sauerkraut, and other vegetables are made, whenever the medical officers consider them necessary for the health of the troops. When ever it is practicable for the troops to bake their own bread, flour is issued, and as the amount of bread thus produced would be excessive for a ration, the surplus flour is resold to Government at cost, and a company fund formed, which is used for the purchase of such additional articles of food or comfort as may be desired. In time of peace, company gardens are cultivated at every military post, and furnish an abundant supply of fresh vegetables. The ration is somewhat in excess of the wants of the soldiers, and it is a very general custom in the army for the companies to sell back a portion of it which is unconsumed, to the commissary, and from the company fund thus formed, obtain milk, fruits, or other luxuries.

It is evidence of the sufficiency and good quality of this ration, that with the exceptions presently to be mentioned, there has been little or no tendency to scurvy in the army, and no indications of insufficient alimentation. In the case of the army in the Department of the South, in Folly and Morris Islands in the summer of 1863, there was for some time difficulty in obtaining a full supply of some articles comprised in the ration, especially the fresh meat and vegetables, and the quality of the biscuit was poor, partly probably from the sea voyage; the men were meanwhile exposed to extraordinary fatigue, and severe labor, and though few cases of clearly defined scurvy appeared, there were cachetic symptoms in connection with the disease which prevailed. To the extraordinary and humane efforts of the Sanitary Commission, in providing ice, lemons, oranges, lime juice, potatoes, onions, and other anti-scorbutics in large quantities, and furnishing them freely to the men, is unquestionably due the preservation of that army from scurvy, in its worst forms. Gen. Grant's army, during the siege of Vicksburg, was in a similar condition of danger; the salt beef and hard tack, which, for a time, constituted their principal food, from the difficulty of transportation, proving insufficient to maintain the men in sound health under the severe labors of the siege. Here again the hospital visitors of the Sanitary Commission discovered the danger of scurvy; and potatoes, onions, sauerkraut, &c., were sent forward in immense quantities, and with the best possible effect. There was a similar danger for a time at Chattanooga, after the battle of Chickamauga, and at Knoxville daring the siege, the men subsisting for some weeks on half rations; but with the removal of the obstructions to transportation, and the returning abundance, the cause for alarm passed away. In the Confederate army Scurvy and cachectic diseases have prevailed in several instances with great malignity, and the insufficiency of the rations has been indicated painfully in the low grade of febrile action, which has prevailed in their camps.

The last topic which we shall mention as ex

erting an influence upon the hygienic condition of the army, is the clothing of the soldier. This is a matter of importance in relation to its sufficiency in protecting from cold, in guarding the body against excessive heat, in permitting the free use of the limbs, and in rendering the man a more or less conspicuous mark for the fire of the enemy. The sudden changes and rapid transition from cold to heat, and from heat to cold in the climate of the United States, render woollen clothing preferable to any other for army use, though for a short time in the summer, in the Southern departments, cotton, duck or jeans might be used with advantage. The color of the clothing, experience has fully settled, should be light blue, or gray, and for the purpose of being less distinctly seen by the sharpshooters of the enemy, red, which had at the beginning of the war been adopted by some regiments, proves more objectionable than any other color. The kepi or small cap is preferable to most other forms of headgear, though the soft hat is not without some advantages, and the tarboosh or turban of the Zouaves is valuable as a protection from the direct rays of the sun. The neck, if covered at all, should only have the lightest and loosest of coverings. The trousers should be loose and full, and the shoes broad and long enough for easy walking. Gaiters of linen, woollen, or leather, are advantageous, supporting the leg and preventing varicose veins.

It is owing to the care and persistence with which these various hygienic measures have been urged upon the army, and the great pains which have been taken to instruct and train the army surgeons, and nurses in the hospitals for their duties, that the army of the United States, composed almost wholly of volunteers, whose whole mode of life has been changed by their new vocations, the greater part of them entirely ignorant of the laws of health, with surgeons who had, for the most part, no previous training in military medicine or surgery, and many of whom were utterly unfitted for their duties, has maintained a lower sick rate, as well as a lower rate of mortality than any other army in modern times. This result has been reached too, while the regions in which the army has been stationed have in general been exceedingly unhealthy to the unacclimated, quite as insalubrious as any part of Spain, Portugal, or the Crimea. The attainment of so gratifying a result is due in a great degree to the U. S. Sanitary Commission, which, by its careful, regular and special med ical inspections of every army corps, and all the hospitals, has promptly detected any violations of hygienic laws, and taken measures to correct them; has published brief medical and surgical tracts from the pens of the ablest military physicians in this country and Europe, and placed copies in the hands of every army assistant surgeon and medical cadet in the army; has trained many of the best nurses for camp, field, and hospital; has provided anti

scorbutics in vast quantities where they were needed, and by its ministrations to the sick and wounded, and its stores of cordials, medicines, delicacies, and clothing, has powerfully aided in restoring the disabled to service. The assistance thus rendered to the medical department of the Government, with which the Commission has ever acted in perfect harmony, has saved many thousands of lives, and rendered the army far more effective, than it otherwise could have been.

