Surveys.

When the person is found unfit for duty, the report shall state the general character of the disease or injury, its probable duration, as far as can be predicted, and in every case all the facts and circumstances connecting the disease or injury with the performance of duty or exposure incident thereto. Medical officers are strictly forbidden to give unofficial certificates of ill health or inability to perform duty, and all such private or unofficial statements will be disregarded by the Department when officers present themselves for the purpose of seeking an extension of leave or change of duty. Whenever such person may be reported unfit for duty, and the survey is approved by the officer ordering it, he shall be disposed of as promptly as possible, in the manner recommended by the board, and in case of discharge from service, without reference to the state of his account.

1411..All reports of surveys, on account of temporary disability, shall be made out in duplicate, and forwarded, through the proper channel, to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.

1412.. Besides the surveys above directed, the Commander of a vessel, when practicable, shall appoint, at the commencement of each regular quarter, to serve to the end of it, three suitable officers, to whom, as a continued board of survey, the Paymaster, or any other officer responsible for stores, shall refer, through the senior of the three, either verbally or in writing, all such articles in his department as he may judge to be unfit for use, or not to correspond with their marks in quantity or kind, provided they do not exceed in quantity, on any one occasion, the bulk of a package of clothing, or, in the case of provisions, two barrels; and this board shall survey and pronounce upon said articles, which, with the consent of the Commanding Officer, are to be disposed of as recommended.

1413.. At the end of the quarter, or earlier if ordered, the board is to report in form, and in triplicate, to the Commanding Officer for his action and signature, separately for each department, and` separately, also, in the case of clothing or small stores, upon all the articles it has condemned in the course of it, and the disposition which has been made of them, in order that these reports may answer as authenticated vouchers.

1414..Should any of the board die, or be detached during the

Pensions.

quarter, the above report is to be made up to the time of the occurrence, signed by the survivors in one case, who are to append a note as to the cause of the absence of more signatures, and by all the members in the other. In either event another report is to be made at the end of the quarter, if surveys have been held in the mean time.

ARTICLE XXVI.

Pensions.

1415..Commanding Officers, on shore and afloat, will make out special reports, addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, of every case of death, wounds, injury, or disability occurring in the line of duty, to persons in the naval service under their command. These special reports will be made out before the wounded, injured, or disabled person is removed from under the command of the officer in question, and, in cases of death, upon its occurrence.

1416..These reports will be made in triplicate, and will state clearly but briefly the circumstances under which the death, wounds, injury, or disability occurred, and distinctly, whether or not in the line of duty. The original, duplicate, and triplicate of these reports, in all cases of death, shall be forwarded through the proper channel, and by different opportunities, to the Secretary of the Navy, but in cases of disability from wounds, injury, or disease incurred in the line of duty, the triplicate shall be given to the person in question, as his voucher for a claim for a pension. The descriptive list of all enlisted persons shall be accurately entered in these reports.

1417..Commanding Officers, on shore and afloat, will require, from the proper medical officers serving under them, reports, according to form, of every case of death or disability occurring to persons in the naval service under their command. These reports will specify the immediate or remote cause of death, and, in cases of disability, the nature and the degree of the disability incurred, and will be forwarded with the special report, as above directed, to the Secretary of the Navy, in order to furnish evidence as to claims for pensions. In all such cases as provided for above, surveys shall not be requisite to establish claims for pensions.

Pensions.

1418.. When any enlisted person in the Navy is received in any naval hospital on account of wounds, injuries, or disease, and after treatment shall remain either partially or wholly disabled therefrom, the Surgeon in charge of such hospital shall report his case to the Commandant of the navy yard, and shall request a survey to be held upon him, which survey shall be ordered by the Commandant of the navy yard. Such surveys, and any other surveys that may be ordered upon persons in the naval service, on account of disability from wounds, injuries, or disease, involving claims for pensions, shall be composed of Captains or Commanders and of Surgeons.

1419.. Testimony shall be taken to determine whether the wounds, injuries, or disease occurred in the line of duty, and the line officers shall state distinctly their opinion thereon; the medical officers shall decide upon the nature and degree of the disability, and if the disability has been incurred by disease, shall state their opinion as to the origin of such disease. When it is not possible to order Captains or Commanders and Surgeons on such surveys, lower grades of line and medical officers shall compose them. All reports of such surveys shall be made out in triplicate; the original and duplicate shall be transmitted to the Secretary of the Navy, and in cases of disability incurred in the line of duty, the triplicate shall be given to the person in question, as his voucher for a claim to a pension.

