Remarks on the examination of recruits : intended for the use of young medical officers on entering the army / by H.H. Massy.

  • Massy, Hampden Hugh.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the examination of recruits : intended for the use of young medical officers on entering the army / by H.H. Massy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    soon occasion a revulsion of feeling ; this most fre- quently ends in purchasing a discharge, after all the tronble of drilling and forming a soldier has been perfected ; occasionally, it is trne, the reverse is the case, and such men make and continne good soldiers ; still as a circumstance creating a bias in favour of a man otherwise hardly fit, it is at least hazardous ; the just course to pursue as a rule is to decide on the recruit’s actual fitness. At the head quarters of a regiment, sometimes an interest is endeavoured to be excited by urging the plea of relationship to some soldier of the corps. This is often a falsehood by connivance ; and even if true, ought not to procure the approval of an in- eligible recruit. These and similar circumstances might often produce a prejudicial influence which is to be carefully guarded against as the various duties of the service require, and our instructions are so far definite as to direct the disapproval of all such men. The positive and implied opinions of the best authorities on recruiting, inculcate a particularity in choice. Mr. Hennen and Dr. Cheyne have both gravely considered the subject. Mr. Marshall says, “ the duty imposed upon a medical officer in the in- spection of recruits is not merely to reject persons who are absolutely unfit, he is to select men who are in every respect well fitted for military service.” The age within which recruits are to be enlisted is a matter defined by the Legislature. In adopting a limit no doubt many circumstances must have