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representatives for that reform of their own College, the Collegeof Surgeons, which will avert the degradation inseparable fromthe establishment of a new and inferior one.

Dr. Marshall Hall is so universally and so deservedly respectedand esteemed by the general practitioners, that it will be a sourceof great regret to them to learn that be lends his sanction to theplan of the National Institute, which, if carried out, would proveso detrimental to their interests.

I feel assured that he is sincere in his wishes for the welfareand dignity of the general practitioners, but he is altogethermistaken in supposing that they are represented by, or have anysympathy or agreement with, the National Institute, or with itsleader, Dr. Webster.

I quite agree with Dr. Marshall Hall that the general practi-tioners should return a representative to parliament; but if theywish to elect a person who would really represent their views andinterests, I know of no individual better qualified for the office, ormore deserving of the confidence of a medical constituency, thanMr. Cartwright, of Oswestry, who has been for so many yearsthe zealous, indefatigable, talented, unchanging, and uncom.promising advocate of their rights. I should prefer seeing Dr.Webster in the House of Lords, the silent representative of thatdignity of which Mr. Cartwright would be the safest defender andguardian in the Commons.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,Much-Wenlock, Aug. 19, 185o. W. P. BROOKES.W. P. BROOKES.

BIOGRAPHY OF DR. CLUTTERBUCK AND THEALDERSGATE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.

To the Editor of THE LANCET. ISiR,-In the biographical sketch of Dr. Clutterbuck, in your Ilast number, it is stated that Dr. Clutterbuck. with the late Mr.Tyrrell, established the Aldersgate School of Medicine, imme-diately after the affair at the Dispensary." This statement re-

quires correction, for the Aldersgate School was established in1826, and the resignation of the medical officers of the Dispensarytook place in 1833.The Aldersgate School was established by the late Mr.

Tyrrell, Dr. Jones Quain, (afterwards Professor of Anatomy atUniversity College,) and Mr. Coulson, or rather, by Mr. Tyrrell,for the lease of the premises were taken in his name, and he alonewas responsible for the rent and the outlay; the two latter gen-tlemen contributing a sum of money, which was to be (and was)repaid to them on their leaving the school. The lecturers, and, iamongst them, Dr. Clutterbuck, paid an annual rent for the useof the theatre. The expenses connected with the establishmentof the school were much larger than Mr. Tyrrell had been led toexpect, and one of the lecturers, in consequence, lent Mr. Tyrrellthree hundred pounds. This gentleman left the school in thesecond session, and Dr. Clutterbuck, in a very handsome manner,and without security, advanced the amount necessary to repaythis loan.

I quite agree in all you have said in praise of Dr. Clutterbuck,and believe that no physician of his day has laboured more assi-duously to connect the practice of the profession with its science,and to impress on his professional brethren the duty of treatingdisease on rational principles, and not merely empirically.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,August 20, 1850. A CONSTANT READER.

CHOREA AND HIP DISEASE.—PROFESSIONALETIQUETTE.

To the Editor of THE LANCET. ISiR,-In perusing THE LANCET of August 10th, I observe aletter addressed by Mr. Highmore, of Sherborne, referring to acircumstance which transpired at the residence of a family herein town, with whom I have been intimately acquainted for some

years, and by whom, during the last twelve months, I have beenfrequently consulted professionally. The letter alluded to by meis headed " Chorea treated as Hip Disease, and ProfessionalEtiquette in London." Now, Sir, the title of this letter at onceadmits a duplex share of ignorance on the part of the writer, bothwith reference to professional knowledge and etiquette, which aplain statement of facts-" a round, unvarnished tale delivered"-will elucidate most clearly, and leave open for the unbiassedopinion of a liberal profession.On June 10th, I was requested by a lady to visit her daughter,

aged nine years, who had been observed by her parents to limp.At the hour appointed by me, I found my patient, a child of veryscrofulous habit, with a crop of enlarged glands in the neck.When desired to walk across the room, she limped considerably,

