MEDICAL REGISTRATION COMMITTEE.

683 the latter to be appointed for ten years. But the most re- the opinions of the members on the subject, but this would markable event in the progress of the French medical Reform not have suited their purpose; they well knew that had they Bill is, that the election of professors by concours has been adopted this course, their boasted thousands would at once entirely thrown aside, on a motion by Baron Cousin, providing desert their ranks. The part they have taken does not speak for their appointment by the minister of public instruction, much for their honesty, since they would wish the legislature three lists, of two persons each, sent in tobelieve that they represent a large portion of the prowho is to severally by the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Me- fession ; whereas, if the truth were known, I suspect in this dicine, and the members of the faculty in which the vacancy point they represent but very few. The Council would have shown their wisdom had they kept their tongues quiet, but occurs. Thus, while in this country just legislation is prevented by now it is too late; the members have witnessed their duplicity, a host of selfish interests, there is every prospect that our ,and are forsaking them in disgust. Their days are numbrethren in France will obtain, during the present year, an bered ; and ere long, their idol Institute—" the head and entirely new code of laws, fitted to uphold the credit and home"-will be spoken of as a thing that has been.-I am, H. S. TAYLOR. position of the medical profession, and to provide for the Sir, yours respectfully, To A. H. Hassall, Esq. welfare of the French nation. Not only medical men, but Enfield, June 12th, 1847. the greatest names of, France, have entered warmly into the MY will find name appended to DEAR think to and exerted themselves the welfare and SIR,—I you my promote subject, advancement of the profession. With all the advantages of the protest addressed to the Council of the National Institute, and published in last week’s LANCET. I am favourable to the our free institutions, it affords a striking contrast to what has occurred in this country. In medical legislation we are a cen- Registration Bill, and you may at any time use my name to ensure its success.-I remain, my dear Sir, yours faithfully, tury behind the French nation. W. G. TAYLOR. To A. H. Hassall, Esq.

select-from

MEDICAL REGISTRATION COMMITTEE. A MEETING of this Committee was held last Monday, at the Freemasons’ Tavern; Dr. Lankester, F.R.S., in the Chair. A large number of petitions in favour of the Bill were

received, to

be forwarded for

presentation

to the House of

Commons. The Sub-Committee announced that they had authority to

to the Protest against the proceedings of the Council of the National Institute the names of the following gentle-

annex

men :-

Samuel Clarke, Whitby; Robert Calvert, Drogheda; W. T. Borthwick, Castle House, Chesterton; John Lilly, Cambridge; Frederick John Lilly, Cambridge; Thomas Hodson, Egremont, Cheshire; D. Sinclair, Halstead, Essex; Charles Clarke, Silver-street, Notting-hill; H. S. Taylor, Liverpool; J. B. Barrow, Liverpool; J. Bruce, Liverpool; T. Inman, Liverpool; William J. Macarsie, Clay-cross, Chesterfield; William Furnivall, Hutton, near Weston-super-Mare, Somersetshire; R. Falder, Alnwick. That the members of the Institute deeply resent the conduct of their Council, the following letters, selected as a specimen, will clearly prove:June

A letter was received from S. M. Phillipps, Esq., acknowledging the receipt of the following Memorial, addressed to Sir George Grey by the Registration Committee:To the Right Hon. Sir George Grey, Bart. M.P., her Majesty’s principal Secretary of State for the Horne Department. The Memorial of a Committee appointed to watch over and promote the passing of a Bill now before Parliament, intituled A Bill for the Registration of Qualified Medical Practitioners, and for Amending the Law relating to the Practice of Medicine in Great Britain and Ireland," showeth,That your memorialists are legally-qualified practitioners of medicine, holding diplomas from the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons and other bodies, granting licences to practise the various branches of the medical profession. That the Committee was appointed at a meeting of legally-qualified medical men, held in London, May 3rd, 1847, and that they represent the opinions and sentiments of a very large proportion of the medical practitioners of the United Kingdom, as is proved by the numerous petitions presented in favour of the Medical Registration Bill now before the House of "

