202

gentlemen, as it appears to me,is the mode of treating’ gonor-rhœa which will best contributeto the maintenance of your own

professional character, and tothe welfare of your patients.

LONDON COLLEGE OF

SURGEONS.

COURT OF EXAMINERS.

"Gentlemen, ye are egregious asses

and dirty hucksters."

It is our intention in the pre-sent article, to examine the lawthat has lately emanated fromthis body corporate, in order toshow how absurd it is in prin-ciple, and how injnriot1s it

must inevitable prove in its con-

sequence, to the interests of

science. The motives which

have given rise to this measureare so ostensible, that no indi-vidual can be mistaken respect-ing them, and on this account

an universal feeling- of indigna-tion has been excited through-out the profession at a body,which could venture so far to

bid defiance to public opinion,as to enact a measure, the onlyobject of’ which is to enrich

those who have passed it. It willbe worth the while before we

proceed any further, just to seewhat the College has advanced

on behalf of the regulation inquestion, it is as follows:-

‘ The COURT OF EXAMINERS

in pursuance of their duty, topromote the cultivation of sound

chirurgical knowledge, (mark,0 reader !) and to discountenance

practices which have a contrarytendency, have resolved,

! "That all certificates of attendance atlectures on anatomy, physiology, thetheory and practice of surgery, and ofthe performance of dissections, be notreceived by the; Court, except from theappointed PROFESSORS of lrnatomy andSurgeryin the Universities of Dublin,Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen;or from persons teaching in a school,acknowledged by the tz.edical establish-ment of one of the recognized, or from

persons being Physicians or Surgeonsto any of those hospitals."

First, we shall examine howfar this measure is capable of

promoting’ the cultivation of

sound chirurgical knowledge,and discountenancing practiceswhich have a contrary tendency;and, secondly, shew that it is

very unlikely the College ofSurgeons, constituted as it is at

present, will ever pass any lawsor regulations that can effect sodesirable an object.Sound chirurgical knowledge

can only be promoted by allow-

ing the greatest possible freedomof competition between surgicaland anatomical teachers. This

proposition is as true in science,as it is in political economythat a free trade is most advan-

203

tagcous to a country. If it be

for the advantage of a countrythat commerce should be nn-

restricted, in order that the

people may be able to got thosecommodities which are the best

and cheapest, is it not equallyfor the benefit of science that

no restriction should be laid on

the communication of know-

ledge ? By allowing’ one man-to compete with another in the

way of affording- instruction, astimulus -to exertion is held out

to all who enter the list, and

the result is, that the individualwho possesses most informationand is able to communicate it

best, will be most

handsomelyremunerated: the advantagesacerliin- from competition to

those who seek instruction, isthat by means of it they obtainbetter information than theywould if there had been no

competition ; and to science thatan inducement is offered to in-

dividuals to advance it, by theremuneration they derive fromtheir exertions. One would

think it quite needless to provewhat is almost self-evident, if

the regulation of the collegewhich has called forth these iremarks, was not in direct op-

position to it. What say the

Court of Examiners: — " We

e! will receive no certificates

y of attendance on certain lecturesbut from hospital physicians and

surgeons, .the appointed profes-sors of anatomy and surgery to

t 4 univer_sities;"* then comes aphrase, the exact meaning’ oft which we are scarcely able tounderstand from the vagueness

with which it is expressed; "andt persons teaching in a school

acknowledg’ed by the medical

establishments of one of the re-

cognized hospitals." Thus theCourt of Examiners say we

! wish to uphold the dignity ofthe profession, and therefore; have determined only to receive-the certificates of certain in-

dividuals, whom we think most

competent. But why do the Ex-aminers think the hospital sur-geons most competent persons-to instruct? Is it because theypossess such valuable opportu-nities ? But do we not all know,

that men with the most exten-

sive means of improvement willnot avail themselves of them to

their own advantage, or that ofothers, unless they have a

motive, and that by preventingcompetition, you remove the

most powerful motive that can

* It is a fine joke that men who areunable to express their ideas either intelligibly or gramatically, should legis-la.te for the whole profession!

204act on them ? But no, gentle-men, you have been, or are still

hospital surgeons yourselves, ’,and therefore you have passedthis measure for your own ad-

vantage and that alone ; butin justification, it may be urgedthat the certificates of "personsteaching in any school acknow-ledged by the medical establish-ments of one of the recognized ’,

hospitals" will be received, butas the teachers of the recog-nized hospitals have the powerof not acknowledging any per-son who may be likely to excelthem, it is quite a farce to paythe slightest attention to this

assertion. It is expressed in aclause which has a very ambi-

guous meaning, and apparentlyinserted merely for the purpose ofdrawing the attention from thereal object of the regulation.The court of Examiners, insteadof encouraging competitionamong surgical or anatomical

teachers, by this measure, attemptto discourage it in every possibleway, and we have proved that

by competition alone can soundchirurgical knowledge be pro-moted, therefore the tendencyof this regulation being to p e-vent competition is to preventthe advancement of surgery.Sound chirurgical knowledge

