PETITIONS TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

259 tonsil-both conditions of very rare occurrence-deafness is the The presence of the stapes, however, he considered essential to result, and removable by re - opening the tube. 7th, In the faculty of hearing. He considered that the connexion of closure of the tube from extensiveulceration of the fauces, deafness with closure of Eustachian tube was occasioned by the producing deafness, the sense was in a fair degree restored fact that where the latter occurs, the membrane is allowed to while the catheter remained in the tube. 8th, The case of a fall in, and thus press upon the fluid in the labyrinth. He child William Lee — being instantly restored from deaf- believed that any lesion or imperfection of the membrane was dumbness of four years’ duration, upon the removal of incompatible with perfect hearing. Mr. BISHOP opposed the author upon several points. He inspissated mucus from the tube by means of catheterism, the child receiving no further treatment than subsequent educa- believed that the movements of the discs were governed by the tion. 9th, In cases of mucous accumulation in the cavity, the same laws as regulated the vibrations of cords -that they immediate and very complete restoration from extreme deaf- vibrated as a whole-consequently, he could not admit that ness, often temporary, but sometimes permanent, upon the fibres of the tympanum could act individually, and the catheterism, which can hardly be solely attributed to the re- whole as a number of separate cords. After touching upon moval of the mucus. 10th, That the same " sensation of ful- the recent discoveries of a French mathematician, he remarked ness and pressure is experienced in the tympanic cavity" by that the author of the paper which had just been read seemed pressing the finger into the outer meatus, as is produced by an to have overlooked the important characteristic of the elasact of deglutition, and in both instances in consequence of the ticity of the membrane. Mr. PILCHER stated in reply that he had himself remarked condensation of air upon the membrane, though upon the opposite surfaces. llth, That it is of necessity that the effort the existence of a dark line around the tympanum in old subof deglutition, the month and nose being closed, must condense jects, but had not connected this appearance with the arcus the air in the cavity through the patent tube. 12th, That a senilis. In hooping-cough there were frequent examples of more remarkable condensation takes place, sometimes even to, rupture of the membrane, but the mischief was usually soon rupture the membrane, in consequence of a forced expiration, repaired. The fact that a patient could only hear well by without any probable action of the muscles, as is not in- opening his mouth, he accounted for by supposing that this had frequently seen in cases of hooping-cough or other spasmodic the effect of expanding the external meatus, and admitting air expiration. 13th, The attachments of the two muscles, themore freely. The whale and other cetaceous animals hear levator palati and circumflexus palati, to the Eustachian tube,, through the Eustachian tube, which opens into the blow-hole, seems rather destined to close than to open the tube, though itband is the only part above water; but in these animals the is most probable they exert no direct action upon the tube, butb ossicles are unconnected with the tympanum. From an exan indirect one in closing it. 14th, In birds, the arrangementtamination of Mr. Toynbee’s preparation of the tympanum of of these tubes is peculiar, for the purpose of allowing them tc)the bird, he believed that the bone was directly attached to respire freely, and to catch and swallow their food whilst ina that membrane. rapid flight; and in many mammalia, and particularly in aquatic reptiles, the structure is peculiarly modified for adapta ROYAL MEDICAL AND CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY. tion to especial habits. 15th, The generally-received opinior that all the openings, including those of the Eustachian tubes annual general meeting of the Society, for the election into the pharynx, are usually patent, becoming close during of officers, &c., was held on Wednesday, Dr. Copland in the the act of swallowing, by the expansion and elevation of th, chair. After the usual ordinary business, which consisted soft palate, is more in accordance with the acknowledged pro chiefiy of the reports of the auditors and the council, which cess of deglutition. And, 16th, Were it otherwise, the tube showed that the Society was in a prosperous condition, the would be opened only at a moment the most inconvenient fo following gentlemen were elected office bearers for the ensuing the admission of air, when they were closed towards th respiratory organs, and must be with difficulty supplied throug: year :James Copland, M.D., F.R.S.