Vouchers pertaining to accounts current examined, recorded in detail, approved and forwarded 1,789 Accounts of sales with vouchers settled.... Miscellaneous notifications.... 64 1,376 Statements of funds received, recorded, and forwarded to Treasury. 252 Property returns examined and settled.. 463 Property returns examined and suspended 14 Certificates of non-indebtedness sent. Certificates of corrections sent.. Property returns recorded Property returns prepared in Surgeon-General's Office.. Letters and indorsements sent, pertaining to property returns.. 69 377 463 47 423 The contributors to the Army Medical Museum were 9 surgeons, 28 assistant surgeons, 15 acting assistant surgeons, 3 hospital stewards, 1 private, and 32 civilians. The names of 34,479 visitors were registered at the Army Medical Museum during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881. Sixty-five negatives and 1,802 photographic prints of surgical objects were made, and 1,026 of them were distributed among correspondents and contributors. Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion.-One hundred and ten drawings on wood, 96 engravings, and 4 lithographic plates were prepared for Volume II of Part III of the Medical and Surgical History of the War, and 152 pages of this volume were completed, advancing the work from page 382 to page 534, inclusive. LIBRARY. Nearly two thousand five hundred volumes, and 3,200 pamphlets have been added to the library during the past year, making the total number about 54,000 volumes, and 60,200 pamphlets. The publication of Volume II of the Index-Catalogue has been completed, and the edition of 1,500 copies is being distributed. The manuscript of Volume III is now going to press. An estimate has been forwarded for printing Volume IV of the Catalogue, and it is hoped that the appropriation asked for will be granted, in order that the progress of this important work may not be retarded. A NEW FIRE-PROOF BUILDING A NECESSITY FOR THE ARMY MEDICAL MUSEUM AND LIBRARY. I would again invite attention to the necessity for a new fire-proof building for the Army Medical Museum and Library, set forth in my last report, and would refer to the following extract from the message of the President to Congress at the commencement of its last session, and request that the subject be again brought to the attention of that body: The collections of books, specimens, and records constituting the Army Medical Museum and Library are of national importance. The library now contains about 51,500 volumes and 57,000 pamphlets relating to medicine, surgery, and allied topics. The contents of the Army Medical Museum consists of 22,000 specimens, and are unique in the completeness with which both military surgery and the diseases of armies are illustrated. Their destruction would be an irreparable loss, not only to the United States, but to the world. There are filed in the record and pension division, over 16,000 bound volumes of hospital records, together with a great quantity of papers, embracing the original records of the hospitals of our armies during the civil war. Aside from their historical value, these records are daily searched for evidence needed in the settlement of large numbers of pension and other claims, for the protection of the Government against attempted frauds, as well as for the benefit of honest claimants. These valuable collections are now in a building which is peculiarly exposed to the danger of destruction by fire. It is therefore earnestly recommended that an appropriation be made for a new fire-proof building, adequate for the present needs and reasonable future expansion of these valuable collections. Such a building should be absolutely fire-proof; no expenditure for mere architectural display is required. It is believed that a suitable structure can be erected at a cost not to exceed $250,000. MISCELLANEOUS. The requirements of the Army as regards medical officers during the past year have been as follows: Number of permanent posts.... Number of temporary posts and substations Total. Number of military expeditions in the field during the year 152 24 176 17 The services of 34 medical officers were required with these expeditions, and there were also 84 medical officers reported to this office as having been on duty with scouting parties during the year. The Army Medical Examining Board, convened in New York City on the 7th of November, 1877, for the examination of assistant surgeons for promotion, and of candidates for appointment in the medical corps. of the Army, has been continued in session throughout the past year, and since my last report 8 candidates have been found qualified and approved by the board; of whom 4 were appointed and commissioned assistant surgeons, on the 18th of February last, and the names of the remaining 4 have been submitted to the Secretary of War for appointment, and in due time will be presented to the Senate for confirmation. The following is a recapitulation of the work thus far performed by the Army Medical Examining Board: Number of assistant surgeons examined for promotion.... Number of candidates for appointment in the medical corps invited to ap pear for examination.... Number of candidates found qualified.. Number of candidates rejected.. Number of candidates who withdrew after partial examination... Total number examined.. Number of candidates who failed to appear for examination.. Number of candidates who declined to appear for examination. Total number invited but not examined..... 