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the left. You perceive that these resolutions are identically andalmost verbatim the same, the only difference being that the

College care nothing for the baneful effects of illegal practiceupon public and professional interests, as long as their own areleft untouched, while Drs. Hastings and Streeten at last seek forsome protection from illegal practitioners, well knowing that ifthey did not, their Association would fall to pieces-a fate whichI fear will now befal it, as far as general practitioners are con-cerned. The sixth of the Derby resolutions faintly asks for a11 filler recognition of the representative principle in the forma-tion of the governing body." I presume this means the Councilof Health; and that this is done with the view of introducing twoof the provincial pures. The College having their representativein the Council, and their own interests taken care of, are silenton the subject. Here it is just worthy of remark, that the reso-lutions of another Edinburgh monopolizing body, the College ofSurgeons, are in strict keeping with those of their neighbours,the physicians and their allies of the Provincial Association.They are to have their representative in the supreme Council-their share of the honours and the jobbing-they are in raptureswith the Bill, and conclude by instructing their reform committee.69 to give every possible assistance, by petition or otherwise, to thepassing of the Bill of Sir James Graham"! !With the above key, Sir, we can now understand what have

been called the reform proceedings of some of the meetings in theprovinces. Wherever the Provincial Association have branches,or have been able to command influence, there you will findthere has been shewn more or less of the poisonous leaven oftheir own resolutions, or rather, those of the Edinburgh Collegeof Physicians-the beau ideal of venality-viz., thanks to SirJames Graham, and satisfaction with his Bill! ! The general practitioners of Great Britain have just escaped

a great danger-a gunpowder plot-and are still beset withfoes on every hand. The Government measure-the Collegeswith their new charters-the Poor-Law Commissioners-openquacks-practising chemists-and pretended friends, must all becombatted with. By union, by energy, by exertion the mostzealous, by the hatred of oppression, by the fear of impendingruin, and, above all, by incorporation into one organized repre-sentative body, I believe that the 25,000 educated and enlightenedgeneral practitioners of this country will be more than a matchfor all their enemies, and will overcome all their present difficul-ties. The power of such a body, if concentrated and directed toany legitimate and just object, would be irresistible. Let all,then, unite in petitioning the Crown for a royal charter, anddoubtless it will be granted. Our gracious Queen owes too muchto the skill and watchful care of her own medical attendants, torefuse so reasonable a request to those who are entrusted with thehealth of the women of England. I am, Sir, yours &c.,

CHIRON.London, Nov. 19, 1844.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SiR,—Allow me, through the medium of your excellent publi-cation, to make a few remarks relative to the letters ofMessrs. Wood and Teague, students of this College, with re-spect to the competition for prizes. It is well known that

qualified, and fourth and fifth years men, are in the habit ofcompeting with one and two years, which can only be obviatedby the council framing a law-that no qualified practitioner, orstudent who has completed his third session, shall be eligible tocompete for a prize. Mr. Wood says that one of the rules to beobserved by gentlemen going in for honours is, that they shallhave attended regularly the weekly examinations. Surely thisregulation ought to be dispensed with; many of the students maynot intend offering themselves for examination at the Apothe-caries’ Hall, which Company only renders it compulsory, andtheir time may be more profitably employed in the dissecting-room or the library; at least, such may be their own views; andas all students are of an age capable of judging for themselves, Ithink that such a rule, if enforced, would be an act of discourtesyon the part of the council. There are many disagreeablesconnected with these examinations that I have heard stu-dents frequently complain of. Perhaps the professor asks a

question, which the student is not able to answer; instead of’his being assisted, a dead silence ensues, and he either rendershimself ridiculous to the rest of the class, by making some guessat a reply, or is so confused that he becomes disgusted, andnever answers to his name again. These are evils of frequentoccurrence.

I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,FAIR PLAY.

University College, Nov. 18.

SIR BENJAMIN BRODIE. BART.To the Editor a/THE LANCET.

SiR,—I shall be much obliged to you if you will insert the fol.lowing letter, addressed to the editor of another journal, in thlnext number of THE LANCET ; and

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,j B. C. BRODIE.’, 14, Saville Row, Nov. 18, 1844.

