34th CoNORFAS, } SENATE. 1st Sessimi. \ i Ex. Doc. I No. 96. STATISTICAL REPORT SICKNESS AND MORTALITY ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, COMPILED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE SURGEON GENERALS OFFICE; BUBRACINn A PERIOD OF SIXTEEN YEARS, FROM JANUARY, 1839, TO JANUARY. 1855, PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF BREVET BRIGADIER GENERAL THOMAS LAWSON, SUBGKON' nEXERAI. UXITKD STATE" AT!MY. BY KK'HAKD H. GOOLIDGE. M . D.. ASSISTANT SURGEON l'. S. ARMV. WASHINGTON: A. 0. P. NICHOLSON. PRINTER. 185G. In Senate of the United States, Auf/ust 5, lSo6. Resolval, That there be printed the usual number, and also five thousand extra copies of the rejiort of tlie Secretary of War, communicating a copy of the "Statistieal Report on the Mortality and fSicltness in the United States Army," lifteen hundred copies of wliich shall he for tliu use of the Medical Department of the array. Attest; ASBUKY DKKINS, Secretary. REPORT THE SECRETARY OF WAR, IN COltPLIAXCE WITH A resolution of the Senate^ calling for a copy of the Statistical Report on the Mortality and Sickness in the United States Army. War Department, WasMmjton, July 28, 1856. Sir : In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 16th instant, I have the honor herewith to transmit a communication from the Surgeon General of the army, accompanied hy " a copy of a Statistical Report on the Sickness and Mortality of the Array of the United States." Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JEFF'N DAVIS, Secretary of War. Hon. J. D. BrKtHT, Premdent of the Senate, Scrgeon General's Office, July 26, 1856. Sir : A Statistical Report on the Sickness and Mortality in the Army of the United States, for a period of twenty years, from January, 1819, to January, 1839, embracing the medical topogra- phy of the several military posts, and information respecting all those agencies which may ^ have influenced the health of the troops, was prepared and published under my direction in v 1840. It was my intention to have similar reports compiled from time to time, but circum- \ stances beyond my control have delayed the fulfilment of that design. ^ With this purpose in view, I addressed the following circular to the medical officers : e tliirty-one cases of remittent fever reported in the third quarter of 1851, (see abstract,) occurred at Fort Wood. Assistant Surgeon J. Simpson reports that " fevers of a remittent type, ami bowel affections, have been prevalent. The fevers in nearly every instance assumed a typhous character from the commencement. The tongue has been dry, dark, and contracted, with sordes about the teeth and gums ; the secretions from the .skin and other organs generally deficient; alvine evacuations dark. Many of the cases have presented severe cerebral sym])- toms. The treatment pursued in most cases, and which appeared to have the greatest control over the disease, was, commencing with an emetic of ipecacuanha, and following with small doses of the same combined with calomel, until the system became slightly under its influence. As soon as this was the case, there appeared to be an improvement of the symptoms ; tlie secre- tions were unlocked ; the tongue showed a disposition to clean ; there was a general lessening of the frequency of the pulse, heat of skin, and cerebral excitement. Gentle stimulation with carbonate of ammonia, infusion of serpentaria, or some other mild stimulant, was then resorted to." Of these 31 cases, 5 died. Eruptive Fevers arc of more frequent occurrence at the stations now under consideration than at other military posts, owing to their being garrisoned })rincipally by recruits, among whom measles are not uncommon, and who are sometimes attacked with smallpox before time is afforded for vaccination. The regulations fu- the medical department of the army do not enjoin a uuif'orm system of re-vaccination; they iircscribe that, "as soon as a recruit joins any 20 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY regiment or station, he sliall be examined by the medical officer, and vaccinated when it is required." On referring to the abstract, it will be seen that 25 cases of rubeola are reported, and 1 death ; 25 cases of variola, and 5 deaths ; and 14 cases of varioloid, all terminating favorably. DISEASES OF THE ORGANS CONNECTED WITH THE DIGESTH'E SYSTEM. FIRST, SECOND. TUIRD. KOCRTII. YEAR. O 3 z - o I § - c o c £ u Strength 8, 806 8, 986 10, 402 fl, 353 9, 387 ^ s i s o S ■§■3 Diseases. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Dcatlis. Cholera Asiatica .. .... 376 48 3 1 3 189 347 7 I 1 1 3 692 45 8 4 3 1 367 356 1 1 1 1 1 71 3293 471 18 2 3 1 566 429 28 5 7 5 1 806 207 11 3 241 228 6 4 2 3 75 5167 771 40 7 9 5 1363 1360 29 18 13 9 1 1 1 3 1 in 2.6 1 in 287 1 in 59 1 in 4.4 in 7 lin 9 lin 5 1 in 1363 1 in 453 550 82 4 0.7 Settatitis acuta -.. 0,9 0.5 145 All other diseases of thia sys- tem - -- -- .-- 145 Total 967 10 1479 5 4854 45 1497 15 8797 75 1 in 117 937 1 8722 46 lin 190 929 i In the third quarter of 1849, the Asiatic cholera appeared at Fort Columbus, Y cases being reported in July, and 12 in August. Of these 19 cases, 15 proved fatal. The jjost was then temporarily attended by a citizen physician, who did not make a special report. Tliis disease again appeared on tlie 11th of August, 1852, six cases occurring that month, 4 of which died. In the treatment. Surgeon De Camp relied upon calomel, camphor, opium, sinapisms, external warmth, and stimulants. In one of the cases which recovered, twelve grains of calomel were given every two hours during the night, commencing at 8, p. m., and on the return of the vomiting next day, thirty grains of calomel with ten grains of camphor were given at one dose. In July, 1853, the same surgeon reports two cases of cholera, both terminating in recovery. The remedies were "large doses of calomel and camphor, and external heat by means of bags of hot water." Assistant Surgeon Edward W. Johns reports that "the cholera made its appearance at Fort Columbus on the 1st July, 1854. Of the 38 cases reported in that month, 30 were restricted to choleraic diarrhcca, and 8 went into extreme collapse. The treatment, at first, was by calo- mel and camphor, and occasionally opium, in doses often grains of the former, and five of cam- phor, every two hours. In the later cases the dose was increased to thirty grains. During this period, diseases of the bowels were prevalent and urgent in their nature. In the month of August the epidemic disappeared, and the health of the command was very good until about the middle of September, when diarrhoea was observed to increase and become more trouble- some in its nature. On the 23d of September, cholera again re-ajjpeared, and two cases were received into hospital. On the 24th, three more cases were received, and one on the 25th — in all, six cases. In none could any cause other than atiiios])licric change be traced, and in each the disease was suddenly develoj)ed, the patients being received into liospital with commencing AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTUEEN DIVISION. 21 collapse, wlaich in five cases became fully established ; but, with the exception of the sudden accession of collapse, and the comparatively less apparent frequency of the rice-water dis- charges, the re-appearance of the disease presented no new point for observation. In each case, one hundred and thirty grains of calomel and forty grains of camphor were administered in the course of eight hours ; and as soon as reaction appeared, the calomel was kept up until it was established, in doses of one grain every hour. In addition to the internal reme- dies, external heat and friction were sedulously resorted to. Of the two fatal cases, one died in six hours, and the other, after recovering from the collapse, and for two days apjiarently improving, finally sank from debility, which resisted all measures for support. In the treatment of cholera, opium was but little used, as, in addition to its appearing to possess but little efficacy in restraining the discharges, or in quieting spasmodic muscular action, the quantity necessary to be given to produce any decided effect, seems to inter- fere seriously with the proper action of the brain and nervous system, whose every energy is required for recovery from the collaj^se." DISEASES OF THE EESPIEATORY SYSTEM. Quarters - - FIRST. SECOND. THIRD. POCETH. YEAR. Proportion of dontha to fi Strength ., 8, 806 8, 98G 10, 402 9, 353 9, 387 — i 1 - S 3 Diseases. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Ratio of ni Bronchitis acuta et chronica . 23 1 62 10 1 22 . 117 3 lin 39 12.4 Catarrhus 1700 1100 802 1185 1 4787 1 1 in 4787 509.9 Phthisis pulmonalis 9 8 15 8 24 8 8 11 56 35 lin 1.6 5.9 Pleuritis 41 2 18 1 12 13 84 3 lin 28 9 Pneumonia 50 7 20 4 6 1 13 1 89 13 1 in 7 9.3 Ail other diseases of this sys- 1 • tem ' 12 14 2 10 2 16 52 4 lin 13 5.5 Total 1835 18 1229 15 864 12 1257 14 5185 59 lin 88 552 Rheuinatismus 194 1 275 283 260 1012 1 linl012 107 8 Assistant Surgeon J. P. Eussell, in his report for the second quarter of 1843, notes the appearance of epidemic catarrh at Fort Columbu.s about the 11th of June. "The epidemic attained its height about the 16th or ITth, when nearly one-third of all the people in the gar- rison (men, women, and children) became more or less severely afliicted ; many of the cases were extremely severe, and required free venesection and active antiphlogistic treatment to prevent inflammation and congestion of the lungs." This epidemic also appeared at Fort Hamilton in June, 1843, where some cases were so severe as to require bleeding. NORTH INTEEIOR REGION— EAST OF THE GREAT LAKES. This class embraces those stations of the northern division which are situated between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic ocean, and so far removed from either, as not to be influenced by those large bodies of water. The stations occupied are six in number : Fort Kent, Fort Fair- field, Hancock Barracks, Plattsburg Barracks, Watervliet Arsenal, and West Point. 22 REPORT ON TUE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY MEDICAL TOPOGRAPHY AND DISEASES OF FORT KENT, By Assistant Surgeon Alexander S, Wotherspoon : 1845. Fort Kent is .situated in tlie most northern part of the 8tate of Maine, at the junction of the Fish river with the St. Jolui's, in hititude 4T° 15' N., h)ngitudc G8° 38' W. In a direct line, it is about 60 miles distant from the St. Lawrence, and 180 from the sea, above which it is ele- vated 556 feet. The St. John's, oi)j)osite the fort, is about ^ of a mile in width ; and during summer, when not swollen by heavy rains, is full of bars and rapids, so as to be only naviga- ble by light wooden and birch canoes, or by small flat-boats, towed by horses along the shore. The Fish river, a rapid stream of some size, is the outlet of the large Eagle Lakes, and is said to carry oif the suri)lus water of some 200 square miles of surface. The whole country is intersected by chains of hills, running from W. to E., of a height varying from 200 to 600 feet above the level of the river; the valleys between them being occupied by rapid streams, or lakes of varia- ble size. The barracks and officers' quarters are situated upon a level plain, 40 feet above the river, extending back in a southerly direction to the foot of the hills, a distance of a quarter of a mile. The soil is a light loam, which rests upon a stratum of gravel and ])ebbles. On passing through this, is found a bed of tough blue clay, reposing upon an argillaceous slate rock. This slate is found cropping out in large masses on the side-hills, and extends on the south to the valley of the Aroostook, where a transition limestone, with trilobites and other fossils, takes its place. In consequence of its geological formation, the drainage of the land is excellent, and numerous springs of fine water are found in every direction. With the exception of the immediate bank of the St. John's, and a few scattered farms on the road which connects the settlement with the military road at Wattawamkeag, the whole country is still covered by a dense, unbroken forest. The harder woods, different varieties of the maple, beech, birch, and ash, are found on the more elevated and the more rocky soil, while the lower grounds are occupied by the spruce, fir, larch, and cypress. The white and yellow pines, which produce the fine lumber, the staple of the coimtry, are found scattered through the forest, generally more or less isolated and distant from eacli other. Large elms are generally seen on the interval lands; the generality of the forest-trees, however, with the exception of the pines, are of a rather diminutive size. There is very little game in the immediate vicinity of the fort ; occasionally moose, carriboo, and deer are seen; but these animals are said to be fast deserting the country. Two species of wolf, the loup cervis, bear, and glutton, are sometimes shot or taken in traps; and a few bea- ver, otter, sable, and mink skins, are brought for sale by the hunters. Wild jjigeons, par- tridges, and ducks arc found in inconsiderable numbers. The river and lakes are, however, well stocked with trout, togue, and other fine fish. During the summer months the insects are very numerous, and very annoying. Mosquitoes appear in immense numbers, often before the snow has left the woods; a species of sand-fly, called by the Indians "no see 'ems," are also very troublesome; but the most venomous of all, is the "lilack fly," an insect of a dark-colored body and grey limbs, about one-fourth the size of the ordinary house-fly. This little insect perforates the skin without causing pain, leaving a small^ red, circular jnark, generally found covered with a clot of hardened blood. In a short time the integument around the puncture swells, hardens, and itches intolerably. These small tumors remain for two or three days, gradually disappearing, and occasionally leaving a small scar. When the bites are numerous, and the person attacked of an irritable temperament, the face and bands become severely in- flamed and swollen, with oedema of the eyelids, and febrile symptoms of some intensity. The application of the aq: ammon: to the bite allays the itching, and prevents much of the subse- quent inflammation. The only possible method of remaining in the woods during a warm, clear day, is to smear the exposed surfaces with some oily and odoriferous substance, such as oil of cami)hor. AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. ^3 The climate, at this post, is almost Siberian in its rigor ; the mean temperature for the year ending June, 1845, being 35.90. The long, dreary winter commences during the last weeks in October, when repeated falls of snow cover the ground, to remain unmelted until the succeed- ing spring. The St. John's is generally frozen across by the last of NoTember; some of the largest rapids remain open until tlie middle of December. From Xovember to the last of March, the thermometer, every clear night, falls below zero ; and in January and February the mer- cury is sometimes frozen in the bulb. This phenomenon was twice witnessed during the month of February, 1845. Fortunately, during the intensely cold weather of mid-winter, the atmo- sphere is perfectly calm, and the woodsmen are able to work in the open air without injury. In- deed, the number of those who suffer from exposure is wonderfully few — no doubt, in some measure, owing to the precautions they take to defend themselves from the cold. A limiberman always wears from two to three thick red flannel shirts, a species of woolen blouse or loose jacket, a couple of pairs of drawers with overalls, generally three or four pairs of woolen socks and a huge pair of cowhide boots. The snow, which by the middle of March is often five or six feet deep, begins to melt by the last of that month ; disappearing from the open fields by the middle of April, but often remaining in the woods until after the 1st of June. The rivers generally open from the 15th to the 30th of April, the lakes remaining frozen some two or three weeks longer. Immediately on the breaking up of the river ice, the spring freshets com- mence ; the rivers remaining swollen until the snow in the forest is completelv melted. A second, called the June freshet, sometimes succeeds the heavy rains which are usually looked for in that month. Killing frosts are generally experienced through the month of May. On the 4th of June, 1844, ice one-third of an inch in thickness was seen. The last killing frost in 1845 occurred on the 31st of May. White frosts occur repeatedly during the summer months and the thermometer, on a clear night with a northerly wind, sinks to 34° or 33°. These frosts very seldom injure even the most tender garden vegetables. The transition from winter to summer is very sudden ; the trees put forth their foliage, and the various plants spring up with singular rapidity. I have repeatedly, in the woods, found flowers in full bloom, by the side of masses of the yet unmelted snow. The snow covers the groiAd so early in the fall, that the earth is rarely frozen to any depth, so that immediately upon its disappearance, agricultural operations can be commenced, thoygh, owing to the coldness of the season, very little plantino- is done before the 1st of June. The first swallows make their appearance during the last week of May. I found the acer ruhrum (red maple) in bloom on the 16th of May, the aronia hotrya- pium (shad bush) on the 23d, the betula jiojmli/olia (birch) on the 7th, and the sorhus Ameri- cana (mountain ash) on the 26th of June. The fragaria Canadensis (the wild strawberry) is generally in blossom by the 1st of June, and the first ripe berries are found during the first week in July. Occasionally, during the summer months, when southerly or southwesterly winds prevail for two or three successive days, the weather becomes very warm and oppres- sive, the thermometer rising to 94 or 95 in the shade ; but generally it is sufficiently cool to wear the ordinary winter clothing of warm climates. A striking ])cculiarity of the months of June and July is the sudden and frequent squalls of rain and hail, which occur when the wind blows fresh from the W. or N.W. In the months of August and September, mornino- togs occur, rising from the rivers and lakes, spreading over the adjacent lands, and disappearing as the sun gets high. They form an admirable protection to the low lands from the early autum- nal frosts, which make their ajjpearance during the last of August. Harvest commences the last week in July, when the crops of grass are generally in a fit state to cut. Oats and other grains ripen about the 1st of September, and have often to be reaped while still green. Nothing is more common than for whole fields of green grain to be cut down by the frosts. The potatoes, the main food of the poorer inhabitants, are dug during the early part of October, and very often after the ground is covered with snow. The prevailing winds are from the W. and N.W. The mean quantity of rain falling du- ring the ten montns ending June 30th, 1845, was 2 61 inches. It is the southerly and easterly 24 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY ■winds that bring the heavy rains. The