MANUAL

OF

THE MEDICAL OFFICER

OF THE

ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS UPON THE RECRUITING OF THE ARMY.

By the term "Recruiting," is meant the operation by which the men who compose an Army, are raised.

The Military forces of the United States are made up of 1st, The Regular Army; 2d, Volunteer Corps; 3d, Drafts from the Militia of the States. The term "Recruit" is, however, usually limited to men enlisting into the Regular Army. Still, for our purposes, all men offering for the Military Service may be considered as included in the general term "Recruit."

The laws and customs of the several States differ as to the modes of raising Militia and Volunteers, and as to the grounds of exemption of men claiming to be disqualified for the Military Service by reason of physical infirmity. But when a State is called upon to furnish its contingent for the service of the United States, the medical inspection of the men presented, does not differ from that practised in the case of the Recruit offering himself for enlistment into the Regular Army. Drafted men and Volunteers must be accepted or rejected upon the same principles as regular Recruits; therefore the standard adopted in the one case will also govern in the others.

SECTION 1.

Recruiting by Voluntary enlistment into the Regular Army. "All free white male persons, above the age of eighteen, and under thirty-five years, being at least five feet, four and one-half inches high, who are effective, able bodied, sober, free from disease, and who have a competent knowledge of the English language, may be enlisted."*

It is not necessary that a person desiring to enlist voluntarily into the Army of the United States, should be a natural born or a naturalized citizen thereof. The United States insists upon the right of the foreigner to seek an asylum upon her shores; and, except in cases where such foreigner may have fled from justice, and from countries with which we may have made extraditional treaties including the crime with which the refugee is charged, the emigrant is entitled to and will receive the protection of our flag. He may offer himself for enlistment into the army, and, should he be found to possess the requisite moral and physical qualifications, he will be received.

When enlisted he is to be taken before a civil magistrate or judge advocate, and in his presence take the following oath or affirmation:

"I, A. B., do solemnly swear, or affirm (as the case may be) that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully, against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever, and observe and obey all the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the rules and articles for the government of the armies of the United States."I

When this oath is taken the enlistment is complete and the Recruit becomes entitled to all the immunities of a soldier in the Army of the United States, whatever may have been the country of his birth.

* Regulation Recruiting Service.

† Sec. 3, Act. 12, June, '58, authorizes any Commissioned Officer of the army to administer this oath when there is no civil magistrate in the vicinity.

Rules and Articles of War. sec. 10.

The only disqualifications then incident to the birthplace of the recruit, are, crimes enumerated in treaties, and want of a competent knowledge of the English language. The former is a matter to be determined by the civil courts-the latter comes under the cognizance of the Recruiting officer and the Inspecting Surgeon.

In the examination of a recruit, the Surgeon must rely upon the man himself for information as to several important points in his medical history, (as will be seen. hereafter) and unless the recruit has sufficient knowledge of the English language to comprehend and to answer the necessary questions, distinctly, we are of opinion, he should be rejected.

The recruit must not be less than eighteen nor more than thirty-five years of age.

This Regulation does not extend to musicians, nor to soldiers who may re-enlist after having served faithfully a previous enlistment in the army. A person under

twenty-one years of age can not enlist without the consent of his parent, guardian or master, if he have either.

But if the minor shall offer such written consent, the question then presents itself, whether, so young a person possesses the vigor and physical development, necessary for the performance of all the duties of a soldier.

The following remarks from the Aide Memoire de l'officier de Santè, upon this point deserve the most careful attention.

"When young men of this age are well made and have a true aptitude for the profession of arms, they are capable of making excellent soldiers. But it must not be lost sight of, that there are few at this age, fit for this profession. The body has not yet attained the necessary strength, the organs have not yet arrived at that stage of vigor, which will permit them to pass rapidly without a careful transition, from a state of repose to one of violent exercise; and it must be borne in mind that by the term organs' we do not mean only those of locomotion; as the expressions repose and exercise, we have just employed, might suggest; but we intend also to include the viscera themselves. Thus, at this age, the gastro

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intestinal mucous membrane is too readily over-excitable -the lungs are too susceptible of morbid impressions. This is the epoch of pulmonary congestions, of hæmoptysis, of those obstinate bronchites, the frequent recurrence of which leads almost inevitably to phthisis. At this age likewise, the nervous system is far from having arrived at its maximum of functional development, its play is still most irregular. How then under so many disadvantages, is it possible to encounter successfully the fatigues and accidents of war? How, with an irritable stomach, accommodate oneself to food the most diverse and frequently the most indigestible? How with lungs so pre-disposed to disease, support such severe changes of temperature, heat, cold, moisture? How bivouac, how sleep in the mud, in the snow, without shelter, without fire? How with a nervous system still immature, at least in its functional relations, find in oneself sufficient moral energy to contend successfully against all those elements of destruction which surround the soldier in campaign?"

"If we were then called upon to give our opinion upon this point, it would be an unfavorable one, and if we did not go so far as to reject it entirely, we should restrain its exercise within the narrowest limits, and reserve it for very rare contingencies, to be determined by special rules."

We can not but assent entirely to the physiological objections so forcibly urged against the enlistment of minors; and, considering the annoyances and losses to which the service is so constantly exposed from this class of recruits, the perjuries, falsehoods and forgeries they induce in the young and dissolute, the inconsiderable accession of force they bring to the ranks, we think they might profitably be forbidden altogether. But so long as these enlistments are authorized by the Regulations of the Army, the Medical officer can not summarily refuse to recognize them. He must confine himself to the investigation of the physical qualifications of the individual recruit.

Let him then institute a closer scrutiny into the con