, 1862-04-16
Gbt Gtiibtttte.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL Is, 1861


Washington Cor. Rochester Democrat
Your readers may be gratifed to know some
thing OF the interesting facts that have been
as;.eIoped by the 1ahors Of the Sanitary Com
fore, give briefly q few Of them-as they viii
at least be suggestive, II not instructive:
The average time occupied In the different
States in recruiting the various regiments Of
the army is about six weeks. Several reei-
meuts hare been recruited in ten days, and q
few hare required as long IS three months, .
In 76}]53 per cent OF all The regiments, Amer
lean born citizens are most numerous: in 6k
per cent. there is majority OF Germans; fn
5]]z per cent, q majority of Irish; and in liz
per cent, the number Of native born and for
cigners is about equaL Thus It viii be- be seen xSa
that it is not true, as has often been stated,
that the army is chiefly composed Of for.
eigners."
It is probably very near approximation to
the truth to say that toot thirds Of the volunteer
forces Of the Government are American born,
and nizae-tenths Of the army is composed Of cit
izens that have been long enough in the coun-
try to become Americanized in heart and
sympathy and government. The average age
Of the volunteer soldiers is estimated to be
t1cc7fy fire Years. More than one-hAf Of the
army are less than twenty three years. The
| average age Of the officers Is said to be about
| tYirty:JouT years.
The Sanitary Conmisson arc accommodating
data, by which they will be able to show the
uer cent; Of liability to death By disease in
| VAT, Of the different ages; and also, the per
cent Of liability to disease Of the different
ages, in army life-thereby enabling the Gov
eIDment to know the relative efficiency Of
men Of different ages. in the tent and in the
! field.
Very few Of all the troops now In the field
we're subjected to medical Inspection at the time
| Of enlistment, and consequently large num-
bers of men are found in the ranks unfit for
duty, and are only hindrance to the army and
an expense to the Government. In the
month Of October last, 1920 men Of this class
were discharged from the Potomac army, In
incapable Of service. The larger portion Of
these were afflicted with disabilities and
| weaknesses prior to their enlistment, and that
| would have kept them at home, had they been
| properly subjected to an Intelligent medical
doTn constitutions, and The loss Of life aud
| treasure followed ns = consequence.
| The medicines, clothing, transportation,
and pap Of each Of these men, 1t is estimated,
had cost the Government at least one hundred
donaIs, at the time Of their discharge. Thus
careful examination OF physical health and
soundness, had not been made at the time Of
enlistment It Is not extrayagant to say, that
| tseo millions Of dollars have been lost to the
| Government By this neglect, besides many
valuable lives Imperfect ventilation Of tents
| A4t43 @~~A GE--4 A<AA~A ~ DE d E44El EuuTE9 u
disease. The troops occupying the "wedge
tents have furnished more cases Of tYphus,
than those using the " Sibley tent"-the ratio
Of cases being as 50 to q. The :.sslbley tent
Is coDical, and has chimney like ventiIation.
In November last, the returns from LOO regi-
meRts were collated by the Commission when
the following facts appeared, VIZ: For every
thousand men sleeping In tents with wood
| floors, 16 were 6ick-for every thousand sleep-
Ing on India rubber, G1 were sick-for every
| thousand sleeping on the bare ground, 81
were sick-for every thousand sleeping on
interesting fact appears in this connection.
More cases Of sickness Of typhoid type, oc
CURED with regiments sleeping on India rub
ber than in any other way, and the least, with
those on cedar or fir boughs and straw.
Hence the Inference follows, that In point
the best, If not the safest bed, the soldier can
have. 0'-''
| In the Potomac army the sickness has
averaged 63 to every thousand men-in West
| ern Virginia 162 to every Thousand, and in the
/ This difference in the per cent OF sickness at
the above points may perhaps be partially
owing to the fact that the Potomac depart
ment was nearer the national centre, and has
therefore been more uniformly provided with
needfnl comforts aud supplies. An average
| OF about II men, for every thousand. have
been regularly on the sick list This number
includes Ill who we're slightly indisposed and
were excused from parades and drills.
The a5erage time lost per man, for all the
cases Of sickness reported, is q little more
than FIVE days.
| The per cent Of sickness among the yolun.
tcers Of the army, is greater than among the
regulars. This is ewing mainly to slacEness
Of disclpline-with the volunteer officers-in
not ezacting as rigidly as the regulars do the
strict observance OF army regulations, in res
| nm RI ho47i cFf for
Interesting questions of inquiry In the SCI
enee Of" Medical Topography" will grow out
OF the experiences Of the war, and will chal.
lenge the attention and study Of the Galens Of
the land. The ratio Of constant sickness in
tue regiments varies widely among the troops
| from the different States, The ayeraoe min
Der steadily on the sick LIST for every thou.
| sand men, is nearly as follows;