1420.. When any person belonging to the naval service, received in a naval hospital, as above provided, shall die in such hospital, the surgeon in charge shall report the death and attendant circumstances to the Commandant of the navy yard, who shall order a board, composed as provided for in the preceding paragraph, to determine if the cause of death originated in the line of duty. If the death has ensued from disease, the testimony of medical officers shall be taken as to the cause or origin of such disease, but the line officers are to determine, by proper testimony, whether the disease, wound, or injury occasioning death was incurred in the line of duty. Reports to be made out in triplicate, and forwarded to the Secretary of the Navy.

1421..In exceptional cases of death, wounds, injury, or disability of person in the naval service, not falling under the cognizance of Commanding Officers, and not provided for in the preceding para

Leaves of Absence.

graphs, the Secretary of the Navy will decide as to whether such death, wound, injury, or disability was received in the line of duty. 1422.. These regulations do not extend to such cases of disability as are provided for by the sixth section of the act to amend certain acts in relation to the navy, approved March 2, 1867; nor do they preclude the ordinary reports of medical officers of the navy to the Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery; nor are they to interfere with simple medical surveys to determine if officers or men are unfit for present service on board any vessel, as provided for by paragraph 1410, or with any special medical survey.

ARTICLE XXVII.

Leaves of Absence aud Furloughs.

SECTION 1.-Leaves of Absence.

1423..Permission to leave the United States can only be granted by the Secretary of the Navy, and no officer is ever to leave the United States under any leave of absence, unless such leave shall expressly authorize it.

1424.. Within the United States Commanding Officers may grant leave of absence to persons under their command for not exceeding one week, provided it can be done without delaying the equipment of the vessel to which they may belong, or producing other injury to the public service, and that no leave is granted to any officer belonging to a vessel under sailing orders to go beyond the limits of the place or station.

1425..Commanders-in-Chief of squadrons and Commanders of navy yards or stations in the United States shall not leave the limits of their command for a longer period than one week in any successive two months without the permission of the Secretary of the Navy.

1426..Permission will not hereafter be granted by Commanding Officers of squadrons or vessels in commission to any officer or man under their command to leave his station for any causes connected with health till a board of medical survey shall have pronounced such a measure essential to early recovery, or have reported the officer or man unfitted for further duty on his station; and Com

Leaves of Absence.

manding Officers of squadrons abroad will not hereafter grant leaves of absence, unless authorized by the Navy Department, to officers to return to the United States, except upon the recommendation of a medical board of survey. This order is not intended to supersede the instructions of October 3, 1861, authorizing the Commanding Officer of a vessel detached from a squadron, or on separate service, to transfer sick or invalids upon the report of the Medical Officer of the vessel. Officers on leave, in consequence of medical survey or sick ticket, will report their state of health to the Department every fifteen days.

1427.. Officers of the Navy applying for a leave of absence, or an extension thereof, on the score of ill health, must forward at the same time to the Department the certificate of a surgeon in the Navy, if there be one in their vicinity; or, if there be no naval surgeon, of some respectable surgeon or physician, of their inability to perform duty. Such certificates must state the nature of the disease and the probable duration thereof, as far as can be judged.

1428.. Unless otherwise directed by competent authority, temporary leave to officers may be granted by their Commanding Officers; but no such leave is to exceed twenty-four hours, unless sanctioned by the Commander-in-Chief or Senior Officer present.

1429.. The petty officers and men belonging to vessels in the Navy will be permitted to visit the shore on suitable occasions, when it can be done without injury to the public service. In foreign ports such permission will not be granted, if objected to by the proper authorities thereof. The senior officer present must always be consulted before such leave in foreign ports is granted. Leaves of absence, or permission to go on liberty, will not be granted to any enlisted man by any person other than the Commanding Officer of the vessel to which he is attached; and should the Commanding Officer be absent on service, or on temporary leave, the officer left in command shall have no power to grant leave to any enlisted man unless specially authorized by the Commanding Officer. The names of those to whom leave is to be granted must be specified in writing, and signed by the Commanding Officer previous to his absenting himself from the vessel.

1430.. Leave is not to be granted to enlisted men who are in debt to the government, unless they deposit, as security, the full amount