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preliminary, as well as of professional, know-ledge, if we are to maintain our position inthe present advanced and advancing state ofcivilized society.

Yours, &0.SURRIENSIS.

ARMY ASSISTANT-SURGEONS.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,—Your correspondent R., whose

letter appears in the last number of yourinvaluable publication, ought to have known ’,that the late Secretary at War has made aneffort to remedy the evil complained of by iR. ; and almost the first act of his presentMajesty was to sign a royal warrant giving Ito assistant-surgeons of the army, after tenyears’service, the daily pay of ten shillings,and allowing them also a retirement pro-portioned to their services on full-pay.But, Sir, how melancholy the reflectionthat the junior officers of this departmentshould owe this boon to the good heart andsound judgment of Sir Henry Hardinge,and not to their own natural chief Sir James

M’Grigor! From the moment this latter

gentleman got placed at the head of themedical department, up to the present hour,I defy his most favoured or partial friendto point out one act of favour or of advantagehe has procured for the department, or anyexertion he has ever made to improve thecondition of medical officers, or to renderthem more respectable. He has, indeed,attempted to rule them with a rod of iron,and, where he could with impunity, hasshown that Rob Roy’s bloo d runs in hisveins. But no-where under his govern-ment can I discover any-thing like the actof a noble mind, or the generous feelings ofone who by good luck more than talentowes his fortune and his respectability to theservice. All 1vI’Grigor’s efforts have beenfor self, and the shameless manner in whichhis influence has been used to serve his sonand heir, would have brought many before acourt martial.

King William has increased the pay ofall the medical officers in the army, and hasarranged their ranks in a way that is moreuniform, and gives a greater respectabilitythan li as hitherto been the case and insteadof being dressed more like monkeys thanmen, they have again been permitted toassume the British uniform. But I reallybelieve, had it been proposed that the doc-tors should be dressed like °’ Paddy fromCork" with their coats buttoned behind,his honour the Knight Director Generalwould have said, ’ Oh ! by all means let itbe so." t should, be glad to see the newwarrant for regulating the medical depart-ment of the army in the pages of THE LAN-CET, as no otherwise do I conceive can itbecome generally known to the profession.

I am, Sir,Your constant reader and admirer,

A POOR ASSISTANT-SURG-EON.September 13, 1830.

PAY OF ARMY MEDICAL OFFICERS.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,—I beg leave, with reference to the

communication signed R., and inserted inNo. 367 of your Journal, to forward you astatement of the rates of daily pay of armymedical officers annexed to his Majesty’swarrant, dated 29th of July, 1830 (fromwhich day the same is to take effect), bywhich you will perceive that the benevolentwishes of your correspondent have been an-ticipated.

I am, Sir,Your obedient servant,

J. H. P.Sept. 1!), 1830.P.S.—There are, of course, other particu.

lars in the warrant, but as the scale of paycontains the information relative to the in-crease of the assistant-surgeon’s emolu-ments, I have thought it best to occupy theleast possible space of your valuable work.

RANKS.

Assistant-Surgeon.....Regimental ditto ........Staff ditto........

’ Assist.-Inspect, of HospitalsDeputy Inspector General

of ditto ..............

Inspector General of ditto

After 25 Years Iactual Service.

RATES OF DAILY PAY.

After 20, butunder 25 Yearsactual Service.

After 10, butunder 20 Yearsactual Service. Under 10 Yearsactual Service.