466 surgeons' reports — Michigan — ^fifth district. 



lakes and rivers, which afford an immense amount of hydraulic power, which is nsed very exten- 

 sively for the manufacture ot lumber and other purposes. Flouringmills are very numerous. 



The soil is variable, but is mostly a rich, sandy loam, and is very productive in the grains and 

 grasses that are produced in the Northern States. It is timbered with oak, maple, and beech in 

 the south and west part; in the north and east, there are large forests of pine of excellent quality. 

 Some parts are hilly, and those which border on the lakes and rivers in many places are marshy. 



Thedistrictcontainsfour thousand four hundred and sixty-five square miles. In ISGO, it contained 

 one hundred and twenty-eight thousand seAen hundredand twelve inhabitants ; if the increase for the 

 last five years has been but five per cent., (which is a low estimate,) it has at thejiresent time a pt)i)- 

 ulation of one hundred and thirty-five thousand one hundred and forty-seven. The correct enroll- 

 ment-lists ending on the 14th day of April, 1865, show there are ten thousand eight hundred and 

 thirty men liable to be called npon for military duty, notwithstanding the rebellion has caused a 

 large drain from the number of its able bodied men ; deduct thirty per cent, for physical disability 

 and other causes, then there remains a force of seven thousand five hundred and eighty-one effect- 

 ive men liable to be called into service if required. 



The inhabitants are enterprising, intelligent, and enjoy the fruits of their labor. The farmer 

 who but a few years since bad but a scanty subsistence, and was obliged to content himself with 

 the shelter of his rude log-cabin, erected soon after the first sound of the woodman's ax was heard 

 in the forest, animated with hopes of better days, and persevering through a few years of toil and 

 privation, has become the possessor of a commodious dwelling, in which he can solace himself with 

 the reflection that industry and economy lead to wealth. 



The country is divided into limbered lands and timbered openings, the timber being mostly oak. 

 The soil of the openings is readily prepared for the plow with little labor. There is generally some 

 underbrush, which requires a small amount of work to remove, and then the soil is i-eady for break- 

 ing up, though it requires three yoUe of oxen to accomplish the task. The timber being tliinly 

 scattered is frequently left standing, but a circle of hark is generally removed, about two feet from' 

 the ground, in order to destroy its vitality. This timber sometimes remains for two or three years, 

 except what is needed for fencing and other purposes; this may appear to some rather a rude way 

 of farming, but it is called labor-saving by those who have little help and limited means where- 

 with to obtain it. A large yield of wheat is frequently taken from such lauds the first year. 



It is settled mostly by emigrants from the State of New York and the Canadas. A few towns 

 in the northern and eastern parts are principally jieopled by French and Germans; their lands are 

 new, and, having had but little capital to assist them, they are obliged to devote a portion of their 

 time to lumbering, fishing, or some other employment than that of agriculture. 



On this class of men the draft fell heavily ; the most of them were unable to procure substitutes 

 even if they were disposed to do so, and the remainder not being inclined to learn tactics, the result 

 was that immediately after (if not before) the draft, they sought refuge in Victoria's dominions. 



The diseases are mostly intermittent and remittent fevers, which are produced by the morbid 

 effects of effluvia that proceed from the surface of the earth, and are probably gaseous or aeriform 

 bodies which are involved in the atmosphere ; they are imperceptible ; we know nothing of tiieir 

 physical or chemical qualities, but we are made aware of their existence by their pernicious effects 

 only. They are called malaria or miasmata, and are generated by a certain degree of heat and 

 moisture capable of producing vegetable decomposition. They seldom originate at a temi)erature 

 of less than 00° Fahrenheit, though vegetable decomposition may be going on; at 80° they are very 

 prevalent, but are generally checked when frost makes its appearance ; the process requires a cer- 

 tain continuance of heat as well as a certain degree of it. Moisture is as essential as heat in its 

 production ; therefore heat and moisture, continued for a considerable length of time, acting on dead 

 vegetable matter so as to i)roduce rapid decomposition, are generally sure to produce diseases tiiat 

 we then say liave a njalarious origin. I am satisfied that dy.sentery. neuralgia, and rheumatism are 

 frequently produced by their morbid influence upon the system. I have frequently seen dysentery 

 prevail to an alarming extent in those seasons of the year at which we should have expected inter- 

 mittent and remittent fevers to have been most coinuion. Dysentery having been first in making 

 its appearance, in some particular seasons would run its course almost to the exclusion of any other 



