835

ject advocated by you, Sir,-I mean thepublic trial, or concours ; for this may be ad-vocated on grounds distinct from those ofthe imputed dishonesty of any party. Iwould gladly make a few remarks on thisimportant measure, not for the purpose ofopposing its adoption in any case, but inor-der to point out a few difliculties to be met,and to discuss the mechanism by which itis to be worked. I find, however, that thisletter has grown already to a considerablelength, and that I must defer all referenceto the subject to another communication.

I have now, Sir, only to say, in conclusion,that with a view to assist you and others inarriving at truth, I have detailed some facts,and alluded to some persons. I am pre-pared to maintain and to prove all that Ihave advanced,-and more, should more benecessary. I have the honour to be, Sir,your obedient servant,

AN OLD UNIVERSITY-MAN.September 6, 1836.

DR. SIGMOND AND DR. GOLDING.

G. G. SIGMOND, M.D.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR:—On my return to town I had ac

opportunity of perusing the last number oiyour periodical, which contains an outlineof an address circulated amongst theGovernors of the Charing-cross Hospital, byMr. Pettigrew, in consequence of the extra-ordinary proceedings of a Committee ap-pointed to enquire into the state of thehospital. That Committee, usurping thepower of the Governors, has thought fit todispense with my services as physician tothe hospital, and as Mr. Pettigrew has morethan once mentioned my name in the courseof his observations, I have to request thatyou will in a future number do me the kind-ness to insert an address, which I will takethe earliest moment to forward to you.That I have supported Mr. Pettigrew

throughout a most arduous and difncuK

task, is a subject of self-congratulation, nordo I in the slightest degree regret that I amno longer to associate with individualswhose conduct I have had occasion most

severely to censure before that Committee,and with whom I declared I could hold nocommunication whatever.Mr. Pettigrew has explained to you the

nature of a transaction between himself andMr. Howship, of which I had, two yearsbefore, accidentally heard, but which wasthen positively denied. It appears that thistransaction was thoroughly known to Dr.Golding, to Dr. Shearman, and to Mr.Robertson, in the month of November, but itwas not communicated to me, their colleague,until the month of May, and then in con-sequence only of some dissensions that hadarisen; eveii then no open, straight-forward

course was pursued, but I saw Mr. Petti.grew assailed with provocations and un-manly persecution, which excited in mymind a more anxious desire to defend a col-league whom I had always found zealous.,active, |rand honourable. -

I can only now |state that I give my mostwilling testimony to his observations on themismanagement of the hospital, and that Ipurpose laying before you the details of myown statement, made to the Committee, onvarious points connected with the Institution.I have only now time to request that you willallow me; thus to return ;.my thanks to thedifferent members of the profession, who, inconsequence of that which has appeared inyour pages, have done me the honour to

express, in various forms, their kind feelingtowards me ; many individuals, to whom Idid not know that my name had reached,have in the warmest manner exhibited to methe demonstration of their sense of the an-noyance to which I have been subjected, andhave volunteered to assist mv endeavours toroot out the miserable system pursued at theCharing-cross Hospital.’ I feel convinced that the medical profes-sion will acknowledge, when all the factsare laid before them, that I have never actedinconsistently with the dignity and honourof a science which I have cultivated withardour and with pleasure, because it hasintroduced me to a number of intellectualindividuals, in whose society my happiesthours are past. I have the honour to be, Sir,your obedient servant,

G. G. SiGMOND, M.D.24, Dover-street, Sep. 6, 1836.

DEFENCE OF DR. GOLDING.

To the Ediior of THE LANCET.SIR:—There is no part of your public

life that has gained you greater credit thanthe vehement and constant warfare you havewaged against those who employ appeals tothe benevolence of our countrymen as merestepping-stones to their own fortune and ag-grandisement; nor does any one disputewith you that, in numerous instances,Medical Societies are so managed, as toconduce to little else than the selfish ends oftheir promoters.But all rules have exceptions, and it is

not fair to designate the Charing-Cross Hos-pital as a " place of traffic in human misery,in disease and death," unless you had evi-dence before you, touching the particularcase-unless you had been yourself, or

sent some credible persons, to examine the

place, and the mode in which it is conducted.The terms of your censure are so metapho-rical, that I cannot precisely determine whatyou mean to imply ; but taking the mostgentle interpretation, it may be presumedyou assert, that the hospital does 7tot afford