378 SUHGEONS' REPORTS — KENTUCKY SIXTH DISTRICT. 



the auus. aiul rectum — these are the great fortresses of drafted men. When a man has little or 

 nothing the matter with him, the surgeon may expect to hear, with infallible certainty, horrible 

 complaints in reference to one or more of these important organs. The most effective way of 

 guarding against these things is to believe nothinf/ whaterer that is said by the drafted man, unless 

 the examination verities the stateoieuts. Affldavits should never be read until the examination has 

 been thoroughly made, and then only in obscure or doubtful cases; and even here the mind, edu 

 cation, and attainments of the sui'geon testifying should be well known before attaching much im- 

 portance to them. The less attention the examining surgeon pays to such papers, the more cer- 

 tainly and sacredly he will be guarding the interest of the Government. They are generally great 

 nuisances. Any man can get them, and any and all men will give them. By examining the man 

 only when entirely stripped, reading no affidavits, and believing little or nothing that is told him 

 by the conscript, the surgeon will, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, reach a correct conclusion, 

 one that will stand the test of any examination whatever. 



The frauds of enrolled men are principally in the same direction. They all come up with pon- 

 derous and numerous affidavits. The riile is, examine the man and pay little or no attention to 

 his papers. Other attempts at fraud are alleged chronic rheumatism, disease of the kidneys, liver, 

 weak back, pain in the side, neuralgia, &c. Where there is no atrophy, swelling of the parts, or 

 pufBness of the joints, the claim of chronic rheumatism need not trouble the surgeon much or long as 

 the regulations now stand. If there is alleged stifl'eniug of the joints, all doubts are immediately 

 cleared up by the exhibition of sether. Where the organ is not enlarged or indurated, or the skin 

 sallow, the general appearance indicating no marked departure from health, the liver need not be 

 either a trouble or a bother. Neuralgia requires no attention unless the general health is broken 

 down. In my experience, when a man alleges kidney-disease, in nine cases out of ten there is 

 nothing at all the matter with his renal organs. 



In cases of disease of the lungs and heart or other aft'ections, alleged to be of a disabling char- 

 acter, when I have deemed affidavits of any value, my rule has been, in order to guard as efl'ectu- 

 ally as possible against all frauds in such papers, to require that they should be from men who have 

 never been exempted under any draft, and who are over twenty years old and under forty-live. 

 This rule has saved me much trouble, and has made mau.y sound men, comparatively, out of many 

 who iireviously, according to the affidavits offered, were very much diseased, and hence very worth- 

 less. Under its operation, men have frankly confessed to me at last, when they found that decep- 

 tion was impossible, that their complaints were really only of a trifling character. 



The obstacles with which I have had to contend in the discharge of my duties are, Jirst, the lack 

 of quiet and sufficient room in which to operate without disorder and with ease and freedom ; 

 secondly, the presence of prominent visitors, such asmditary officers, wealthy leading citizens, law- 

 yers, doctors, &c. ; thirdly, crowds of substitute-brokers ; fourthly, not having clerks of my own selec- 

 tion and under my own exclusive direction and control ; fifthly, men having to undress and then dress 

 again in my room, thus consuming as much time in tlie examination of one man as would have 

 sufficed to get through with two or three; sixthly, the umlicious hatred of rebels, and the supreme 

 disgust of Union men when not exempted. All these difficulties, except the last, can be overcome 

 or avoided in the future by allowing the surgeon to have two good rooms, both to be under his 

 exclusive control, one for the men to undress in, the other for his examinations. He should have two 

 clerks, both selected and chosen by himself, to be under his direction and control only, to attend to 

 no business but such as he directs and pertaining to his department. One of these clerks would 

 keep the record of drafted men, substitutes, and recruits, and of enrolled men, besides keeping up 

 appropiiate reports on loose sheets, to be handed to the chief clerk in the evening, from which to 

 perfect his daily reports ; the other should record notes dictated to him in the case of each man 

 after examination and till up exemption-papers. Both should be accountable to the surgeon for the 

 completion and accuracy of his tri-mouthly and monthly reports in appropriate time. 



As to tlu' hatred of rebels and disgust of Union men, they are at the worst but trifling annoy- 

 ances to a man who respects himself, who has nerve, purpose, will, and an iron resolution, who 

 loves liis country, and is determined to do his whole duty as defined by law, by orders, by circulars, 

 and by the regulations, regardless of consequences. A man who cannot endure the most unde- 

 served abuse from drafted rebels or drafted Union men, who cannot bear cursing from both be 