A brief comparison of the medical statistics of the British army in the Peninsular war, in the war with Russia, and in times of peace, with those of the army of the United States during the present war, will show conclusive ly the beneficial results of the strict attention paid to hygiene in the latter.

The average annual mortality in the British army during the Peninsular war was 165 men out of every thousand. Of these 113 died by disease or accident, and 52 by wounds received in action. From 1803 to 1812 the average annual death rate of the entire British army abroad, was 80 per 1,000 ;-71 by disease or accident, and 9 by wounds in action. This, it should be remembered, was in a veteran army composed, not of raw recruits, but of men hardened to exposure by years of service, a class of men far less liable to illness than raw recruits, just from the farm, the store, or the workshop. In July, August, and September, 1854, the British army in the Crimea lost at the rate of 293 men per thousand, per annum. During the next three months, October, November, and December, the loss was at the annual rate of 511 to every thousand, 443 of which was by disease. In January, 1855, the mortality was at the rate of 1,174 to every 1,000 -equal to the entire destruction of the army in ten months, and 1,143, or 97 per cent. of this loss was by disease. During the first three months of that year the death rate was 912 out of every thousand, and 98 per cent. of it from disease.

During the entire campaign of 2 years, April, 1854, to June, 1856, the annual death rate was 232 per 1,000, of whom 202 were from disease, and only 30 from wounds received in action. In other words, during the campaign

ILLINOIS. A short session of the Legislature of Illinois was held during the year, which attracted some attention by the manner in which it was brought to a close. A resolution for fixing a day for final adjournment passed the Senate, and was sent to the House for concurrence. In the House it was amended by the insertion of another day. In this amendment the Senate refused to concur. Under this state of facts, Gov. Yates sent the following message to the Lower House:

of 21 years, 582 of every thousand men died from disease or wounds and 505 of every thousand from disease.

According to the Register General's report for the year 1861, the mortality among the home troops of Great Britain in that year was 91.24 in every thousand, in a time of peace, and among the troops abroad, the mortality from sickness averaged 100 in every thousand.

In the armies of the United States from April 15th, 1861, to May 18th, 1862, the entire death rate was 53 per 1,000, per annum, of which only forty-four per cent. or less than one-half was from disease or accident. During the year and eight months which have since ensued, the loss from wounds in battle has been very large, and during a portion of the time there has been a large percentage of sickness from typhoid fever, diarrhea, dysentery, small pox, &c., but the death rate has not reached the ratio of the first year. On the 30th of June, 1863, there were in the general hospitals 91 men for each 1,000 of the army, and in field hospitals, 44 out of every thousand, making in all 135 of each 1,000 sick or wounded, of whom 110 were cases of sickness, and 25 of wounds or casualties. This far surpasses the British army even in time of peace. In 1861, the British troops in China had, in southern China, 283 out of every 1,000 constantly sick, and in northern China 205 out of 1,000. Among the Home troops, the admissions into hospital were 1,025 of 1,000 mean strength, and 545 of every 1,000 were constantly sick. The careful weeding out of incompe tent surgeons and inefficient nurses, the material improvement in the ambulance service, and the admirable construction of the new hospitals, in respect to temperature and ventilation, have during the past year exerted a powerful influence, notwithstanding the terribly destructive battles of the year, in diminishing the mortality, and promoting the recovery of the sick in the army, and though the recurrence of great battles must necessarily increase the death rate, there is reason to believe, that with the resources of medical art, and of

boundless philanthropy, it will continue to be smaller than in any great war of ancient or modern times.

STATE OF ILLINdis, Executive Department. To the General Assembly of the State of Illinois:

Whereas, on the 8th day of June, 1863, the Senate adopted a joint resolution to adjourn, sine die, being submitted to the House of Representatives on on said day, at 6 o'clock P. M., which resolution, upon the same day, was by them amended by substituting the 22d day of June, and the hour of 10 o'clock A.M., which amendment the Senate thereupon refused to concur in ;

following provision, to wit: Whereas, the Constitution of the State contains the

SEC. 13. Art. 4. In case of disagreement between the

of the same.

Now, therefore, in view of the existing disagreement between the two houses in respect to the time of adjournment, and by virtue of the power vested in me by the Constitution aforesaid, I, Richard Yates, Governor of the State of Illinois, do hereby adjourn the General Assembly, now in session, to the Saturday next preceding the first Monday in January, A.D. 1865. Given at Springfield, this 10th day of June, A.D.

