130 THE PHYSiaUE OF DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES. 



on returning, a considerable contrast in the appearance of the American from 

 his British kindred, both in features and complexion. This consists more espe- 

 ciallj in the loss of fat in the cheeks and about the eyes, with a change in the 

 shape of the mouth owing to early alteration of the teeth, and a seeming flatness 

 of the chest causing an appearance of stooping, from anterior prominence of the 

 shoulders. Indeed the American features are now as readily recognised abroad 

 as those of the German or Frenchman, and he can by these alone be very gener- 

 ally distinguished from his English namesake. 



That the American climate, therefore, has, in the lapse of two centuries or 

 less, considerably modified the European type, is a fact which we think few can 

 deny. What that change indicates— whether it is simply a stage in the process 

 of acclimatization, or a positive loss of vitality in the race, is a question the im- 

 portance of which cannot be exaggerated. In the whole kingdom of life no trans- 

 planting into a new soil occurs, without an apparent decline at first ; but if a 

 new and increased vigor is to be manifested, we must find the perennial root 

 healthy and strong, though the early leaves may wither. The question is to be 

 decided by the condition of the stock itself, and we think that it is precisely here 

 that the observations which have given rise to such melancholy anticipations fail 

 most strikingly. The impressions of a tourist on the complexion and appearance 

 of a people are accepted as scientific data, and straightway conclusions are pro- 

 pounded, at whose vastness even an archangel might stand aghast. 



But a great opportunity has arisen to substitute facts and observations for 

 theories on this whole question. A test, than which nothing more complete could 

 be devised, has been suddenly brought to bear, not only on the working of our 

 institutions, the extent of our resources and the cTiaracter of our people, but of 

 their development in bone and muscle as well. The issue at stake in a tremen- 

 dous contest has taken hold of the feelings of the entire nation, and sent .thou- 

 sands from every class of the population and every condition in life to undergo 

 the hardships of the field. 



And I would now beg leave to direct your attention to one particular aspect 

 of this great event of the age, which I have myself been more especially called 

 upon to note. Having had the honor of an appointment by his Excellency Gov- 

 ernor Morgan, as medical examiner for the State of all recruits for regiments in 

 the field mustered at the depot of New York city during the past summer, it 

 occurred to me to take advantage of the opportunity for instituting observations 

 on a number of points of medical interest and importance. In no other connec- 

 tion, as we have indicated, could there be afforded better facilities for such 

 observations, since both city and country, every calling and pursuit, every degree 

 of culture from the professor of Hebrew to the street cleaner, and every nation- 

 ality which composes our present population, were most fully represented, while 

 all presented themselves as healthy adults at the age of their fullest physical 

 vigor. War certainly presents some singular aspects, for what else can be con- 

 ceived that would bring about a procession of some 9,000 human beings in the 

 original costume of Eden, in the hope of their being pronounced fit to go forth 

 to shoot and be shot. But in no other way could all those artificial circumstan- 

 ces, which difference men from one another to such a degree, be so completely 

 laid aside, and every race and condition appear in the equality of nature itself. 