—Vice-Presidents the nares. Thomas Alfred Barker, M.D.; Robert Bentley Todd, M.D., Dr. CRisp agreed with the author as to the value of the Bell, F.R.S.; Thomas Wormald.—Treasurers: tympanum, and observed that in Turkey and other Eastern Joseph Moore, M.D.; Thomas Blizard Curling, F.R.S.—Secrecountries it is the custom to perforate the tympanum in order R. Basham, M.D.; Holmes Coote.—Librato permit tobacco-smoke to pass from the throat out of the M.D.; James Dixon.-Other Members Wegg, He considered this a sufficient proof that such interears. Council: George Chaplain Child, M.D.; William Dingle of that membrane did ference with not produce any degree of S. Chowne, M.D.; Mervyn A. N. Crawford, M.D.; deafness, otherwise the practice would not have been adopted. Dyer, M.D.; Thomas H. Silvester, M.D.; JohnHenry Avery; He had moreover, in the course of a careful dissection of an William Harvey; Henry D. Jones; John Simon, F.R.S.; Albina cat, been quite unable to detect any difference of strucSmith. Spencer Henry , ture, although these animals are probably always deaf. He wished to inquire whether the dog and pig have a perforate PETITIONS TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. tympanum, as they at all events can readily appreciate sound. Mr. RICHARDSON made some remarks upon a coincidence the House of Commons of the Parliament of which he had observed between the occurrence of the arcus To the Honourable Great Britain. senilus and deafness, the arcus senilus being observable in aged at the same time deaf, whilst absent in Petition of James Baker, of No. 1, Dorwere Humble who The persons, others whose hearing was perfect. chester-place, New North-road, Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex, Chairman of the Hoxton Medical ProMr. DAVIS, on the contrary, objected that although the arcus was visible in his own case, he was yet quite free from tection, on behalf of himself and the Members of the said Society, deafness, and that the same thing had occurred in his father, who died at the age of eighty-four, in perfect possession of thE Showeth-That your Petitioners have carefully read the Bill now before Parliament for the Registration of Qualified Medical faculty of hearing. Dr. GIBB propounded a query as to whether the membrane Practitioners. were ever ruptured in hooping-cough. That your Petitioners are deeply interested in protecting Mr. TOYNBEE objected to the author’s statement in regardthe lives of her Majesty’s subjects and maintaining the reto the non-closure of the Eustachian tube, the functions of the spectability of that honourable profession of which they are ossicles, and the precise value of the membrana tympani. Hemembers. was in a position That your Petitioners are of opinion that the said Bill is a again to assert that the Eustachian is really a closed tube, and this opinion he had recently been enabled to) wise and judicious measure; and that if passed into a law will corroborate by the investigation of the part in the lowerr proveabenefit to society by enabling her Majesty’s subjects animals, both mammals and birds. In no instance was any readily to distinguish between persons practising Medicine and mechanism discoverable designed for preserving its patency, Surgery by virtue of lawful authority, andthose who do not whilst, on the other hand, there were always two muscles scpossess any legal qualification whatever. arranged as to open the tube when circumstances should rendeir That your Petitioners are convinced, that for the due proit desirable. He denied that the ossicles were designed for thEe tection of the public, as well as for upholding the dignity of conveyance of vibrations of the fenestra ovalis, since they werEe the Profession and securing the just rights of medical men, a by their arrangement unfitted for such an office ; and with thee clear and certain remedy should be provided. Your Petitioners therefore humbly crave leave to ask your be dispensed with withou.t exception of the stapes, they might In the bird, moreover, the bome Honourable House to give effect to the measure now introa necessary loss of hearing. is attached tothe membrane by ligament, and not by bone3. duced for the Registration ûf Qualified Medical Practitioners, -

