No. 33. ADJUTANT, GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, April 1, 1889. By direction of the Secretary of War the following instructions are published for the information and government of ali concerned: I--At posts without medical officers, civilians applying to be enlisted will be examined by the recruiting officer only, who will be guided, in making the examination, by Greenleaf's Epitome of Tripier's Manual. If found qualified and enlisted, such persons shall be re-examined within two weeks after enlistment by a medical officer if by that time one is on duty at the station; otherwise by the citizen physician who may be employed by the Medical Department to attend upon the sick at the post. II--Hereafter, a record of such indelible or permanent marks as may be found upon the person of an accepted recruit will be made upon an outline figure card, as illustrated on accompanying pages of this order, and forwarded promptly on completion to the Surgeon General of the Army. No letter of transmittal is required. The outline cards will be furnished by the Adjutant General. The examination and record of marks of recruits belonging to the General Service will be made by the medical officer at a depot; of recruits enlisted at military posts, by the post or attending surgeon; and of recruits enlisted at other places where the services of a post or attending surgeon cannot be obtained, by the enlisting officer. In the cases referred to in section I, the record of marks will be made at the second examination. The object of this record is to obtain evidence for the identification of men who have had previous service in the Army, and its successful accomplishment depends upon a rigorous precision in noting on the card all personal markings or peculiarities The following directions should therefore be strictly observed: DIRECTIONS FOR RECORDING THE PERSONAL MARKINGS ON ACCEPTED RECRUITS. Make a careful search of the body, front and rear, on each side of the median line, separately, commencing at the scalp and ending at the foot, for any scars, moles, tattoo marks, &c., that may exist, indicating their position on the body by a dot, made with pen and ink, at a corresponding point on the figure card, on its blank fly-leaf note the general inclination, whether vertical, oblique, or horizontal; the form, rectilineal, curved (inward or outward), oval, circular, undulated, or oblong; the character, if scar, whether recent, permanent, or transient; if mole, hairy or otherwise, &c. ; and the dis tauce of the mark from some fixed anatomical point, for example "Scar, from burn, 1 inches above and 1 inch to the right of left nipple, oblique, curved inwards." When numerous small scars are found on the back, from pimples, or on the fingers, from evts, note them as "numerous scars,' or describe the principal one and add the words "and many others;" describe briefly tattoo marks and distortions of the finger and toe nails, i. e. the striated or split nail of the finger, or the hypertrophied nail of the great toe. If after careful search, no personal marking is found, the fact should be noted on the figure card. For the purpose of securing uniformity in the description of color of eyes and hair, observe the following: "Slate blue" takes the place in description of gray, which is inexact and vague. Black is seldom found except in negroes; the so-called black eye is, properly speaking, a dark brown. Malformations of or abnormal discoloration in the iris and marked differences in color between the eyes should be noted. Note name and organization, age in years and months, and height in inches and quarters thereof. Care should be taken in measuring for height that the occiput, the sacrum, and the heels touch the vertical rod. BY COMMAND OF MAJOR GENERAL SCHOFIELD: OFFICIAL: R. C. DRUM, Assistant Adjutant General. |