proportion of cloudy days considerahly exceeds that of clear ones. The hygronietrical oLservations wonld seem to indicate that, in general, tlio atmo- sphere around Fort Kent is unusually i'rce from af^ueous vajjors. The settlers on the St. John's are mostly of French origin, many of them descendants of the old Acadians, who, driven by tlie En«^lish from Kova Scotia, settled at St. Anne's, now Freder- ickton, N. B., whence a number of families i'ound their way to Madawaska. The first settle- ment was made in 17S3. They have, from time to time, received a considerable addition to their numbers from the Canadas, particularly during tlie hist few years. Tlie population of the whole settlement in 1840 was 3,4G0 — on the American side of the river, 1,584; on tlie Britisli, 1,876. The first American settlers came into the country about thirty years since. They remained very few in numbers, until the impulse given by the lumber trade induced many, within the last five years, to clear lands on.the upper St. John's. The French are a gay, care- less, rather improvident people; like their ancestors, passionately fond of dancing and the music of the violin ; devout Catholics, extremely bigoted and ignorant, and completely under the control of their priest.s. Their morals are generally good, and they are not often intemperate. They are generally of a small stature, and in this respect present a striking contrast to the tall, athletic lumbermen from Maine and New Brunswick. Most of them are of a nervous, excitalde temperament, easily lose their presence of mind in moments of difficulty, and have obtained but little reputation for moral or jihysical courage. The poorer classes depend for their subsistence upon their fields of potatoes, which, with milk, bread of unbolted flour mixed with rye, barley, or buckwheat, often very l)lack, very sour, and very badly baked, and a little pork, forms their princijjal living. Those that are richer fare better, though the living of the best of these would be considered poor enough by an American farmer. They raise barley, rye, oats, and potatoes; wheat is too uncertain a crop to be depended upon. The only garden vegetable universally cultivated is the onion, which forms a very marked ingredient in all their cooking. Tliey live, for the most part, in huts built of logs; the chinks filled with moss and clay, heated within by a huge iron stove. A rickety table, two or three stools, a straw bed and coverlets, and a few cooking titensils, form the sum total of the furniture. The houses of the more respectable and wealthier inliabitants are formed of timbers neatly squared and closely fitted, divided internally into several apartments, often very comfortably furnished, and neatly arranged. The chimneys of all are formed of clay, moulded over a framework of wooden slats. The people are warmly clad during the winter in woolen fabrics of their own weaving; their feet protected from the cold by woolen socks and moccasins of moose-hide or untanned leather. They marry at an early age, particularly the females. One couijle, who dwell a short dis- tance from the fort, was married when the husband was 13 and the wife 14 years of age; an instance occurred, since my residence in the country, of the marriage of a girl of 13 years, who had never menstruated; and this, I am told, is by no means uncommon. Some of the families are rather remarkable in point of numbers. Twelve living within a mile of the garrison, and taken without exception, have had in all 93 children, and been mar- ried in the aggregate 1C2 years; a child every 20i months. The wife of Jacques Camel (the father of one of these families) has been married 11 3'ears, and had 7 children, all now living, except the eldest, who died at the age of 4 years. During the whole of these 11 years, she has never seen her monthly periods but once. Her second child was born exactly nine months after her first accouchement; her third the same period after the second. She has always been in the habit of nursing her children from one Inrtli to another. Burgoyne, xt. 59, residing at Green river, has had 20 cliildren — 18 by his first wife, 2 by his second. She is now enciente. His eldest daughter has been married ten j-ears, and has had eight children. His mother had three pairs of twins. Larent Terriand, at the same place, has had twenty-six children by one wife; the motlier had her last infant at the ajje of 53. AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 25 Buonavenhire Le Grog, in eighteen years, liad nineteen children ; of these, five pairs were twins. Thibadeanx, now 66 years of age, has had 22 cliildren by two wives — 10 by the first, 12 by the second. Buonaventure Lisotte, at the age of 27, married Julia Martin at 19. He is now 51, she 4o. Tliey have had 17 chihlren; and 4 pairs were twins. Jeriuan Cire has had 22 cliildren, all single births; his wife was married at the age of 14, and is now 43. Jerman Michaux has had 20 children by two wives ; the youngest of these is 4 years of age. He Ls now 59, she 45 years old. The wife of Isaac Bialette, aged 42, has had 19 children. The wife of Pierre Eichor, at Chatia Corner, has had in three years three successive twin births; all 6 children are now living. , Mr. Webber, the Massachusetts land agent, who took the census in 1830, saw in one log hut a woman with 5 children under 3^ years ; one twin and one triplet birth. She was then pregnant a third time. There are six families at Green river, living within the space of a mile, who have had, in all, lOG children; an average of 17.66 each. They are attended during their confinements by the older women, some of whom hare acquired considerable rejjutation in the management of obstetrical cases. They do not hesi- tate, when the labor does not progress with sufficient rajjidity, to seize upon the presenting part, and efiect the delivery by main force. In an arm presentation, tlie midwife fairly tore the child to i^ieces, effecting a delivery by means of a common kitchen pot-hook ; and what is rather singular, the mother recovered without any serious trouble resulting. They leave their beds often within twenty-four hours after the birth of the child, to attend to their customary house- hold employments. In consequence of this, their rapid child-bearing, and the hard labor to which they are occasionally subjected, the great majority of the females, particularly when advanced in life, suffer from prolapsus uteri and leucorrhcea. Uterine hemorrhages are also of very frequent occurrence. In 38 cases, the average date of the first appearance of the menses was 13.5 years; in one case commencing at 11, in the most protracted at 19 years. To compare with these, I have pro- cured the ages at which the only eight American girls who have been raised on the river, first menstruated. The average date was 15.12 years — the youngest at 14, the eldest at 16. As the Americans have a decided superiority in manner of living, use better and more stimulating food, wear warmer and more comfortable clothing — all of which causes would tend to accele- rate the period of pubert}' — it would seem that race, as well as climate, has ^reat influence in the matter. I have been able to obtain but few observations'concerning the period of the men- strual flux. In three cases, it ceased at the ages of 43, 46, and 51 years. During the fall, winter, and spring months, the forest becomes peopled by a floating popula- tion of lumbermen, whose number varies from 2,000 to 3,000. In the months of August and Sep- tember they arrive at the fort, on their way to the lumber camps of the upper St. John's, and its various tributaries. They have generally spent the larger portion of their last year's wages in wild frolic and dissipation, and many of them are suflering from gonorrhoea, venereal, and the effects of a too great indulgence in spirituous liquors. On arriving at the seat of their operations, they build their camps — small huts of logs, with low sloping sides, and a large hole in the centre of the roof to allow the smoke to ascend into the open air. They, for the most part, live extremely well, particularly the American parties. They are amply supplied with wheat flour of an excellent quality, codfish, molasses, dried apples, good pork, and occasionally fresh beef. The men seem cheerful and happy, and certainly enjoy extraordinary health. All the day they are actively engaged in the open air, cutting and hewing the timber, or conveying it to the banks of the various streams, from whence it is to be floated to the market at St. John's. One firm, who employed in the woods, during the past winter, over 300 s. 96 1 26 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY men, informed me that only tliree out of the number left their camps, and tliat none of these were seriously ill. The same state of good health prevailed in most of the other parties who were encamped above tlie fort, on the St. John's and its branches. Two cases of simple frac- ture — one of the fibula, the other of the clavicle — and a few incised wounds from careless blows with the axe, were the only accidents that came under my care during the past winter. In consequence of tlieir uncleanly habits, and a gross stimulating diet, they freiiucntly suffer from cutaneous diseases, particularly the different varieties of eczema and lichen. Severe attacks of lichen agrius were found ])erfectly manageable rmder a system of alteratives, gentle laxatives, a complete change of diet, and a due regard to cleanliness. The same causes, with the irritation of the smoke (often very troublesome in the camps), renders the tinea ciliaris, with slight inflammation of the meibomian follicles, a very common affection. Another dis- ease of the eyes, to which not only lumbej-men and teamsters, but all others who are much in the open air, are subject, is hemeralopia. It is most common in the months of March and April, when the length of the days has become considerable, and the men are exposed during this time to the bright light reflected from the snow, which covers the whole surface of the ground. It would doubtless be a complaint of much greater severity, and much more frequent occurrence, were it not that the proportion of cloudy days considerably exceeds that of clear ones. The cases, not very numerous, were easily cured by confinement to dark apartments, and avoidance of exposure to the exciting cause. I have met with a considerable number of cases of dyspepsia among these lumbermen, tlie disease originating from the gross nature of their diet, aided no doubt by the large quantities of salreratus which the camp cooks mix with their flour, to lighten their bread. On breaking a loaf, it is frequently found full of portions of a yellowish or yellowish-green tinge, rather disagreeable to an uninitiated taste, but preferred by the men, who insist upon its use. A com- plete change of diet, with alterative and anodyne medicines, generally effected a cure in a very short time. When the rivers open in the spring, about the middle or last of April, the lumbermen take advantage of the freshet to "drive" their timber to market. For two or three weeks, the men employed on this duty are engaged from sunrise to dark in setting free the logs of timber, often many tons in weight, which have caught and grounded on the bars or shores during the rise or fall of the water. During the whole of this time, they are using the moSt violent exer- tions, with their lower extremities constantly immersed in water of an extremely low temper- ature. They lie down at night, weary and exhausted, without changing their clothes, in front of a camp-fire, or on the floor of some convenient hut. From this exposure, rheumatic affec- tions originate, not often of the acute form, but mostly subacute and chronic; and to these they often remain martyrs through a loiig life. It is a little singular, tliat during the two "driving" seasons I have been at the post, only two cases of bronchitis and one of tonsillitis have presented themselves for treatment, and attributed their maladies to this exposure. Not a single case of pneumonia or pleurisy. Some of these parties are allowed the free use of spirituous liquors, while others are conducted on the temperance plan. Several cases of scurvy have placed themselves under my care ; the disease makes its appear- ance in the spring months, in those who have been unusually restricted to a salt diet. This malady prevailed in former years to a very considerable extent, and used to be of frequent oc- currence among the provincial camps on the Restigouche. Only one of the cases under my charge was of any severity. The man had been left at a camp on the Black river, in charge of some cattle, with no other provisions than salt pork and flour. Had he not been providentially discovered by some timber explorers, he would have perished in the wilderness. When brought by canoe to the fort, he presented some of the worst features of the disease — extreme debility ; soft, spongy, ulcerated, and bleeding gums; subcutaneous effusions of blood, &c. He speedily recovered under the ordinary antiscorbutic treatment. The region adjacent to Fort Kent is probably one of the healthiest within the limits of the AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 27 United States, and, though rigorous, the climate seems to be productive of the most robust health. Fevers and other diseases of a malarious origin are unknown, and other acute diseases are by no means of common occurrence. In the fall and early winter months, and again in the spring, pulmonary affections princi- pally pneumonia and pleurisy, present themselves for treatment. They are by the patients generally ascribed to colds, caught while exposed during a state of profuse perspiration. The cases under my care have been of a mild character, yielding readily to general antiphlogistic treatment. During seventeen months, out of 94 cases admitted into the hospital, there were two of bronchitis, and five of catarrh ; all of these last were trivial cases, which remained under treatment an average of two days each. This freedom from catarrhal diseases is no doubt in a great measure owing to the peculiar dry bracing atmosphere of this region. While on the sea-coast, I found that catarrhal diseases originated not so much from sudden vicissitudes of temperature, as from a simultaneous change in the hygrometric condition of the atmosphere. A sudden change from a comparatively dry and warm westerly or northwesterly wind, to a cold damp air from the northeast or east, was certain to send its quota of sick to the hospital, with the various forms of catarrhal disease ; while an equally sudden change from a warm southerly, to a cold northwesterly, was unattended by the same results. The variations of temperature, in the two instances, were equally great ; but in the first, the surface of the body, at the same time that it was chilled by air of a low temperature, came in contact with an at- mosphere already nearly saturated with moisture, and whose capacity for containing an in- creased quantity was consequently much diminished. Here two causes combine to produce a sudden check of the cutaneous secretions; some other portion of the system takes on itself an increase of duty, and catarrhal inflammation is the result. At Fort Kent, these two causes are seldom or never combined ; for the only winds tliat are moist and bring rain in any quantity, come from the south and southeast, and both of them are attended by an increased warmth, tending to relax the surface ; while, on the other hand, the cold winds from the north and northwest always bring an increased dryness of the atmosphere. The climate of Fort Kent, like that of the colder regions of northern Europe, does not seem favorable for the production of pulmonary phthisis. During my sojourn at the post, I have neither seen nor heard of a case of this disease among the French or American settlers. As- sistant Surgeon Isaacs, who, during the two years he was resident at the fort, had a much better opportunity than myself of becoming acquainted with the diseases of the country, in- forms me, not onh'^ that he never saw a case of consumption in the country, but that some of the inmates of the garrison, who were afi'ected with suspicious symptoms, recovered from them entirely. The present revenue officer at the post, a man of decidedly scrofulous temperament, had sufiered a slight attack of hasmoptysis, and other symptoms of incipient pulmonary disease, when he was ordered to this post. Tliough liable to catch cold when exposed, his cough no longer troubles him : he has gained flesh and strength, and considers himself free from the disease. A careful examination of the chest, in this case, gave no marked results ; yet I have no doubt, from his symptoms, that when ordered to Fort Kent he was suflering under tiiber- cular deposition in the lungs. One case of phthisis occurred in an artificer of company G, Ist artillery, a man hereditarily disposed to the disease, and having it fully developed before his arrival at the post. He remained for a year in tolerable health, until much exposed to hard labor in the midst of the melting snows of March and April, when tlie disease became more marked, and he was forced to enter the hospital. As his term of service had nearly expired, and he was desirous of visiting his friends, lie was allowed a furlough, without remaining any length of time under treatment. The children in and near the garrison have generally enjoyed the best of health, and have been afllicted with none of those complaints so common in warmer climates. It has frequently been made the subject of remark by the mothers, how vast the difference in this respect between Fort Kent and their former posts. For the last seven months, with the exception of a couple / 2S REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY of cases of cczeinu, iiiid one or two slight pectoral affections, I do not romeinlxT to liave been called to prescribe for a single sick child. The goitre is not an uncommon complaint in the settlement, attacking here, as elsewhere, mostly females, and those after the age of puberty. The disease appears to be gradually disap- pearing. Some twenty-five years since, it was so common that very few of the females were unafl'ected, and even sheep and other cattle were to be seen with large swellings of the throat. It is supposed by the inhabitants to originate from the use of the river water ; but this can hardly be the case, as the same water has been freely used by those living on the lower St. John's, and vet a case of bronchocelc has never been seen below the Grand Falls. It has attacked tlie Aijierican settlers as well as those of French origin. In one young American girl, a?t. 15, it appeared after she had been in tlic country about a year ; in two otliers, after they had lived on the river a longer time. In two of these cases, the disease was cured by a removal from the country. MEDICAL TOPOGRAPHY AND DISEASES OF FORT FAIRFIELD. By Assistant Surgeon llicliard II. Coolidge : 1843. Fort Fairfield is situated on the south bank of the Aroostook river, in latitude 40° 40', lon- gitude 67° 49', about six miles from its confluence with the St. John's, and about two miles east of the boundary-line as recently surveyed