teers, many of the recruits who may be physically underdeveloped at the 

 time of examination may be assigned to a class subject to re-examination 

 and may be acceptable for military service on attaining full maturity. The 

 Austrian statistics illustrate precisely the urgency of a rational and well- 

 considered international classification of causes and conditions of re- 

 jection, but in the absence of similarity in other recruiting require- 

 ments, such as the age and the method of selection, the derived classi- 

 fication itself may still remain inconclusive and possibly seriously mis- 

 leading. 



CAUSES OF REJECTION IN THE FRENCH ARMY 



The following table is for the French army, for the period 1907-10: 



PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF REJECTION IN THE FRENCH ARMY 



1907-1910 



Per Cent. 

 Examined 



1. Diseases of Bones and Extremities 2.4 



2. General Bodily Debility 1.9 



3. Tuberculosis 1.2 



4. Ill-defined and Not-designated 1.0 



5. Varicose Veins - 0.9 



6. Errors of Refraction 0.8 



The French statistics clearly emphasize the non-comparability of the 

 data with those of Germany and Austria. For tuberculosis, which is re- 

 turned separately for France, is probably included in general debility 

 in the statistics of Germany and Austria, at least as a predisposing con- 

 dition or with the disease in its initial stages. The German classifi- 

 cation, in fact, does not specifically enumerate tuberculosis, but it gives 

 a separate classification for diseases of the lungs (1.0 per cent.), asthma 

 (0.04 per cent.) and diseases of the larynx (0.3 per cent.). These 

 three groups, therefore, constitute a major group of diseases of the 

 respiratory organs, probably inclusive of a fair proportion of cases of 

 tuberculosis, at least in its initial stage. In contrast, it is exceedingly 

 significant that the permanent rejections in the French army on account 

 of tuberculosis should have been 1.2 per cent., as stated, with a rea- 

 sonable assumption that cases in the initial stages of the disease were 

 also included in the second group under bodily weakness or general 

 debility. The term "tuberculosis" as used in the foregoing group is, 

 however, exclusive of tuberculosis of other organs or parts, the propor- 

 tion of rejections on account of which was 0.4 per cent. It is intimated 

 by Schwiening that the rate of discharges on account of tuberculosis in 

 the French army previously to the war was relatively high, and that 

 therefore the examinations in connection with recruiting were either in 

 many cases superficial or conditions of army life were peculiarly predis- 

 posing to the development of the disease soon after entry into the mili- 

 tary service. 



70 