44 At the date of my last report there were 9 vacancies in the medical corps, all of which were in the grade of assistant surgeon. During the past year 1 assistant medical purveyor, with the rank of lieutenantcolonel, 1 surgeon, with the rank of major, 1 assistant surgeon, with the rank of captain, and 1 lieutenant-colonel, retired, have died, and 1 assistant surgeon, with the rank of captain, has resigned; 1 surgeon, with the rank of major, has been promoted to assistant medical purveyor, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and 2 assistant surgeons have been promoted to surgeon, with the rank of major; 4 appointments in the grade of assistant surgeons have also been made; leaving 9 vacancies in the medical corps at the present time in the grade of assistant surgeon. There are at present 13 medical officers on sick leave of absence, 5 of whom have been found incapacitated for active service and recommended for retirement by army retiring boards, and 1 has been recommended to be brought before a retiring board with a view to his retirement from active service; 3 medical officers are on ordinary leave of absence after a tour of duty on the remote frontier; leaving 162 medical officers for duty. The medical officers who have died during the year are as follows: Lieut. Col. Richard S. Satterlee (retired), at New York City, November 10, 1880. Lieut. Col. Geo. E. Cooper, assistant medical purveyor, at San Francisco, Cal., April 13, 1881. Maj. George A. Otis, surgeon, at Washington, D. C., February 23, 1881. Capt. John W. Brewer, assistant surgeon, at the Government Hospital for the Insane, November 15, 1880. Lieut. Col. Richard S. Satterlee, chief medical purveyor (retired), entered the service as an assistant surgeon, February 25, 1822; was promoted to surgeon (with the rank of major), July 13, 1832; appointed lieutenant-colonel and chief medical purveyor, July 28, 1866, and retired from active service, as lieutenant-colonel, February 22, 1869. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel, colonel, and brigadier-general, by brevet, September 2, 1864, for diligent care and attention in procuring proper army supplies as medical purveyor, and for economy and fidelity in the disbursement of large sums of money. He served at Fort Niagara, N. Y., to March, 1823; at Detroit, Mich., to September, 1823; at Fort Howard, Wis., to June, 1825; at Fort Mackinac, Mich., to November, 1831; at Fort Winnebago, Wis., to September, 1833; at Fort Howard, Wis., to October, 1837; in Florida, to May, 1838; with troops removing the Cherokee Indians, to September, 1838; at Plattsburg, N. Y., to November, 1840; in Florida, to August, 1842; at Fort Adams, R. I., to October, 1846; with the Army in Mexico, to June, 1848; at Fort Adams, R. I., to October, 1853; accompanied Third United States Artillery to California, in December, 1853, and was wrecked on board the steamship San Francisco; attending surgeon and medical purveyor at New York City from March, 1854, to July, 1866; chief medical purveyor of the Army and stationed at New York City from July, 1866, to February 21, 1870: having been directed by the President to remain on duty as chief medical purveyor after his retirement from active service. Dr. Satterlee was born at Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York, December 6, 1799, and entered the service from Michigan. He was on duty for many years among the Indians of the Northwest, where he became a great favorite and rendered important services. During the Seminole war he was medical director on the staff of General Taylor. During the advance of the Army upon the city of Mexico he served as surgeon-inchief of General Worth's division, and was mentioned for distinguished services at the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and especially at the battle of El Molino del Rey. After the occupation of the city of Mexico he became the medical director of the Army, and held that position until peace was declared and the country evacuated. During the War of the Rebellion he was on duty at New York City as the chief medical purveyor of the Army, where his services were of the greatest value. He was a most efficient, faithful, and conscientious officer, as well as a man of the most exemplary character, never losing an opportunity of doing good, and always laboring to promote the welfare of the