SUUOEONS' KEPORTS ILLINOIS FIRST DISTRICT. 433 



I hilt but few of the adult citizens wore born here. Heuce we have the cachexies and disabilities 

 incident uot only to our own, but to tlie differeut couutries aud climates from which these people 

 iua,v have emigrated. 



I have not much to say with respect to the query concerniug the different sections of para- 

 graph iS5, Revised Regulations. I have sometimes felt, however, that these regulations were too 

 s.ringent; that it would be better, perha[)s, to allow epile[»tics, for example, to prove their condition 

 by lay evidence, where direct medical testimony could uot be procured, rather than subject them 

 to be drafted into the service, for which the inevitably recurring disease would soon prove them to 

 be utteily disqualified. Near-sighted persons might also, as it seems to me, be exempted from 

 the dralt not onlj' without detrimeut, but to the positive benefit of the service, for of what use can 

 a man be to his country, as a soldier, who is unable to discern friend from ioe at the usual distan(;e 

 of normal vision f * * * 



The number of men that can be examined physically per day with accuracy depends much 

 upou the ability and dispatch of the recording-clerk, and the ti!ue occupied by the men in remov- 

 ing their clothes forexamination. Drafted men are usually loth to undress, and even when this i)re- 

 liminary has been completed, there are many other causes of hinderauce on their pait, which we 

 have not to encounter with other classes. But, circumstances being favorable, it is my opinion that 

 a skillful examining-surgeon can dispose of substitutes, I'ecruits, and others, at the rate of about 

 seventy-Jive per day, the time given beiiig from 8 a. m. until 4 p. m. 



Frauds of every conceivable description have been attempted bj- drafted men and those claim- 

 iug exemption from enrollment. The chief of these frauds are feigning deafness, chronic rheuma- 

 tism, partial loss of vision, and lameness without apparent cause or change of structure. Little 

 difficulty has, however, been experienced in arriving at the facts in every case where the parties 

 were known in the community in which they resided. 



It is found that those who are liable to be drafted are always ready to act the part of detec- 

 tives over those of their neighbors who may be inclined to play at "hide and seek," or otherwise 

 attempt to screen themselves by subterfuge; and in that capacity they are an important collateral 

 aid to the examining surgeon in the performance of his duties. But where a doubt still remained, 

 we have given the benetit of the doubt to the Government. 



The frauds attempted also by recruits and substitutes desirous of entering the Army have 

 been as various as the characters of the men themselves, and in some cases very cunningly 

 devised. The examining-surgeon, however, soon accustoms himself to these petty dramatic inci- 

 dents, and comes at last to entertain a most perfect incredulity respecting tlw moral honesty of all 

 candidates for the military service, and to lely solely upon his own judgment and skill for detecting 

 imposture. 



In some instances, where a satisfactory conclusion could not be attained otherwise, the appli- 

 cants have been required to furnish affidavits of soundness, which have been an effectual check in 

 their cases to such nefarious i)ractices. 



The native-born American from the rural population presents, according to my experience, the 

 greatest physical as well as moral aptitude for military service. 



The colored race, in my opinion, compare favorably with all the other nationalities, and in some 

 resi)ects they are jihysically superior to the average of the races whose individual members have 

 come under my examination. 



This superiority is not sufficiently important, perhaps, to justify more than a passing remark, 

 nor distinctive enough to warrant a tabular comparison of their qualities and faculties with those 

 of other nations. In breadth and depth of chest, they have the advantage over other nationalities. 

 They are, on the whole, a healthy and vigorous people, and it is remarkable that hernia and vari- 

 cose veins are almost uidinown an)ong them. One of the causes of their healthy condition is with- 

 out doubt to be found in their strong and brilliant teeth. These remarks apply exclusively to the 

 unmixed African race. The mulatto seems to inherit the constitutional vices of the white man with- 

 out deriving any mental or moral qualities from the mixture of the so-called superior blood. 



J. VV. FREER. 

 iSurgeon Board of Enrollment First District of Illinois. 



Chicago, III., May M, 1SG.'> 

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