SUIiGEONS' REPORTS MISSOUKI THIRD DISTRICT. 380 



termiiuited by a range of limestone bliifFs nuining southwest. The face of these blufls bears evi- 

 dence of the action of water, and I am impressed witli the belief that the Mississi[)[)i liiver once 

 flowed at tlieir base. From this range of blutfs southward to the Gulf of Mexico is one almost 

 unbroken plain, lyiug west of the Mississippi River, widening as it extends south, and embracing 

 Eastern Arkansas and Western Louisiana. This entire country is driftfornuition of recent date, 

 and, to all appearances, at no remote period iu its geological history, was submerged by the waters 

 of the Gulf of Mexico. 



In ISU, this country was convulsed by earthquakes, which sunk large tracts of land in Soutii- 

 east Missouri. The rivers Castor, Whitewater, and a number of large creeks, losing their channels, 

 si)read their waters over the suuken lands, producing the present swamp regions of Southeast Mis- 

 souri and Northeastern Arkansas. 



The waters thus spread over the country are again collected below the swamps into New 

 Kiver, and through that channel, in part, tind their way to the Mississippi River. The suidven 

 laujjs are tilling up l)y yearly deposits made by the streams which have spread themselves over 

 their surface, and will, in time, become dry again. Large tracts of uniidiabited country now only 

 piesent a marshy api)earance during the wet season, and are clothed with exteiisive forests of 

 immense growth. Cypress, poplar, walnut, oak, and almost every other variety of timber peculiar 

 to rich lands in this latitude are produced, presenting a beautiful country of forests and rich [)ast 

 nres, where horses, cattle, and hogs flourish, almost without food or care from man. 



This great swamp country is the haunt of wild animals, bands of guerrillas, and outlawed men ; 

 the latter for the last four yeai's have continually committed depredations upon the lives and ])rop- 

 erty of citizens, and waylaid and fired upon soldiers in camp and on the march. It is in these 

 swamps that malaria is generated; ague and bilious affections make yearly inroads upon the health 

 and constitutions of the inhabitants; enlarged spleens and dropsical atfections are common. Dur- 

 ing the winter-season, pneumonia is verj prevalent and fatal, reaching the stage of hei)atization in 

 an unusuallv short time. 



The climate is fatal to children; cLolera iufantum, worms, ague, and pneumonia carry many off 

 in the first few years of childhood. The cause of many of the diseases peculiar to this country is the 

 miasma which is generated here, the swamps being wet and boggy in the winter, over which the 

 inhabitants hunt game and look after stock, and thereby expose themselves to cold and wet, which 

 induce pneumonia ; and when this disease is grafted upon old agues, or constitutions already injured 

 by the influence of climate, it is apt to prove fatal. 



Parts of every county embraced in the swamp district are dry and susceptible of cultivation ; 

 the lands are exceedingly rich and productive. The inhabitants who gave their attention to agri- 

 cultural pursuits i)rior to the present war were prosperous and growing wealthy ; but the better 

 class have lett their homes, and many farms are now tenantless and in ruins. Persons living in 

 and on the margin of the swamps are generally idle, ignorant, and vicious, following hunting, and 

 giving but little time or labor to farming or improving the country; in many instances, they have 

 joined guerrilla bands, and have played the outlaw during the present rebellion. 



Id conducting medical examinations with a view to military service, I have found developed 

 tuberculosis a cause for exemption iu more cases than any other disease, the ratio being seventy- 

 four in every thousand. Aside from hereditary predisposition, 1 am inclined to attribute its com- 

 mon occurrence to the sudden and frequent changes of temperature peculiar to this climate, the 

 humidity of the atmosphere, and the constant exposure of the inhabitants to the inclemency of 

 winter. 



Hernia is also common ; the ratio of exemptions on account of it being, at this ofUce, forty- 

 three in the thousand, a still greater percentage being found among men over forty-five years of 

 age. Probably ten per cent, of all males over the age of twenty-one years are afflicted by this dis- 

 ease in some one of its forms ; its frequent occurrence is in part, as I have heretofore stated, owing 

 to the laborious occupations of the inhabitants. 



I am impressed with the belief that the standard of physical capability for military service as 

 defined by paragraph 85, Revised Regulations Provost-MarshalGeneral's Bureau, is in some par- 

 ticulars too low. 



