specifically reminded in the book of Rules for the Examination of 

 Recruits that these affections usually give rise to signs such as defec- 

 tive vision, shortness of breath, emaciation, and tumultuous beating 

 of the heart, which the recruiting officer should detect and which are 

 causes of rejection. In proportion, therefore, as non-medical officers 

 are governed by semi-medical instructions and are desirous of avoiding 

 possible defects disclosed by a subsequent medical examination, the 

 ratio of primary rejections must vary considerably. 



In this connection the observations of Dr. Edward L. Munson * are 

 of interest. He remarks that: 



Of the applicants for enlistment a considerable proportion are summarily 

 rejected by recruiting officers, prior to any physical examination, by reason of 

 intoxication, obvious defect of body or mind, or on account of apparently 

 undesirable personality. Such rejections are not made a matter of official 

 record. Of those admitted to the physical examination only about one in four 

 has been found in times past to be qualified for the military service. 



He also directs attention to the fact that during the period 1889-93 

 the total number of applicants physically examined was 101,432, and 

 that of this number 85,136, or 83.9 per cent., were rejected. In explana- 

 tion of the excessively high ratio of rejections he observes that during 

 more recent years a the physical attributes of the classes from which the 

 recruits were derived appear to have undergone a steady improvement." 

 And referring to the year 1897 he states that the ratio accepted was 

 70.2 per cent., or differentiating the two races the ratio of accepted 

 recruits was 78.7 per cent, for the whites and 69.5 per cent, for the 

 colored. 



The foregoing observations indicate that for practical purposes the 

 rejection of recruits on primary examination by non-medical officers of 

 the line is quite inconclusive, the rejections being interdependent with 

 the technical qualifications of the examiner and his predilection for 

 special indications of deficiency or unsuitability for military service, on 

 the one hand, and the specific rules and regulations as well as the 

 authorized strength of the army, on the other. Munson quotes Marshall 

 as authority for a grouping of the causes on account of which recruits 

 are rejected, as follows: 



1st. Diseases or deformities which a medical man from his professional 

 training and acquaintance with the duties of the soldier considers are infirmities 

 which disqualify men for service in the army. 



2nd. Slight blemishes which do not disqualify a man for the army but which 

 an unwilling soldier may exaggerate, and allege that he is thereby rendered unfit 

 for military duty. 



3rd. Unimportant details or deviations from symmetry, or slight variations 

 from the usual form or condition of the body — technical or nominal blemishes 

 which do not incapacitate a man for the army or in the slightest degree impair 

 his efficiency. 



* "The Theory and Practice of Military Hygiene," by E. L. Munson, New York, 1901, 

 page 30. 



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