OFFICERS AM) PRIVATES ARE
EXAMINED IN REGARD TO
GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.
RESULTS ARE SATISFACTORY
Information Is of Great Advantage in
Determining in Regard to Promo
tions and in Weeding Out Useless
Members of Military Force.
WASHINGTON, 1). C., March 16.—
The chief of stall' has approved the
recommendation of the surgeon gen
eral for the extension of psychological
examination to all enlisted men and
all newly appointed officers of the
army, and has approved plans for car
rying out these examinations. The
work will require four commissioned
officers and twenty enlisted men pe;
division in order to examine 400 men
a day—more enlisted men if a largei
number is to be examined each day.
The total estimated personnel for con
ducting the examinations in the thir
ty-one divisional training camps and
for special staff in the surgeon gen
eral's office is twenty-seven majors
lifty-one captains, and lifty-four lieu
tenants of the sanitary corps, national
army, and sixty-two sergeants, sixty
two corporals, and 6*20 enlisted mer
Special buildings and equipment ti
cost $10,000 to $12,000 per camp have
been authorized for the work.
School of Military Psychology.
A school of military psychology will
be established at the medical officers
training camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga,
where about fifty psychologists will be
entered monthly for a minimum ol
two months’ training in the subjects
which they should know for the prac
tice of their specialty under military
conditions. On the staff of the com
mandant of the medical officers train
ing camp will be a senior instructoi
in psychology detailed to the work b\
the surgeon general on recommenda
tion of Maj. Yerkes, head of the .-ac
tion of psychology. General military
and physical instruction will be giver
students and, in addition, such instruc
tion in military psychology as the or
ganization and administration of
psychological examining, the practice
of group and individual examining
types of mental incompetents, maling
ering and its detection, etc.
The extension of the psychological
examinations is based on results ir
four divisional camps where the meth
od was tried. By order of the surgeon
general special inspection of this wort
was made at two of the camps where
the work was in progress, Camps Lee
Report on t amp Lee.
Col. Shaw, who was detailed tr
make this inspection, attached the fol
lowing summary of his findings to hit
report for Camp Lee:
“Psychilogica! tests have been made
on DO per cent of the command, offi
cers and men.
“Men are rapidly handled in com
pany groups by four examiners, wh<
conduct simultaeneously both the in
telligence and the mechanical-skil
test. About half a regiment is exam
ined each day.
“Certain types of mental and ner
vous instability are identified at once
and the mentally defective as soon a:
the scores are known.
“There was a general concurrent
of opinion among officers who hac
been furnished psychological ratsing,
of men in their commands that prev
ious estimates of mental capacity cor
responded in a very striking way witl
the scores made by these men at th(
examination.
“Neurological examinations aix
made of ail suspicious cases and of al
men in the E and S classes. About hah
of each class are found unfit for mili
tary service.
Value of the Tests.
“The value of these psychological
tests as an indication of mental ca
pacity cannot be defmtely determiner
at present; further comparison must
be made of officers' estimates and the
performance of the men with psychol
jgical scores. The general opinion Ul
Camp Lee is distinctly favorable, am
1 am confident that the results obtain
'd by Lieut. Yoakum and his cowork
ers amply jutisfy the extension of the
examinations to include all enlisted
and drafted men and newly appointed
officers.
“There is nothing novel or experi
mental in the principle of applying
psychological tests as a means of de
termining practical every-day mental
capacity. They have been repeatedly
made use of heretofore among big
business concerns, with results indi
! rated in dollars and cents saved. The
' value of the work of Maj. Yerkes and
1 Ids assistants consist in devising men
tal tests of such a nature as to serve
as a practical index of the intelligence
of men in the military service. If the
results of the work at Camp Lee are
borne out at other places, it must be
admitted that Maj. Yerkes has been '
i’mi nont 1 y successful.
“The following extract from an in
terview with General Cronkhite, pub
lished in The Bayonet of October 26,
l!>i7, shows the opinion of the division
commander in regard to the value of
the p: yellological examinations:
“'It may be revolutionary, hut the
psychiatric hoard’s intelligence tests
will play a great part in this war.
These tests are virtually -conclusive;
they have proved so in thousands of
cases. And men who show a high in
telligence rating will he watched
closely—will be given every chance
for advancement. Their daily work
will lie taken into consideration, and
if they deserve promotion they will
get it. This is the program from topi
to bottom, officer and privates ” |
Maj. Yerkcs's Recommendation.
