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trarily fix a limit to the attainments of the general practitioners.Legislation on medical affairs, to be either safisfactory or enduring,must be based upon the principle of public utility, irrespective of’the individual interests of any of the medical corporations. Itmust be borne in mind, that the general practitioners havehitherto obtained their education and examination in medicine,chemistry, pharmacy, and obstetrics, under a curriculum of studyframed by the Court of Examiners of the Societyof Apothecaries;that this curriculum has been, year by year, improved and ex-tended, until it has attained its present high state of efficiency,and that it stands recorded in the evidence of parties most com-petent to form an opinion, that the medical education and theexaminations of the general practitioners by- the Society of

Apothecaries had proved of essential service to the public, whilstit reflected the highest amount of credit upon the parties whohad so liberally and creditably fulfilled the duties that were en-trusted to them, under the Apothecaries’ Act of 1815, with all itsimperfections. The general practitioners are satisfied with thatportion of the education they have received under the Apothe-caries’ curriculum, and they have never complained of its beinginefficient ; no parties have proclaimed their incompetency tomanage the large amount of medical practice that necessarilydevolves upon them, and a very strong, and, as I believe,a very justly strong opinion prevails in their minds, thatit is to the Society of Apothecaries having possessed theunrestricted right to frame a curriculum of education tobe followed by the candidates for their licence to practise,that the very satisfactory acquirements of the generalpractitioners, as respects medicine, chemistry, pharmacy, andobstetrics, is to be attributed. By the document I now hold inmy hand, it appears that the Council of the Royal College ofSurgeons propose that the important privilege I have alluded to,should be forthwith taken away, and that a system which, forthirty-nve years, has been found to work so satisfactorily, thatnot a single complaint has been whispered to its disparagement,without any petition or solicitation from any source whatever,should be set aside, and the duties transferred to other parties,one of whom, by some fatal mismanagement of the surgicalportion of the general practitioner’s education, and by compara-tively lowering their status, has roused the indignation, and ex-cited the jealousy and suspicion, of every member of the college,from one end of the kingdom to the other. I have no hesitationwhatever in affirming, Sir,-and I am sure I speak the sentimentsof every gentleman present, when I state,-that the transfer of thepowers held by the general practitioners to a joint board of phy.sicians and surgeons, whereby the control and management oftheir own affairs would be taken out of their hands, will notbe willingly assented to by one general practitioner out of ahundred. After many years of painful agitation, disturbing thepeace and equanimity of a learned and peaceful profession, anagitation arising from such deeply felt grievances as have induceda body of gentlemen, from the want of any recognised head torepresent them, to resort to public meetings to express their wishes,the National Institute, still believing that they truly represent thewishes and inclinations of the majority of the general practitioners,and also in the full conviction that the public interests would bebest consulted by the arrangement that they propose, wouldimpress upon the Government their earnest conviction, that theonly effectual solution of the difficulties of the medical reformquestion is in the establishment of a new and independent collegeof medicine, surgery, and midwifery.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE MEDICAL AND SURGICALASSOCIATION.

AT a Special General Meeting of the Gloucestershire Medicaland Surgical Association, held on Monday, the 6th May, 1850, toconsider ‘° An Answer from the Council of the Royal College ofSurgeons of England, to a communication from Secretary SirGeorge Grey," (dated March 2nd, 1850,) and also " The Resolu-tions of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of Eng-land, respecting certain alterations deemed necessary in thecharters and by-laws of the College, and to which they requestthe sanction of the Secretary of State for the Home Department,(dated April 23rd, 1850,)"

It was unanimously resolved,-That the general scheme of medical reform proposed by the

Royal College of Surgeons of England receives the cordial appro-bation of this Association, as it is considered to embrace thefollowing points,’which have always been advocated by this Asso-ciation:—

1st, The superintendence of the profession by a supremeboard or council, ensuring thereby a high and uniform qua-lification throughout the empire.

2ndly, A reciprocity of practice in the three kingdoms.3rdly, The authorized registration and notification of all

qualified practitioners.4thly, Securing the public against the pretensions and mal-

practices of uneducated and dishonest persons.5thly, The examination of candidates for admission into the-

profession by a combination of the Royal Colleges ofPhysicians and Surgeons, assisted by examiners in mid-wifery and pharmacy, rather than by a trading company."

6thly, The reform and organization of the profession, to becompleted by an amicable alliance and union of the col-leges with the universities; and an obligation on all to passthrough the same probationary gradations and examina-tions, and enter at one and the same professional portal.

Resolved, secondly,-That in the proposed alterations in theCharters of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, this Asso-ciation extremely regrets to perceive that the right of voting forcouncillors is not extended to members of the college in general,irrespectively of their holding the fellowship.They also object to the proposal, that eligibility for the office

of councillor should still be restricted to those fellows who residewithin five miles of the London Post-office, and they most stronglyurge the removal of this restriction.

Correspondence.

SUGGESTION OF A PLAN FOR THE DRAINAGE OFLONDON WITHOUT CONTAMINATION OF THETHAMES.

"Audi alteram partem."

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—The following plan, having for its object the health ofthis great metropolis, will not, I trust, be considered foreignto the objects of your most useful publication.To purify the atmosphere and the soil of London, without

contamination of its river, I propose-First, that the contents of all the sewers be received into a

cloaca maxima situated along each bank of the Thames.Secondly, that all the railways be extended to the same

banks of the river, as the South-Western is, nearly, already.Thirdly, that the contents of the two cloacce be pumped

into closed waggons on the railways (in perfect exclusion fromthe atmosphere), and be conveved by a night-service to thedistance of ten, twenty, fifty, or a hundred miles from London,and spread over the soil.In this manner our atmosphere will be purified, our river

kept from contamination, and our fields will be fertilized,whilst the annual loss to the kingdom of so much valuablemanure will be obviated.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,London, May 16, 1850.

_________

HYGEIA.

FATAL HÆMORRHAGE FROM THE PANCREAS.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—After searching the archives of medical literature, Icannot find recorded a similar case to the one I am about to re-late, it thus being, as far as I am acquainted, unprecedented. Isubmit it to the columns of your widely circulated journal, inhopes that it may prove interesting to your numerous readers.

It will be seen that I have allowed a long time to elapse sincethe occurrence of the case, and publishing it, my reason beingthat I might be able to give some more distinguishing name asto the nature of the disease that induced the hæmorrhage, thanwhat the above heading represents, but am sorry to say that Iam unable to do so, although the preparation (which is now inthe Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons) has been seen byseveral, and has been microscopically examined by Mr. Quekett.

I am. Sir. vour obedient servant.H. HODSON RUGG.London, 1850.

On the 29th of December, 1843, I was summoned in a greathurry, to W. C., aged thirty-two, whom I had been previouslyattending for a severe attack of acute articular rheumatism, fromwhich he was rapidly recovering; indeed, the day previous to hisdeath, he was able to get up and dress himself.