B. C. BRODIE.

i COPY.)I To the Editor of THE MEDICAL GAZETTE.

SIR,—In the leading article of the Medical Gazette of

Friday last, I find a scheme propounded for the incorporation ofthe great body of general medical practitioners with the LondonCollege of Physicians, and followed by these observations:-

" The plan suggested would have this further advantage: itwould not be opposed by those who have been prime movers inthe construction of the medical bill. We threw it out to the dis-tinguished individual who has the credit, or the discredit, accord-ing to different men’s views, of the projected bill, and his replywas, Let the College of Physicians take them, and welcome ;’meaning the general practitioners."

It is evident that this refers to a conversation which I hadwith you on Thursday, the 7th of this month; and I have nodoubt that there are few among your readers who do not under-stand that I am the individual here alluded to.The expression attributed to me, standing, as it does, alone,

cannot but be considered as offensive to two classes of personswhom I equally esteem, and among whom I have met with someof my kindest friends, namely, the College of Physicians andthe general practitioners. But you must be aware that it was notso intended, and that it would not be so considered by others, ifthe rest of our conversation had been recorded. I am willing tobelieve that it was only through inadvertence that you quotedany part of a conversation which was purely confidentialHaving done so, however, I have a right to expect that you willgo still further ; and I beg to remind you of what really happened,as far as it concerns the remark in question.On the day which I have mentioned, I had an interview

with you, on a subject which concerned yourself. I was influencedby no other motive than a feeling of kindness towards you, anda desire to prevent your being placed in what would have been,at any rate, a disagreeable situation.

In the course of our communication you observed, speaking ofthe general medical practitioners, " They are more of physiciansthan of surgeons ;" and you then suggested that the College ofPhysicians might make them an appendage of their body. I

scarcely knew whether this was to be taken seriously or not, it

being indeed plain that it would not suit the views either of one

party or of the other; and I answered, carelessly enough, that" They were welcome to do so, if they pleased." I said this, nothaving the smallest notion that it was to be put forth to theworld as my grave opinion, and without any kind of disrespect-ful feeling towards either the physicians or the general practi-tioners, I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

B. C. BRODIE.B. C. BRODIE.

AN INQUEST IN WILTSHIRE!To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—As an act of justice to myself and the profession, I begto send you the particulars of an inquest held here on Saturdaylast, Oct. 5th, before Mr. Whitmarsh, coroner of this district, anda respectable jury of the town, on the body of Georgiana Tid-comb, who died suddenly on the Thursday previous. It is

necessary for me, in order to make my case appear clear beforeyou, to furnish you with a short history of my professionalattendance on the deceased. I was first called in to see her aboutfour months ago, soon after her confinement; she was sufferingfrom no particular complaint, and soon got better. The lasttime I saw her was about ten days prior to her death; she wasthen attacked with severe pain in her stomach; from this shesoon recovered, from the use of anti-spasmodics. I heard nofurther of her till Thursday morning last, (the day of herdeath,) when she had more medicine. I had occasion to leavehome immediately, and did not return till the evening., when Iheard she was dead. It was said she had taken two doses ofthe medicine I had sent her, and within two hours after takingthe last dose, she fell down in the house, and expired almost im-mediately. In my absence, Mr. Parker, a practitioner of thetown, was called in, but by the time he came, the woman hadbeen dead at least ten minutes; still he made an attempt to bleedfrom the arm. It was natural to suppose, having been, as I haveshewn you, the regular medical attendant in this case, that I shouldbe summoned to attend the inquest. After waiting some time, I wentto the house where the inquest was being held, and, to my great

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astonishment, I found that Mr. Parker’s evidence had been taken,and the coroner intimated to the jury that mine was quite un-necessary, and further, that it would be entailing an additional.expense on the county, as already thefees to medical men were muchcomplained qf. Several of the jury, however, felt much dis-satisfied, and for a long time insisted on my being called in; butthey were at length overruled by the coroner, and finally a verdictwas declared, on Mr. Parker’s evidence, that the woman came byher death from the rupture of a bloodvessel.

