14. The provisions of regulations issued by the Quartermaster General governing the purchase and inspection of animals for the Army not in conflict with these instructions will be observed. Authority having been given by the Secretary of War for the purchase of public animals at a suitable price in the open market under provision of the Army appropriation act approved May 12, 1917, and June 18, 1917, you are requested to quote a price on 1917, subject to all the terms and conditions of the agreement and specifications hereto attached. You will be notified if the price is satisfactory and a time set for executing the agreement. (Signed) Quartermaster Corps, Purchasing Officer. REPORT OF THE SURGEON GENERAL. I have the honor to transmit herewith the annual report of the Surgeon General of the Army for the calendar year 1916, including a financial statement for the fiscal year 1916-17. This is the onehundredth consecutive annual report of the Surgeon General, the first having been compiled in the year 1818. The century covered by these reports, extending approximately from the War of 1812 to the War of 1917, has been a period of remarkable scientific and professional advancement and of military and material achievement for our country in which the Medical Department and the Army of the United States have played a highly creditable if not a conspicuous part GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. The wide geographical range and varied character of the activities of the medical officers of the Army during the past two decades have been a matter of frequent comment. The year 1916 proved no exception to the rule, and the Medical Corps found its field of action, not only in the various parts of continental United States, but also in Mexico, in Alaska, in Panama and Porto Rico, in Hawaii, in the Philippines, and in China. It may be stated in passing that recent events have further increased the regional distribution of our Army, and the Medical Corps now faces the sanitary and hygienic problems of a great modern war, staged with a European background, and under conditions unparalleled in the history of warfare. The services rendered by the officers of the Medical Corps have been highly satisfactory in all respects, administrative as well as professional, and have entirely justified the commendation made by their superiors in official reports. Special emphasis should be placed upon the excellent work accomplished by the medical officers of the Regular Army in connection with the expedition into Mexico, and particular attention should be directed to the exceptional results achieved in the Southern Department by the medical officers of both the Regular Army and the National Guard during the mobilization of the Army and the Guard on the border in the summer and fall of 1916. The following senior medical officers of the Medical Corps, United States Army, have held positions of special importance during the year 1916: Col. Henry P. Birmingham, Acting Surgeon General, United States Army, during the period of mobilization of the Regular Army and National Guard, June-December, 1916. Col. William H. Arthur, commandant Army Medical School and Laboratories, Washington, D. C. The department surgeons, commanding officers of general hospitals, officers in charge of Red Cross and special work and general supply depots, and the chief surgeons and sanitary inspectors of 24424°-WAR 1917-VOL 1-22 337 expeditionary forces were: Colonels of the Medical Corps Charles Richard, Rudolph G. Ebert, William H. Arthur, George E. Bushnell, Henry P. Birmingham, William O. Owen, William Stephenson, Guy L. Edie, William D. Crosby, Charles M. Gandy, Walter D. McCaw, Jefferson R. Kean, Henry I. Raymond, William P. Kendall, William B. Banister, Charles F. Mason, James D. Glennan, Alfred E. Bradley, Euclid B. Frick, Frank R. Keefer, Charles Wilcox, Thomas U. Raymond, Henry D. Snyder, Allen M. Smith, Joseph T. Clark, Merritte W. Ireland, Henry C. Fisher, Henry A. Shaw, Francis A. Winter, George D. Deshon, Champe C. McCullough, jr., Frederick P. Reynolds, Paul F. Straub, Alexander N. Stark, Charles Lynch, Edward L. Munson, James M. Kennedy, Deane C. Howard, William H. Wilson, William F. Lewis, Thomas S. Bratton, Thomas J. Kirkpatrick, Irving W. Rand, Powell C. Fauntleroy, James S. Wilson, Basil H. Dutcher, Leigh A. Fuller, George A. Skinner, Carl R. Darnall, Henry Page, Bailey K. Ashford, Henry A. Webber, Jesse B. Clayton, Weston P. Chamberlain, Edward R. Schreiner, Frederick M. Hartsock, Douglas F. Duval, and Clarence J. Manly. THE GREAT WAR. On the 6th of April, 1917, the United States entered as an active participant the European war, the most formidable military contest of all time, ancient or modern. It is manifestly undesirable at this time to allude except in most general terms to the preparations made for this struggle by the War Department, or refer except briefly to the plans of the Medical Department for its very important part in the war, with its exacting responsibilities in connection with all that relates to the health, hygiene, and sanitation of the enormously increased military forces of the United States, included in the Regular Army, National Guard, and National Army. The details of the important work mentioned and the medical history of the part taken by the United States in the great war will be properly a subject for future annual and special reports, and the means to secure this end have already been given careful consideration with the view that nothing of professional or historical value and interest may be lost. As evidence of the unprecedented expansion of the activities of the Medical Department of the Army, it can be stated that at this time there are more than 13,900 officers engaged in the work of the Army Medical Department, including officers ef the Regular Medical Corps, and the four Officers' Reserve Corps-Medical, Dental, Veterinary, and Sanitary-connected with the work under the direction of the Surgeon General of the Army. It is believed that at least 24,000 physicians will be included in the personnel of the Medical Department of the Army when full strength is attained. Every step in caring for the physical welfare of the enlisted men, officers, and civilians associated directly with the military organizations of the United States from the time of their entry into active service until they are discharged comes under the direction of the Medical Department of the Army. |