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THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY for 1853.
164
THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY for 1853. To the
legally-qualified Members of the Medical Profession resident in GREAT BRITAIN.
GENTLEMEN,-The offers of active co-operation and support I which have been already addressed to us by an immense number of your body, elicit from us the most hearty expression of our gratitude. With perfect sincerity and truth, we can declare that the confidence thus cheerfully and unhesitatingly reposed in us will be neither disregarded nor abused. In determining to publish a MEDICAL DIRECTORY, from which shall be carefully excluded the titles and distinctions so andaciously claimed and used by quacks, it is exceedingly gratifying to find that we are acting in complete harmony with the feelings, opinions, and wishes of all the regular practitioners belonging to our profession. The intermingling and associating in a public MEDICAL DIRECTORY the justly-acquired titles of the most celebrated of our practitioners with the peculiar distinctions assumed by notorious quacks, is an offence that has excited throughout the profession unmitigated feelings of disgust and indignation. By such a combination, quacks are placed in a dignified, and regular practitioners in a degraded, position. This cannot be disputed. An arrangement, therefore, so thoroughly repugnant to a due sense of professional honour, is an intolerable abomination, and it has been emphatically and generally denounced. Hence the demand for a Medical Directory that is free from such a foul iniquity is urged and enforced by thousands of insulted and injured practitioners. This fact alone affords the best guarantee for the immediate and permanent success of our undertaking. Aided and encouraged by all regular practitioners in medicine and surgery, the arrangements of our Directory, down to the minutest details, must exhibit an unprecedented degree of accuracy. It is an insufferable nuisance that a work pur. porting to be the Directory of the MEDICAL PROFESSION should be so constructed as to be rendered the special guide of the
As regards the general plan of the new work, it is unnecessary to trouble you with any remarks, further than to offer a distinct assurance that not a thing shall be omitted from the pages of THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY which ought to be found in such a publication. Every possible effort shall be made to render the work worthy of the patronage of the members of a distinguished profession. One word as to the price of the work. The Medical Directories now published appear to be charged at greatly too high a rate. The two Medical Directories for England and Scotland are sold at twelve shillings and sixpence to subscribers, and sixteen shillings to non-subscribers. The price of THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY, framed, as its name implies, for England and Scotland, will not amount to quite half of that sum, as its cost will certainly not exceed six shillings. If it can be published at five shillings without incurring a loss, that price will be fixed, the work not being undertaken as a commercial speculation. A far higher object is contemplated, and it is one which we feel confident will obtain for our exertions the sympathy and encouragement of the profession. If we did not fully rely on the general promises of assistance and co-operation which we have received, we could not announce the publication of the new Directory at the price stated. There will be a considerable saving of expense if our medical brethren will forward to us without delay, and in the absence of any other application than the present, the information that is solicited in another part of - this week’s LANCET. A few minutes devoted to supplying it, and a penny stamp attached to the " return," are all that we ask; but we would entreat that the "returns" be made as promptJy as possible. Without the willing aid* of the profession, the accuracy of THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY could not be safely guaranteed, and the difficulties and expense of our task would be vastly increased. The necessity, however, for the publication of such a Directory as we have projected, is so strongly and widely felt, that the appeal we have already made to the e.sprit de corps of the profession has been honoured by a response so universal and enthusiastic, that it must be hailed as the precursory sign of
I
worst of quacks, the names of the pretenders being garnished with all kinds of self-assumed titles and designations. It should not be forgotten that a general Medical Directory is
the MEDICAL HAND-BOOK of the PUBLIC, and more especially of the wealthier classes of society. Nor must we fail to remember that copies of such a work are ever found in The Libraries of the HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. The Libraries of our UNIVERSITIES and COLLEGES. All Public Libraries and Reading-rooms. The Libraries of our great aristocnatic Clubs. The Libraries attached to all our great Public Institutions. And they are also ever to be seen at the principal Hotels and Inns throughout the kingdom. A recognition of the titles and distinctions claimed by quacks, in a Medical Directory thus publicly circulated, is Their claims being thus an evil of enormous magnitude. advertised, the pretenders obtain a world-wide notoriety. Would the mischief be diminished by excluding their titles, and attaching to their names a sign by which the public might know them, and be made acquainted with their peculiar practice? Wethink not. Such a plan would scarcely produce A distinguishing mark in a general an abatement of the evil. Medical Directory, circulated as we have described, is precisely what the quacks want. Bestow it upon their names, either by titles, asterisks, or obelisks, their object is gained, and you assist in constructing traps for their victims. That portion of the public who are enamoured of quacks shall not be enabled to discover the objects of their morbid attachment by any reference they may make to the pages of THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY. This we deliberately guarantee.
an
inevitable professional triumph. We have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
THE
Your faithful and obedient servants, THE EDITORS OF "THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY." LANCET Office, Strand, London, August,
TO
1852.