1863.

RICHARD YATES, Governor.

After the reading of this message, the minority or Administration party withdrew from the House, thus leaving the majority, or Opposition, without a quorum. Being rendered powerless for the further transaction of business, the majority entered upon the records a protest against the action of the governor, and informally left their seats. Gov. Yates was elected in November, 1860, for a term of four years. The Assembly, and one half the Senate, thus adjourned, were elected in November, 1862.

The Supreme Court of the State consists of a chief justice and two judges, and the matter came before that body in four cases, designated "mandamus cases, as follows:"

Four cases, in various forms, were pending, the object of which was to obtain a decision establishing the legal existence of a corporation called "the Wabash Railroad Company;" and they were prosecuted by those in the interest of the supposed corporation. Whether the supposed corporation had a legal existence depended upon whether a bill of the last session of the Legislature to incorporate it had become a law; and this, in one view of the case, depended upon another fact, namely: whether that session continued ten days, Sundays excepted, after the 10th day of June, when the bill went to the Governor for his action thereon. The records upon which the parties submitted the case admitted, in effect, the following

facts:

That on the 10th of June the Governor issued his proclamation adjourning the session-that thereupon there ceased to be a quorum in either house. That on the 10th and 11th the pay-rolls of the session were made out under the supervision of the two houses, certified to by the respective Speakers of Senate and House, transmitted to the Auditor for payment of the members, and that the members generally went before the Auditor, receipted the pay roll, received their pay and departed for their homes. That from the 11th to the 23d of June, the halls of the two houses were vacant and locked, the members having departed to their homes without any indication of intention to return, or to resume legislation, and that on the 23d two senators met in the Senate hall, and three representatives in the hall of the House, and assumed legislative powers by, among other things, meeting and on the morning of the 24th adjourning the session to January, Under the Constitution, a less number than a quorum-two thirds-may adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance of absentees, but a quorum only can exercise the powers of a General Assembly.

1864.

A memorandum of the decisions was made by

of Public Accounts and the People on the relation of The People on the relation of Keyes vs. The Auditor Harless vs. The Secretary of State.-A peremptory mandamus in the above case is refused, Judges Walker and Breese holding that the proclamation of the Governor, acquiesced in by the General Assembly, terminated the session on the 10th day of June. Separate opinions will be filed early in January next. December 11th, 1863,

For the action of the Assembly, by a vote of 47 to 13, relative to the order of Gen. Burnside, suppressing the Chicago "Times" newspaper, see FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.

At this session, the Legislature elected W. A. Richardson a senator in Congress. The vote was for W. A. Richardson, 66; Richard Yates, 37.

The number of State banks is twenty-five, the securities of which are: Illinois, 6 per cent., $974,660; United States 5's, $8,000; North Carolina 6's, $2,000; total, $984,600. Circulation, September, 1863, $833,146. Six National Banks were established in 1863, viz. : 1 at Cairo, capital, $50,000; 1 at Chicago, capital, $250,000; 1 at Monmouth, capital, $50,000; 1 at Danville, capital, $50,000; 1 at La Salle, capital, $50,000; 1 at Rock Island, capital, $100,000; total, $550,000.

The number of public schools in the State at the close of 1862 was 9,811, the number of scholars 516,037, and the number of persons in the State between five and twenty-one years of age, 613,014. The amount paid for teachers' wages was $1,315,686. The amount of the school fund was $4,973,842. The number of students in the Normal University was 291. There is a State institution for deaf mutes at Jacksonville, having about 240 pupils; also an insane hospital at the same place, having 302 patients; also an institution for the blind, having 64 pupils.

The number of men furnished by the State to the army up to the beginning of 1863, was as follows: infantry, 119,404; cavalry, 16,917; artillery, 3,999; total, 140,320. No draft for men was made during the year, and the quota of the State was completed by volunteers. The lib erality of the State in furnishing men and providing for them has been great.

A novel plan was adopted for the supply of the city of Chicago with water. It consisted in constructing a tunnel some distance under the bed of Lake Michigan for some miles from the shore, by which pure water could be obtained. The plan contemplates the sinking of octagonal cribs eighty feet in diameter, with central spaces, say thirty feet in diameter, leaving an average of twenty-five feet thickness to the crib around the shaft. In the central space, protected by the crib from the action of the waves, it proposed to sink iron cylinders nine feet in diameter, by the pneumatic process. The outmost shaft would be constructed with reference to its becoming the inlet for the water. The others might be removed to such a depth as not to interfere with navigation.