The important fact disclosed by this analysis is the relatively low 

 proportion of rejections for venereal diseases, with regard to which the 

 examination and rules concerning exclusion in the United States Army 

 are in all probability much more strict, being even drastic, than those in 

 use in the armies of continental Europe. As might be expected, the 

 rejection rate for venereal disease among the colored recruits was 

 perceptibly higher, as shown by the table following: 



CAUSES OF REJECTION— COLORED RECRUITS ONLY 



UNITED STATES ARMY REJECTION EXPERIENCE, 1910-1915 

 COLORED RECRUITS ONLY 



• Per Cent. 



Examined 



1. Venereal Diseases 2.86 



2. Causes not Physical 2.00 



3. Ear Diseases and Defective Hearing 0.90 



4. Eye Diseases and Defects of Vision 0.52 



5. Flatfoot 0.49 



6. Hernia 0.43 



It is rather surprising to find a relatively low rate of rejections on 

 account of flatfoot among the colored, or 0.49 per cent, of the examined, 

 against 0.60 per cent, for the white recruits. In the earlier data of 

 Schwiening for the period 1906-10 the rejections on account of flatfoot 

 among the white recruits were 0.57 per cent, of the examined, against 

 0.70 for the colored. The relative frequency of flatfoot among the 

 colored is in all probability not as pronounced as often assumed to be 

 the case upon superficial inquiry into the facts. As a general prin- 

 ciple, however, it is probably safe to assume that flatfoot is more com- 

 mon among colored males than among white males of corresponding 

 age.* 



CAUSES OF REJECTION— NATIVE AND FOREIGN- 

 BORN RECRUITS 



A comparison of native-born recruits with those of foreign birth in 

 the United States Army is more or less misleading, on account of ma- 

 terial variations in the age distribution of the examined. The foreign- 

 born, as a general rule, are older and in many cases have had previous 

 military experience in foreign countries. As an illustration, however, 

 of the marked difference in the health and physique of the examined 

 recruiting material, the two following tables show the six principal 

 causes of rejection in the United States Army experience for the native 

 and foreign-born white applicants for military service. 



*A thoroughly scientific discussion of "The Soldier's Foot as an Important Feature of 

 an Effective Army," originally contributed to American Medicine by Harold D. Corbusier, 

 M. D., Major, Medical Officers' Reserve, United States Army, has been reprinted in the 

 Scientific American Supplement, No. 2172, for August 18, 1917. This discussion includes in 

 its subdivision, first, the exceptional foot; second, the doubtful foot; and, third, the disqualified 

 foot, with observations on special pathological conditions and remedial considerations. 



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