The returnsissued this week of the results of recruiting in
1864 reveal some interesting facts. Of every 1,000 recruits 563 came from England and Wales, 112 from Scotland, and 320 from Ireland ; while of every 1,000 applicants 886, or more than one- third, were -rejected as unfit for military service. The most frequent grounds of disqualification was varicose veins, then defects of sight, then malformation of bones, ruptures, and all the forms of scrofula. Of the applicants, 592 were labourers or servants, 175 outdoor artisans, 142 indoor artisans, and 65 sbopmen or clerks. The number of rejections seems high, but it is not much greater than the French average, which is taken from the whole popula- tion, while the English one is from a badly fed and hardly worked class. It would be curious, if it were possible, to ascertain-the true proportions of health and disease among English adults of 20. It would show about 75 per cent, of decent average healthiness.
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