CORRESPONDENTS.
The Lettsomian Lectures.-Dr. Winslow’s second lecture, on the "Medical Treatment of Insanity," will be published in this journal. The concluding and very important lectare, on " Medico-Legal Evidence," will also appear at no distant date in the columns of THE LANCET. A Six Years’ Subscriber, (Rugby.)-We cannot recommend the person mentioned. His advertisements are sufficient to indicate that his mode of treatment has not the sanction of the medical profession. A Constant Reader will find, by reference to the last LANCET, that no such re-organization has taken place. R. S. T.-What objection can our correspondent have to append his name to the communication which he has forwarded? Without such addition, the paper loses its value as an authentic document. Enquirer.-It would be advisable to consult with some respectable surgeon It would be impossible to give a satisfactory answer to on the matter. the inquiries without a knowledge of various circumstances, which are not stated in Enquirer’s note. A Liverpool Surgeon.-We believe that the person in question is duly qualified by law ; but we are not aware that he is ever consulted by either physician, surgeon, or apothecary. A. B. C., (Finsbury.)-Some notice will be taken of the anomalous condition of the Eastern Dispensary, with respect to its medical officers. Mr. E. C. Buckbolt.-Unfortunately no legal claim can be made. The withholding of remuneration in such cases is exceedingly unjust. Mr. Hilton’s fourth lecture will appear in our next impression. N., (Isle of Man.)-The act in relation to inoculation for small-pox is highly creditable to the legislation of the island, and shall be noticed next week. OTHER correspondents next week.
THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY for 1853. To the
legally-qualified Members of the Medical Profession resident in GREAT BRITAIN.
GENTLEMEN,-The offers of active co-operation and support I which have been already addressed to us by an immense number of your body, elicit from us the most hearty expression of our gratitude. With perfect sincerity and truth, we can declare that the confidence thus cheerfully and unhesitatingly reposed in us will be neither disregarded nor abused. In determining to publish a MEDICAL DIRECTORY, from which shall be carefully excluded the titles and distinctions so andaciously claimed and used by quacks, it is exceedingly gratifying to find that we are acting in complete harmony with the feelings, opinions, and wishes of all the regular practitioners belonging to our profession. The intermingling and associating in a public MEDICAL DIRECTORY the justly-acquired titles of the most celebrated of our practitioners with the peculiar distinctions assumed by notorious quacks, is an offence that has excited throughout the profession unmitigated feelings of disgust and indignation. By such a combination, quacks are placed in a dignified, and regular practitioners in a degraded, position. This cannot be disputed. An arrangement, therefore, so thoroughly repugnant to a due sense of professional honour, is an intolerable abomination, and it has been emphatically and generally denounced. Hence the demand for a Medical Directory that is free from such a foul iniquity is urged and enforced by thousands of insulted and injured practitioners. This fact alone affords the best guarantee for the immediate and permanent success of our undertaking. Aided and encouraged by all regular practitioners in medicine and surgery, the arrangements of our Directory, down to the minutest details, must exhibit an unprecedented degree of accuracy. It is an insufferable nuisance that a work pur. porting to be the Directory of the MEDICAL PROFESSION should be so constructed as to be rendered the special guide of the
As regards the general plan of the new work, it is unnecessary to trouble you with any remarks, further than to offer a distinct assurance that not a thing shall be omitted from the pages of THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY which ought to be found in such a publication. Every possible effort shall be made to render the work worthy of the patronage of the members of a distinguished profession. One word as to the price of the work. The Medical Directories now published appear to be charged at greatly too high a rate. The two Medical Directories for England and Scotland are sold at twelve shillings and sixpence to subscribers, and sixteen shillings to non-subscribers. The price of THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY, framed, as its name implies, for England and Scotland, will not amount to quite half of that sum, as its cost will certainly not exceed six shillings. If it can be published at five shillings without incurring a loss, that price will be fixed, the work not being undertaken as a commercial speculation. A far higher object is contemplated, and it is one which we feel confident