by the United States. It is 200 miles distant from the ocean, above which it is elevated 415 feet, and about 100 miles from the St. Lawrence. The eminence on which the fort is placed rises 100 feet above the river, which is here about 180 yards in width. The land in the vicinity is rolling, swelling into elevated ridges, and, with exception of the immediate banks of the river, covered witli a dense forest abounding in trees valuable for ships and other purposes. The most common are the white and yellow pine, wliifh form staple articles of export ; the sugar and otlier varieties of maple ; the beech, birch, ash, fir, spruce, and cypress. The coptis trifolia and asaruni Canadensis arc found in abtmd- ance. The soil abounds in limestone, and is uncommonly productive. Notwithstanding the hyperborean rigor of the climate, wheat sowed in the fall yields an abundant harvest, owing to the fact that the ground is covered with snow from November till May. The transition frt>m winter to summer is very rapid; the trees put fbrtli their leaves, and wild flowers bloom, wliile masses of snow remain in the forests. Field strawberries ripen about the 1st of July. The ice in the river generally breaks up about the middle of April. The thermometer here has a range of 122°, rising to 98° in summer, and falling to — 24° in winter. This is at the hours appointed for making meteorological observations ; but the actual range is even greater, the maximum being 100°, and the minimi;m so low as to freeze the mercury in the bulb. The prevailing winds are from the N. and N.W. Game is not very abundant. The principal varieties are the moose, carriboo, deer, and bear. Wolves are very numerous, and in winter are sometimes troublesome, occasionally appearing in the roads in the daytime, and following and sometimes attacking travellers. The lakes abound in trout, and the river in the finest salmon during the season, when they ascend the St. John's, and pass the falls of the Aroostook, to deposit their spawn upon the clear pebbly bottom of that stream. The Aroostook falls 102 feet within a distance of a mile and a half, by a succession of rapids and cascades, the largest of which has a perpendicular fall of about 12 feet. It is only the largest and most powerful of the salmon that succeed in ])assing this fall, and these frequently make several unsuccessful eflbrts before accomplishing that object. Mosquitoes appear early in summer, in immense numbers, and also a species of fly, called by the Indians " no see 'ems" . These are so numerous and troublesome in the woods, as to render some protection for the hands and face absolutely necessary. The officers engaged in the boundary survey were .compelled to resort to the use of camphor or creosote ointments, as a measure of protection. Numerous opportunities have occurred for examining the auroi-a iiorealis, and my attention AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 29 has been directed to the occasional formation of clouds, emitting silent lightning, in the vicinity of the streamers ; the remaining portion of the sky continuing as before, unclouded. This phenomenon was beautifully disjilayed on the evening of the 1st of July, 1843. At 9.45, p. M., the sky being perfectly clear, numerous brilliant streamers, having the form of inverted cones, appeared midway between the zenith and the northern horizon. A brisk wind then sprung up from the S.S.E, and a few black clouds passed to the N.N.W. At 10, p. si., a beautiful luminous arch was seen rapidly extending itself from the eastern horizon to the west, having an apparent breadth of four or five degrees ; its central and highest portion, when fully formed, being in the zenith. A distinct luminous wave was seen moving from the eastern extremity of this arch to its western ; the arch itself moving slowly south. In fifteen minutes after the complete formation of the arch, its eastern extremity was invisible, and it progres- sively disappeared, the western extremity being longest visible. During this time, a large black cloud formed in the west, emitting sheets of vivid lightning, which continued fifteen or twenty minutes after the disappearance of the arch. No clouds had passed over to the west ; the wind blowing steadily from the S.S.E. , and all the clouds passing to the X.N.W. It was observed that the cloud in the west spread toward the south as the arch moved in that direction. I have thought this observation worthy of note, as tending to identify the aurora borealis with electricity. This post is uncommonly salubrious ; the climate, though rigorous, is uniform for long periods, and does not appear favorable to the development of phthisis, or of other affections of the respiratory system. The country is very little settled, but, so far as my observation extends, no case of consumption has occurred, either in the permanent inhabitants or among the numerous parties of lumbermen, who pass the entire winter in the open air, and are the most hardy and athletic of men. The diet of these men consists principally of pork, bread, sugar, and tea, of which large quantities are drank daily. Alcoholic stimulants are rarely, if ever, found in tlieir camps, tea being the substitute. In the command, two cases of phthisis have occurred : one, complicated with extensive pleurisy, with effusion on the right side, proved rapidly fatal ; the other, though well marked — a large cavity having formed in the superior lobe of the right lung, attended with such extreme emaciation that at one time death was daily expected — recovereil ; a result which I attribute to the invigoi-ating effects of this climate^ and to the use of iodine internally. More than a year has elapsed since the subject of this disease returued to duty, during which time he has been fully exposed to tlie vicissitudes of the weather. He is now healthy and robust. The diseases are generally of a sthenic character, requiring free antiphlogistic treatment. HANCOCK BARRACKS. Hancock Barracks is located in the town of Houlton, Maine, latitude 46° 7', longitude 67° 49'. It is distant from the Baj^ of Fundy 180 miles, and from the ocean 156 miles, above which it is elevated 620 feet. The surrounding coimtry presents an undulating aspect. The position is circumscribed by a range of hills, intersected at two points by the Meduxnekeag, a small, rapid stream, which runs through the town about half a mile from the fort. The barracks, situated upon a liill, are of wood, and are arranged in the form of a parallelogram, ojien to the south. The hospital, two stories high, also of wood, is dry and well ventilated. The drainage is jierfect. The season of summer is short, and, as frosts frequently occur before its close, the destruction of vegetation is not unusual. In the winter, snow falls to a great depth, and remains upon the ground during the whole season. The thermometer has a range of 125°; the maximum 99°, the minimum — 26°. The average mean temperatures, deduced from seventeen years of observa- tion, are: spring, 39.15; summer, 63.33; autumn, 43.15 ; winter, 16.41 ; year, 40.15. The mean animal precipitation in rain and snow is 36.97 inches. Assistant Surgeon L. Sprague reports, in 1839, that "this station .surpasses most others in 30 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS ANP MORTALITT its freedom from sickness. Cold as the winter is, and damp as the autumn and spring are ren- dered by frequent rains, persons who have suffered from weak chest find their complaints much mitigated by a residence here. Consumjition is rarely seen among the inhabitants of the town, and many persons, who were predisposed to tliat disease, have continued in good health, free from cough, and have had their constitutions invigorated and improved." PLATTSBURG BARRACKS. This station is on the west shore of Lake Champlain, about a mile from the town of Platts- burg, State of Xew York, in latitude 44° 41', longitude 73° 25', and about 310 miles north from the Atlantic ocean, above which it is 186 feet. The Saranac, a small river which rises in a range of lakes of the same name, forty miles southwest, discharges itself into Lake Champlain at this jioint. There are no extensive marshes in this vicinity. A range of mountains borders the lake on the west, and on the east the Green Mountains of Vermont are to be seen through- out its wliole extent. The w;?ather is very variable: sudden and great changes frequently occur. The thermometer has an extreme range of 124°, being 100° in summer, and — 24° in winter ; the mean annual temperature, deduced from eleven years of observation, being 44°. The mean annual precipitation in rain and snow is 33.39 inches. The prevailing winds are from the S and S.W. ; those from the south are often very cold, and accompanied with snow or rain. W A T E R V L I E T ARSENAL. This post is situated on the A\est bank of the Hudson river, a few miles above Albany, and nearly opposite to Troy. The locality is surrounded by hills and an elevated back country. No medico-topographical report of this station can be found on the files of the Medical Bureau. WEST POINT. West Point is situated on the west bank of Hudson river, in latitude 41° 23', longitude 74°, about midway in that part of the river called the Highlands; 50 miles from the ocean, and 170 from Lake Champlain. The public buildings are on a plain about a mile square, having in its rear a range of hills of from 600 to 1,400 feet in height. On each side of this plain there are ravines that serve to carry off the great floods of water, which descend from the adjacent hills after heavy rains or spring freshets. The soil is gravelly, with frequent ledges of rock, either just below the surface, or rising above it in the form of boulders. The nearest marshy ground is on the opposite side of the river, and about a mile distant. The mean annual temperature of this post, as determined by observations continued for thirty-one years, is 50.78, with an extreme range of 111°; rising in summer to 100°^ and fall- in winter to — 11°. The prevailing winds are from the N.W. and S. The annual quantity of rain is about 53 inches. There are no diseases which can be considered peculiar to this station; acute inflammatory diseases are rare. Indeed, the sick report is mostly made up of slight complaints and injuries. The spring and autumn are most productive of severe catarrhal affections and rheumatism ; the summer, of disorders of the digestive organs ; and the winter is decidedly tlie most healthy period of the year. From December to March, particularly in the coldest, and, of course, driest winters, it often occurs that, out of eight hundred persons, there is not, for weeks together, one seriously sick. DISEASES. The diseases occurring among the troops stationed in the region now under consideration, will be statistically given in two abstracts — one for West Point, and one consolidated for the other stations. This course is necessary, because the unusually high ratio of disease at West AMONG THE TOOOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 31 Point depends not upon the peculiarities of its position, but upon the fact that the command consists almost entirely of cadets, students in the Military Academy, who^ when suffering from headache or other slight indisposition, can only obtain respite from academical studies or military exercises by having their names registered on the sick-report. A mere glance at the abstract will suffice to show this ; the majority of the cases reported being under the head of "catarrhus," "cephalagia^" and " all other diseases ;" which last were mainly slight indis- positions, sore feet, toothache, and other minor disabilities. The following table, compiled from abstract No. 3 for this division, exhibits the amount of sickness and mortality at West Point during the period under review: TABLE EXHIBITINCi THE RATIO OF SICKNESS AND MORTALITT. Quarters. Mean strength. Number treated. Deaths. RATIO PER 1,000 OF HEAS STREKOTB. Treated. Died. 6,855 6,565 ^ 7,035 7,U9 7,325 7,627 8,918 7,770 6 8 15 2 1,068 1,161 1,267 1.086 0.9 Second quarter 1.2 2. 1 Fourth quarter 0.2 Annual ratio 6,901 31.640 31 4,584 4.4 Exclusive of cholera 31,635 28 4.584 4. This table shows that the annual proportion of cases treated to the mean strength has averaged 4.58 to 1 ; that the ratio of deaths to the number of men was 1 in 222, or 0.4 of one per cent; and that the proportion of deaths to the number of cases treated was 1 in 1021, or less than 0,1 of one per cent. During the ten years from 1829 to 1838, inclusive, the sickness at this post averaged 4.5 per cent., and the mortality 0.3 of one per cent. FEVERS. J s ? ; £ M strength 6,855 6,565 7,035 7,149 6,901 T3 . 1° o c s 0. I it 1" ■1% Diseases. Cases Deatbs. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. = S ^ o Febria continua commnnia Febris intermittens quotidiana. . Febris intermittens tertiana Febris intermittens quartana... F^'bris rpni'tt^ns 71 10 25 1 1 1 90 8 157 8 3 1 Ill U 252 1 15 95 i 9 70 7 t 4 1 1 367 71 504 8 28 6 1 1 1 1 1 in 367 Oin 71 Oin 504 Oin 8 1 in 28 lin 6 Oin 1 53 10 73 1+ 4 1 1_ Febris typhus icterodes 1 Total 108 1 266 1 42.i n ISfi 1 985 3 lin 328 142 32 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY The sick reports are without comment respecting febrile diseases proper; and the only remark in regard to cru])tive i'evcrs is by Surgeon Clias. McDougall, in his re])ort for the third quarter, 1847, wliicli is as follows: "The case of erysipelas was one of uncommon violence, iu wliich the vital powers seemed to be so much oppressed by congestion, as to threaten a fatal terniina- tion. Tlie specific jiowers of the sulphate of quinine, in large doses, were eminently dis]dayed iu the case, in not only clianging the congestive condition, but in arresting the disease itself." DISEASES OF Till': ORGANS CONNECTED WI'l'lT 'rill-; DIGES'n\n5 SYSTEM. Quarters .. --- FlKSr. SECOND. thiud. FOUKTII teah. 2 m •s a . THIBD. FOrBTII. TEAK._ 2 1 t: o c £ ?i Strength 6,855 6, 565 7, 035 7, 149 6,901 ■ Diseases. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. o £ Bronchitis acuta et chronica Catarrhus 1967 2 17 4 23 2 1 1543 1 5 4 62 3 880 2 1 60 3 1960 1 21 I 45 6350 6, 43 10 190 8 1 in 6350 920 0.8 Phthisis pulmonalis in 43 1 in 10 in 190 6 1.4 27 Pneumonia All other diseases of this Total - 2013 3 1615 3 943 3 2023 » 6599 9 1 in 733 956 Rheumatism us -- 201 201 1 156 161 719 1 1 in 719 104 The anomaly presented in the foregoing table, of more deaths from phthisis than there were cases reported, is to be ex})lained by stating that patients are sometimes admitted to hospital with acute diseases, which terminate in, or lead to, the develo2:)ment of consumption- in such cases, the original disease only is reported in the list of admissions. The epidemic influenza prevailed here in June, 1843, making its appearance about the first of that month, and terminating about the first of July. Surgeon Cuyler remarks that "the disease was of a less catarrhal character than usual, affecting the nervous system more <^enerally." The following table, from abstract No. 4 of this division, exhibits the amount of sickness and mortality in the region lying east of the Great Lakes: TABLE EXHIBITING THE RATIO OF SICKNESS AND MORTALITY. Quarters. Mean strength. Number treated. Deaths. Ratio per 1,000 ofKEiM btrenotb. Treated. 1 Died. 3,731 3,706 3,473 3,304 1,541 1,624 1,852 1,409 13 17 3 6 413 3.4 438 4. 5 533 0. 8 426 1.8+ Third quarter Fourth quarter .. Annual ratio 3,553 6,426 39 1,803 10.9 The foregoing table shows tliat the average annual proportion of cases of disease to the strength of the command was 1.8 to 1; the ratio of deaths to the number of men, 1 in 91 or 1.09 per cent. ; aud the proportion of deaths to cases treated, 1 in 1G1.77, or 0.6 per cent. S. 96 5 34 REPORT ON TUK SICKNICSS AND MORTALITY FEVERS. I Quarters nnsT. 1 ' ' Is SKCOND. THIRD. FOIRTII. YKAR. * Strength ' 3,731 3.706 3,473 3,304 3, 553 c 1 o to if "5 a 5 Diseases. i Cases. Oeatlis. Cases. Deaths. > Cases. 1 Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. g t a: Fcbris contiuua ccmiiiuinis Febris intermittens quotidiana. Febris intermittens tertiana Febris intermittens quartana... Febris remittens Febris typhus. _ ....... 27 7 13 C 43 30 27 6 10 2 41 - 28 58 3 4 •to 16 15 7 3 1 151 81 113 16 20 3 ] in I.')l 1 ill M 1 in 113 ■ in IG in 20 3 3 ill 3 in 42 22 32 4 6 1 Febris typhus icterodes Total .. 53 IIB 2 134 1 81 1 384 3 1 in 128 108 Although it i.s evident, from the statistical table, that fevers of the intermittent type are com- paratively rare in this command, it is, nevertheless, proper to remark, that a majority of the cases reported occurred in troops who had recently served in Florida. To such an extent is this the fact, tliat the few exceptional cases were considered by the medical officers worthy special remark. The original reports afford no cine to the anomaly of two deatlis from typhus fever in the second quarter; no cases of that disease having been reported. It is probable the cases were, in reality, typhoid terminations of other diseases. Eriptive Fevek.s. — In this class we notice an ejtidemic of rubeola, which occurred at Hancock Barracks in April and May, 1841. No particulars have been reported. Seventeen cases oc- curred among the troops ; but it is highly probable that the disease prevailed much more exten- sively in the families of officers and soldiers; the official statistical reports being confined to tlie military force ])roper. In June, 1841, acting Assistant Surgeon Augustus Viele reports from Watervliet Arsenal, that "many cases of erysipelas, of a malignant and fatal character, have occurred in the vicin- ity of this ]iost during tlie past quarter ; also many cases of puerperal fever, nearly all of whicli proved iatal." In March, 1842, Assistant Surgeon L. C. McPliail, at Plattsburg Barracks, reports the prevalence of an epidemic erysipelas of a very fatal character, in the northwest jiart of Vermont, along the New York border, and in the counties of the latter State bordering on Lake Chamiilain. The disease had then (March 31st) reached Plattsburg, without any miti- gation of its severity. The same officer, in his report for the first quarter, 1843, remarks, that "the epidemic erysipelas noticed in my report for Marcli, 1842, has continued in these parts to the present, and deaths from it are of almost daily occurrence. During its prevalence, otherwise trifling wounds and injuries have become serious, and in several instances fatal, from their be- coming erysipelatous, followed by gangrene; and parturient women have fallen, in unusual numbers, victims to jmerperal lever." Again, in June, 1843, this officer rei^orts as follows: "The erysipelas reigns no longer here epidemically ; but occasionally a case is seen, and wounds still manifest a disposition to lake on erysipelatous inflammation." Scarlatina prevailed in the vicinity of Plattsburg Barracks during the tliird quarter of 1842, and again in the second quarter of 1845. AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHKRN DIVISION. 35 DISEASES OF THE ORGANS CONNECTED WITH THE DIGESTIVE SYS'l-EM. QiKirter-s FIRST. SECOND. Strfni,'tli 3.731 :; 70(j Diseases. Cliolera Asiatica. DiarrlKua Dysenteria acuta _ Dysenteria chronica Enteritis Hepatitis acuta Hepatitis chronica Obstipatio All other diseases of thissystem Total Cases. : Deaths. Cases. I Deaths. G2 1:'. 