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: Lemuel J. Draper, M.D.
U.S. Naval
Asylum
Philada
March 3, 1863.
Gentlemen,
I was born in the
town of Milford, Kent County, Del. on the 14th day of May
1834. At the age of five I was sent to the public school in that place,
and was there instructed in Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography,
English Grammar, etc. In my thirteenth year I was sent to the Milford
Academy where I studied Latin, Greek, Antiquities, Moral and
Intellectual Philosophy, Ancient and Modern History, Rhetoric,
Composition, the elements of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, and
Mathematics. In my seventeenth year I entered the office of Dr. Jas. R.
Mitchell of my native place, with whom I read Medicine until the winter
of 1851, when I went to Philadelphia to attend lectures. Having
attended three courses of lectures at the
University of Pennsylvania,
the intervening time being spent in the office of my preceptor, I
graduated at that institution in the spring of 1854.
Being rather young
to commenced the practice of Medicine, I subsequently engaged in the
drug business in Wilmington, Del. and there acquire practical knowledge
of Pharmacy, and the physical properties of drugs. At the same time I
attended to a considerable amount of office, in some out-door practice.
In the fall of 1858 I relinquished the drug business, and accepted a
situation in Washington D. C. as teacher of the Seminary attached to St.
Matthew’s Church. In October 1860, I was married, returned to
Wilmington, and resumed the practice of Medicine. In March 1862, I
received an appointment as Acting Assistant Surgeon in the U.S. Navy and
was ordered to the Gunboat “Somerset” Earl English Lt. Comndg., where I
remained till December last. Hearing that my wife was lying at the
point of death, I obtained leave of absence from Acting Rear-Admiral
Bailey, and returned home to find that she had been buried two weeks. I
then determine to obtain, if possible, a permanent appointment in the
Navy, and, upon making application to the Chief of the Bureau, was
granted a permit to appear before the next board of Surgeons, and put on
leave till the board should convene. Since I returned home I have spent
the whole of my time, after visiting my family, in the hospitals of
Washington, in order to obtain as much practical experience in Surgery
as possible.
I have studied Botany and
Geology, but have only a superficial knowledge of either at present. I
am also somewhat familiar with French and German, and can read both
languages with considerable accuracy of pronunciation.
With the greatest respect I
have the honor to be,
Gentlemen,
Your most
obedient servant,
L. J. Draper
To: Surgeons Greene, Lansdale, and
Sherman
U.S. Naval
Asylum
Philadelphia.
Questions by the Board:
Questions to be answered in writing,
by, Dr. Lemuel J. Draper.
1. What is the number of infantile
teeth, + order of their appearance?
2. What is syphilis, + how do
Surgeons clarify the symptoms?
3. Write a formula for an Oleaginous
mixture, without the use of symbols, or abbreviations. (Latin)
4. What is the “atomic theory”
5. What is an elementary substance
and how many of these substances are there in nature.
6. What are the components of the
human body. [sic]
7. What is Iodine? What
preparations of it are used in Medicine?
8. What is the diagnosis of
Pleurisy, as distinguished from Pneumonia?
9. What are the symptoms and
treatment of Corrosive Sublimate in poisonous doses?
Answers by Draper:
1. There are twenty infantile or
deciduous teeth, viz: eight incisors, four bicuspids, and eight molars,
which make their appearance in the order mentioned.
2. Syphilis is a disease arising
from impure sexual intercourse, generating a specific virus by which it
is communicated from one to another, and affecting primarily the glans
penis. The symptoms are classified as primary, secondary, and tertiary,
though some writers ignore the latter class, or included it in the
secondary. Primary Syphilis is characterized by a peculiar ulcer,
termed chancre, which appears usually upon the prepuce, behind the
corona glandis, sometimes upon the glans itself, and upon the labia of
the female. This, if not arrested, is followed in the course of two
weeks by an enlargement of the lymphatic glans in the groin, termed
bubo. Secondary symptoms follow the primary in from four to six weeks
and consist of an eruption upon the skin resembling Herpes, Rupia,
Psoriasis or Lepra, and a peculiar ulceration of the fauces, known as
syphilitic sore-throat. In the secondary form it is not communicable by
contagion, but maybe transmitted from parent to child. The tertiary
form is displayed in caries of the bones of the nose and face, nodes on
the tibia or os frontis, falling of the hair, loss of appetite,
neuralgic pains, and complete disorganization of the whole system.
