HOSPITAL ABUSES—THE ROYAL MAN. CHESTER INFIRMARY.

111 of our profession, I hope you will, for once in your life, step out of your beaten track, and issue a second edition of your last number gratuitously, and send a copy to every professional man in the kingdom, otherwise thousands will never see the coroner’s splendid address to the jury. I remain, Sir, your very obedient servant, J. P. WILDING. J. Montgomery, July 31st, 1854. " To the Editor of the Medical Association Journal. " SiR,—I hope, as I am a member of the Medical Association, you will publish a short letter for me in our next journal, a of which I have sent to THE LANCET. copy " I will not for one moment inquire your reasons for taking up the cause of Mr. Gay so strongly, nor will I at present make further remarks upon your conduct as editor than this :However honest and well-intentioned it might have been, it has, in my opinion, more than anything, tended to promote disunion in the Association, and the profession at large. 4 9 as regards your editorial remarks on the low moral tone given to the profession by certain publications, and that we (its members) must become contaminated by reading (I presume) THE LANCET, I beg to say that I havetaken that journal for twenty years, that I still do so, and remain, I hope, uncontaminated. I think it is hard for us, possessing (I hesitate not to say) at least as much general knowledge and good feeling as any other professional body, to be taxed by you with not being capable of selecting our own literature. "Now for the ’suppressed inquest.’ The jury returned a verdictThat the child, Alfred Richardson, died of inflammation, caused by an operation unskilfully performed by Mr. Thomas Weedon Cooke and Mr. Thomas Wakley, jun.’ " The jury had a right to return that or any other verdict they thought proper; but, Sir, had you the right (occupying the position you do, and in which you ought to hold up the honour and dignity of our much maligned profession)-had you the right, I say, to stab one of its members when down, by saying’that the jury had apparently a clear course to follow, so far as the cause of death and the skill of the operators were concerned’? Proh pUd01’! Who in future will carry out the blessed command of our Saviour-’ Go forth and heal the sick.’ Mr. Cooke in this (his maiden) operation did not enter the bladder; so far he was unfortunate, not criminal. Coupled with the evidence of Mr. Coulson, to the effect that expert operators have failed to enter the bladder, and the testimony of the late Sir Astley Cooper, who had known twelve such cases, I think such an editorial remark ought not to have been made in a journal purporting to be the organ of provincial medical men. " I have performed several of the capital operations-in fact, am compelled to do so whether I wish or not, as I reside more than twenty miles from a consulting surgeon-and if I cannot calculate upon our own medical journals to defend my professional character when assailed, I shall only be thrown back ’upon my own resources, and will willingly abide the conseno doubt the result will be as triumphant quences, and have in my case as I am sure it will be in Mr. Cooke’s. "I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, ".T. "J. P. WILDI::
NAVY

MEDICAL THE WARNING

OFFICERS. VOICE !

for a return of the assistant-surgeons of the navy who, within the last twenty years, have committed suicide, together with a list of the medical officers who have left the navy after reaching the rank of full surgeon within the same time, he would, by comparison with the same data from the army, produce some startling facts. One would suppose, that when the Admiralty is so strict with their medical officers, they would also give them corresponding encouragement. Now, how do they show this? Compare the medical peï’8onnel of the two branches now employed. A naval friend has furnished me with the following comparison, which please to insert in columns opposite each other, to show the disparity, and then even " Brummagem" will be able to decide if it were creditable to apply for naval

assistant-surgeoncies.

Fleets in the Baltic and Black Sea. One Inspector-General of Hos- Inspector- General of Fleett afloat-none. pitals, receiving 08700 per annum, with 20s. per diem One Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets in the Baltic Fleet, allowances, and ranking with a full Colonel in the army. receiving .S574 per annum, without any allowances, and ranking with a DeputyInspector in the army. Four Deputy - Inspectors of One Deputy-Inspector of Hos. Hospitals, receiving from pitals and Fleets in the Black Sea Fleet, receiving X520 to .6550 per annum, with allowances of from 10s. ae365 per annum, without to 20s. per diem, and ranking any allowances, and ranking with a Lieutenant-Colonel in with a Staff-Surgeon of the the army. 1st Class in the army. Fourteen Staff-Surgeons of the Surgeons of the 1st Class-1st Class, receiving each from none.

T7te

A rmy in Turkey.

08400 to X440 per annum, besides allowances, andrank. ing witha Major in the army, or a Deputy-Inspector of Hospitals in the Navy. ’

PRIZE MONEY.

Surgeons

of the 1 st Class receive the same share as a Major in the army. All other Surgeons the same as

I

Captains. Assistant-Surgeons the same as

Navy Surgeons, old and young; receive the

same as a

R. N. ; relatively the an

Mate

same as

Assistant-Surgeon in

the

army.

Lieutenants.

WIDOWS’ PENSION. Widow of Assistant-Surgeon Widow of a fall Surgeon re. in the army, .;840 per annum, ceives X40 per annum, the the same as the widow of a same as the widow of an full Surgeon R.N. Assistant- Surgeon in the army.

