The
following is a dictated translation of the hand-written application to
the U. S. Navy Examination Board during the Civil War by a civilian
physician/surgeon for a position as a medical officer in the Federal
Navy or for promotion to Assistant Surgeon by an Acting Assistant
Surgeon. The actual
applications are in the possession of the author and presented to
enlighten the general public and other researchers as to the education
process before and during the Civil War, the personal history of the
applicants, as well as to show their personal level of medical knowledge
in answering the questions asked by the Navy Board of Examiners.
(Some applicants failed to pass and did not serve or served in the Union
Army.)
This written presentation was first of a part of a two-part exam consisting of a written
exam and an oral exam.
Many of these applications are rich
with highly detailed medical content offering an interesting perspective
on the medical knowledge and practices of the period.
A broad sampling of these exams is presented to
give you a 'picture' of the type of applicant being examined and
admitted to or rejected by the Federal Navy in 1863. Much more detail
on the individuals and their personal and naval history will be
presented in a forth-coming book by Dr. Herman.
(The actual written exam photos are available, but not presented on
these pages due to the size of the files. An
example
of a hand-written exam is on the
'List of all Applicants' page)
If you have additional information or images for any of these
doctors, please
contact us.
A list with links to
all applicants in this survey of U.S. Navy Applicants for 1863
Example of a handwritten exam given by the Navy Examination Board
Applicant:
William McClellan Reber, M.D.
I was born in the town of Lewisburg,
Union county State of Pennsylvania on the 4th day of January
in the year 1842.
I attended the College at Lewisburg
and finished a full course of studies as far as the Junior Year –
Studying all the branches Ancient and Modern that are usually given at
such an institution.
I have been engaged in the study of
Medicine for the past two years and six months.
During the first year I read medicine
under Dr. Wm Hayes in Lewisburg, the rest of the time
I have been an Office Student of Dr. Pancoast, I am a graduate of the
Jefferson Medical College and will receive a Diploma from the
institution tomorrow March 10th 1863.
During the first year of my medical
studies I had a very good chance of studying practical pharmacy in the
office of my preceptor, it being the custom for Physicians in the
country to keep their own drugs, and I put up nearly all of the
medicines – I also had very good advantages of that kind while I was a
Medical Cadet in the Military Hospital under Dr. P B Goddard. My
advantages for learning the Art of Surgery have also been quite good –
having been with and assisted Prof Pancoast in very many operations.
I never studied Natural History to
any extent. I studied Latin and it's Greek to the full extent required
for admission to the Junior Class at Lewisburg University.
Very Respectfully
William M Reber
1030 Chestnut St.\, Philad
Questions by the Board:
Questions to be answered in writing,
by Dr Wm M. Reber
1. What is the composition of the
Umbilical Cord?
2. What affect has a ligature on the
coats of an artery?
3. Write a prescription (Latin)
without symbols or abbreviations, for an astringent pill in Dysentery.
4. Soap, what is it chemically, its
modus operandi in the arts?
5. What is animal heat and how
produced?
6. Respiration, what is it
chemically?
7. What is the history and what the
value of Arnica? [sic]
8. What are the pathology and
treatment of Ascites?
9. What is Ascaris? how treated?
Answers by Reber:
1. The umbilical cord is composed of
blood vessels principally, which are surrounded by a soft pulpy
substance.
2. A ligature when tight enough
applied divides the internal in middle coats of the artery
3. Recipe
Acidi Gallici -
ʓj
Zinci Sulphatis
℈ij
Opii Pulvis
grsX
Misce Secundam Artem, Fiant pilulam in Numero vigenti.
4. Soap is The Substance formed by
the union of the fat and an alkali. In the arts it usually acts by
neutralizing the substance to be removed by it.
5. Animal heat is the heat which is
necessary to the life of the individual and whenever it is increased or
diminished to any extent the animal dies. It is produced by the
breaking down of the tissues and also by the union of carbon of the
blood with the oxygen of the air in respiration
6. Respiration is chemically a union
of gases in the lungs.
7. Arnica is a small plant,
perennial in its nature called Arnica Montana growing in Europe, the
flowers and leaves are used principally in form of a tincture and
chiefly as an external application to bruises etc., it is not considered
a very efficacious remedy.
8. Ascites is a collection of fluid
in the peritoneal sack – is is [sic] produced by want of harmony between
the cells for secretion and those for absorption. The absorbents not
being able to take up the fluid as fast as it is secreted. Treatment,
hydragogue Cathartics, diuretics, and in extreme cases paracentesis
abdominis. If the patient be very weak and hydraemical he will need
tonics and nutritious food.
9. An Ascaris is a small warm which
is found in the lower part of the rectum just above the sphincter ani
muscle – they may be treated by some stimulating ointment such as a
mercurial ointment or they may be mechanically removed from the rectum.
Wm. M. Reber
Naval Asylum,
March 12th 1863
Certificate of Physical Capacity
I declare on honor that my health is
at this time good and robust; and to the best of my knowledge and
belief, I am free from any accidental or constitutional defects, and
without any predisposition to Epilepsy, Gout, Phthisis, Apoplexy, or
chronic disease of any kind.
I am not at present affected with
varicocele, disease of the Urinary Organs, hernia, or hemorrhoids; nor
am I aware that there is anything hereditary in my constitution, which
would hereafter be likely, to incapacitate me for the arduous duties of
a Medical Officer of the Navy.
All my organs of sense are without
imperfection.
William McClellan Reber
Candidate for the office of
Asst Surgeon in the
Navy
of the United States.
U.S. Naval Asylum, Philada
1862. [sic]
A
list with links to
all applicants in this survey of U.S. Navy Applicants for 1863
Example of a handwritten exam given by the Navy Examination Board