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: Franklin
Nickerson, M.D.
Charlestown, Mass.
Nov. 18, 1863.
Dr. Ruschenberger,
Dear Sir;
My history is as follows; I was born
in Hingham, Massachusetts on the eighth of September, in the year
eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, passed through the town school and
academy of my native place, was fitted for college by private tutor,
entered Harvard college in September of the year eighteen hundred and
fifty-six, graduated in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, and,
immediately after graduation, commenced the study of medicine at the
Harvard Medical School from which institution I took my degree of
M.D. at the regular University Commencement in July last. During last
winter I attended lectures at the Belleview Hospital College in New York
City. My opportunities for actual practice in medicine and surgery have
been limited, but the practice which I have had, has been confined
chiefly to that of the physician.
Very Respectfully,
Your Obedient Servant,
Franklin Nickerson,
Hingham, Mass.
Questions by the Board:
Dr. Franklin Nickerson is requested
to write answers to the following questions.
1 Name the
officinal preparations of sodium, and state the use and dose of each.
2. What
substances are formed by the chemical union of oxygen and sulphur?
3. From what
vessels does the liver received blood?
4. What are
the diagnostic symptoms of colic?
5. What are
the indications of treatment of scalds with separation of the cuticle?
6. What parts
enter into the composition of the knee joint?
Answers by Nickerson:
1. There is the (1) chloride of
Sodium, Na.Cl or common salt (2) Sulphate of Soda Na O SO3
(3) Carbonate of Soda, NaO, CO2. (1) may be given as a
haemastatic in the dose of two or three teaspoonfuls and may be combined
with other cooling substances as a refrigerant. It has been taken for
example, in haemoptysis. (2) is the old Glauber Salt and has been
superseded by the Sulphate of Magnesia. It is used as a Cathartic in
the dose of an ounce, as a laxative in the dose of two or three drachms
but it is not so effective as Epsom Salts and is not now much used. (3)
is an excellent antacid, acting as follows, it’s [sic] base Soda
combining with the acids of the stomach and its acid the Carbonic, being
liberated. It may be given in the dose of a teaspoonful. Some
dyspeptic people always carry their Soda-bottle with them to be used
after eating. Carbonate of Soda is also an ingredient in “Seidlitz
powder.”
2. Sulphurous acid SO2
and Sulphuric acid SO3
3. From the hepatic artery and
portal vein.
4. Obstinate Constipation sometimes
a mounting to obstipation. Sharp pains in the abdomen, relieved by
pressure as a general rule, but causing the patient to toss about
violently. If there is biliary disorder connected with it jaundice,
i.e. yellowness of the body is an accompaniment.
5. Some advise glycerine or gum
arabic and molasses, the object being to exclude the air.
6. The anterior and posterior
crucial ligaments, synovial membrane, lateral ligaments, two or three
bursae + the tendons of the rectus femoris vastus externus and internus,
which connected with the patella, femur + tibia form the knee joint.
Franklin Nickerson
Navy Yard, Boston
Nov. 13, 1863.
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
