I'm not an inspector, but it looks like something I saw in LA (Los Angeles, not Lower Alabama). It was caused by using beach sand, not river sand for the mortar.

Must have been a bad mix "way back when."

How about a new perimeter foundation? I assuming the bricks are at the base of the home.

I see this all the time in older homes...

It is especially prevalent here in the Midwest (or really, the north in general).. where we have periods of heavy rain and large and varying temperature extremes..

It can be fixed, but at a fairly high cost, by a licensed and bonded Tuck-Pointer or Brick Mason...

However, tucking pointing is a lot cheaper than replacing the foundation... and the repaired foundation will be much better than th e ones they are pouring in today's new homes... After all, the foundation pictured above is 105 years old....

Look up Brick, Tuckpointing, or concrete contractors in the phone book and get several bids, if possible...

I sell a lot of historic homes with river-rock and brick foundations.  Most of them have this problem.  Re-pointing is a few thousand dollars each pier should run about $200ish each to repair.  Not a disastrous problem, but one that should be addressed BEFORE you enter escrow.  It usually doesn't turn out good if it is discovered during a physical inspection.  Buyers get frightened. 

I always explain to the buyers of these homes that they need to keep up with the pointing on these foundations, every few years.  If they are maintained they will not run into big problems.  They cannot however be bolted to any insurance companies standards, they will not be able to get earthquake insurance without the bolting at some point.  There are a couple of companies that have figured out a way to bolt the foundations but the insurance companies will not accept these solutions at this time.  

Several of my sellers have had as many as 5 bids on the work, prices vary wildly so shop smart.