The following is from the communi
cation of Maj. Robert M. Yerkes, in '
charge of the section of psychology of !
the surgeon general’s office, to Surg. i
Gen. Gorgas, recommending authori-1
zation to proceed with formulation of;
plans for the extension of the work;
“Psychological examining in three !
of the National Army cantonments in
which it was undertaken is practically
completed except for individual exam
i ination until the final quota reports.
Approximately 80,000 enlisted men
and 5,000 commissioned officers have j
been examined.
“Results of examination indicate in
brief: (a) That approximately 2 per
cent of the drafted men as they ap
pear in camp are so seriously defect
ive in mental development .that they
are either menaces or nuisances in
military organizations; ((b) that the
intelligent-* ratings of their men sup
plied to company commanders greatly
assist the latter in properly placing
and effectively using men; (c) that
flic examining of officers will assist
greatly in selection for assignment,
promotion, or retirement.”
com
Mirgcon (icnera! s .Notations.
In forwarding Maj. Yerkes's
munication to the adjutant general
and recco,amending the extension of
the examinations the surgeon general
wrote in part as follows:
‘‘The purposes of these tests as out
lined by Maj. Yerkes is as follows: (a)
To aid in segregating and eliminating
the mentally incompetent; (b) to
classify men according to their mental
capacity; (c) to assist in selecting
competent men for responsible posi
tions.
“In the opinion of this office these
reports indicate very definitely that
the desired results have been
achieved. Scores of drafted men, men
tally incompetent, have been identified
by the psychological tests much earl
ier in their military careers than
would have otherwise occurred. The
classification of men according to
mental ability, as determined by tlies'1
examinations, has corresponded, in
general, in a very striking way with
the estimates previously made by offi
cers familiar with them, and many in
stances could be mentioned where men
selected for responsible positions sole
ly on their psychological records had
fully justified that selection.
Similar Results Likely.
“The success of this work in a large
series of observations, some 5,000 offi
cers and 80,000 men, makes it reason
ably certain that similar results may
be expected if the system were ex
tended to include the entire enlisted
and drafted personnel and to all new
ly appointed officers.
“There appears to be no objection or.
uie part comiuandin^ o^me s „v
prosecution of this work at divisional
cantonments on the ground that the
time of the men is being unduly sacri
ticed, and I am of the opinion that
the«e examinations can be continued
without any just criticism whatsoever
on this score.
“In view of these considerations 1
recommend that all company officers,
all candidates in officers’ training
camps, and all drafted and enlisted
men be required to take the prescribed
psychological test. I recommend also
that the work be prosecuted by
psychological examiners under the
control of Maj. Yerkes, S. C., and at
divisional camps under the general di
rection of the division surgeon. 1
recommend, further, that division
commanders be directed to furnish the
necessary facilities for carrying out
this work.”
Extracts From Memorandum.
At the request of the training com
mittee of the War College, Maj.
Yerkes prepared a memorandum on
certain phases of the subject from
which the following is quoted:
“Thb strictly medical value of
psychological examining, through the
elimination of the intellectually in
competent, is demonstrably great raid
now widely recognized among medical
officers who are familiar with it. Co’.
Shaw’s reports adequately express the
sense of the medical department. It
may fairly be argued that this value
aione would justify the extension of
the work to all enlisted men.
“The value of psychological examin
ing as an aid in the selection of ma
terial for officers is clearly indicated
(a) by the correlation of psychological
measurements with officers’ ratings
(approximately TO per cent); (b) by
the ranking officers in different arms
of the service; (c) by the substantial
agreement between psychological rat
ings of soldiers and the opinions of
their company commanders concern
ing them.
“Decision concerning the future of
this work should doubtless depend
upon the military importance of deal
ing promptly and properly with the
mentally inferior on the one hand and
the mentally superior on the other. It
is believed, and therefore the recom
mendation which is before the <uun
mittee, that the general use of sound
scientific procedure of psychological
examining will greatly lessen military
costs through the prompt elimination
of men who are not worth the labor
of training, and the immediate refer
ence to service organizations of those
who respond very unsatisfactorily to
military training, that it will substan
tially increase tIte efficiency of mili
tary organization and subsequently
of operation through the selection and
the proper placement of men of super
ior intellectual ability.
Convinced of Its Value.
