conscription basis. The high proportion of rejections in the British 

 army on account of deficient chest measurement is obviously in con- 

 sequence of a military rule not necessarily governed by necessity or 

 sound anthropometric considerations. The same conclusion applies to 

 defects and deficiencies in dental development, as best made evident 

 by the radical change in the rules governing this matter in the exami- 

 nations of the United States Army under the Second Selective Draft 

 compared or contrasted with the methods under the First Selective 

 Draft. The English statistics are rather evidence of over-refinement 

 in rules and regulations than of physical inferiority or military unfit- 

 ness of the recruiting material. This conclusion applies particularly 

 to the relatively high proportion of rejections on account of dental and 

 visual defects, minimum stature and minimum weight. 



CAUSES OF REJECTION IN THE UNITED 



STATES ARMY 



The statistics for the United States are for the period 1906-10, with 



a differentiation of the white and the colored. The ten principal causes 



of rejection are arranged in the order of their importance for the white 



recruits. 



PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF REJECTION IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY 

 WHITE AND COLORED, 1906-1910 



Per Cent. Examined 

 White Colored 



1. Diseases of the Eyes, and Errors of Refraction 1.6 0.8 



2. Venereal Diseases 1.2 1.9 



3. Diseases of Ears, including Defects in Hearing 1.1 0.3 



4. Diseases of Heart 1.0 0.9 



5. Underweight 0.8 0.4 



6. Defective Dentition 0.7 0.4 



7. Alcoholism 0.7 0.3 



8. Flatfoot 0.6 0.7 



9. Hernia 0.5 0.5 



10. Insufficient Chest Development..' 0.4 0.2 



These results for the United States are so very much at variance 

 with the corresponding data for foreign countries that the main cause 

 of the differences must be attributable to methods of selection under 

 the voluntary system. The three principal causes of rejection are of 

 relatively minor military importance, as best made evident by the pro- 

 found changes in examination methods under the Second Selective 

 Draft. Diseases of the heart, which account for about 1 per cent, of 

 the examined, cannot be considered relatively important when con- 

 trasted with a rejection ratio of 3 per cent, in the German army. Under- 

 weight is largely governed by arbitrary standards and not necessarily 

 of pathological significance. The relatively high ratio of rejections on 

 account of defective dentition is largely the result of rules and regu- 

 lations, which under the Second Selective Draft have been very ma- 

 terially modified. The same conclusion applies to alcoholism and to 



76 