Commons. 16, Rodney-street, 13th, 1847. That the medical profession of this country is composed of far as I DEAR SIR,—As can recollect the Protest, in THE the graduates and licentiates of no less than seventeen LAXCET you refer to, I have no objection whatever that my universities, corporations, or societies, none of which instituI do not see upon whati tions have the name should be attached thereto. power of granting to their graduates or licenat reasonable or least the Council of the rational grounds, tiates permission to practise throughout the United Kingdom. Institute can oppose Mr. Wakley’s Registration Bill, and so In consequence of this, those who have obtained licences to consider myself perfectly at liberty to express my dis- practise in one part of the United Kingdom are not legally approbation of their conduct.-I am, dear Sir, yours very recognised in another; and they are frequently compelled, at T. INMAN. sincerely, a great loss of time, and at a great expense, to undergo other To A. H. Hassall, Esq. examinations, after having been declared by the statutes of Liverpool, June 12th, 1847. the realm capable of practising their profession; and this, not DEAR SIR,—In reply to a letter from you, received this day, only as regards England, Scotland, and Ireland, but in the I beg to inform you that I can have no possible objection to instance of the London of Physicians, as regards have my name attached to the Protest alluded to, believing as London and the provinces. College I do, that the opposition offered by the Council of the That in the various medical universities, colleges, and National Institute is factious, and contrary to the wishes of societies, very different courses of study are required, and the majority of the members of that Association.-I am, dear very different kinds of examinations instituted-some of the B. BARROW. Sir, yours very faithfully, courses of study being of the most extended nature, whilst To A. H. Hass0l, Esq. others are evidently insufficient to supply the medical student Liverpool, June llth, 1847. with the necessary amount of scientific information. That DEAR SIR,—Ishall feel obliged by your attaching my name the examinations, even where most rigorous, are not what the to the Protest against the conduct of the Council of they ought to be-practical, and do not test the qualifications National Institute, in opposing Mr. Wakley’s Bill. Every of a m3.n to practise medicine; whilst some of them are so effort has been made in this town to ensure the success of the trivial as scarcely to offer a criterion of professional skill. and a sent from the medical Bill, separate petition has been That this difference in the requirements of the examining officers of every public charity, in its favour. I may say that, boards is the source of much evil in the profession, some of with one or two exceptions, the members of the medical pro- the boards a low test for a low fee for the purpose of offering fession of this town are extremely anxious that the Registhe number of their graduates or licentiates; whilst tration Bill should be carried this session.-I am, yours most increasing others require a peculiar test with a high fee, for the purpose J. BRUCE. obediently, of excluding the great bulk of the practitioners of medicine, To A. H. Hassall, Esq. and of reserving to themselves a higher rank in the profesPrescot-street, Liverpool, June 12th, 1847. sion. That the differences thus produced are the cause of incalSIR,—Having signed the petition of the members of the National Institute, practising in Liverpool, I cannot have any culable dissensions and heartburnings, and demand that some objection to your adding my name to the Protest. I consider effectual means be taken to suppress practices so highly detrithe Council of the National Institute have most shamefully mental to the profession. That under the present condition of the medical institutions betrayed the confidence reposed in them by the members; the least they could have done, before offering any opposition to of the United Kingdom the members thereof have no control Mr. Wakley’s Registration Bill, would have been to canvass over, or influence with, the various councils, senates, and

684

examining boards, who are entrusted with irresponsible power, and who have used this power rather for the purpose of aggrandizing themselves and for their own benefit, than for the welfare of their members. That these powers have been entrusted to the above bodies, not only for the good of the medical profession, but also for the advantage of the public, by preventing ignorant and illiterate persons from practising physic. That so far from this end being obtained, there never was a period in the history of our country where the ignorant, the illiterate, and the unexamined, could practise physic with so much impunity, as is proved by the fact that. more than 300 persons, ascertained to be totally unqualified, besides chemists and druggists, calling themselves physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries, are at this moment practising in London alone. That it would therefore, on all accounts, be desirable that the examining boards and councils of our medical institutions should be responsible to the government, at least until such time as measures can be taken to make the executive of our various medical institutions responsible to the members whom they ought

to

represent.

That the medical profession, although governed by seventeen institutions, is not protected from the injury which they sustain from ignorant and unqualified persons being allowed to practise all branches of the profession; and that the public is thus exposed to the dangerous consequences which result from no restraint being placed on the practice of persons falsely calling themselves physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries. That although the members of the different medical institutions are registered in their respective colleges, &c., yet, from the want of a proper publication of the registers, but more especially from the want of a summary power of prosecution vested in the magistracy, to be necessarily enforced against all persons practising without possessing any licence or diploma of the United Kingdom, no broad line of distinction is drawn between the educated practitioner and the

ignorant pretender. That the public opposition to the Medical Registration Bill has eminated chiefly from a body who have already memorialized her Majesty’s government on the subject of medical

under the title of the Council of the National Institute of Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery. That amongst your memorialists are several members of the said Institute, who do not feel themselves represented in this respect by their council, and who have protested against their opposition to this Bill; and who, in the course of a very short period, obtained the permission of more than seventv other members of the Institute to attach their names to a Protest against

