thereof to retain their present relative rank, and to be promoted as of one arm of service, according to existing law and established usage and regulation.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the army ration shall be increased as follows, viz: Twenty-two ounces of bread or flour, or one pound of hard bread, instead of the present issue; fresh beef shall be issued as often as the commanding officer of any detachment or regiment shall require it, when practicable, in place of salt meat; beans and rice or hominy shall be issued in the same ration in the same ration in the proportions now provided by the regulation, and one pound of potatoes per man shall be issued at least three times a week if practicable; and when these articles cannot be issued in these proportions, an equivalent in value shall be issued in some other proper food, and a ration of tea may be substituted for a ration of coffee upon the requisition of the proper officer; Provided, That after the present insurrection shall cease, the ration shall be as provided by law and regulations on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-one.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That there may be allowed in hospitals to be provided under such rules as the Surgeon-General of The army, with approval o the Secretary of War, may prescribe, such quantities of fresh or preserved fruits, milk or butter, and of eggs, as may be necessary for the proper diet of the sick.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted. That any commissioned officer of the Army or of the Marine Corps, who shall have served as such for forty consecutive years, may, upon his own application to the President of the United States, be placed upon the list of retired officers, with the pay and emoluments allowed by this act.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That if any commissioned officer of the Army or of the Marine Corps, shall have become, or shall hereafter become, incapable of performing the duties of his office, he shall be placed upon the retired list and withdrawn from active service and command, and from the line of promotion, with the following pay and emoluments, namely; the pay proper of the highest rank held by him at the time of this retirement, whether by staff or regimental commission, and four rations per day, and without any other pay, emoluments, or allowances, and the next officer in rank shall be promoted to the place of the retired officer, according to the established rules of the service. And the same rule of promotion shall be applied successively to the vacancies consequent upon the retirement of an officer: Provided, That should the brevet lieutenant-general be retired under this act, it shall be without reduction in his current pay, subsistence, or allowances: And provided further, That there shall not be on the retired list at any one time more than seven per centrum of the whole number of officers of the Army, as fixed by law.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That in order to carry out the provisions of this act, the Secretary of War or Secretary of the Navy, as the case may be, under the direction and approval of the President of the United States, shall from time to time, as occasion may require, assemble a board of not more than nine nor less than five commissioned officers, two-fifths of whom shall be of the medical staff; the board, except those taken from the medical staff, to be composed, as far as may be, of his seniors in rank, to determine the facts as to the nature and occasions of the disability of such officers as appear disabled to perform such military service, such board being hereby invested with the powers of a court of inquiry and court-martial, and their decision shall be subject to like revision as that of such courts by the President of