On the growth of the recruit and young soldier : with a view to a judicious selection of "growing lads" for the army, and a regulated system of training for recruits / by William Aitken.

Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the growth of the recruit and young soldier : with a view to a judicious selection of "growing lads" for the army, and a regulated system of training for recruits / by William Aitken. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    spend a lifetime at a desk or counter on wages that yield but a bare subsistence. The changes which have thus been made in localisation and organisation of the army, in the administration and development of the recruiting districts, in the freer, fuller, and more honest adver- tisement of the wants of the service, have all con- tributed largely to the popularity and knowledge of the army among the people at large. But it is still necessary that a knowledge of what is wanted as to physique should be spread amongst the civil population ; and hence another object aimed at in this book is to arrive at sound conclusions as to the principles on which a minimum standard as to height, weight, and chest-girth may be safely fixed upon, so that no eligible lad need be refused enlistment who is likely to become an efficient soldier. The numbers of recruits to be got will always be greatly influenced by increased or decreased em- ployment in civil life—by the depression or activity of trade and commerce. When trade and com- merce are in a state of depression, the means of subsistence to many are limited and even precari- ous, so that many lads and young men seek to enter the army in such times. Then it is that, with increased numbers seeking military life, we are apt to get inferior quality as to the physique of the recruit, especially under the influence of scarcity of food, which again influences the predisposition to disease.
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