,

THE

President:

Thomas taries WN illiam rians:: William

F.R.S.;

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’

T ,

260 and pass the same into a law during the Parliament. And vour Petititoners will ever prav. &c.

(Signed

present session of

Correspondence.

JAMES BAKER,

behalf of himself and the Members of the Hoxton Medical Protection Society, meeting at the Committee Room, Dorchester Hall, New North-road, Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex. as

Chairman, on

Seven other Petitions similar to the above, (written in the singular number by merely leaving out the letter s,) and signed as follow, have also been presented to the House of Commons : ALFRED ATKYNS, 6, James-terrace, New North-road. G. W. COWARD, 6, St. John’s-terrace, Hoxton. THOMAS LEONARD, M.D. London, 14, Critchell-place, New North-road. J. H. HAWTHORN, L.S.A., 2, High-street, Hoxton. JOHN LrvETT BENSON, L. S.A., 174, High-st., Hoxton. C. W. S. LAR&E, M.R.C.S.L., 23, Russell-place, New

North-road, Islington.

JOHN IRELAND, 19, Tabernacle-row, City-road. Mr. Baker, by whom the above documents have been forwarded to us, has attached the following short form of petition for adoption. It certainly is the duty of the profession to make every possible effort to gain a great or a little Medical Bill in the present session of Parliament :A short form of Petition, leeccclect as above, for those who are desirous of supporting the Registration Bill now before Parliament. Showeth-That your Petitioner (or Petitioners, as the case may be) is of opinion that the public ought to be protected from the practice of unqualified practitioners. That your Petitioner fully concurs in the principle of the Registration Bill now introduced by the Honourable Member, Mr. Brady, and therefore humbly craves leave to ask your Honourable House to .pass the same into a law during the present session of Parliament. And your Petitioner will ever pray, &c. The following Petition was presented to the House of Commons on Wednesday, the 22nd inst., by Captain Scobell, on the Medical Registration Bill :To the Honourable the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament casemblecl. The Humble Petition of the undersigned legally-qualified Practitioner in Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery, of the City of Bath, Showeth—Your Petitioner has noticed with pleasure the Bill that has been introduced into the House of Commons, intituled " A Bill for the Registration of qualified Practitioners, andfor amending the Law relating to the Practice of Medicine, in Great Britain and Ireland." Such a registration, in the opinion of your practitioner, will be a guarantee to the public that those to whom they entrust their health and lives are educated, and that their qualifications for such a responsible office has been tested by authorized examiners as to the duties they have to perform. That while your Petitioner approves of this Bill now before your honourable House, for the Registration of those who Practise as Physicians, Surgeons, and Apothecaries, he has observed, with deep regret, that the Practice of Midwifery, which is connected with, and being a very important branch of, the Practice of Medicine and Surgery, is wholly omitted; thereby allowing those who may choose to practise this peculiar branch of the profession exclusively to do so without rendering themselves amenable to the law. That your Petitioner, in the pursuit of his obstetric practice, has frequently beheld and deplored the great mischief produced, and the evil consequences ensuing from the indiscriminate Practice of Midwifery by unqualified persons, and the want of -

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adequate legal protection or recognised body, whereby to competency of those who embark in this delicate and important department of the medical profession. some

LOCK HOSPITALS. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,—At the present momentous crisis, and amid the din of warlike preparations, it is gratifying to know that a very im,portant though somewhat ungTacious subject has not been overlooked by Government. The navy estimates for 1854-55 provide X1800 for constructing lock-wards at the Portsmouth, Portsea, and Gosport Hospitals. This intelligence will be received with satisfaction by the political economist, the philanthropist, as well as by many of your readers, who, I know, take an interest in this subject. As has been well remarked in reference to the recent withdrawal of the grant from Westmoreland Lock Hospital, Dublin: " If any one institution rather than another requires the support of an enlightened Government, it is a venereal hospital. An honest though ill-directed zeal against the vices whose baneful consequences such an institution is established to alleviate, in many cases, stays the otherwise liberal hand when an appeal is made to the public for contributions to a lock hospital. If one hospital above all others has a right to exemption from the economizing principles of the Treasury, that one is surely a lock hospital." I am persuaded that a great amount of good will be effected by the establishment of the proposed institution at Portsmouth, and I venture to’ express a hope that the medical profession and the local authorities at our other great ports will be induced to exert themselves in similar benevolent undertakings. At present, the annual expense attending the treatment of syphilitic cases at our naval and military hospitals is enormous; but I confidently anticipate that, irrespective of higher considerations, the experience of a few years will show that the present outlay on the part of Government will turn out to be an ultimate saving. am, Sir, your J. ROSE, M. M.D. Haslar Hospital D. Hospital, Feb. 1834. ’

I

obedient servant,

THE NEW REFORM BILL AND THE PROFESSION. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,—About the time that Lord John- Russell introduced his last but one Reform Bill into the House of Commons, I wrote a short letter, which was published in the Morning Chronicle, suggesting the propriety of granting the privilege of voting for the return of members of Parliament to all members of universities, all members of royal colleges, and all members of any body, or corporation, or school, or college, being recognised as a place for granting decrees. I thought at the time that this would reach many excellent and worthy men living in lodgings, and that any decree from a learned body might surely be considered equal to a five pound franchise, and that men possessing such degree might almost always be depended upon as supporters of law and order in a higher degree than men with a five pound franchise. Lord John Russell has, in his present Reform Bill, recognised men with university degrees, but altogether overlooked members of royal colleges, I think any one having the interest of the medical &c., &c. profession at heart, who would suggest a further extension of this literary and scientific enfranchisement, might obtain it. The medical profession lose much for want of asking ; let us not lose this opportunity of gaining a privilege, if representation will do any good. The propriety of the thing is so selfevident, that no argument can be brought to bear against it, especially as graduates of universities are at once received. Believe me, Sir, yours obediently, WILLIAM REEVES. Carlisle, Feb. 1854.

THE

MEDICAL REFORM BILL AND UNQUALIFIED ASSISTANTS. To the Editor of THE LANCET. And that your Petitioner earnestly and respectfully prays your honourable House to supply this great defect in the’ SIR,—As I see a correspondent, signing himself " A Country proposed Bill for the Registration of Medical Practitioners, as’ Qualified Assistant," has alluded to my drawing the attention such a public record will enable the community to discriminate’ of the of the South London Medical Association to the bet weenthe educated and authorised and the ignorantpretender. evil of meeting employing unqualified assistants, I will give one or two And your Petitioner will ever pray. instances of it. GEORGE KING, In a certain neighbourhood there is one Mr. -, who was Surgeon-Accoucheur to the Dorcas Society for the Relief of Lying-in Women; and the Charitable Society for the Reliefformerly an assistant to a medical man, and is now practising of Lying-in Women, Bath. without any qualification, till his patients arrive at death’s.

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