1 48 112 23S 119 2.5 2 1+ 1 2 53 114 173 3.304 Cases. I Deaths. I Cases. Deaths. 295 69 8 'cvalent winds can be stated. Ocean winds are not known here. The lake has its balmy breezes in summer, and its bleak blasts in winter ; the latter pre- vailing with great veliemence, but not productive of disease. In looking at ^'thc season of the year most productive of disease," the annals of Sacket's Har- bor, like those of the lake-shores on the frontier generally, show that formidable diseases have prevailed at all seasons of the year. During the war of 1812, the epidemic called pneumonia typhoides originated on the lines, and appeared at this place. ^Those who recollect that extra- ordinary disease, know that it existed in the winter and spring, ceasing in summer. In July, 1813, from a tenth to a fifth of the crews of Commodore Chauncey's squadron were on sick report at the Harbor. In August more than one-sixth of the seamen were left on shore ; and Cooper's Naval History tells that at one time in this season (1813) the Madison had nearly one- half of her com])leraent on the sick-list. The same author states that, in the winter of 1814, the sickness at the Harbor was of the gravest character ; one-half of the crew of the Madison was sick, and (inc-fii'th died. In the summer of that year the operations of the squadron were delayed by the illness of the mechanics at the navy-yard. AMONG THE TROOrS IN THR NORTHERN DIVISION. 37 Since the peace of 1815, I learn from intelligent army officers and from respectable citizens that the Harbor has been a liealthy place. No winter diseases, except ordinary epidemics, and tlie pulmonary disorders, and those of fibrous tissues incident to such climates, have existed. The summer diseases have been mild and tractable ; autumnal remittents neither common nor fatal. The second regiment of infantry was at this post for two or three years, about 1826, and was free from disease. Troops have been subsequently stationed here, and enjoyed health. The country round about has had similarly uniform exemption from sickness. In the fall of 1838, the eighth regiment of infantry was concentrated at Madison Barracks ; some detachments had been at the post during the year, and, as I am informed, general health prevailed. In the month of October, 1838, not a case of remittent fever appears on the quar- terly report of sick. During the winter of 1838-'9 some cases of fever occurred, and proved fatal — death from cephalic irritation. I was on duty at several stations on the frontier during that winter, viz: Rochester^ Oswego, Ogdensburg, Morristown, and Buffalo, and saw no such cases as proved fatal at the Harbor. Extensive and fatal sickness prevailed in Michigan, and west thereof, during the summer and autumn of 1838. In May and June, 1839, diarrhoea became very rife at Madison Barracks, with here and there a case of fatal remittent fever. In July, and the subsequent months, up to this date, (October 25,) the diarrhoea has been almost universal. Cases of fever became more numerous in July and August ; several were fatal. The morning report rose to eighty sick, exclusive of those in garrison, who are not reported sick. On the 23d of August I reported for duty, and found disease prevailing to great extent in forms of diarrhoea, remittent fever, and cases of both combined. Let it be here observed that the summer of 1838 was intemperately hot and dry ; the sum- mer of 1839 was cool, and seasonable as to rain. General health prevailed east and south, except at Cliarleston, S. C, in 1838. In 1839, with a season throughout ostensibly favorable to health, so far as moderate heat and moisture are concerned, epidemic dysentery prevailed in New England ; the most malignant endemics existed in New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, St. Augustine, Charleston, in Augusta, (Georgia,) in Illinois, and in the towns and cities on the lower Mississippi. Is it, then, remarkable that Madison Barracks should have been more sickly than usual? especially when it appears that, in several localities, not far from the post, similar and severe visitations of fever ajjpeared. Sacket's Harbor village has had more fever than has been known for twenty years. In the neighboring farming country, places usually healthy have suffered from fatal malarial sickness. In a little village on the St. Lawrence, (Cape Vincent,) not far from the post, there were at one time twenty-three cases of fever. At Hammond and at Lisbon, places about a day's journey from Madison Barracks, and i)lace3 heretofore healthy, sickness was very severe. And yet, as if the caprice of malarial influence were ever to baffle search into causes success- fully, at Rochester and Bufhxlo, I am told, the troops were healthy ; at Plattsburg most remark- ably so. Nearer to Madison Barracks, at Ogdensburg on one side, and at Oswego on the other, the towns wei'C i)erfectly free from disease. I was informed by a very resi)ecfable jihysician at Oswego, that between May and the; 22d of August, he had not seen one case of deliberate fever. At the same time the eiglith regiment, in all its departments, officers, soldiers, and families, was affected with diarrhtea, ana, as the autumn approached, remittent fever appeared very generally. In September there were fortij-foxir cases of fever, exclusive of what appeared among the families. In October, up to the 22d, there were thirhj-eight cases on the hospital register ; making an aggregate of what I have seen since the 23d of August of about ninety cases, exclusive of jaundice and intermittent cases, that are forms of malarial disease ; and especially exclusive of diarrhoea, the cases of which were extremely numerous and obstinate. This last disease would readily yield to hospital treatment and diet, but recurred too readily ou going to quarters and to ration diet, i>r it would lajise into remittent fever. 38 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY Information respecting the " supposed causes" is called for. I submit .a few observations on this bead. At a military station, where, in the autumn of 1838, men were collected under disadvanta- geous circumstances, general health prevailed, during and after a season of unexampled heat and drought; while at the same military station, in the summer and autumn of 1839, the suc- ceeding year, and duriftg an equable and pleasant season, hundreds of cases of diarrhoea, and one hundred cases of remittent fever, beside jaundice and intermittents, aro.ie ; when, too, the disadvantages of 1838 were removed — it is natural, I say, to look for an obvious cause for such a dili'erence. So far as the immediate locale is concerned, everything is favorable to disease in 1838, except the drought, and on the contrary hand in 1839. In 1838 the barracks were re- pairing and being cleaned, the sleeping rooms wretchedly ventilated, the post comparatively unpoliced, and the men unused to the water ; while in 1839 the works were done, the company rooms much improved, tliough still imperfect in ventilation, the police of the post admirable, and the men accustomed to the water. Within tlie pickets no obvious cause existed. The neighboiing lev(d ground was more moist in 1839 than in the preceding year ; but no more so tlian during most of the seasons for twenty-five preceding years, when no sickness prevailed in the garrison when occupied, or in the village of Sacket's Harbor. A cause cannot obviously be found in this. It is known that, within a few years, the lakes have risen l)etween three and five feet, and are now falling. Popular opinion, which should always be attended to on such questions, though very often incorrect, has ascribed the sickness to this fall of water. I see nothing in the laying bare annually of a few inches of lake shore, nor in the draining of tributary streams, that could cause the sickness at Madison Barracks ; for in the vicinity no grounds have been covered or laid bare by the rise or fall of water so as to afford malaria. This rise and fall of the vast interior seas is a phenomenon, but cannot be philosophically considered as a cause of endemics. Again, the opinion is that the water is bad, and has caused disease. It is true the water is bad to the taste, and it is wisdom and duty to provide a garrison with the purest water ; and this can be done at Madison Barracks by having appropriate cisterns. Yet it should be borne in mind, that in 1838 a fordori water should have made the troops sick; and also, that as many who were accustomed to the water of this calcareous region died, as of those who were not used to it ; and that no disproportion of sick, so far as foreigners to the water are concerned, fevors the idea of this aqueous cause of disease. Nor has sickness heretofore existed among troops here, to justify the idea that the water was the cause. The water is, as iiir as we know, always the same, while fever has rarely appeared since 1816; since which, all parts of this lake region have been, from cultivation of the soil, becoming more salubrious. Limestone water has been the drink, where the health of the troops and inhabitants has been perfect this season. Under the head of "probable causes of sickness," it is proper to say that the barracks are not well ventilated; but they were worse in this respect in 1838 than in 1839. Lastly, there is no reason to believe that there has been any defect in the quality of the articles issued as rations. The question recurs with some interest, though not specially put in the circular. Is Madison Barracks a sickly station ? In order to throw all light on this subject, I have lookelf at it in the fairest light: the siclvness during the war of 1813 ; the condition of the post and village since the war, as ascer- tained from the most respectable observers ; and our conclusion is, that it is a healthy station. Here are the reasons: Although in 1813 and 1814 there was much sickness at Sacket's Harbor, yet it was incident to the state of war ; to the crowd of soldiers and sailors assembled hastily at the post ; to the inadequacy of good food and shelter ; and to the exposures and privations endured by the sea- men and soldiers. AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHEllN DIVISION. 39 Since the war, tlie station has generally been healthy, and the vilhigo adjoining uniformly so. If Madison Barracks has heen more sicldy during the present season, so has the surrounding country in various places heretofore perfectly healthy. The inference that a station is unhealthy, cannot legitimately be drawn from the experience of a season. The cause of the sickness at Madison Barracks in 1839 is, like the cause of sum- mer and autumnal diseases, inscrutable. Disease seems to move in a cycle of years, and at some period of that cycle almost all sites are sickly. TiiK Barracks. — The barracks were erected in 1822, and are constructed of the limestone that abounds as a building material in the vicinity. The exposure to the west and northwest winds is exceedingly unpleasant. No situation could be more disadvantageously exposed in the winter of this climate than is the parade-ground of Madison Barracks. The site is dry and airy. The barracks are at present badly ventilated. The Hospital. — Tlie hospital has been in one end of the barracks, and will continue there until the new hospital is completed. It is, I believe, constructed after a plan furnished from the office of the Surgeon General. That plan has been modified by order of the Secretary of War, on the suggestion of the medi- cal officer on duty at Madison Barracks, so as to have wings, in one of which is a bathing-room, in the otlier a dead-Yoom ; and under both wings are copious cislcrns for rain-water. The lime- water used is unfit for various pharmaceutical purposes. The hospital is being constructed of limestone, and in its plan due reference has been had to ventilation, and to all that may be essential to its adaptation for a hosj)ital. The site is bleak, and exposed to the violence of all winds that blow ; it is decidedly objection- able on that score. It is too near the edge of Black-river bay ; for hospitals should not be placed near fresh-water streams. It is comparatively inaccessible during the long and severe winter weather ; for a ravine intervenes between it and the barracks, that will much incommode the sick in their access to the hospital. Should these objections be valid, it is due to the medical officers at the post to state that another site was recommended by the surgeon on duty, when the hosjjital was about to be located. I have been so informed by the surgeon alluded to. The following remarks of Surgeon H. L. Heiskell, respecting the unusual amount of sickness referred to by Dr. Henderson, in the foregoing report, are transcribed from his report of sick at Madison Barracks, for the quarter ending December 31st, 1839: "The unusual amount of sickness which has prevailed during the greater part of the past year at this post, situated as it is in a healthy region of country, lias been to many a source of no small surprise. Although the fever has never, to my knowledge, been of so general a character as to merit the dignity of an epidemic, it has been sufficiently serious to arrest atten- tion, and to claim a careful investigation on the part of the medical officers. Tlie result of my own reflections is, that the decomposition of the exhalations from the skin and lungs, iisually termed idio-miasmata, resulting from the crowded state of tlie men's sleeping apartments, and their imperfect ventilation, was the most prominent cause of this fever. Wlien I speak of ' imperfect ventilation,' I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not impute blame upon any of the officers of the regiment. What I mean is, that, owing to tlie defective construction (including want of space) of these apartments, a proper ventilation cannot be obtained. What are the facts? Each company has an attic room for a sleeping apartment. Whether a full company or not, the size of the room is the same. There is a single entrance from below, by a flight of steps, for the men to pass in and out. The windows are all on one side, about four feet above the level of the floor. Ventilators, or openings, have been made in the roof, on the opposite side, at my suggestion. It will hardly be supposed, however, that in a cold climate they will be left open at night to allow the fresh air to enter. Such is the economy of the con- slruciion. That in regard to space is even more striking, and would seem to have been designed 40 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY as an experiment toktrv Imw many luunan beings could be crowded into the smallest possible compass withdut inducing suffocation. By a careful measurement of one of tbese company's sleeping rooms, it is ascertained tliat it contains about 8,500 cubic feet, independent of all necessary fixtures. Allowing for the space occupied by the bunks, lockers, gun-racks, &c., &c., there would be scarcely 8,000 cubic feet clear. Divide tiiis amount by the average number of men in each company, say 60, and there would be loo^ cubic feet for each man. Those who were so unfortunate! as to belong to a company of 90 strong, (and one of the companies did amount to that number,) would get one-third less. From these data it will readily be imagined what would be the condition of the air, which, instead of affording the vivifying principle to the blood, and i)reparing it for the vital and important functions of the animal economy, would act only as an irritant and poison. Some there are, whose opinions are entitled to much respect, who attribute the prevalence of the fever to the subsidence of the lake; and to some extent this may be true ; yet, as the lake-shore in this vicinity is generally bold and rocky, I am not disposed to attach equal importance to tliat circumstance." Surgeon Heiskell gives the I'ollowing as the general character of the prevailing disease: "The fever was marked by an exacerbation in the afternoon, with a remission more or less distinct toward morning ; pulse small and frequent ; skin exceedingly dry and rough ; tongue coated with a brown or black fur, exhibiting a cracked appearance. When the fever was of a gastric form, the tongue was red, dry, and glossy; stools reddish and watery; tenderness of the bowels on pressure; in the advanced stage, the teeth and lips covered with dark sordes. A striking peculiarity of the dis- ease consisted in a proneness to degenerate in, or become complicated with, diarrhoea; with catarrhal symptoms not unfrequently superadded. This condition of the bowels demanded great caution in the administration even of the mildest cathartics, and was as troublesome a symptom as I have had occasion to combat." FORT ONTARIO. Tliis post is situated within the limits of the city of Oswego, on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, and on the east bank of the Oswego river, in latitude 43° 20', longitude 76° 40'. It is on ground elevated fifty or sixty feet above the level of the lake, and about 290 feet above the level of the sea; is well drained, and has no swamps or stagnant water near it. Fevers of an intermittent tyjjc prevailed here in the summer of 1842, but since that time the garrison has been almost entirely exempt from that class of diseases. FORT NIAGARA. Situated on a point of land jjrojecting westerly at the entrance of Niagara river into Lake Ontario, Fort Niagara is bounded on the north and northwest by the lake, and on the west and southwest by Niagara river. It is 14 miles from the Falls of Niagara, and 32 miles from Lake Erie. The surface of the country in the immediate vicinity is remarkably level, but there are no marshes within six or eight miles. The vegetable productions of the climate flourish here luxuriantly. The river at this point is about half a mile wide. The general character of the climate pertains to the same class as the preceding stations, marked by those meteorological features peculiar to positions on large bodies of water. BUFFALO BARRACKS, Li the niiitlnTii and most elcvateJ portion of tlie city of Buffalo. Tlie low grounds are dis- tant, and are covered with a dense growth of timber. Between the barracks and the canal basin, and also between them and Buffalo creek, eacli about one mile and a quarter distant, intervenes the densest part of the city. AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 41 DETROIT BARIIACKS, At the city of Detroit, Micliigan. The surrounding country is flat. The soil is a stiff clay, combined with carbonate of lime ; hence, in the rainy season, the land is in a great degree saturated with water, and to a certain extent submerged. The smaller streams emptying into the Detroit are sluggish, bordered with extensive marshes, and in the autumn abounding with decayed vegetable matter. As may be suj^posed from tliis brief outline of its topography, inter- mittent and remittent fevers, diarrhoea, and dysentery prevail among the troops, and also in the vicinity of the barracks. A still more fruitful cause of disease at this station is to be found in the tcmjttations to vicious and intemperate habits afforded by a city. On this point. Surgeon Charles 