THE APOTHECARIES' ACT OF 1815.

565 COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY-TWO, in company with Mr. DBBW, one of the Wardens of the Society, and Mr. NUSSEY, one of the Court of Assistants, the last-named gentleman being the Chairman of the Seventy-two. Thus, the 11 negotiations" which have 11 lately been pending," have been carried on between the Court of Examiners and other members of the Society sitting in Regent-street, and the Court of Examiners and other members of the Society sitting at the Hall in Blackfriars! ! Whilst, therefore, the Court of Examiners proposed to relinquish their functions in the latter place, they are not unmindful of the future in their novel locality. The new Hall would want a Board of Examiners;and, if we mistake not, it would consist of a tolerably large lump of the leaven of the Seventy-two. In the patriotic contest in which the examiners have lately been engaged, all not really dishonest stratagems must, we suppose, be deemed to be pardonable; but we should like to learn from the twelve GENERAL PRACTITIONERS who now constitute the body of Examiners at Apothecaries’ Hall, how they are to become more independent by making it imperative that no candidate shall be allowed to go before them for examination without having frst obtained the consent of ajoint Board, consisting of physicians and surgeons. If such a proceeding would add to the independence of the body of General Practitioners, we do not exactly understand the principle of the process ; and if it be calculated to elevate them in professional rank, it must be effected under the operation of some After upwards of twenty years of new law in physics. labour in the cause of the General Practitioners,-after having contributed all in our power to strengthen them, and make known their great merits,-after having exposed, on a multitude of occasions, and laid bare to the gaze of the public, the empty pretensions of the two classes of DUBS and PUBBS, we certainly did not expect that there could be found even SEVENTY-TWO members of their vast number, who would be ready to kneel, and supplicatingly kiss the dirty feet which have so often kicked them. But it would that men will occasionally play with great principles-as children play with toys. The new subjects fascinate the attention for a day or two, and are then neglected or forgotten, from the most trifling cause or inducement. True it is that great principles and little minds can never form a very intimate alliance.

lodged with the

Colleges ofPhysidans andSurgeons. The decisions of the cour(consisting solely of General Practitioners) are paramount,. relating to the qualifications of General Practitioners in England and Wales. In the (independent!) corporation of General Practitioners, which has received the sanction of the governing authorities of the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and the still more extraordinary approval of the COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY-TWO, the Court of Examiners is not to be allowed to examine a candidate for the licence of a General Practitioner, until a permission for so doing has been granted by a joint board, consisting of pure physicians and pure surgeons, appointed by the Council of the College of Surgeons and the censors of the College of Physicians. The SEVENTY-TWO approve of this arrangement, and at the same time state to Sir JAMES GRAHAM that they represent the opinions of the SURGEONS IN GENERAL PRACTICE of England and Wales! Will the Minister hear a dfferent tale from the actual representatives of those surgeons in the House of Commons on the 9th of June, when the PATCHWORJ{ MEDICAL BILL is to be recommitted ?P If not, the degradation of the great body of the profession in this country will be accomplished, and the " pures" belonging to both denominations of PRETENDERS will exult in the downfall of their hitherto successful rivals. When will the profession cease to slumber ? The enemy is at their gates; there is treason in their camp; and yet they remain in a state of almost listless

repose! THE ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW CORPORATION, AS PROPOSED BY THE MINISTER AND THE COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY-TWO. HAD we the command even of the splendid telescope of Lord

might search in vain for such " advantages." The benefits of the project may be designed for future ages. In our own times every pigmy gain will be swallowed up, at the moment of its birth, by some monster evil. Unincorporated, the SURGEONS, from one extremity of the kingdom to the other, are the masters, in practice, and the equals, in society, of both classes of the " pures." The Council of the College of Surgeons, and the Censors of the College of Physicians, consent,‘ as friends, to the proposed incorporation. Thin is the veil of hypocrisy which can obscure the vision of the RossE,

appear

we

seventy-two.

THE APOTHECARIES’ ACT OF 1815. THE examiners appointed under this Statute are twelve in number. They are selected by the Court of Assistants of the Society of Apothecaries from the members of that body. All the members of the present Court of Examiners hold the double qualification of diplomas of the College of Surgeons ’and licences of the Apothecaries’ Company. This court, consisting, therefore, entirely of General Practitioners, can demand whatever certificates it may think proper, in proof of-j the " medical education" of the candidates for the and the Act of Parliament confers upon it the utmost possible latitude with respect to the nature and extent of the examinations which it may institute. All these extensive functions are exercised with complete independence of the ’

licences,

I i

MEDICAL

THERE

was a

APPOINTMENTS

IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. clause in the Bill which provided that the

Council of Health should determine what were to be the qualifications that would entitle candidates to be elected to medical offices in public institutions; and also what were to be regarded as " public institutions," in conformity with the provisions of the law. That clause is expunged from the new Bill. Why ? It was introduced at the instigation of the heads of the two Colleges of Pures. It is now struck out. Why ? The answer is obvious. There are to be General Practitioners in the Council of Health. The object of the physicians and surgeons was to make the Council of Health a scape-goat for the maintenance of their monopoly. The