A report on barracks and hospitals : with descriptions of military posts / War Department, Surgeon General's Office.

Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A report on barracks and hospitals : with descriptions of military posts / War Department, Surgeon General's Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    13/568
    REPORT OX THE BARRACKS AND HOSPITALS OF THE UNITE!)' STATES ARMY. BY JOHlSr S. BIX^LI^Gi-S, ASSISTANT SURGEON UNITED STATES ARMY. Surgeon 'General's Office, Washington, D. C, December 1, 1870. General: In accordance with your directions, I have the honor to submit here- with a report on the Barracks and Hospitals of the United States Army, with descrip- tions of the principal military posts in the United States; the latter compiled from special reports made by medical officers of the Army. These special reports were furnished under the following circumstances: During the spring of 1868, a large blank book, entitled Record of the Medical History of the Post, was furnished to each permanent post, with the following instructions from this office: It is desired that this book shall, so tar as possible, show all the conditions and causes which affect the health of the troops at the post; and, also, that it shall serve as a record of the sanitary recommendations of the medical officer, and of the action taken thereon. The record for each month, and the entries on the first eighty pages* of the book, are to be signed by the medical officer who makes them; aud each medical officer should continue, and endeavor to make more complete, the observations of his predecessors in relation to the natural history of the vicinity of the post. When a medical officer is relieved from duty, he will note in this book the exact sanitary conditiou of the post, the troops, and the hospital. His successor will enter his remarks upon the same. When the medical director, or an inspector authorized by him, shall visit the post, he will note in this book the results of his inspection. Soon after these books had been sent out, the following order was issued: [Circular Orders No. 4-.] War Department, Surgeon General's Office, Washington, D. C, August 25, 1868. On and after the 31st of December, 1868, a sanitary report will be prepared by the senior medical officer on duty at a post, on the 31st of December and the 30th of June of each year. * * With the first report, medical officers will forward a special report, describing, in detail, the post buildings, water supply, drainage, &c. This report should contain the information and data which have been obtained for and entered in the Eecord of the Medical History of the Post. * * * The first eighty pages are devoted to a description of the post and vicinity, including botany, geology, &c.