8. Tripler, in January, 1842, makes the following remarks : '' To realize tlie frightful intemperance of some of the men stationed here, one must see it. If permitted to go on unrestrained, this command must soon be decimated. Situated as the troops are, no degree of vigilance or severity on the part of the officers can even check, much less put a stop to it. We have no regular barracks ; the buildings occupied as such, are acces- sible to whiskey smugglers at all points. No troops have constitutions capable of standing such persevering intemperance ; they must be quartered differently, or they must die." Detroit Aksenal is at Doarbornville, on tlie river Rouge, about ten miles west of the city of Detroit. The country is low and flat. FORT GRATIOT. Fort Gratiot, situated on the river St. Clair, half a mile from the outlet of Lake Huron, is elevated 598 feet above the level of tlie ocean, being twenty feet above the surface of the lake. Black river, distant about one mile in a southwest direction, is the only stream, with the exception of the St. Clair, in the vicinity. "It is bordered," says Assistant Surgeon Motte, " particularly on the west, b)'' frequent broad marshes, wliich have been subjected to an accu- mulation of alluvion for a sufficient period to allow a deposition of peat from vegetable decom- position. These marshes exhale, during the summer and autumnal months, a pestilential atmosphere, generative of fever and ague, which is but too jirevalent among the inhabitants in the vicinity." The surrounding country is greatly undulating. The soil is mostly a sandy loam, and the proportion of marsh is small. Clay is reached at the depth of twelve or fifteen feet. Most of the surrounding country is covered with forest ; among the vegetable productions are oak, elm, maple, ash, hickory, black walnut, pine, &c. " The lake and river sliore in the immediate vicinity of the fort," says Assistant Surgeon Motte, " is a low gravelly ridge, extending nearly a quarter of a mile from the margin of the lake, when the ground suddenly rises to the height of twenty-five feet above the surface of the lake, and retains this elevation, with little 'variation, to near the shores of Black river. This elevated ground gradually approximates tlie St. Clair towards the fort ; and a few rods below, it becomes a perpendicular bluft' in immediate contact with the water." Between the fort and the ridge just described, there is a stagnant pond, which it has been found impracticable to drain, and which, it is supposed, is the copious source of miasmata. The hospital and barracks are represented as defective, being very damp and ill adapted for ventilation. FORT MACKINAC, Located on the island of Mackinac, in the straits connecting Lakes Huron and Michigan. The fort is on an abrupt elevation, 150 feet above the lake, and 728 feet above the level of the ocean. The island is about nine miles in circumference, and rises on its eastern and southern shore in abrupt rocky clift's, the highest point being about two hundred and fifty feet above the lake. This post is one of the most healthy in the United States. s. 9(> G 42 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY FORT I'.RADY. Fort Brady, sitimted at tlic Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is on the southern bank of that river. It is distant from Lake Suiierior 15 miles, from Lake Huron 50, and from the Athmtic ocean about 800 miles. The river at this point is six feet below tlie surface of Lake Superior, and nearly fiOO feet above the level of the ocean. The physical aspect of tlie surrounding country exhibits considerable variety. The bank of the Hto. Marie, which is here three-fourtli.s of a mile in width, presents a gradual slope for the distance of <250 feet, gaining in that space an elevation of 14 feet, in the rear of which the surface of the country approximates"a level. For 300 yards from the bank of the river, the soil is cleared of timber, and is, althougli not very productive, in a state of cultivation. Immediately adjoining this cultivated ground is a marsh half a milo wide, beyond which high lands appear. This marsh extends five or six miles down the river in a southeast direction, and west and southwest for 15 or 20 miles. It is covered with some large forest-trees and a thick growth of underwood. On the opposite side of the river, the country is imdulating and mountainous, and covered with a dense forest. The falls in the river at this point form an obstruction to the ship navigation of the upper lakes. The prevailing winds are the west, northwest, and southeast. The northwest winds descend from mountain chains, traversing Lake Superior ; and the west and southeast winds pass over the marshes already described. MEDICAL TOPOGRAPHY AND DISEASES OF FORT WILKINS. By Assistant Surgeon Charles E. Isaacs : 18J15. The wild region bordering upon Lake Superior has been as yet but imperfectly explored by a tcAv individuals, while to most persons it still remains entirely unknown. In former times, the numerous and warlike bands of savages threw greater dangers in the way of its explora- tion; and even at the present day, though this difficulty has long since ceased to exist, the natural obstacles and the hardships to be endured are such as to discourage all but the most hardy and enterprising. The sudden and violent squalls and storms that sweep the surface of the lake are hazardous even to the experienced voycujcur; while its bold, rocky, and often inac- cessible shores seldom atTord a place of refuge from their fury. The examination of the inte- rior is attended with excessive fatigue and exposure to the inclemency of the weather ; and in the summer months the insects (the black flies and mosquitoes) are extremely troublesome. The rivers are small, short, and obstructed frequently by difficult and dangerous rapids ; the dense evergreen growth sometimes forms almost impenetrable thickets ; fallen timber is found crossed and interlaced in every direction ; very much of the country is broken, rocky, and mountainous, with cliffs, precipices, and ravines of great height and depth, almost or quite im- passable ; and provisions must be packed and carried to great distances, as game is very scarce and not to be depended on. Lake Superior may with propriety be compared to a vast, deep, and rocky basin, the edge in many places bordered by enormous precipitous trap, conglomerate, and other volcanic rocks, abounding in agates, carnelians, &c., and intersected by veins of metallic copper and its ores nmning north and south, inclining west about lifteen degrees. There is jirobably no region in the world in which coj)per has been found so generally diffused. It is seen on nearly the whole extent of the shores of the lake, on the north and south, on almost all the islands, while it extends to an unknown distance to the south, west, and north. At Copi>er Harbor two veins of black oxide of copper have been discovered in conglomerate rocks, to the extent of three hundred yards, varying in width from ten inches to two feet, and yielding, from the best sjjeci- mens, upwards of TO per cent, of pure cojiper. One of these veins is in active operation. A very rich vein of silver mixed with cojiper is worked at Eagle river, where shafts have been sunk to the depth of 70 feet, and the ore is equally good with that at the surface. The carbon- AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHEKN DIVISION. 48 ate, yielding from 20 to 30 per cent., has been found at Copper Harbor ; and discoveries to great extent may now be anticipated, as adventurers are flockino; in vast numbers to the coun- try. On landing the troops appointed to occupy the military station, in May, 1844, there were not more than a dozen persons living within as many miles, and those were explorers. A re- cent account gives one thousand visitors during the present season. The immense wealth of the mines will undoubtedly induce multitudes to locate in this region. As above stated, the region of Lake Superior is almost entirely uninhabited. The American Fur Company has four trading-posts, at the Sault Ste. Marie, at the Anse Bay, at Fond du Lac, and at La Poiute ; with these exceptions, there are only a few scattered, individuals, and some few families, along the whole extent of the southern coast. Fort Wilkins is situated in latitude about 47° 30' north, and in longitude 11° 30' west from Washington. It is ten miles from Keweena Point, which is the extremity of a neck of land projecting sixty miles into near the centre of Lake Superior, and varying in width from two to forty miles. This peninsula is very broken, irregular, rocky, and mountainous. The rocks are trap and conglomerate. The country is covered with a dense evergreen growth of fir, pine, and spruce, with white birch and a few oaks and maple. The soil is poor, barren, stony ; in the vicinity of the fort remarkably so. Copper Harbor is two and a half miles long, affording a good anchorage. Opposite the en- trance of the harbor, and near the landing, is a small lake ; between this lake and the harbor, on a narrow neck of land, is the fort, twenty feet above the level of Copper Harbor. It is built upon conglomerate rock, which has been blasted away, in order to locate the buildings. The quarters and hospital are ample for two companies, and enclosed with picket-work. The water of Lake Superior is excellent, and is generally used ; that of the small lake on which the fort fronts is dark colored, unpleasant to the taste, and appears to hold much vegetable matter in solution ; it has been soiftided to the depth of GO or 70 feet, and has an outlet that runs by the side of the fort into the harbor. Last summer (1844) the weather was uncommonly fine, clear, moderately warm^ and so continued till the end of September. The winter wag mild ; the thermometer, never below zero, was only three times at that point; the mean tem- perature for the winter was 20° above zero. The snow was from three to four feet on a level. I am informed by those who have resided in the country that the winters are generally mild; that the last was not unusually so. This is well contrasted with the cold at Sault Ste. Marie, 200 miles below, in lower latitude, where the winters are always severe, and where the mercury frequently falls 20 or 30 degrees below zero, and has been known to freeze. The insular posi- tion of Fort Wilkins probaldy explains the difference of the temperature. Since my last (juar- terly report (December, 1844) several cases of peritonitis, of very severe and obstinate char- acter, have occurred here. The weather, at the time the disease commenced, was milder than it had pi-eviously been, and continued so for a short time. During the winter there was ft sufficient supply of all the necessaries of life. Potatoes, pickles, and sauer-kraut were issued to the men. There was not the slightest appearance of scorbutus. The first cases of this disease occurred on the 28th and 29th of December, 1844. They were soon followed by others. Although only thirteen cases were oflicially reported among the sol- diers, many of the command were affected with premonitory symptoms — such as nausea, weight and oppression at the epigastrium ; sometimes griping, burning pain, diarrhcea, and occasion- ally bloody discharges. Again, there were pricking, tearing, lancinating pains in the abdo- men, with tenderness on pressure. Yet many of these cases were so checked, by promptly resorting to remedies, that, not running out their course, they were not reported ; nor were some severe cases in the families of officers reported on sick-list. One case, that of a soldier, terminated fatally. The disease was marked by great severity of symptoms, by their proneness to recur, and by unusual obstinacy and resistance tp the action of remedies. The plan most effectual to arrest premonitory symptoms was, abstinence from all food, counter-irritation, sin- 44 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY apisms, and liot apiilications to the abilomcn — small doses of mass, ex hvdrarg. c. opio, followed by cups, pediluvia, and enemata. If the disease did not rapidbj yield, copions bleeding, followed by cupping, calomel and opium in doses to act gently on the liver and intestinal canal, and to relieve pain, were the appropriate means. I found it necessary in most cases to repeat bleed- ing and cupping three or four times. In the latter stages, blisters were used. In the first two cases only did I think it necessary to touch the mouth with mercury, and it is questionable whether it was of any service. The disease in its last stages had a strong tendency to pass into dysentery. From the symptoms and aspects of all the cases carefully considered, and from the post- mortem developments in the one fatal case, the disease seems to have been an obstinate and ZHfen.se Peritonitis ; the inflammation in the latter stages involving the mucous coat of the stomach to some extent, of the small intestines, but particularly that of the colon. The cause of this disease is entirely unknown. It was at first attributed to the provisions. As, however, they were of good quality, no clianges in them being discoverable, and as the troops have continued to subsist on the same supply ever since, without consequent disease, the cause cannot, with any probability, be referred to the diet of the troops. By some, the water of the small lake was supposed to be the cause; but several persons drank from it during the whole of the past summer, fall^ and winter, without any bad efiect. By many, it is used at the present time without detriment to health. During the prevalence of the disease, the weather was somewhat milder than it had previously been, and hence atmospheric vicissitude may have had influence in causation. Endemic atmospheric agency is probable, as a similar form of disease, attended with the same symptoms, prevailed at La Pointe, 180 miles west of Coj^per Harbor, four years ago, destroying about thirty of the inhabitants. This was also in the winter. I regret that it has not been in my jjower to obtain more precise information as to that en- demic* * FORT HOWARD. This post is situated on the northwest bank of Fox river, one mile from the point at which it empties into GJ-reen Bay. This bay^ which is an arm of Lake Michigan, indents the land for 90 miles. It commences 40 miles wide, and gradually lessens to four miles at its head, where it receives the waters of Fox river. "It is skirted about its head," says acting Assistant Sur- geon Ward, "with marshes a mile in width^ covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and wild rice, which embrace tlie mouth of the river, and continue within half a mile of the fort. The water is from six inches to six feet deep on these marshes, wliich, b^ the operation of a diurnal flux and reflux of the waters of the bay, are alternately flooded and drained twice every 24 hours. Twenty rods back of the fort another marsh begins, and, spreading to the right and left, extends a mile or more in each direction. It differs from the marshes just described in this, that it is partly covered with timber, tliickets of alder, evergreens, and grass." Pro- ceeding nortli and west two miles, the country presents a densely wooded region, as i'ar as explorations liavo been made. On the opposite side of the river, as far as Lakes Michigan and Winnebago, the country is also in its primitive state, covered with dense vegetation of forest and underwood. The soil mostly consists of a vegetable mould, intermixed with clay and sand, and is generally of a character to reward the labors of tlie husbandman. The mean annual quantity of rain, on an average of eight years, is 31.40 inches. This post is less under flio niddifying agency of the great inland seas (ban any otlier of this class. •• Afisistaut Surgeou Isaacs reports two ciiscs in detail, wliieh are tn be fmind in tlie New York Jouinal of Medicine ami the Collateral Sciences, vol. vi, p. 195: March, 184fi. AMONG TUE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 45 DISEASES. The following table, compiled from abstract No. 5 ibr tliis clivision, gives a condensed view of the aggregate amount of sickness and mortality among the troops during the period embraced in this report, and also the corresponding annual ratios : TABLE EXHIBITING THE RATIO OF SICKNESS AND MORTALITY. Uuartcrs. Mean strength. Number treated. Deaths. Ratio per 1,000 of mean sTRCNG-m. i Treated. Died. 10,999 10,949 9,681 9,755 • 5,107 6,426 6,125 5,139 44 34 31 37 464 586 632 526 i Second quarter 3.1 Tliird quarter 3.2 3.7 Atinnnl rnfin 10,346 22,797 146 2,203 14 22,784 140 2,202 13.5 It will be perceived that the proportion of cases of sickness to the number of men is 2.2 to 1; that the ratio of deaths to the strength of the command is 1 in 71, or 1.4 per cent.; and that the proportion of deaths to cases treated is 1 in 156, or 0.64 of one per cent. Exclusive of cholera, the ratio of deaths to the number of officers and men was 1 in 73.9, or 1.3 per cent, per annum; and the proportion of deaths to cases treated was 1 in 162. T4, or 0.61 per cent. FEVERS. Quai'ters --- FlK^. SECOND. TUIRD. FOIKTU. TEAR. Proportion of dcnlh.s to cases. 1 tl Strentrth - 10,999 10,949 9,GS1 9, '55 10, 346 Js si DLscases. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deatlis. a =3 Febris continua communis-.- Febris intermittens quotidiana Febris intermittens tertiana.. Fcbris intermittens quartana. 45 70 188 15 36 S 1 2 86 390 541 26 75 5 1 3 1 48 4G9 404 28 292 13 1 8 57 169 347 16 123 7 4 1 236 1098 1480 85 526 33 3 3 14 2 lin 78 1 iu 366 iu 1480 in 85 1 iu 37 1 iu 16 in 22 106 143 8 50.8 3.1 Febris typlnis icteroiKs Total 362 3 1123 5 1254 9 719 5 3458 •22 lin 157 334 Eruptive Fe\t;rj3. — It appears from the quarterly reports that rubeola prevailed at Buffixlo Barracks in June, 1840, and 1845 ; and at Detroit Barracks in the first (quarter, 1843, and second quarter, 1850. Scarlatina at Madison Barracks, and in tlie vicinity of Detroit, in Feb- 46 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY riiary and March, 1844 ; and again in the first quarters of 1845 and 1846. Five cases of vario- loid occurred at Detroit Barracks in January, 1849. In the winter of 1851-'52 variola pre- vailed extensively among the Indians in the vicinity of Fort Brady. DISEASES OF THE ORGANS CONNECTED WITH THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. Quarters --- FIRST. SECOND. THIRD. FOUKTH. TEAB. o 1 = i gS i^ Strength - 10 999 10 ,949 9, esi 9, 755 10 346 'I ■S'3 Diseases. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. 