3. Recipe
Olei Ricini
uncias duas fluidas
Olei Terebinthina
drachmam unam fluidam
Olei Mentha Piperita
guttas octo
Pulveris Acacię, sl
Pulveris Sacchari Albi
ana drachmas duas
Aqua Destillalis
unicas sex fluidas
Fiat mixture et signa,
uncia una fluida quaque duo hora sumenda
4. The “atomic theory” is the
hypothesis that all matter is composed of infinitely small particles
incapable of subdivision, and that when two bodies unite chemically to
form a third, it is by the union of a definite number of the atoms of
the one, with a definite number of the other. This number is called a
chemical equivalent.
5. An elementary substance is one
that is not composed of any other substances, and is consequently
incapable of being resolved into component parts. The number is
variously estimated, but is now stated to be about sixty five, to the
best of my recollection.
6. The human body, anatomically, is
composed of bones, muscles, cartilages, ligaments, arteries, veins,
nerves, lymphatics, epithelial tissues, blood, brain, heart, lungs,
alimentary canal, liver, spleen, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, generative
organs, and organs of special sense.
7. Iodine is a mineral found in
sea-weed, sponge, and other plants of a dark red color, changing to blue
when mixed with starch in solution. It derives its name from the Greek
Iodes, or violet. The preparations used in medicine are Tinctura
Iodinii, Tr. Iodin. Comp. Unguentum Iodinii, Ung. Iodin. Comp. Potassii
Iodidum, Hydrargi Protiodidum et Dentiodidum, Sulphuris Iodidum, Plumbi
Iodidum, Liquor Hydrarg. et Arsenici Iodide, and various combinations of
these substances, such as Lugolis Solutions, etc.
8. Pleurisy is distinguished from
Pneumonia first by the more acute character of the pain in the former
disease, an inability to lie on the side affected; by the absence of the
rusty color sputa found in Pneumonia; but chiefly by the difference in
the physical signs. Pleurisy is characterized by dullness upon
percussion over the lower part of a lung, while the upper portion is
clear, when the patient is sitting up. Upon lying down the latter
becomes dull, and the former more resonant, owing to the change in
position of the liquid effused within the pleural cavity. There is
usually also bulging of the intercostal spaces, and sometimes
displacement of the heart. The latter stage is characterized by the
friction sound, cause by the rubbing together of the roughened surfaces
of the pleural sac. A peculiar sound termed Ęgophony is also frequently
heard, owing to the layer of liquid interposed between the lung and the
ear; this is superseded by the friction sound, as the liquid becomes
absorbed. Pneumonia, on the contrary, is known by the crepitant sound
in the first stage, followed by bronchial respiration, bronchophony and
complete flatness upon percussion over the whole side affected as the
lung becomes consolidated. These in the third stage are followed by the
mucous and sub-mucous rales, cavernous respiration, and pectoriloquy, as
the tissue of the lung becomes broken down, and suppuration takes
place. Should the disease not precede to the third stage, the bronchial
respiration and bronchophony are superseded by the returning crepetus
and finally by the healthy vesicular murmur.
9. Corrosive Sublimate, when taken
in poisonous doses, produces violent gastritis, attended with acute pain
and great irritability of the stomach. If allowed to remain
disorganization of the mucous coat of the stomach takes place, the pulse
sinks rapidly, the skin becomes cold, and covered with a clammy
perspiration, the intellect wanders, complete collapse of the vital
power ensues, and death closes the scene. When a stomach pump is at
hand it should be used at once, the poison removed, and the stomach
washed out with large quantities of tepid water. The white of eggs
should then be given freely to decompose any particles that may remain.
If no pump can be at once obtained, a teaspoonful of ground mustard will
produce almost immediate evacuation of the stomach. After the removal
of the poison any irritability that may remain should be relieved by a
full dose of one of the preparations of Morphia, and if there be much
prostration of the system it may be necessary to resort to stimulants.
L. J. Draper
U.S. Naval Asylum
Phila March 3rd 1863
Certificate of Physical Capacity
I declare on honor
that my health at this time is 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, Phthisis, Gout,
Apoplexy, or chronic disease of any kind.
I am not at present
affected with varicocele, disease of the urinary organs, hernia,
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.
L. J. Draper
Candidate for
the office of Assistant
Surgeon in the Navy of the
United States
U.S. Naval Asylum
Philada
March 2nd
1863.