medical corps of the Army, in which he took the greatest pride and deepest interest. Lieut. Col. George E. Cooper entered the service as an assistant surgeon August 28, 1847, was promoted to surgeon, with the rank of major, May 21, 1861, and was made assistant medical purveyor, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, December 2, 1876. He was appointed lieutenantcolonel, by brevet, September 1, 1864, and colonel, by brevet, March 13, 1865, for faithful and meritorious services during the war. He served with the "Army of Invasion" in Mexico from time of appointment to June, 1848; at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., to November, 1848; at Fort Wood, N. Y., to February, 1849; at Eagle Pass (Fort Duncan), Texas, to March, 1853; at Fort Monroe, Va., to May, 1854; with troops en route to New Mexico and at Fort Fillmore, N. Mex., to October, 1859; at Fort Mackinac, Mich., to May, 1861; medical director of the Department of Pennsylvania, to August, 1861; medical purveyor of General T. W. Sherman's expedition, to April, 1862; medical director of the Department of the South, to May, 1862; medical purveyor at Philadelphia, and acting under special instructions of the Secretary of War, to October, 1863; superintendent and inspector of hospitals at Louisville, Ky., to April, 1864; medical director of the Department of the Cumberland, to December, 1865; post surgeon, Fort Monroe, Va., to October, 1870; medical director of the Department of the Columbia, to May, 1874; post surgeon, Benicia Barracks, Cal., to December, 1874; post surgeon, Point San José, Cal., to March, 1877; was assigned to duty at San Francisco under his appointment as assistant medical purveyor, March 13, 1877, on which duty he remained until March 31, 1880, when relieved on account of sickness. Major-General McDowell, commanding the Military Division of the Pacific, in official orders announcing the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Cooper, made the following remarks as to the services of this officer: Lieutenant-Colonel Cooper served faithfully in the Medical Corps, of which he was a gifted member, for nearly forty years, distinguishing himself in the war with Mexico, and also in the late war for the suppression of the rebellion. His devotion to duty and honesty of purpose commended him to all who knew him, and his loss will be deeply felt, not only by the members of his corps, but by all those who were his military associates. Maj. George Alexander Otis entered the service as surgeon, Twentyseventh Massachusetts Volunteers, in September, 1861; was appointed surgeon United States Volunteers, August 30, 1864; assistant surgeon United States Army, February 28, 1866, and was promoted to surgeon, with the rank of major, March 17, 1880; he received the four brevets of lieutenant-colonel of Volunteers, and captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel, United States Army, for meritorious services during the war of the rebellion. While surgeon of the Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteers he served in Virginia, North and South Carolina, on special duty, in charge of the hospital steamer Cosmopolitan, in the Department of the South. He was assigned to duty in this office July 22, 1864, and was curator of the Army Medical Museum and in charge of the division of surgical records until his death. Dr. Otis was born at Boston, Mass., November 12, 1830. He graduated with the degree of A. B. and A. M. from Princeton College, and received his degree of M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1850. He visited Europe, prosecuted his professional studies in London and Paris, and returning thence established himself in Springfield, Mass. He was a member of the leading medical societies of America, and corresponding member of similar societies in Europe. With personal observations of the surgical collections abroad, Surgeon Otis brought indefatigable industry and untiring energy to the development of the surgical and anatomical collections of the Army Medical Museum. The compilation of the Surgical Volume of the Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion has placed him among the most prominent contributors to surgical history, and his death will be deeply deplored, not only by the Medical Corps of the Army, but by the whole medical profession at home and abroad, and which has been evinced, in a measure, by the eulogistic remarks concerning him made during the recent meeting of the International Medical Congress in London. Capt. John W. Brewer was appointed assistant surgeon November 22, 1862. During the war he was on duty as assistant medical purveyor at Memphis and with the Army operating in the Southwest; since the war he has been stationed at various posts in the Indian Territory and on the Western frontiers. He was appointed major, by brevet, March 13, 1865, for faithful and meritorious services during the war. JOS. K. BARNES, |