304 30 7 15 1 5 90 257 4 1 1 1 594 45 4 ■ 7 3 5 137 314 1 3 1 1 1 12 1017 116 5 5 7 1 150 309 5 2 1 571 84 8 3 t 3 106 294 6 1 6 4 13 2486 275 24 30 11 14 483 1174 6 13 3 1 2 7 1 in 2 1 in 191 1 in 92 I in 24 1 in 15 in 11 in 14 in 483 1 in 167 240 26 Dysenteria chronica Enteritis 2.3 2.9 1 Hepatitis chronica 1.3 46.6 All other diseases of this 113 Total - - - 709 6 1110 7 1G22 8 1069 11 4510 32 1 in 141 436 4497 26 1 in 173 434 The reports of sick contain no noteworthy remarks respecting diseases of this system, until we come to those for the quarter ending September, 1849. Surgeon Tripler, in his report from Detroit Barracks for that quarter, makes the following statement concerning Asiatic cholera: " About the first of July a few cases of cholera asphyxia made their appearance in Detroit. The municipal authorities had in season made extraordinary ciforts to maintain a strict system of police, and to distribute daily a free supply of lime throughout the city. The sale of vege- tables was prohibited, and with most praiseworthy firmness these ordinances were enforced. I caused to be procured a sufficient quantity of sulphuric acid, oxide of manganese, and salt, to fumigate from day to day, as long as necessary, every inhabited apartment in the barracks ; and recommended the usual precaution with regard to the diet, clothing, and hygienic regimen of the men. The result of all these measures was, under Providence, that but one soldier died from the disease, and he an inveterate drunkard; and but about one hundred in the city of De- troit, including those landed from the steamboats. The disease has entirely disappeared." Assistant Surgeon R. F. Simpson reports the prevalence of cholera among the Indians who were encamped in the vicinity of Fort Howard, in the latter part of October, and beginning of November, 1849. About the same time many of the soldiers were sick with diarrhoea, but the cholera was not communicated to the troops or to the citizens residing near the fort. The Indians had just received their annuities, and it is probable the mortality among them was mainly due to their dissipation. AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 47 DISEASES OF THE RESPIBATOET SYSTEM. FJBST. SECOND. THIRD. rOUBTH. YEAR. I'rnportion of deatlis lo cables. Z-i Strength - - 10. 19U 10, 349 9.681 9. ~bo 10,346 Diseases. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. .|-3 Bronchitis acuta et chronica.. Catarrhus ' Phthisis pulmonalis Pleurltis 39 1013 14 83 89 16 1 12 1 4 1 48 1061 9 83 35 21 1 8 4 1 24 679 13 42 21 10 6 1 35 824 11 55 40 l(i 7 1 1 146 3577 47 263 185 63 1 1 33 2 9 4 1 in 146 1 in 3577 2 in 3 1 in 131 1 in 20 1 in 16 14 345 4.5 25 18 All other diseases of this 6 Total 1254 19 1257 14 789 7 981 10 4281 50 1 in 85 413 Eheumatismus 293 329 1 255 266 1143 1 1 in 1143 114 Influenza prevailed, as an epidemic, at most of the station.s in this region in the summer of 1843. The symptoms and treatment were generally so similar to those already detailed in this report, that a repetition is not considered necessary. At Madison Barracks it prevailed in June and July ; at Fort Ontario, in June only ; at Forts Niagara, Mackinac, and Brady, in July ; and at Detroit and Buffalo Barracks, in June. Surgeon R. C. Wood reports that "epidemic catarrh made its appearance at Bufi'alo Barracks on the 20th June, characterized by great restlessness, languor, slight chills,, fever, and cough. In some cases, pulmonary congestion ensued; in other cases, diarrhoea ushered in the disease. The command has been completely prostrated by it ; several of the men were relieved from post, being attacked with sudden faintness. In ordinary cases, emetics, saline cathartics, antimonial preparations, and the free use of warm chamomile tea, have subdued the disease in a few days. In others, venesection and cujjping have been in- dicated." NOETH INTERIOR REGION— WEST OF THE GREAT LAKES. This region includes all that portion of the United States which lies between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains, and north of the fortieth degree of latitude. During the period imder review, ten stations have been occupied in this region, viz : Forts Winnebago, Crawford, Snelling, Atkinson, Dodge, Des Moines, Ripley, Ridgely, Kearney, and Laramie. MEDICAL TOPOGRAPHY AND DISEASES OF FORT WINNEBAGO. By Surgeon Lyman Foot : 1839. • Fort Winnebago is situated on the right bank of Fox river, directly opposite the portage between that river and tlie Wisconsin, and is elevated about 70 feet above tlio level of the latter; it is in latitude 43° 31', longitude 89° 28'; 81 miles west of Lake Michigan, and 112 miles southwest of Green Bay. 48 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY The marshes hordering tlie Wisconsin and Fox rivers are very extensive^ and come up qnite to the left bank of the Fox river opposite the fort. They are hut little ahove the level of the two rivers, and are sometimes overflowed. Boats have frequently passed from one river to the other. They'are covered with a luxuriant growth of grass, and could he much improved by ditching. The grass makes excellent forage. The formation of these marshes is a subject of much speculation. In cutting through the tliick vegetable matter on the surface, of from two to four i'eet, you come to a stratum of soft mini, generally a foot or two in thickness, but in some places from eight to ten feet deep. These last are generally known by the name of "shaking marslies," and are dangerous to cross with horses. Tliey appear, however, to be gradually filling up, from tlie same cause that has made tlie rest more solid. Beneath tlie mud comes a stratum of fine silicious sand. How were these marshes formed? I suppose, from their situa- tion, they were originally shallow lakes, or lagoons, full of aipiatic plants. These jdants were, as they are now, covered with millions of aninialcuhe, whose covering, or shell, is jjure silex. They die annually, and deposit their silex to fill up the lake. Thus, in process of time, they have become filled with sand, and the decaying vegetable matter has formed the thick sward on the surfixce. This is not all speculation ; the jn'ocess is actually going on in some small lakes or ponds still existing in and near these marshes. The old Indians inform us that marshes that were impassable for man fifty years since, can now he crossed with horses. Nu- merous s])rings of clear cold water are found in the midst of the marshes, where one may see constantly thrown up by the gushing water the jiurest white silicious sand. The soil of the upland about this post is a light loam, mixed with silex, lime, and clay. It is what is called a '^ tvarin soil," and vegetation comes forward earlier than at any place in the same latitude I have ever been stationed at. The mineral productions are very few ; secondary limestone, and sandstone of recent formation, are the only rock in situ I have seen. Indications of iron exist in various places, and clay-heds of the finest quality are found on the banks of the Wisconsin, one mile and a half from the fort. The bricks made of this clay are of superior quality, and resemble the Edinburgh brick. Several varieties of the oak, the hickory, and the maple are to be found here ; also the willow, basswood, and elm. Corn, oats, and all the culinary vegetables common in western and middle New York, grow well here. The most peculiar native plant is the wild rice, or wild oats, {zizanla davulosa.) It grows in Fox river, from its mouth to its source, and in all the ponds, lakes, marshes, and lagoons about the country. It is a great article of food among the Indians. The wild rice liarvest is to them, what the wheat and corn harvest is to the Virginia planter. They encamp round the lakes and expansions of the river early in September, and lay up a store for the winter. It is excellent food, better than the southern rice, and is a mild diuretic. Thousands of ducks, even the canvass-back, are attracted by the rice. Would this wild rice not flourish if sown in the waters of the eastern and middle States? I think it would; and, if so, a valuable crop might be obtained from a great number of acres which arc now almost u.seless. The seasons most productive of disease are spring and autumn. I have never thought the marshes about this post produced disease till last fall. The Wisconsin overflowed its banks' during the latter jiait of July of last year, submerging all the extensive marslies for two or three weeks ; all except aquatic plants were killed. This was succeeded by excessively hot and dry weather during the month of August and part of September, wlien we had a number of cases of intermittent and remittent fever, which I think were caused by the decomposition of vegetable matter on the marshes. One thing I think remarkable here: complaints of the lungs, phthisis in all its forms, are less common here than at any post at which I was ever sta- tioned. How shall we account for it? Is it the dry atmosphere? The mean annual range ot temperature at this post is 120°, with an extreme range of 133°; the thermometer registering in summer 104°, and in winter — 20°. The mean annual tempera- AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 49 ture is 44°. 80. Mean annual precipitation, 27.49 inches. The prevailing winds are from the north and nortlnvest.* ft FOKT CRAWFORD. Fort Crawford, situated on the Mississippi, two miles above the mouth of the Wisconsin, is on Prairie du Chien. This prairie, lying in the angle formed by these two rivers, is about 10 miles long and 2 wide, terminating on the east by a range of abrupt hills about 300 feet in height. These bluffs present almost a naked surface, studded' with boldly projecting rocks. The fort, which is about 300 yards from the Mississippi, is elevated 70 feet above its level. Direct!}' in front of the fort is a marsh, which extends 5 miles up the river, and about as far down as the mouth of the Wisconsin. This marsh, or slough, which exists only during the low water of the summer and autumnal months, not unfrequently so abounds with putrid vege- table matter as to be extremely offensive. The soil, which is generally fertile, producing wheat, corn, rye, oats, and potatoes, abundantly, consists of a dark loam combined with lime and silex. Lead, iron, and copper are ibund at many points ; and among the productions of the forest, different varieties of quercus (oak), acer (maple), betula (birch), salix (willow), juglans (walnut), and carya (hickory), stand most prominent. The mean annual temperature, deduced from 19 years' observation, is 47°. 63, with a maxi- mum of 100°, and a minimum of — 32°; extreme range, 132°. Mean annual precipitation, 31.40 inches. FORT SNELLING. Fort Snelling, situated in the angle formed by the confluence of the St. Peter's and Missis- sippi, is elevated 94 feet above those waters, and about 820 feet above the level of the ocean. The St. Peter's, at its mouth, is 150 yards wide and 16 feet deep ; and the Mississippi, at this point, is about 400 yards wide, but is much less deep than the former. The banks of the latter, up to the Falls of St. Anthony, a distance of eight miles, are about 200 feet high, the upper strata of which consist of limestone, and the lower of sandstone. Beyond the falls, the banks are less high, and the immediate valley of the river becomes more extended. The St. Peter's, which has its source about 500 miles from this point, courses through a valley, varying in breadth from one to three miles, which is marshy, owing to the inundations of the river. The surface of the surrounding country presents an undulating prairie, studded here and there with "islands" of timber. Large lakes, plentifully supplied with fish, are occasionally found. The soil, although sandy, is productive. These facts have been furnished by Assistant Surgeon John Emerson. The mean annual temperature, deduced from a continuous series of observations for thirty years, is 44°. 54, with a maximum of 100°, a minimum of — 40°, and an extreme range of 140°, the mean annual range being 121°. The mean annual fall of rain and snow, for twenty years, is 25.43 inches. FORT ATKINSON. In the absence of any special report respecting the topography of tliis station, the following brief remarks are quoted from Assistant Surgeon Wm. S. King's report of sick for the third quarter, 1840, shortly after the establishment of the post: '•Fort Atkinson is situated fifty miles west of Fort Crawford, on an elevated plat of ground between Turkey river on the north, and Spring creek on the south and east, the latter empty- ing into the former about three-fourths of a mile from the post. The elevation on the side next Spring creek is of crescentic form, and nearly perpendicular, commencing about fifty yards «=• The remainder of this report, consisting principally of a description of the barrack and hospital accominodatious, is omitted, not being applicable to their present condition. The results of more extended meteorological obBervations have been substituted for those given in the original report. — C. S. 96 7 50 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS ANP MORTALITY from the margin of the stream, and descending on the opposite side by a gradual slope to Tur- key river, from -which it is distant half a mile. Its height ahove those streams is 80 I'eet. The country between the station and Turkey riyer is woodland. On the west, south, and east, it is an open prairie, aftbrding afine view of from ten to fifteen miles in extent. Spring creek, as its name implies, has its origin in numerous springs not far distant ; the water is used for drink- ing, and for culinary purposes. The soil is mostly calcareous. The cases of fever at this post, with few exceptions, can be traced to Fort Crawford." MEDICAL TOPOGRAPHY AND DISEASES OF FOET DODGE, o By Assistant Surgeon Charles C. Keeney : 1852. "While describing the geographical position of this post, it will be necessary to say, that in consequence of not being able to procure the necessary astronomical instruments for determining the true latitude and longitude, I had to calculate them from maps; conse(iuently, my calcu- lations may not be without a slight error — deviating a few minutes, either way, from the true meridian. According to my calculations, we are in latitude 42° 28' north, and longitude 17° 1' west from Washington, which places us rather in the northwest corner of Iowa, on the Des Moines river, and near the junction of the Lizard forks. The Des Moines is a large and rapid stream, taking its rise from numerous small lakes in the northwestern part of this State and Minnesota. Its average width is from one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards, with a rapid current, a limestone bottom, and tolerably clear water. The river is very tortuous in its course; but its general bearings are from northwest to south- east, running through the whole course of the State, and emptying into the Mississippi a few miles below Keokuk. It is considered navigable for light-draught steamers up to Fort Des Moines, and probably is up to this fort in high water. The river at this point forms a cres- cent, which bounds two sides of the fort, while a rolling prairie and a deep ravine, supporting a grove of timber, cover the remaining sides. The physical aspect of the country about the post is beautiful and picturesc[ue in the extreme. At two points of the compass, east and west, to the utmost extent of vision, a vast undulating prairie, supporting a luxuriant growth of flowers and grass, is in view ; while nearly from the north to the south the majestic Des Moines is seen meandering through the boundless prairie, flanked on either side with high bluft's and ledges of rocks, supporting in many places a dense growth of timber of the choicest kind. The general physical appearance of this vicinity and the country adjacent is of such a nature as to lead one to suppose that this prairie country has once been the bottom of a vast sheet of water, and at a period long subsequent to the Mosaic deluge. The deep ravines, embosoming small rivulets ; the gentle undulations of the prairie uplands ; the peculiar geological formations of the bluffs ; the fossiliferous depositions on the broad prairie, and particularly of the plutonic and volcanic boulders (granite and trap) that are frequently to be seen on the open prairie, probably hundreds of miles from their parent formations, are almost conclusive evidences that the country, at no very great distant period back, was su))merged. Some of these boulders are so large that they may be seen for miles, standing out in bold relief on the prairie. Their general surface is rough and uneven, with few signs of having been worn by rolling, which goes to show that they were transported (probably on icebergs) to their distant and isolated abodes. The uplands, with their laciistrine-Yikc appearance, and the blufiTs of the rivers, with their apparently modern sedimentary formations, also, are so many living witnesses to testify to the fact that at least this immediate vicinity was once a vast lake. Numerous physical and geolo^cal facts might be brought forward in corroboration of this assertion ; but, as the limits o Fort Des Moines was occupied about three years, and then abandoned. It was at the head of navigation, on the Des Moines river. No medico-topncraphical report of the locality can be found in thp Medical Bureau. — C. AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 51 of this paper will not permit of more than a general sketch of the physical aspect of the post, and as it is foreign to my subject, I will proceed to give a brief description of the geological form- ations. From the above remarks on tlie physical characters of this vicinity, it will he inferred that no subterranean convulsions, no upheavals, or any other volcanic actions, have visited and raised up tlie present formations in this part of Iowa; but, on the other liand, it can more easily be imagined that, when the waters covered the surface, the strata of the various rocks were gradually deposited, one upon the other, by the same process as is now daily going on before our eyes in the same formations. The chief formation in this immediate vicinity is the aqueous, or sedimentary rock, including nearly all its varieties — the calcareous, the gypsum (sulphate of lime), silicious, and argilla- ceous rocks. The calcareous rock is the chief, and it may truly be said forms the backbone of all the other sedimentary and fossiliferous bodies of this class of rocks. It lies in detached pieces and in solid masses all along the shores of the Des Moines and its tributaries, forming the bulk of the bluffs and cliffs, and also the beds of the rivers. Carbonate of lime seems to jiredomiuate over all the varieties of this rock. At many points, particularly on the small tributaries of the Des Moines, the form of stratification varies materi- ally. At one point, a series of strata of carbonate of lime forms high bluffs ; while, at another point, a stratum of carbonate of lime alternates with one of argillaceous rock; then, again, ar- gillaceous and arenaceous strata are suj^erimposed on layers of carbonate of lime. In many places on the Des Moines are seen beds of shale alternating with beds of lime strata. Not far from tliis post, and on the river, is an extensive bed of shale combined with argillaceous and calcareous matter. This rock has forced itself out of the banks of the river, at an angle of 50°. The great dip this stratification presents, I am led to believe, from the 'physical as well as the geological features, was brought about by the sliding of the earth, caused by the action of water. I am further led to this belief from the fact, that the stratification all around this district is nearly horizontal; and, also, from there being no marks or signs of internal commotions having occurred, no dislocation and distortion of strata. This bed of shale bears strongly the physical features of coal. Its stratification