and complained of pain in the knee; upon which I placed her ona sofa, and manipulated the thigh-bone upwards into the hip-joint, which occasioned much suffering. I may also add here,that scrofula abounds in both the father’s and mother’s family.My opinion was then formed, and remains so, that the case wasincipient hip-joint disease ; and, accordingly, I recommendedperfect quietude, with two or three leeches to be applied, fomen-tations thrice daily, and some mild alterative powders to regulatethe bowels ; diet to be light, but nutritious. My directions werestrictly adhered to, with the exception of the leeches, whichwere applied too high. This signified but little, so long as theremainder of the treatment was duly adopted ; and at each visiton alternate days, I found the child to be improving; still, Irecommended the same system to be continued.On the eighth day I received a letter from the child’s father,

requesting me to meet Mr. Highmore at one o’clock. This letterrequired no answer, I having promised to visit my patient on thatday, and as near to that hour as engagements would allow. Beingsurgeon to the Bloomsbury Dispensary, my duty occupied meat that institution from twelve to half-past one o’clock, whenI quitted for this consultation ; and on passing my own residencein Woburn-place, a carriage drove to my door with a lady in it,who wished to see me urgently. She detained me nearly half an

hour, making it a quarter past two o’clock on my arrival. The

usual form of introduction having been gone through, I expressed,and do so again, an apology for being late, which, at the same time,

could not have been helped; but, much to my astonishment, mypatient had been removed from the position in which I had placedher-now sitting on the sofa, having undergone an examination ;also directed to jump off the table and run about the room. Atthis I certainly felt much anuoyed, and maintain it to be a breachof professional etiquette. Whether brother-in-law or no relation,a surgeon, I submit, is not justified in interfering with a caseduring the absence of another, who is the regular professionalattendant, perhaps detained by previous engagements or publicduty from being quite punctual. In the next place, Mr. High-more evidently formed his opinion hastily, not having seen theearly symptoms, which had now subsided in toto; and at once,in a dictatorial style, pronounced the case to be chorea. After ashort consultation, the mother entered the room, and, observinga difference of opinion between us, proposed further advice fromSir Benjamin Brodie, to which I replied she could act as shethought proper, but that my opinion (which I could see hadbeen opposed) would remain the same. The concluding remarksmade by Mr. Highmore scarcely require comment, further thanthat I consider one member of the College of Surgeons as goodas another, so long as he conducts himself in a gentlemanly andprofessional manner; and that, with regard to my being a fellowof that body, I was not even aware that he had not acquired thesame distinction.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,Woburn-place, Russell-square. GEORGE L. COOPER.GEORGE L. COOPER.

ARMY AND NAVY MEDICAL SERVICES’ HISTORY.PROPOSED SUBSCRIPTION FUND.

To the Editor of TaE LANCET.SiR,-I am anxious to raise a fund, by a subscription of one

guinea each, to assist in the publication of a history of the ser-vices of the medical department of the army and navy during thepresent century, with a brief account of the educational qualifica-tions and duties of medical officers, together with anecdotes andbiographical sketches of those who have distinguished themselveseither by their heroic deeds or professional services. Such a.work would be read with great interest by the public, as well asby the profession, and would rescue from oblivion many a nobleaction performed by medical officers who fell on the field ofbattle, or who still survive, and are perhaps unnoticed by theircountry.The editor of such a work would doubtless receive much

valuable information and assistance from experienced militaryand naval surgeons still living, and would bequeathe to posteritya history of services and reminiscences which would shed a lustreon the profession, and establish incontestably the claims ofmilitary and naval surgeons to military honours.

In order fully to carry out the foregoing suggestion, it wouldbe desirable that a select committee, consisting of military andnaval surgeons, and others who may feel an interest in the

matter, should be formed in London, with auxiliary committees,

in the provincial towns, who would not only aid in collecting. subscriptions, but information also, for the work in question,, and who might communicate with the general committee in. London.

, Previously to the formation of such a committee, I should be