 



The number of men physically and legally examined iu the ofhce, as shown by the records, 

 amounts to two thousand three hundred and twelve. Much more time is necessarily consumed in 

 examinino- drafted men than the same number of recruits or substitutes, from the fact that al- 

 though fraud and artifice are met with in the two latter, the reluctance to serve of the former occu- 

 pies more time to dispose of them. But the average number ot the three clas.ses that can be phys- 

 ically examined per day with accuracy, including the time occupied iu the legitl examinations and 

 decisions of the board, would, in my judgment, be forty-fire. 



Of the attempts at iraud by drafted men, that of alleging the existence ot hernia was by tar 

 the most frequent ; and, when not at all discoverable by examination at the points of supposed rup- 

 ture, the man would aver that though it was not then <lown, still he had it, and had been wearing 

 a truss for months or years. I would, if time permitted, require him to go without his truss lor six, 

 twelve, or twenty-four hours, and report as soon as he could make the tumor manifest. This nearly 

 always, by the time of his return, disposed of the illusion. 



