, 1866-01-04

| tnete 04d fcc9lfed no Instructions, ana would
| take no action Ii the matter till he did re.
thcfess be On their way from Washington
Surgical md Medical xa:story OF s,,o
War-Prels.1sIFary yleuurs4-p-oma,.t1
Contribution to Medical Science,
The Surgeon General hes iasuel. for tho IN
formation Of The medical officers of ID The m army. "
splendid quazto pamphlet Of 1rG pages, vi h
l:fge number OF wood cats and p1aius, con-
tanning preliminary reports by IN officer en-
trusted with tho preparation Of the medical
cEd surgical history Of the war,
Tie materials collected and progress made
In preparing for publication tho surgical re-
ports: are Ay Breyet Lieutenant Colonel G. A.
Otis. CDitel States Volunteers, ard the metlI-
c1l by Bre1et A!afer j. J. Woodward, United
stases Army. These reports, besides the bsief
stat:ment tf tho plan OF tho proposed mclt-
cal and surgical history, cuDtatn much I'm.
acter Of the work, and to giro m idca OF its
Importance.
they contain, therefore, much interesting
Information with regard to the health Of the
army dnTtER the war. Dr.. Ot1s's report enu-
nelntes the returns with regard to the wound
ed, and shows that the complete list, with the
full description, OF all important cases. Is
rapidly approaching completion. The plan
Of REGISTRATION at present followed was adopt
ed IN October, 1861, md 1t appears that on
September 70, 1866, the histories OF $1,000
wounds and 1S,G00 surgical operations had
been tabu1ated. The report then briefly con-
siders materials for the description OF specific
wounds and injuries.
It IS shown that the facts collected relating
to more important Inquiries md operations,
exceed IN number and value the total fnforma-
tion On these subjects at present extant In
surgical literatuse- The treasures Of the sur
Eieal section OF the Army Medical Museum
cte then conctscly reviewed. These Included
over five Thousand specimens bf surgical fu-
juries or diseases. This section Of tho report
from photographs. The statistical tables H.
cluded in the report are derived from an anal
ysis Of over one hundred thousand examples
OF injuries. When it is considered that, In re-
gard to each Of these, the name and military
description OF the patient md the nature Of
bis injury hayc been recorded, and that he has
been followed from hospital to hospital, until
the result Of his case has been asccrtalned,
the amount Of labor expended On these re-
cords appear colossal. It appears from DR..
Woodward's report that the mortality from
diseases was 4S7-l0 per thousand during the
t5st Jsa7 Of the war Gs-1o darlng the second.
This does not include deaths among thnse alb
sent Us asprisoners Of war, Of those that died at
home alter having been discharged from the
service IN account Of disability. The total
number of deaths from diseases reported for
the two years In question, not including pd-
rtAGlo VI :" IA VI A43N4A4GEA et4A4EIo1 Was
Il, ,1s3 for the first year, aad !, 4,o10 for the &C.
copd. This rate Of death from wounds was
seventeen per thousand of strength for the
first year, and fifteen for the second.
The principal diseases were camp fever, Of
which there wern e1::, ,o2Co cases. and l1,A5y
deaths; diarrhea md dyscntery, -, ,s75s CO.
Ecs and II ,5G0 deaths; inhammatory diseases
of respiratory orgrrs, :04 IA cases md 5000
deaths; and Intermittent fever, oGl ,S07 eases
md lIe3 deaths. The small number Of cases
taken On the sick report, In consequence Of
HS hs tne ssets q the police IL
adopted In Our armies. Dr. WoodwardTs re-
port also gives an account Of the medical aud
mfcroscopfcal section Of the army medical mu-
scum, and brief fhetch Of the gystom or hos-
pital organizations. It appears that there
were 90e general hospitals, With 136, ,8o4 beds.
Over million Of patients were treated In
these hospitals, of whom but per cent
died.
This, however, does not include the slain In
battle. Tho total number Of cases Of diseases
and wounds treated by the Medical Depart
ment was S78, ,0l8 for the first year; It'll ,800
for the second, the number OF cases giving an
average Of nearly three spells Of sickness q
yeaf H. each man. It was for such enormous
numbers as these that the Medical Depart
ment had to provide during the war. OF
these cases 1855 were reported undor the
head Of wounds and injuries during the first
year, H, ATS during the second. The average
number constantly on the sick list, including
wounded and absent III the hospital, was
about ten per cent OF the strength
In the history Of q ,eeG0 cases Of surgical
operations In the field and the hospitals, ch1o-
rutorm was used in 60 per cent Of these ope-
ratious, ether In 30 per cent and mixture OF
both IN 10 per cent In general hospita1a It
was conceded that ether was the safest. No
fhtal accident from its use Is reported. In
field operations ehlorufoEm was almost excln-
sIve1y used. twas used IN $1,000 cases, seven
CT which were fatal, VIZ: two rebels, tour
Union priyaies, and the case Of Col. McGu-
vrey, Chief OF Artillery, 10th corps, who in
haled Two drachms Of chloroform for aD *
cisIon Of the finger He died suddenly,
before the operation YVES commence