SUEGEONS RKPOK'TS OHIO — TIIIKU UISTKICT. 397 



classifyinj? tbera. A huge number of tlio cases wliicb liave fallen niuler my observation weie 

 simply scabies, of which, for several years, we have bad in this district a full share, and, tlionyh 

 irequeiitly exteDsive and aggravated, I am well satisfied would have yielded to sidphnj- and soap. 

 Another large class, confined chiefly to those who bad been witli the Army, tbougii often conii)!i- 

 cated with psora, arose principally from debility, and the gastro-intestinal diseases so common in 

 camp and hospital reverted to the surface, aggiavated by vermin and scratching, and usually 

 consisted of varieties of ekzema, erythema, and lichen ; the former occurring among soldiers just as 

 it has been observed for years among the emigrants from Europe who have suflered from iiui)r()pir 

 and perhaps insufficient food, uncleanliness, and vermin, and wbicii cases have often closely sim- 

 ulated scabies. Whilst the causes existing in every army are sufficient to produce ah increased 

 amount of the various eruptive diseases, it would seem impossible that any should escape who 

 have been kept for months .and yeais on the miserable diet and in the more miserable filth of 

 those accursed hells in which the demons of this rebellion have confined so many of our prison- 

 ers. To call these diseases " army-itch," and hope to cure them with sulphur-unguents, is of course 

 unpardonable. 



Tliere are a few sections in paragragh 85, Revised Regulations, in which I would recommend 

 changes. Section 5 reads, " Organic diseases of internal organs which have so seriovsly impaired 

 the general health as to leave no doubt of bis incajiacity for military duty, and which prevent his 

 performing any equally laborious occupation in civil life." The very slight change of the copulative 

 and to the disjunctive or would cover important cases for which provision is not elsewhere made. 

 As it reads now, the latter clause adds nothing but toords to the paragraph, for certainly any one 

 whose (/cntTrt? health is so seriously imitaired as to leave no doubt of bis incapacity for performing 

 military service, is incapable of performing any equally laborious duty elsewhere; but it is by no 

 means evident that ha whose general health is not manifestly impaired is always capable of per- 

 forming either military or other labor. The general liealth may be good, and yet disease of internal 

 organs exist to such an extent as to prevent the ]>erformance of any labor. There may be asthma, 

 emphysema of the lungs, or valvular disea.se of the heart, to such an extent as to forbid all violent 

 exercise, and yet, with proper prudence, the nutritive lunctions acting bealtblully, the general 

 health may be pood. These diseases are too easy of diagnosis to be mistaken, and totally disqualify 

 their subjects for the performance of military duty ; yet they cannot be exempted by this section 

 as it now stands, and if exempted under section 9, wLicb is made to cover all the ground of this, 

 then section 5 might be stricken out. Under section 11, rheumatism can only exempt when jnani- 

 fested by positive changes of structure. Certainly there are rheumatic patients in whom such 

 change does not exist, who are wholly unfit for the service. The strong rheumatic idiosyncrasy, 

 being properly substantiated by reliable medical testimony, should, in my judgment, exempt. 



The change in section 23 is not an improvement. How can a man live on the diet of a soldier 

 who has lost all bis teeth except a right canine above and a left below '! As this section now stands, 

 if drafted, such persons must be mustered into the .service. Men applying for exemption have only 

 been examined in reference to the particular disability of which they have comi)laiued. 



Recruits, substitutes, and drafted men have always been examined naked. When prepared, 

 they were required to walk, hop, jump, and run across the room, and were then minutely inspected 

 from hea<l to foot, their height and measurements of ehest at inspiration and expiration being also 

 taken. To thus examine a recruit will require full five minutes, and a drafted man will occupy 

 twice that time, so that from Jifty to one hundred men may be considered as many as can be exam- 

 ined with accuracy per day. # » * 



In examining the applicants for exemjitiou in this district, though but a small proi)ortion of 

 its citizens are foreigners, I find little more than half the applicants were Americans. In examin- 

 ing drafted men 1 have scarcely met with a foreigner who, if he told the truth, was in good health, 

 evidencing to me that the foreign population lack to a iar greater extent than the natives that 

 nervous constitution which is more essential to the fortitude and endurance of the soldier than any- 

 thing else. If we rely oidy upon measurements, other nations may excel ; but if we throw into the 

 balance that most important of the physical systems — the nervous — then Americans possess the 

 greatest physical aptitude. 