is well defined, and between many of its laminaj are enclosed organic remains, many of which have strong impressions of various plants. These beds of shale (bituminous, I think) are quite numerous on the banks of the Des Moines, and are not im- frequently taken for rich beds of coal. I view them only as so many indications of an inferior quality of coal hidden in the banks. On one of the small rivulets that empties into the Des Moines is a bed of gypsum (sulphate of lime), a soft, white and yellowish rock, witli the stratification (as usual) nearly horizontal, and, like the other rocks, bearing N.W. and S.E. It appears to be free from the other varieties of rock. In some of the bluffs are deep fissures and rents, and appearances of dykes, that would lead the superficial observer to suppose they were produced by subterranean convulsions and up- heavals. A bird's-eye view of their geograpliical features will show that laud-slides and the action of water were their origin. The only palieontological evidences observed in these rocks were the fossiliferous plants, and impressions in the shale deposits already spoken of. These fossiliferous remains were so indi.s- tinct as to render it impossible either to determine tlieir class, order, or species. As may be supposed, from the above formations, the metalliferous and other mineral indi- cations are exceedingly few. The great requisites for the metalliferous productions, as trap, conglomerate, basalt, porphyry, and other crystalline rocks, are wanting. The only mineral this formation can produce (as far as my superficial explorations have gone) is coal ; and this in such poor qualities, that an attempt to work a mine for profit would be of doubtful ex- pediency. From the above remarks on the geological structure, it is to be supposed that the general 52 REPORT ON TllE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY surftice of the country supports a good soil. In the bottom lands, bordering the rivers, and where the land has been frequently inundated from the frequent swellings of the streams, the soil is exceedingly rich and productive. It is, for the most part, composed of alluvial deposit lying on a bed of limestone ; and superimposed upon this deposit is a thick covering of vege- table mould. The soil of the uplands differs somewhat from this. It consists of a black earth, composed of sand and clay intermixed with calcareous matter. It holds in composition less organic matter than that of the bottom land. But this soil, composed as it is of loam, marl, and here and there of infusorial earth, and having for a base a thick bed of calcareous matter, is cixpable of producing rich crops of corn, wheat, oats, &e., year after year, without any material drain on its fertilizing powers. Next to the physical features of a country, and not second to it in point of health and pros- perity, is climatology. I believe it is conceded by all, that a rich and productive soil, with an unequable and treacherous climate, is more pernicious to health, and less to be coveted by the agriculturist, than a less fertilizing soil with a good climate. Such, truly, ought to be so; for while tlie soil is amendable through the medium of the arts, climate, on the other hand, is beyond the reach of art and science. Before speaking of the climatic characteristics of this jiost, it will be as well to premise my remarks by saying that this post is not quite two years old, and only part of this time have meteorological observations been taken ; consequently, I can only speak of the climatic peculiar- ities of one year, which peculiarities may not be in accordance with a series of years of the past or to come. But still, from a careful study of climatology, and with the physical features of a country before the eye, one is enabled, in a great measure, to form a tolerably correct opinion of the general character of the climate of a country. By reference to the Meteorological Kegister, it is found that the past winter was rigor- ous and changeable in the extreme ; not rigorous from the low degree to which the mer- cury would at times fall, but from the constant Iiurricane-like winds that rushed I'rom the north, and swept over the prairie, chilling the innermost blood, both of man and beast. The same register shows that this last month (June) was subject to great thermometric changes. During the month of January, 1852, the mercury fell to the lowest graduated degree of our thermometers — namely, 28° below zero ; and had the graduation been still lower, (or the thermometer longer, as some are wont to have it,) the mercury would, in all probability, have fallen to 30° or 35° below zero. Last month, as the table shows, the mercury rose to 97° in the shade. During the summer months, the wind almost incessantly blows a gale from the south, which has its salutary efl'ects, as will be seen when we come to speak of disease, &c. It is needless to remark, that these great atmospheric changes are attributable, in the main, to the following physical causes: At the north, south, east, and west, all is one vast stretch of prairie, and nowhere is there a great body of water to modify and mollify the temperature by evaporation and condensation. Even during the greater part of the summer montlis, there are no clouds in the sky to parry off the piercing rays of the sun. The s])rings are also exceedingly changeable and uncertain. The agriculturist will experi- ence many reverses in his fields, arising from the great atmosj)hcric vicissitudes. He may retire to his bed with his heart light from the growing and thrifty appearance of his croj^s, and in the morning he will go out and return with his heart saddened and chilled by the frosts of May and June. But there is one redeeming feature in this treacherous climate, which, in despite of the great and sudden changes, renders it quite salubrious. It is this: the atmosphere is exceed- ingly dry at all times. Tlie salutary influence this hygrometric feature has, will be referred to when we come to speak of disease, &c. As soil and climate are the fountains from which disease, in its general sense, takes its rise, it will not be out of place here to speak briefly of the nature and causes of the various maladies that occur at this post. The register of sick shows remittent and intermittent to be the i^revailing fevers at this AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 63 post, and diseases of the resiMratory organs t'o predominate over all others. As regards remit- tents and intermittents being the prevailing fevers at this jdace, the fact not only holds good here, but has generally been so at all the various stations at which I have been, particu- laidy at those posts where the cultivation of the soil has been one of the duties of the command. The secret may be this; trees are felled, the soil is turned up, and a greater surface exposed for the direct rays of the sun to promote decorajiosition of the tree-tops, the turf, and other vegeta- ble matter brought to light. As a general rule, at all new military posts (and I think the same will liold good in all new agricultural districts) the people are more exempt from miasmatic fevers the first year than the second and third. This exemption may be owing to the cause of the malarious influence brought to light by art (if I may so speak) not having had sufficient time to become thoroughl}^ developed by the action of the sun, and other causes, to make its impres- sions ou the nervous and sanguiferous systems. But not so at posts and in old agricultural districts where there are already natural and living sources for the generation of miasmatic poison. Here the subject immediately imbibes and experiences the effect of the poison in a few weeks, or even in a few days. Adopting the old notions of vegetable decomposition in its vari- ous forms as the "fons et origo" of bilious remittents and intermittents; and while discarding the cryptogamous and other fanciful theories of the present day, I am prepared to state that all the remittents and intermittents that have occurred at this post were caused by the imbibition and absorption of miasmatic poison generated by the vegetable decomposition in the bottom lands, where gardening and farming have been carried on. Nearly all the men who have been the sub- jects of these fevers were the ablest bodied men of the command, and, when on other duty in the uplands, enjoyed perfect immunity from those fevers ; but no sooner would they be detailed for hor- ticultural duty, than they would report sick with one of these fevers. I am aware that some late writers are endeavoring to prove that miasmatic poison is not the source from whence these fevers arise; and, as irrefutable arguments, they cite instances of armies that have been deci- mated by these forms of fevers, in those places where there was not the slightest evidence of vegetable decomposition, and other sources for the generation of miasmata. Biit they seem to forget, or at least leave out the important fact, that these same armies, during their long and rapid marches, have encamped one or more nights in miasmatic districts, where the body has taken in the malarious seeds ; and after two months, or two weeks' fatigue and exposure to a scorch- ing sun, these seeds have grown up, the fruits of which were a congestive remittent and intermittent fever. The sick report shows but few cases of rheumatism. Considering the great range which the thermometer has here in all the four seasons, it might be supposed that rheumatism would form a conspicuous part in the catalogue of diseases. But, on the contrary, it is quite rare here, owing, in all probability, to the hygrometric feature of the atmosphere. At all sea- sons of the year, and during tlie greatest thermometric changes, the atmosphere is exceedingly free from moisture. Most of the diseases of the respiratory system were of the mildest nature, and in the majority of the cases were unaccompanied with febrile action. The only diseases of the chest, involving the substance of the lungs and pleura, were imi^rted cases. The mildness of the diseases of tlie thoracic organs may also be attributed to the general dryness of the atmosphere during the great thermometric changes. Dysentery and diarrhoea, in chronic forms, are not known here; and dysentery, in its acute form, is rare. To sum up, the health of the command is exceedingly good at all times. The following may be the causes why it is so: First, the peculiar hygrometric feature of the atmosphere, being free from moisture at all times; secondly, the pure and limpid waters, both of the running streams, and particularly of the numerous springs that gush out of the bluffs, and from the bottom lands, some of which are slightly impregnated with the salts of iron and sulphur; thirdly, to the constant winds that carry off all elfluvia, as fast as generated^ to distant parts ; 54 REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY and also to the constant cmitloyment of the men in their various duties; to their wholesome diet (salt and fresh meat, combined with a due proportion of vegetable matter); and jjartieu- larly to thorotighli/ baked bread, and no whisky. As far as my experience has gone at military posts, I have found bread badly baked, and an undue quantity of alcoholic drinks, to be the chief originators of the diseases of the digestive organs. Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of having bread thoroughly baked. I have not unfrequently seen two-thirds of a command at a time afflicted with diseases of tlie digestive organs, arising from one single batch of badly baked bread. The company baker and bake-house should be daily inspected; and as the art of making bread is a chemical pro- cess, none are so competent to make this inspection as the medical officer of the post. Strin- gent orders should be issued, enjoining on the commanding officer of the post to see this imjiortant inspection daily made. As II full development of the Flora does not take place before the latter part of July and August, only a general outline of the botanical characters can be expected here. The botani- cal characters that merit sjiecial notice, are the following: The wild rose and strawberry, in this vicinity, seem to be twin brothers, as they are found together, growing in great profusion around the borders of the prairie and timber. The fleur-de-lis (iris) is found growing in marsliy ground, and dowers in June. The blue violet {viola ccaridea), the blazing star, and several other species of the liatris, with their long spikes of purple flowers, the calla palustris, the wild turnip (arum), the petalostemons, with their luxuriant heads of violets, the cone- Howers (rudbeckia), the wild sun-flower (kelianthus), the golden rod (solidago), the eye-bright (euphorbia corollata), &c., are found growing in the uplands and bottom lands, and add lustre to the spring and summer dress of the prairie. The wild ginger (asarum Canadense) grows in the ravines, and flowers in May and June. There is one plant, everywhere to be found on the prairie, that at all times attracts the attention of the traveller, not only from its height and brightness of flowers, but because its leaves are endowed with peculiar qualities. It is the compass, or polar plant (silphiura laciniatum). It is a plant that grows from one to five feet high, rather coarse in its genei'al aspect, and with a ferny leaf. The flower is like that of the sun-flower. This plant is celebrated for the peculiar property of its leaves, pointing due north and south. Some have said the leaves do not always point north and south, but go with the wind. From many and careful observations on this plant, I can say that its polarity can be as much relied on as the magnetic needle ; and were 1 to travel a long distance over the prairie, I would sooner trust to the polarity of this plant than to the magnetic needle, as the former is not influenced by local attraction, while the latter is. As ibr the leaves being influenced by the winds, I have often seen the stock bent near to the ground by the force of the winds, while the leaves were still pointing north and south. The cause of this peculiar property of the leaves is inexplicable. Tlie magnet reveals none of its secrets, nor does dissection. But still, I am inclined to think tliat its polarity is dependent on magnetism, influenced by the action of light on its leaves. Among the slirubs may be mentioned the wafer-ash (ptelea trifoUaUi), being an ingredient in the celebrated Indian tobacco. The red bud (cercis Canadensis) puts Ibrtli its flowers before its leaves. The burning bush (eitonyrmis atro-purpureus) , and the cotfee-tree (gymnodudus Cana- densis), also, are found in the timber. In addition to the above, there are in this vicinity the gooseberry (ribes 3Iissouriensis), the crab-apple (pyrus coronaria), the wild plum (primus Ameri- cana), the black walnut (juglans nigra), the butternut (Juglans cinerea); the two last adorn the forest with their rich and luxuriant foliage. The beautiful groves of timber that skirt the juairic and rivers are composed chiefly of tlie following trees: With the addition of the black and white walnut, are the black oak (quercus nigra), white oak (qnercHs alba), the sugar maple (acer saccharinum), the bass-wood (tilia), the white poi>lar (tlie American aspen), the white elm (idmus Americana). This country has so long been the abode of the red man, and his incursions have been so AMONG THE TROOPS IN THE NORTHERN DIVISION. 55 frequent over the prairie, and in the forests^ in pursuit of the buffalo, the elk, the deer, &c., that nearly all of these animals have forsaken this ground, and gone farther west and north ; and the few that are occasionally seen here, are so wild that it is with the greatest diffi- culty they can he brought within reach of th? rifle-ball. The buffalo is sometimes met with on the open prairie, a few miles west of this post. They appear to be the stragglers of the buffalo army, and wander off, into, or near by, the settlements. The elk is seen in herds of two and three hundred, about the head waters of the Lizard river, some thirty miles from here. Hunting parties frequently pass by our post in pursuit of their young. The parties drive with them cows, and, when the young elk are taken_, the cows suckle and protect them as if their own offspring. They are then driven into the settlements, and, when grown up, are trained to the harness. The deer is frequently seen bounding over the prairie from one grove of timber to another. The prairie is their summer's retreat, while in winter they seek the more comfortable and secluded habitations of the forest. The black bear is now and then met with, prowling about the outskirts of the post. The prairie wolf is a frequent visitor during the fall and winter. He is the most stupid of all animals, and is harmless to everything except to the hen- roost and sheep-fold. During the spring and fall, the rivers and sloughs swarm with the wild goose, the brant, and numerous species of ducks. They make their appearance in the spring, as soon as the ice is out of the river, sport about for two or three weeks, and then proceed north — following the course of the rivers, where they lay and hatch. On the first intimations of cold weather, they return back to these waters, where they again remain for one or two weeks, and then proceed to a warmer and more genial climate. The wild turkey — the king of the feathered tribe — makes his apjiearance in these forests in the fall, and is so wild that none but the best of shots take him. The streams seem to be only moderately supplied with the finny tribe. The pickerel, the pike, the cat, and the bass, are the principal, if not the only fish that swim in these waters. On the tributaries of the Des Moines are numerous beaver-dams, where large numbers of these most sagacious of all animals make their winter-quarters. In the immediate neighbor- hood of these dams, acres are cleared, and trees, from one to eight inches in diameter, are felled by the teeth of these animals. No animal is more sagacious and ingenious than the beaver. The architectural and engineering tact displayed in the construction of these dams would reflect credit on a genus of animals much higher on the scale of existence than they. But few varieties of reptiles are seen here. The prairie rattle-snake presents the same physical characters as the common rattle-snake everywhere in the United States. The moc- casin, a venomous snake, is also found on the prairie, in common witli the striped snake. The above two are the only venomous reptiles found in this district. Tlie bull -snake (boa Americana) is common on the prairie and in the timber. He grows to an enormous size, and is frequently found to be ten feet in length. This reptile is harmless to man, but is a deadly enemy to the rattle-snake whenever they come in contact. This snake is held in great esteem by the Indian, and killing it would, by him, be considered more than sacrilege. Well might it be so esteemed by the white man, as they are so great a scourge to tliat most venomous of all rep- tiles — the dread of the prairie. The country, as yet, is new and very sparsely settled. There are scarcely twenty jiersons in as many miles of the post. The few who have settled