reform,

occasions of wrong, make a forcible appeal to the public for good of the profession. It is from this motive that I now address you. I was called upon, some time ago, by a gentleman, (as. I supposed,) the mayor of a provincial city; and was consulted by him many times respecting a patient, (a beneficed clergyman of S2000 a year,) in regard to whose pecuniary matters he was agent, (for he was an attorney.) The questions wereWhether his client was insane, and-What course should be taken for his welfare. Besides many consultations with this gentleman in town, I was thrice directed by him to proceed the distance of fifteen miles to visit his client; and I was twice authorized by him to take another physician with memaking five journeys of thirty miles each, amounting in all to 150 miles. For moderate fees for all this I have applied to this attorney in vain. He refers me to another gentleman into whose hands the patient’s affairs have passed, but of whom I know nothing, except that he, at the first, refused to pay the just account of a medical gentleman to whose house this same patient went, but who was not to be so trifled with; a writ having been served, the thing was soon settled. But, Sir, what is a physician to do under these circumstances ? His fees are a debt of honour. The appeal on the plea of honour is made in vain. Can he not, even at common law, demand at least his expenses and the value of his time? For I must add that we have never been reimbursed even our actual expenditure! I must also add, that I have appealed to the successor in the mayoralty of the attorney to whom I first alluded, and to the daughter of the patient, (a lady of forty,) whom I saw with her father, equally in vain. I hope, Sir, you will deem this a proper subject for publicity, and allow me, on some early day, to address you upon it again more in detail. Well might Sir C. M. Clark say, "Mankind care little for the profession" ! It may also be said, with too much truth,that, when the law is out of the question, they care little for their own honour. What is left, but an appeal to the public ? I am, Sir, your obedient servant, M.D. London, June 13th, 1847.

the

to

FEES FROM LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANIES. To the Editor of THE LANCET. Uxbridge, June 14th, 1847.

SIR,—In your number of last week you draw attention to the Legal and Commercial Assurance Office, and its directors, and quoted an extract from the Address in their circular, dated February, 1847, showing their extremely liberal conduct the course of opposition which the council of that body towards the medical profession, &c. have thought fit to pursue towards the Medical Registration As I am desirous that you, as well as my medical brethren, Bill. should fully understand their position with this liberal office, That your memorialists, having carefully considered the I subjoin copies of a correspondence I have had with these details of the Medical Registration Bill now before the House worthies, through their Secretary, and merely remark, that of Commons, believe that it is well adapted to remedy the I intend to finish the affair by issuing a summons to the evils to which they have referred, and they trust that her County Court, under the Small Debts Act, held at Uxbridge, Majesty’s advisers will see the necessity and advantage of ’, for the remainder of my fee.-I remain, Sir, your obedient giving their unqualified support to that measure, which your I servant, WILLIAM RAYNER.

memorialists feel assured is

as

much calculated to confer

a

great boon upon the community at large, as it is to elevate the character and promote the interests of the medical pro-

fession.

Freemasons’ Tavern, June

EDWIN LANKESTER, Chairman. JAMES RHODES} W. DT. POWELL, ij a

JAMES RHODES, } Hon. Secs.

P.S.—You will perceivea good profit is attached to this scheme of demanding two guineas for expenses, and paying the doctor ten shillings and sixpence, making a clear profit of one guinea and a half by every application. I should observe, the assurance, as might be expected, was not effected.

l6th, 1847.

Correspondence.

(COPY.)

Uxbridge, Nov. 1st, 1846. I few returned to SIR,—A your office the answers days ago, to the several queries contained in your letter respecting Mr. Hall, together with a statement that my fee for the same was one guinea. To this I have had no reply. I therefore shall defer answering any more questions until my fee is remitted, and remain. Sir, your obedient servant. To J. C. Hardy, Esq., WILLIAM RAYNER. and Commercial Assurance Society. The questions above referred to related to another party, was also about to insure.

ON MEDICAL FEES. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,—The profession are deeply indebted to Mr. Henry Smith for his just and independent efforts to set at rest the question of fees to medical gentlemen to whom the Insurance Offices apply for their professional and confidential opinion on the eligibility for insurance of a given life or lives. Oblique and distorted must that vision be which does not (COpy.) now see this question in its fair and upright position. Legal and Commercial Assurance Society, The profession are not less indebted to Sir C. M. Clark, Bart., London, Nov. 7th, 1846. for his candid and generous statement, (now that he has left SIR,—In reply to yours of the 1st instant, I beg to state that our ranks,) quoted in THE LANCET, p. 631. Let us " help our- the fee allowed by this Office, for Medical Reports, is ten selves and each other." An excellent motto, verily! Let no shillings and sixpence, as by the second form you received, one view his own case as isolated; but let one and all, on all you will perceive, and in no instance has a greater sum been ’

I Legal who

.