Sir, this woman was of a bad character, and having twochildren to support, found herself, of late, in great distress, andfrom many circumstances which I have since learnt, there aregrounds to suppose that she might have taken poison, as soonafter she had taken tea, she died. It is not for me to make anycomment on the conduct of the coroner towards me. I have givenyou afair and true statement of the whole proceeding, and leaveit to more able hands-such as yours-to draw the proper in-ference. I must add, that Mr. Parker is neither a licentiate ofthe Hall nor a member of the College, but, I believe, was inpractice before the year ’15. ’,

I have the honour to be, your obedient servant, ’,J. W. WORKMAN, M.R.C.S., &c. ’

Cricklade, Wilts, Oct. 9, 1844.J. W. WORKMAN, M.R.C.S., &c,

DR. GOODFELLOW ON THE THICKNESS OFANIMALCULÆ.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.DR. GOODFELLOW presents his compliments to the Editor of

THE LANCET, and will feel obliged by his correcting an errorwhich was copied from Dr. Goodfellow’s paper in the " MedicalGazette," in the abstract which the editor did him the honour toinsert in his journal.

It should have been stated that the diameter or thickness of theanimalculæ varied from the 1-40,OOOth to the 1-20,OOOth of aniach, instead of, as inserted, the 1-2000th. It is of importancethat this should be corrected, as their length is said just before to’vary from the 1-6000th to the 1-3000th of an inch; it will thusbe seen that, according to the erroneous statement, the animalculæwere in some cases broader than they were long.London Fever Hospital, Oct. 14, 1844.

THE ORTHOPŒDIC INSTITUTION, BLOOMSBURY-SQUARE.

To the Editor.-SIR, In my communication to you of the 4thof October last, I find I made a clerical error in stating that Dr.Stromeyer, of Hanover, had sent in his resignation to the Ortho-poedic Institution. This resignation has not yet been officiallysent in, but I can vouch for its existence, and that it is only keptback for the moment. I omitted one other resignation, of which,until this morning, I was unaware, and which I have just seen-viz., Mr. Serj-eant Adams, dated in October last.

Your most obedient servant, A CONSTANT READER.Nov. 19, 1844.

NEWS OF THE WEEK.Mr. Clendon, of Conduit-street, was, on Thursday last, elected

Dentist to the Westminster Hospital.A QUACK DOCTOR COMMITTED FOR MANSLAUGHTER.—An

inquest was held yesterday on the body of Mrs. Mary Harris,(late of Aston Hall, Shropshire,) before Mr. H. Churton, at Bir-kenhead, in consequence of the following certificate having beensent to the Coroner:-

" We, the undersigned medical officers of Birkenhead, at therequest of Mr. Booth, the constable, have made inquiries relativeto the death of Mrs. Mary Harris, of Aston Hall, near Wem, andfind that the deceased was attended by a person of the name ofPort, an unqualified practitioner residing at Tranmere, who pro-fesses to cure cancer without the aid of the knife. She died,after the application of two plasters, under symptoms such asmight be produced by the absorption of arsenic.

"B. VAUGHAN, M.D." T. C. FOULKES, Surgeon."

The Coroner issued his warrant for the disinterment of thebody, which, after some difficulty, was obtained, and a jury wasempanelled on the 4th inst., but adjourned to yesterday in orderto give time for the necessary inquiries and analyses to be made.The facts in the certificate briefly stated were given in evi-

dence by Dr. Vaughan and Mr. Foulkes, and they were clearly ofopinion that there were no marks of internal disease sufficient tocause death, except such as were the effects of some irritantpoison. The whole of the internal viscera was healthy, with theexception of the lungs, which were slightly emphysematous. Onthe right breast there was a large slough about the size of a

breakfast cup, extending about one inch into the substance of theflesh, and in this breast was a tumour, not partaking of a malig-nant character, about the size of a hazel-nut. (This was the parttreated by Mr. Port for cancer.) The breast, the stomach, andits contents, as well as several other portions of the viscera, wereremoved, and placed in the hands of Professor Brett, of theLiverpool School of Medicine, for the purpose of being analysed.Both witnesses were clearly of opinion that death had beencaused by some irritant poison, and that had arsenic been appliedto the breast, it might have been absorbed into the system, andwould have produced the appearances and symptoms which pre-sented themselves.