Add to this the average ten years in a midshipman’s mess, and the list of inducements to enter the navy is complete. I see, by a contemporary journal, that the ships, instead of extra assistants, as they should have, are absolutely on peace numbers. Put the two services on the same footing, and then it nccy be possible to command medical talent and skill of the first class for the navy, but not until then. Thanking you for your untiring opposition to all abuses, I remain, your old subscriber, PATER FAMILIAS. Manchester, My, 1854.

having

To the Editor of THE LANCET. SiR,—Alas! what degradation seems to hang over this branch of our profession. Not many years ago, we read in the public prints of an old assistant-surgeon in the Mediterranean taking poison to close a long and weary servitude; then of another who, goaded to desperation by ten years of a midHOSPITAL ABUSES—THE ROYAL MAN. shipman’s mess, was found in a Portsmouth hotel with his CHESTER INFIRMARY. throat cut; then another became an incurable lunatic. These, varied with continual dismissals of assistants for drunkennessTo the Editor of THE LANCET. and within the last month it has reached the full surgeons, all two of whom havebeen dismissed by a court-martial for inthe questions calculated to engage the attention SiR,—Of toxication, their characters ruined and blasted after many and call forth the active energies of the students thoroughly to investigate, perhaps that of the irregularities exhibited by years of the best part of their lives spent in the navy. Happy, happy system ! Delude young professional men into heads of hospitals, in conducting the surgical department, will the public service, insult and degrade them in every way, and be found the most important, although, as far as my knowledge when driven by disgust and despair to habits of intemperance, has gone, it is one respecting which the students have offered ruin them for ever by a court-martial ! I am informed by-naval but comparatively little public opinion, and to which they have surgeons that such is the case of the two unfortunates lately presented still less actual opposition. To what can this cirdismissed; they were both, on their entry into the navy, young cumstance be attributable? Can we ascribe it to direct indolence of disposition? It is to be feared, indeed, that there men of the highest respectability and the best attainments. Mr. Brady has moved for certain Parliamentary returns of might be assigned to a ee1’tain few a still more despicable_. the naval medical ofncers. From what I can learn, if he moved reason. But, although it is not easy to account for the’

112 as a body, in these momentous letter, to a special meeting of the committee, held on the immediately affecting their own interests, we may, 1 i th ultimo for that purpose. At that meeting, only one of with more certainty, show the inevitable evils which are the the nine requisitionists (viz.-Mr. Bamford) and Dr. Blundell result of it. There may, and in all probability will be, a attended, and in order to give a further opportunity for substanselect few, (to whom I have before alluded,) who, inclined by tiating the charges, the meeting was adjourned to the 19th, and

inactivity matters,

of the students,

so

false notions of interest to follow blindfolded at the skirts of the hospital-surgeons, still pretend to think the objects of these charities have not been perverted; but I would beg all such to reflect upon the many precious hours they have idly passed, vainly waiting for a surgeon’s arrival, and how many difficulties they have experienced in striving to collect a few facts of a case they have wished to investigate. It may be said by some, that much of the inconstancy of attendance on the part of the surgeon has originated from the carelessness of the students; but I deny that (at least, whilst I haveknown this hospital) this has in any degree been the case, and whoever has taken the trouble to make ob?ervations will confirm me in charging its origin to the neglect of the surgeons to attend at the appointed hour, by which the students have been kept loitering and grumbling about the wards; and what is the consequence? Why, that most of them after a sacrifice of much money, have hardly thought of visiting the hospital at all, and that themselves and the public have suffered, and still must suffer. From these truths, may I not come to the painful conclusion that pupils have large sums of money extorted from them for contracts which are never fulfilled, and that they have no opportunity for improvement, but, on the contrary, everything to impede them in the progress of professional knowledge? And who that contemplates this for a moment but will be ready to exclaim, "it is time to escape from such evils." Is not our position in society in after-life entirely dependent upon our success in practice, and this likewise upon the extent of our knowledge, which last is proportionate to our advantages now?

Let it pass that we have borne with silent lips, insult and wrong. Let it pass that we have seen ourselves deprived of our privileges one by one, and, like Sheridan when he saw his house in flames, never attempted to wrest an atom of property from destruction, or to quench the devouring element. The existence of evils has now been proved, and of evils fraught with pernicious effects to us and to the world; and can we bear this sacrifice of our future comfort and of human life with

apparent approval?