“The shortening of the war by a
single day would effect a saving great
er than the cost of conducting psychol
ogical examination for millions of
men. This memorandum is presented
because those of us who are chiefly
responsible for this new work have
wholly convinced ourselves that
psychology has achieved a position
which will enable it to substantially
help to win the war and to shorten the
necessary period of conflict.
“Finally, it should be remarked that
our methods are not statical, but are
constantly being improved. There i
ample reason for prediction that their
value to the service can be very great
ly increased by the revision which is
now in progress.”
NO TIME LOST.
Marion—Is it true Albert has jilted
you? The wretch! Still, try to act
like a sensible girl and look out for
another fellow. t
Dorothy—“Your advice comes toe
late, dear.”
Marion—Heaven, Dorothy! You
have not taken poison ?
Dorothy—Well, n—n—no; the fact
is I—I became engaged again yester
day.
WILL FEATHER THEIR NEST.
J. L. Drake and Elizabeth Crow,
both of Ord, Nebraska, were married
in Council Bluffs, Iowa, last week.
""""well, well.
Thatcher, Ohio, is a dry town, but
that doesn’t scare us a bit. We know
that Iona Barr lives there.
MILITARY ACT DOES NOT CON
TEMPLATE LEAVING DEPEND
ENTS IN DISTRESS.
_
j SOME BOARDS MADE MISTAKES.
Provost Marshal Says While General
Principle Can Be Laid Down for
Local Officials They Must Apply it
to Individual Cases.
—
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 16.—
i On the subject of dependency claims
under the selective draft act, Provost
Marshal General Enoch H. Crowder
says in a report to the secretary of
war on the operation of the law, that
the question of actual dependency
must be left to the boards to deter
mine.
“It can hardly be said that local
boards composed of the neighbors o'
men to be taken for military service
are not the best conceivable tribunals
to weigh these questions of depend
ency, or that they cannot be relied
: upon both to protect the government
from the insistence of selfish and
thoughtless claimants on the one
hand, and to treat each case of sub
stantial merit with intelligent and
sympathetic consideration on the
other,” says the provost marshal. “In
by far the majority of boards this re
sult is attained, but in a very few in
stances, such an uncompromising view
of the regulations and rulings issued
in aid thereof has been taken that
some married men have been selected
leaving wives and even children ir
distress.
Difficulties in Deciding.
“It must be recognized that there
are very great difficulties in deciding
individual cases. A soldier’s pay it
$:J0 a month. The provisions of the
war risk insurance law make it easily
possible for an American soldier tej
allot for his family during his absence
a sum substantially in excess of ttii.
monthly pay. In many cases, especial
ly among tenant farmers in certain
southern states and among the poor
er classes in large cities this is :i
greater contribution than the regis
trant normally makes to the support
of his family; and considering the in
surance feature of the law, it is a
much more certain and infallible in
come than could be obtained from am
other source. In such a case it is im
possible to arrive at a fair conelusior
that there is a dependency on th«
labor of the registrant for support.
Some of Questions Arising.
“Very early in the execution of the
law tire speefie question was put t<
this office: ‘Where the parents of the
registrant, or his wife, or both, are
ready, able and willing to undertake
the support of the wife during the ab
sence of the registrant, can the wit
he considered as mainly dependent oi
the labor of the registrant for sup
port ? ’
“It is an extremely dangerous thing
to attempt to guide the discretion o!
so large a collection of tribunals a:
the selective-service system by ab
struct rulings on hypothetical ques
tions. At the time this question was
propounded reports from the various
governors were rather alarming, sines
it was stated that over 70 per cent ol
registrants were claiming exemptior
on the ground of dependency.
Cases of Non-Support.
i “A considerable class of cases ha<
been brought to the attention of this
office in which men who had nevei
really supported their wives, but whc
were, in fact, dependent on their owr
i parents or the parents of their wives
were claiming exemption on the
ground that their wives were mainly
; dependent on their daily labor for sup
port. Requests for rulings on these
two classes of cases became so insist
ent that it was apparent that without
some expression of a general rule, de
cisions by the boards in the different
parts of the country would present a
lack of uniformity that would serious
ly affect the even execution of the
law. , ,
“On August 8, therefore, a ruling
was made that in that class of cases
where the registrant, as a matter cl
fact, was not dependent upon himself,
and the parents of the registrant or ol
his wife were ready, able, and willing
to undertake the support of the wife
during the absence of the husband, the
boards would be justified in finding
that such a registrant had not a good
claim for exemption on the ground ol
the dependency of his wife.