Professor Brett stated, that he had made a careful analysis ofthe breast, the stomach, its contents, and the other portions of the viscera which had been delivered to him. He was, how-ever, unable to detect arsenic in the internal portions of the bodyor their contents, but in the breast he clearly discovered it. Thishe obtained by what is termed the silver test, Marsh’s test notbeing delicate enough. He added, that if arsenic had been ap-plied externally to the breast of the deceased, it would be ab-sorbed into the system, affect the stomach, and produce death,but that the period between the application and the death wouldentirely depend upon the susceptibility of the patient and othercircumstances.

Mr. Port offered to produce a number of persons who were inattendance, and who, he stated, had been cured of cancer by theapplication of the same plasters. He also offered to produce be-fore the jury, several cancers which had been extracted by them,but the Coroner decided that such evidence could not be re-ceived.

I The Coroner, in summing up the case to the jury, said if theybelieved the evidence laid before them, it was their duty to findMr. Port guilty of manslaughter.The jury, after half an hour’s consultation, returned that ver-

dict, and Mr. Port was forthwith committed under the Coroner’swarrant to take his trial at the next Chester assizes.-Times,Nov. 16th.THE STUDY OF INSANITY AT BETHLEM HOSPITAL.-At the

quarterly general court of the Governors of Bridewell andBethlem Hospitals, held on Monday last, the recommendation ofthe committee respecting the admission of two pupils from theRoyal Hospitals of St. Bartholomew and St. Thomas, to attendthe physicians of Bethlem Hospital, when receiving and visitingthe patients there, was agreed upon, and will be immediately car-ried into effect. According to the new regulations, the authori-ties of the above medical schools will, in future, have the privi-lege of presenting free tickets to attend the medical practice atBethlem Hospital during six months, as a prize, to two of theirbest pupils; the usual fees being liberally paid by the governorsof the latter institution, who thus evince their great anxiety topromote the study of mental diseases, and to diffuse practicalknowledge on that important subject amongst the profession, asadvocated in the recent pamphlet of Dr. Webster, one of theirnumber.

CONSECRATION OF QUEEN’S COLLEGE CHAPEL.—Novemberthe 15th was appointed by the Bishop of the Diocese for theconsecration of the chapel erected in connexion with the Queen’sCollege, Birmingham, intended for the students of the institution.A large party of noblemen, clergymen, and gentlemen, includingthe medical officers, professors, and students of the establishment,were invited to meet the bishop at breakfast, at Dee’s Hotel, pre-vious to the service of the dav. At half-past ten, about one hun-dred and fifty gentlemen sat down to breakfast, at two tables, atone of which the Rev. Chancellor Law presided, supported bythe Bishop and the Right Hon. Lord Lyttelton; the Rev. J.Woolley, the Warden of the college, officiating as vice-chairman.The High Bailiff presided at the second table; Wm. Sands Cox,Esq., Dean of the Faculty, Queen’s College, officiated as vice-president. A large body of students attended in their academiccostume.The PRESIDENT said, that they ought not to separate without

tendering their grateful thanks to Mr. Sands Cox, who hadlaboured day and night to promote the interests of the in-stitution, especially in carrying out the plan for the erec-

tion of a chapel in connexion with the Queen’s College. (Ap-plause.) In these thanks he would also include the architect,(Mr. Drury,) for the skill with which he had planned and exe-cuted the work.

VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.—The anniversary meet-ing of this association was held at the Freemasons’ Tavern, onMonday, November 13, Mr. Spooner, the president, being in thechair. The assembly, on this occasion, was more than usuallynumerous, having taken part in the morning in the presentationof a bust, in marble, to Mr. Spooner, and having in prospect, in