Past events have fully testified that nothing can be done on part without the united exertions of many. Perchance a puny arm may now and then be raised in defence of the right, but it has only served those before whom it has been bared as a laughing-stock, or they have passed it by "as the idle wind which they regard not." The question then arises as to what would be the most speedy and effectual means of remedying the various and serious evils under which we are labouring. Trusting that I am not encroaching on your valuable space, allow me to remain-Your humble servant, OBSERVER. Manchester, July, 1854. our

the result was, that after a full consideration of the matters submitted to them in respect to the complaint, the committee unanimously came to the following resolution, viz.-"That the requisitionists having failed to substantiate the charges against Dr. Blundell, the committee regret that they (the charges) should have been brought; and they record it as their opinion that Dr. Blundell, as senior physician to this Charity, is fully entitled to the continued confidence of the committee and of the governors generally of the Royal Maternity Charity." The committee further feel themselves bound to advert to an article on the Royal Maternity Charity, in THE LANCET of the 24th of June, and to express their surprize and regret at its insertion; and in respect to the passage in the concluding paragraph, that " So long as they (the governors) adhere to the inhuman maxim, that midwives are good enough for the poor, so long will they fail to meet the approbation of the public," they will observe, that in their judgment the " efficient working" of the "system of relief" afforded to the patients of this Charity for nearly a century, is proved by the fact, that 400,000 women have, in the hour of child-birth, as well as before and after it, received the assistance of the Charity, and that a less mortality has ensued, in proportion to the number of cases, than under any other " system" adopted by any similar institution. Upon this conviction, the committee have no hesitation in requesting the attention of the Editor to the following paragraph in the " Report" of the sub-committee, which was adopted by the governors at the general meeting in June last, viz." As bearing upon the constitution of the medical staff of the Charity, the sub-committee earnestly recommend that the services of the midwives be continued; edncated as they are by one of the physicians of tlat Charity, they form a class of wellinsb’ucted matrons, whose services are not only of great advantage to the Charity, but also in the neighbourhood in which they reside, there being always some married women who from choice, as well as others, independently of this Charity, who, upon pecuniary considerations, gladly resort to midwives for assistance; and the sub-committee find that midwives have from its foundation constituted a part of the Royal Maternity Charity, and in their opinion areamost valuable medium for carrying out its benevolent designs." By order of the Committee, JOHN SEABROOK, Secretary. Secretary. Little Knightrider-street, Doctors’-commons, IS54. July 20th,

[LETTER

FROM MR. BAMFORD.]

To the Editoi- of THE LANCET. SiR,-I intend to give notice of the enclosed motion, in conformity with the rules of the institution, at the general meetTHE ROYAL MATERNITY CHARITY. ing on Thursday. The Committee went into the inquiry so far as regarded the fact of Dr. T. L. Blundell having made the To the Editor’ of THE LANCET. alluded to in the motion, unqualified and unconditionally; SlE,—In THE LANCET of the 17th of June is inserted a short offer notice of a special meeting of the governors of the Royal and they fully admitted that he had done so; but it was perclear they meant to burke the substance of the Maternity Charity, convened to consider the report of a sub- fectly andthat which I believe they have done. committee, respecting the medical staff of the Charity, &c.; and inquiry, I am, Sir, yours respectfully, in reference to an amendment moved at that meeting, viz.JAMES BAMFORD. Aug. 2nd, 1851. "That the report be referred back to the committee, to inquire Notice of Motion.-That the several sums proposed to be into the charges made against the senior physician of this Charity, and report as to the expediency of the surgeons being given to the three physicians by the special committee appaid by the Charity instead of by the physicians," it is merely pointed to inquire into the duties connected with their office, stated that, "the motion for the adoption of the report was as represented to the general meeting, is excessive, and a declared to be carried." Upon this the committee are desirous violent invasion of the funds of the Charity, unmerited and of observing, that the meeting was one of the largest known in undeserved by any services such officers render to the Charity. the Charity for some years; that the "amendment" was The best proof of such fact is that given by one of the present Charitysupported by onlyybtM’ out of the large number present, viz.- physicians, long connected with the Royal by Mr. E. Pye Smith, Dr. Burchell, and Messrs. Bamford and namely, Dr. T. L. Blundell, who voluntarily offered, in 1852, to Bailey; and that upon the "amendment" being lost, the the chairman of the committee, Mr. Norris, to undertake the whole original motion for the reception and adoption of the report professional duties and responsibility, and provide all necessary The committee beg, assistance, in behalf of the institution, for a salary of £ 100 per was carried with only one dissentient. then, to state, that in their opinion, the rejection of thatarrzerad- annum. It is therefore due to the welfare and respectability of ment would quite exonerate them from instituting any inquiry the Charity that the committee and governors at large should into the charges therein referred to; but having subsequently reconsider the present arrangement and organization of the received a letter, or requisition, signed by ninegovernors, medical staff, and effect such alterations in reference thereto calling upon the committee to investigate certain chargesi as shall place every officer under the direct control of the affecting Dr. Blundell’s conduct in connexion with his office ofmanaging committee; and also that both physicians and senior physician to the Charity, and also a letter from Dr. surgeons shall be paid in proportion to the duties actually Blundell, requesting the committee to undertake that inves-performed, the ratio of which hereafter to be determined and tigation, the attendance of those gentlemen was invited by settled by the committee.

Maternity