“This ruling did not work well. The
few boards that had been prone tc
hold married men for service in the
absence of the most unequivocal cir
cumstances of dependency took the
ruling as authority to look unto the
material wealth of the parents of the
husband or of the wife. Regardless oi
readiness and willingness, regardless
of whether or not he wife had in the
past been actually dependent on the
labor of the husband for support
these boards held some married mer
for service wherever it appeared tc
them that, rather than let the wife
suffer, the parents would undertake
her support during the absence of the
husband.
District Boards Cautioned.
“As soon as this condition develop
j ed, attention of the boards was calle
to the error on August 27, and the dis
trict boards were cautioned to scar
cases before them on appeal to coned
such errors. On September 27 loca
boards were instructed to reopen anc
reconsider cases in which erroneous
action has been taken, even thougl
the registrant might have been induct
ed into military service in the mean
time. A period of forty-seven days
was allowed for the correction of thes<
errors in the cases of men inductee
into military service, and within tha
period most of such cases were, ant
all of them should have been, cor
rected.
“Notwithstanding the condition,
j with which it had been guarded, tin
authority was pressed upon man}
boards to obtain a rehearing in case:
in which no error had been committee
and in which there was no merit. Tin
reopening of unmeritorious case;
leached a magnitude that began tc
embarrass the orderly raising anc
1 training of the national army. Or
November 13, therefore, the authority
to reopen cases of registrants who ha<
| already been inducted into the mili
tary service and sent to a mobilizatioi
j camp was withdrawn.
Ample Time Had Elapsed.
“Ample time had elapsed to corrce
all cases decided before the errors o
the boards had been discovered am
rectified and there was no reason t
reopen cases decided after that time
| It was still provided, however, that, ii
; cases alleged to be of special merit o
! hardship, the commanding officer o
the mobilization camp to which tin
registrant had been sent for servici
should consider such circumstance.
j and, if he found the case to be o
merit, that he should discharge the in
duct from the army under the plena";
: authority of the secretary of war t,
grant such discharges to any enlisted
man. As a matter of law, after the
boards had passed upon the merits of
a case and inducted the registrant into
military service the boards were with
out further authority in the case, and
the reopening by the boards of cases
of men already so inducted and their
findings thereon had been advisor}
merely, since such action had no ef
fect, ex proprio vigore, to effect a dis
charge from military service. The
actual discharge had been consum
muated in every case by the com
manding officer.
“The new procedure has been found
just and effective.”
BATTLE FIELD DEATH TEST.
Minimum Quantity! of 33 Per Cent
•Solution of Dionin Recommended
to Academy of Medicine.
Uncertainty as to wehther a person
be alive or dead is especially great on
the battlefield and prompt decision in
! such cases is far more important than
in civil life, writes a correspondent at
the front. Dr. A. Terson has just
recommended to the French Academy
| of Medicine a new test, those already
known having proved insufficient.
The best of these latter has been the
injection of flourescein, as devised by
Icard. But even this is uncertain, for
in some cases men who are still alive
do not show the green coloration of
; the whites of their eyes following in
i jection, which the test is supposed to
;produce.
Dr. Terson recommends placing in
; the eye a minute quantity of a 33 per
■ cent solution of dionin (ethyl-mor
I phine), gylcerine. If death has already
: taken place, nothing happens, but if
i the man has the slightest trace of
• life still in him the white of his eyes
will immediately turn purplish-red
; and swell, but this inflammation will
' disappear rapidly and leave no ill
• effect.
TADPOLES AND FROGS.
In general terms the tadpole is a
i vegetarian, while the frog lives on
| animal food. The tadpole in the pool
or pond feeds chiefly upon the algae.
■l But the tadpole wih also eat decaying
: > insects, earthworms, fruit and almost
1 any kind of meat.
i; It is a curious fact, says Boy’s Life,
! that when the tadpole transform into
the frog the intestine shortens, the
; i mouth becomes wider and the tongue
'j increases greatly in size. These
i changes take place to adapt it to a
: change of food. At the same time, the
. | legs grow rapidly, the rounded body
!1 alters in form and the tail is absorbaJ.
• I The lungs develop rapidly and the
■j tadpole frequently comes to the surf
: ace for air. The frog breathes
i I
; through its nostrils by a pumping or
, i swallowing process due to the action
' of the mouth and not by the action !
-1 its ribs as in higher forms of anim:
I The frog also imbibes oxygen direct;
> | through its skin.
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