in this district are chiefly from Mis- souri and Indiana. Before the establishment of this post (in the summer of 1850), there were not half a dozen settlers this side of Fort Des Moines. The few wlio have located here are engaged in the cultivation of the soil. They are of the poorest class of settlers from the above States ; and, judging from the general aspect of tlieir farms, from their lean, lank, and half-fed cattle, their squalid and hungry-looking children — huddled in the same room in common with pigs, chickens, &c. — one would be apt to infer they were more indolent than enterprising, and more filthy than cleanly. Tlie red man has long since deserted these his old hunting-grounds, and gone to seek abodes 5G REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY farther west, where the buffiilo, the elk, and the deer roam in greater numbers and with less fear of the rifle. A lew scattering bands, however, principally of the Sioux and Cliiiipewa tribes, are still lianging on the outskirts of this State. During the winter season, small ]iarties of these scattered tribes come into the neighborhood of this post for the purpose of hunting, trapping, and trading. Tlie same bands not unfrcqucntly make incursions into the settle- ments, carry olY cattle, horses, &c., and commit other like depredations on the defenceless inhabitants. In their nature, they are treacherous and predatory; and even the small i)arties who visit us, and who receive many hospitalities, are not wanting in the above characteristic traits ; and were it not for fear of the bayonet, they would, undoubtedly, practise some of their barbarous cruelties on those from whom they receive hospitalities. When driven to extreme hunger, there are no bounds to their inhumanity ; they become cannibals in the strictest sense of the word. The following facts, which I have from undoubted authority, and almost from an eyewitness, go to show that even those on the borders of the States are capable of practising the most sickening and inhuman customs. During the winter of ISoO-'ol, a band of this tribe (Sioux) were wintering in the forests in the northwestern part of this State. There being no snow to track the footsteps of the deer, they were in consequence driven to the very verge of starvation. In one family of this band were a father, mother, and three children. The mother doted on her youngest child, a boy of three years. On him rested her fondest hopes, and on him were lavished her dearest affections. Being driven to despair by the tor- turing pangs of hunger, she caressed him, folded him in her arms, and put him into a sleep. No sooner was the mother's darling boy in a sweet sleep, when the concealed knife was taken from her bosom and drawn across his throat — severing all to the very bone. She quenched her thirst by sipping his warm blood, and satisfied her hunger by feeding on his quivering flesh. In the course of ten or twelve days, the pangs of hunger returned. Her second boy, a youth of ten years, like the first, was made the food of her morbid appetite. After the lapse of two weeks, the pangs of hunger returned again, but with redoubled vigor. She resolved on destroying her third son, a boy of sixteen years of age, the firstborn and the father's favorite. By her caresses, he also was put to sleep, and, while asleep, she poured molten lead into his ear. This more novel way of extinguishing life proved fatal to her. The pangs soon awakened the boy, and caused him to scream aloud. The father, although frantic with hunger, was never- theless attracted by the cries of his beloved boy. The deed was still fresh before him. His eves were then opened to the fate of his lost children. He clenched his tomahawk and felled the mother to the ground. His knife soon finished the stroke, by taking her scalp from licr head. He, in turn, feasted on her carcass. There being so few Indians about here, it will be impossible to collect any vital statistical knowledge worthy of note. As far as I am informed, the numerous Indian tribes west and north of us are fast becoming extinct by cholera and smallpox — by the latter disease in par- ticular. As far as my observations have gone with the Indian tribes heretofore, I have gene- rally observed that when disease, particularly a fever, takes hold of the Indian, (if he is at all sick,) he succumbs to the fever in spite of the "medicine man." Their mode of living, habits, and customs, are all conducive to staving off disease — particularly in its chronic form. Their articles of diet alone, could they only be introduced into civilized circles, would banish dyspepsia in'all its protean forms ; the name itself would soon be forgotten. There is a common article of diet, principally used by the half-breeds employed in the Hud- son Bay and American Fur Companies on their long marches, and who also subsist on it at their permanent winter-quarters. It supplies both the place of bread and meat, and, for its remark- ably nutritious qualities, ease of digestion, and for the great iivcilities of transportation which the compactness and small bulk of this article afford, make it well worthy the notice of the Depart- ment. It is called pemican. Lieutenant Corley, U. S. A., who has subsisted on it for some time, and to whom I am chiefly indebted for the information of this invaluable article of diet, says it is composed of buftalo meat and buffalo tallow. The process for preparing it is this : AMONG tht: troops in the northeen division. 57 the Tjiiffalo meat is first tlioroiighly dried in the sun, and then pounded until it is about the consistence of meal : tlio tallow is melted, and freed from all impurities, and is then poured on the meat and well stirred. The jiroportions should be about equal, or, if any difference, there is a little more tallow than meat. The mixture, being well stirred, is then poured into sacks made of xmtanned liuffalo hide, and allowed to cool ; no salt is used — probably to prevent thirst. The sacks contain from twenty to forty jjounds, for convenience of transportation. Tlie mix- ture being poured in iJie sacks while in a liquid state, it, of course, packs itself into a small sjiace. It keeps well without salt, and, when properly made, will be perfectly good at the expiration of a year. This article is used almost entirely by the fur-traders of the Hudson Bay and American Fur Companies as their only food when travelling. Lieutenant Corley also says he was informed by tlie traders of the fiir companies, that thev know of no article of food that could supply its place iu convenience of transportation, in cheapness, and in nutritious quali- ties. It is also highly palatable. Some estimate can be made of the quantity of this article it would take to sustain a healthy working man, from the quantity it takes to sustain the train-dogs the fur-traders use. The dogs they use for drawing their sledges and carrying their packs, are of a large breed, and travel fifty miles a day ; they give to the dogs one pound of pemican a day ; this is as much as they can eat, and it not only keeps up their strength, but keeps them fat. Knowing that one pound is sufficient to sustain a dog of the above description, and while travelling with a heavy burden fifty miles a day, it might be supposed that fifteen pounds would be an ample allowance for a soldier on twenty days' march, carrying with him, at the same time, his musket, his knapsack, and his pemican. I can conceive no other article of diet to be so invaluable to the soldier as the above, where transportation is limited, and difficult marches are to be made, as inevitably will be the case hereafter, with our whole army, on the great prairies east and west of the Rocky Mountains. MEDICAL TOrOGEAPHY AXD DISEASES OF FORT RITLET. Bj Assistant Surgeon J. Frazier Head : 1852. Fort Ripley is situated in latitude 46° 10' 30" N. ; longitude 94° 18' 30" W., upon the' west bank of the Mississiiipi, elevated 20 feet above that river, and probably* about 1,100 feet above the Gulf of Mexico. The little river Nokay empties into the Mississipiii from the east, at about 300 yards north of this point. The post is built upon a sandy plateau, partially drained by shallow ravines at its northern and southern extremities, terminating abruptly at the steep river bank, and to the west gradually sloping toward a narrow swamp, about half a mile in rear of the fort. Beyond this is a range of thickly wooded hills, rising to a height of 100 or 150 feet, which slightly shelter the post from the northwest winds of winter. To the westward of the hills, again, is a belt of broken surface, so thickly covered with woods and swamps, that since the establishment of the post no white man has ever traversed it to any considerable dis- tance. Above and below the fort, the river is skirted by a narrow belt of swampy land, usually partially inundated in spring, supporting a growth of linden or bass-wood ((ilia), elms (ulmits), maple (acer ruhrum), and birch (betula), which, with pine and poplar on the higher grounds, and a luxuriant undergrowth of hazel and other shrubs, constitute the sylva of this immediate neighborhood. Over and around the site of the post, a fire has swept in former years, leaving hundreds of scotched and decaying pines still standing, or encumbering the ground. On the east side of the Mississippi (here about ISO yards wide), a gently undulating, sandy, and barren prairie, from a lew hundred yards to three miles wide, extends from the mouth of ° Tha mouth of the Crow ^Ving river, about six miles above Fort Ripley (the nearest point the elevation of which is known), iu 1,130 feet above the level of the Gulf of Mexico. S. 96 8 58 RTirORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALTTY the Nokay to the southward, hordered hy a growth of oats and pines along the Mississippi, and by a range of low hills, partially covered with oaks, on the west. Opposite to the post is a strip of land less sterile than the rest, which has been for several years under cnltivation, and part of which is also liable to overflow in the spring. East of the hills above mentioned, lies a more undulating tract, interspersed with swamps abounding in "tamarac" (larix Americana). The trees above enumerated constitute the jirevailiug growth of this region ; the oaks are chiefly the "burr" oak and "black jack" (quercus nigra), with a few white and red oaks of stunted growth ; and of the species of trees used in the arts, the wood is generally of very inferior quality. The sugar-maple {acer saccharinum) abounds within a few miles of this place, and in most of this portion of Minnesota. The chestnut, walnut, and beech are unknown, as is every species of fruit-tree, wild or cultivated. The soil generally is a sandy alluvium. No rock has been found within many miles, except scattered boulders of granite, from which was obtained the little stone necessary in building the fort. The land, at least when first cultivated, is more productive than might be supposed, being what farmers term "warm," and adapted to the short summers. The ivater is mode- rately soft, pure, and wholesome. The climate is subject to great variation, as will be seen by a reference to the meteorological register. The extremes of temperature observed are 96° (in August, 1849,) and — 39° (January 18th, 1852). The latest killing frost in spring was on June ITth, 1849, and the earliest on August 14th, 1851*. A variation of temijerature of 30 or 40 degrees in a few hours is not un- common. On the 11th and 12th of February, 1851, the mercury rose in about 32 hours, from — 34° to 35° — a range of 69 degrees. Fires are necessary to comfort during a part of every month in the year, except, occasionally, July and August; and cattle must be foraged from seven to nine months. • The phenomena of spring, when once begun, often progress with great rapidity; and from the climate of winter, the region sometimes seems to jjass at once into that of mid-summer. Lettuce (germinated in hot-beds) and radishes are fit for the table, in favorable seasons, about the middle of June ; wild strawberries, which are found here in great abundance, ripen from the 15th to the last of the same month. Green peas are ready for use about the second or third week in July. Oats and potatoes appear to flourish, though a large proi^ortion of the latter were destroyed last year by the "rot." Maize is considered a very uncertain crop, owing to the short- ness of the summer. The experiment of planting winter wheat was tried in two cases last autumn, but it would seem with very indifferent success. From about the last third of August till the ground is covered with snow, which usually occurs in November, the weather is generally clear and delightful, with a dry, bracing atmo- sphere, and equable temperature. After the first considerable fall of snow, the earth's surface remains constantly covered for about five months. The average depth of snow, as roughly es- timated from the three winters since the occupation of tlie post, is from 2 to 3i feet. An idea of the severity of the winter may be formed from the fact that mo7'e than double the government monthly allowance of fuel is required to warm the quarters, though used in large stoves. To the Flora of this region but little attention has been paid; and I leave this part of the subject to subsequent and more competent observers. It may be remarked, however, that the wild raspberry (rubus odoratus) is occasionally met ; gooseberries (i-ibes grossularia) are com- mon ; the blue-berry (t'acciniwm ), a small fruit resembling the whortleberry, is quite abundant on the hills east of the Mississippi, ripening in July. Wild rice (zizania aquatica) is found in many of the lakes, which in autumn are the haunt of thousands of wild-fowl. This plant, which forms an important part of the food of the Indians, has been cut ofi"in many places around this post, for two years past, by the unusual height of the waters. The dandelion (ta- " This was Rufticient to check the growth of pumpUins, squashes, and similar vines, but more hardy plants survived. Tlie heavy autumnal frosts usually hecfin from the 20th to the last of September, after which time vegetable life is at an end for about six months. AMONG THE TEOOPS IN TUE NORTHERN DIVISION. 69 raxacum dens leonis) is entirely wanting above tlic Falls of St. Anthony, though abundant at Fort Snelling. Tlie Mammalia most frequently found are the prairie and large grey wolf {canis latrans and C. occideiitcdis) , — the former by far tlie more alnindiint ; the red deer (cervus Virginianus) , not very numerous; the ground squirrel (sciurus striatus), field-mouse (mus leucopusf), weasel (mus- iela erminea) , nxwiik-vAi (Jihcr zibcfhicm), badger (niele-s Lahradoria), and porcupine (hi/sfrtx dorsata) ; and occasionally tlie otter {lutria BrazlUensis) , marten (rnustela martes), mink (J/. lutreola), skunk (me])liitis Amer.), lynx (lynx Canadensis), and red fox (cams fulvus) . Other va- rieties of fox are taken somewhat farther north, (O. decusatus, C. argentatus, and C. cinereo- argenlatus), and may inhabit this neighborhood. The black bear (ursus Amer.), though found in the surrounding region, has never been seen in the immediate vicinity of the post. The moose (cervus alces) and carriboo (C. tarandus) are said to be occasionally seen at about 1.50 miles north, and the elk (C. Canadensis) on the prairies 30 or 40 miles west of this place. The grej"^ squirrel (sciurus Carolinensis) is not found in any part of the Territor}'. The buffalo (bison Americanus) does not approach within one or two hundred miles. In the autumn of 1848, the varying hare (lejyus Virginianus), vulgo "white rabbit," was very abundant ; but during the following year (the winter of which was not unusually severe) they almost com^^letely disap- peared from a region for many miles around this point. Many of the Indians, who depend much on these animals for subsistence during the winter, were, consequently, reduced to actual starvation. Of birds, the following species have been identified : The golden eagle (/aZco /mZujm), bald .eagle (F. letLcoceiilialus) , owl (strix FiVf/iwt'a/ia), meadow-lark (slurmis ludovicianus) , red-winged and cow l^ckbirds (icterus phoeniceus and I.pecoris), crow blackbird (quiscalus versicolor), raven (parvus corax), crow (C. Amer.), blue jay (C. cristalus), chickadee" (parus atricapillus) , cedar- bird (ioHii^/ci'to Carolin.), king-bird (muscica pa tyr annus), pewee (31. fusca),i\\r\\B\\, (turdu,s ru/us), robin (T. migratorius) , yellow-bird (.sytoi'a a?stion, and iiisuilicient in quantity. The effect of such diet, combined with expo- sure, soon showed itself in the prevalence of dysentery to a fearful extent ; and no less than 150 deaths are said to have occurred among them before they dispersed, which number is esti- mated to have been increased to 300 on their way to their homes. Upon wliom the responsi- l)ility of this infamous transaction rests, this is not tlie place to inquire, nor does the writer know ; but there can be no donlit that the majority of tliese deaths were immediately caused by the damaged provisions which hunger forced them to consume. Cases of diarrhoea and dysentery are said to have been rare among the Ojibways previous to the autumn of 1849, since which time they have been quite common. If, notwithstanding its length, this report seem meagre and unsatisfactory, it will readily be understood that a district so thinly settled is somewhat barren in a medical as well as a literal sense. . The following letter from Dr. David Day, respecting the vital statistics of the Winnebago Indians, accompanied the foregoing report of Assistant yurgeon Head: Winnebago Agency, July 5, 1852. Sir: In answer to your request, I proceed to give you such information in regard to the vital statistics, diseases, &c., of the Winnebagoes, as I have been enabled to collect during a resi- dence of two years among them. The present number of these Indians is 1,631, embracing about two-thirds of the tribe, the remainder never having removed to this Territory. It is impossible to ascertain theii' rate of diminution (if their numbers really do diminish), on account of tlieir migratory character, as they are constantly receiving accessions from their old liomes in Wisconsin and Iowa, and as constantly deserting their present location. It was the opinion of General Fletcher (late agent for this tribe), whose observation is entitled to much respect, that within the last five years they have not diminished, but increased in numbers ; and such is the opinion to which I am led by the result of my own observation. Although this opinion — contrary to the one usually received 18 not at present capable of actual demonstration, it is rendered probable, by the fact of their invariably marrying off their daughters immediately upon the accession of puberty, so that none of the child-bearing period of the lives of their women is spent in maidenhooa. This, allowing their fecundity to be the, same as that of other women, would make a considerable difference in the amount of births, which is undoubtedly one of the chief reasons why their numbers do not decrease. Part of the Winnebagoes in this Territory reside at the agency, while the other portion wander along the Mississippi, generally between the Watab and