will be promoted by affording’an :inducement to men of talents

and genius to enter the’ profes-sion, and become surgical or

anatomical teachers ; an induce-ment which this measure has

entirely taken away. If this

regulation had existed seventyyears ago, one of the brightestornaments of the profession*would probably have been pre-vented from becoming- a teacher,and the good which mankindhas derived from his labours,have been lost. This mea-

sure is calculated to determen of talent from embarkingin a profession, the chief honoursof which are to be awarded to’

some dozen individuals who

obtain their situations throughprivate influence, and some,

without one single claim to - _justify their election. Manywho have already embarked in itwill be compelled to give up theidea of pursuing a particularbranch of it in which their

labours mig’ht have been usefullyemployed. The cases which

we are now mentioning’ are notsimply Imaginary; owing to this’measure they will occur, and,perhaps some have already oc-curred. There is connected

with this affair, an individual

* JOHN HUNTER.

205

for whom we have been accus-tomed to entertain a high re-

spect-we allude to the distin-

guished Professor of Surgery atSt. Thomas’s Hospital: by sanc-tioning this measure he has

cast a slur over his character,which all his professional at-

tainments will not be able to

efface. It is lamentable to see

a man, by one single act, forfeitwhat has cost him a long lifeof labour and exertion to

acquire-viz. the esteem of man-kind ; but if Sir ASTLEY COO-

PER does not openly discoun-tenance the measure he will

see, perhaps when too late,

that a reputation may be moreeasily lost than acquired. *The COLLEGE of SURGEONS

constituted as it is at present, isnot likely to pass any measurecalculated to benefit the pro-fession. This may be readilyinferred from looking at the

absurdity and injurious tendencyof the laws which this body hasalready passed, but the proposi-tion admits of being easilyproved. Jt may be laid down

as a general principle, that oneman will attend to his own in=

* We make these personal allusionsbecause, if report spe’aks true, SirASTLEY COOPER, in conjunction withMr. ABERNETHEY and Mr. CLINE, hasbeen the chief promoter of this wea-sure.

terests in preference to those of-any other person, and it is ex-actly the same with any set ofmen. If-a few individuals be

appointed to watch over the

concerns of a large body of

men, it is quite necessary, in

order to secure upright con-,

duct on their part, that the in-terests of these few should ba

identified with those of themany.

This is incontrovertible, andit only remains to be inquiredhow far the interests of the

COURT OF EXAMINERS are

identified with those of the pro-

fession over the concerns of

which it presides? This maybe soon ascertained. In what

manner are the EXAMINERS

elected? Are they elected bythe profession or any part of theprofession whose interests are

equal to those of the whole,andare they responsible to theprofes-sion at large for their conduct?

Neither the one nor the other.

Elected to a situation, which the

majority of them are unable tofill,- by a few individuals ; andarmed with power for the ex-ercise of which they are respon-sible to no tribunal but that ofpublic opinion, and only to this,of late, the EXAMINERS have

206

the strongest temptation to em-ploy all the means they possessto their own advantage ; and theregulation which. we have in-

sertedabove, illustrates the truthof what we assert.

As a scientific. body, we do notbelieve that a more contemptibleone exists than the Court of

Examiners. Some of them havebeen politely declared incompe-tent to fulfil their duties as hos-

pital surgeons, and all have

proved themselves unworthy ofthe trust which is reposed inthem. The fear,- of public opi-nion has compelled them to ex-

empt from the operation of thislaw, those anatomical teachers

in the metropolis who are al-

ready established, but not con-nected with any hospital :this, however, only lessens in

a slight degree the injurioustendency of the measure, whilstit has the effect of diminishingthe opposition which may beoffered to it. But we hope that

the profession will exert itself

in some manner . or other,on this occasion, or we shall

see the three corporate medicalbodies intrigtiing with each

other, for the purpose of de-

grading it still more than theyhave done; and probably shall

next hear that the worshipful

Company of Apothecaries re-

fuse to take certificates of at-

tendance on medical lectures,but those delivered by the fel-

lows of the College of Physi-cians. We shall shortly return,to the subject again.

CHEMISTRY.

.. "Bodies passing from a denser

to a rarer state absorb caloric.’’ ’We promised, in our last num-

ber, to state some experiments in.favor of this law before we point-ed out our objections to its appli-cation. We shall therefore state

them at once. Mix together somepowdered Muriate of Ammonia,(sal ammoniac) and water; thesal ammoniac will soon dissolve,

or, in other words, rapidly passfrom a solid to a fluid state, and a

great absorption of heat take

place ; so much so as to producea temperature many degreeslower than before the mixture.

Nitrate of potassa, (nitre) willalso produce a similar affection inthe temperature of the mixture inwhich it is dissolved, or ratherwhen dissolving-. Nitre & sal am-

moniac, when judiciously mixedtogether and thrown into justsufficient water to dissolve

them", produce a degree of cold

capable of freezing water in the