will obtain for our exertions the sympathy and encouragement of the profession. If we did not fully rely on the general promises of assistance and co-operation which we have received, we could not announce the publication of the new Directory at the price stated. There will be a considerable saving of expense if our medical brethren will forward to us without delay, and in the absence of any other application than the present, the information that is solicited in another part of - this week’s LANCET. A few minutes devoted to supplying it, and a penny stamp attached to the " return," are all that we ask; but we would entreat that the "returns" be made as promptJy as possible. Without the willing aid* of the profession, the accuracy of THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY could not be safely guaranteed, and the difficulties and expense of our task would be vastly increased. The necessity, however, for the publication of such a Directory as we have projected, is so strongly and widely felt, that the appeal we have already made to the e.sprit de corps of the profession has been honoured by a response so universal and enthusiastic, that it must be hailed as the precursory sign of
I
worst of quacks, the names of the pretenders being garnished with all kinds of self-assumed titles and designations. It should not be forgotten that a general Medical Directory is
the MEDICAL HAND-BOOK of the PUBLIC, and more especially of the wealthier classes of society. Nor must we fail to remember that copies of such a work are ever found in The Libraries of the HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. The Libraries of our UNIVERSITIES and COLLEGES. All Public Libraries and Reading-rooms. The Libraries of our great aristocnatic Clubs. The Libraries attached to all our great Public Institutions. And they are also ever to be seen at the principal Hotels and Inns throughout the kingdom. A recognition of the titles and distinctions claimed by quacks, in a Medical Directory thus publicly circulated, is Their claims being thus an evil of enormous magnitude. advertised, the pretenders obtain a world-wide notoriety. Would the mischief be diminished by excluding their titles, and attaching to their names a sign by which the public might know them, and be made acquainted with their peculiar practice? Wethink not. Such a plan would scarcely produce A distinguishing mark in a general an abatement of the evil. Medical Directory, circulated as we have described, is precisely what the quacks want. Bestow it upon their names, either by titles, asterisks, or obelisks, their object is gained, and you assist in constructing traps for their victims. That portion of the public who are enamoured of quacks shall not be enabled to discover the objects of their morbid attachment by any reference they may make to the pages of THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY. This we deliberately guarantee.
an
inevitable professional triumph. We have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
THE
Your faithful and obedient servants, THE EDITORS OF "THE BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY." LANCET Office, Strand, London, August,
TO
1852.
CORRESPONDENTS.
The Lettsomian Lectures.-Dr. Winslow’s second lecture, on the "Medical Treatment of Insanity," will be published in this journal. The concluding and very important lectare, on " Medico-Legal Evidence," will also appear at no distant date in the columns of THE LANCET. A Six Years’ Subscriber, (Rugby.)-We cannot recommend the person mentioned. His advertisements are sufficient to indicate that his mode of treatment has not the sanction of the medical profession. A Constant Reader will find, by reference to the last LANCET, that no such re-organization has taken place. R. S. T.-What objection can our correspondent have to append his name to the communication which he has forwarded? Without such addition, the paper loses its value as an authentic document. Enquirer.-It would be advisable to consult with some respectable surgeon It would be impossible to give a satisfactory answer to on the matter. the inquiries without a knowledge of various circumstances, which are not stated in Enquirer’s note. A Liverpool Surgeon.-We believe that the person in question is duly qualified by law ; but we are not aware that he is ever consulted by either physician, surgeon, or apothecary. A. B. C., (Finsbury.)-Some notice will be taken of the anomalous condition of the Eastern Dispensary, with respect to its medical officers. Mr. E. C. Buckbolt.-Unfortunately no legal claim can be made. The withholding of remuneration in such cases is exceedingly unjust. Mr. Hilton’s fourth lecture will appear in our next impression. N., (Isle of Man.)-The act in relation to inoculation for small-pox is highly creditable to the legislation of the island, and shall be noticed next week. OTHER correspondents next week.