PATRON. THE KING. VICE-PATRON. THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. PRESIDENTS. Right Hon. Sir James Graham, Bart. | General Lord Hill, G.C.B. and G.C.H. First Lord of the Admiralty. Admiral Sir J. Saumarez, Bart. G.C.B. Commander of the Forces. Lieut.-Gen. Sir J. Kempt, G.C.B. and nance. Marquis of Anglesey, K.G. K.S.P.G.C.B. and G.C.H. VICE-PRESIDENTS. Admiral Hon. Sir R. Stopford, K.C.B. Vice-Admiral Right Hon. Sir George Vice Admiral Sir Henry W. Bayntun, Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Griffith Col- Vice-Admiral Hon. Charles Elphinstone Vice-Admiral the Hon. Sir Henry Ho- Vice-Admiral Sir E. Codrington, G.C. B. Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Gen, the Earl of Rosslyn, G.C.B. Gen. Hon. Sir Edward Paget, G.C.B. Gen. Lord Viscount Beresford, G.C.B. Gen. Hon. Sir A. Hope, G.C.B. M.P. Lieut.-Gen. Sir George Murray, G.C.B. Sir Henry Hardinge, At a meeting of the Provisional Committee, held on the 21st of May, Major-Gen. Sir Howard Douglas, Bart. in the chair, It was resolved, that a General Meeting of those eligible to become members, at which it is expected that an Officer of the highest rank will preside, do take place at the Thatched-House Tavern, St. James's Street, London, at two o'clock P.M. on the 25th of June, to adopt resolutions for the definitive establishment of the Institution, and to take into consideration the best mode of providing a BUILDING for the reception of several extensive collections which have been already presented; those by Capt. W. H. Smyth, and Commander Downes, and, through Colonel Freeth, that from the late Royal Staff Corps, containing upwards of one thousand specimens in various branches of natural history, are here particularly referred to. Under such auspices, and with such favourable prospects, the Provisional Committee fully rely that this call on the United Service will be anxiously responded to by each department, and by every individual officer. In considering the amount of subscription to this highly important object, the Provisional Committee propose that it should be at the lowest possible rate, so that the smallness of the amount might render it a matter of trifling import to the very junior officers of the Service, while the number of Subscribers should produce a revenue equal to the wants of the establishment; they therefore recommend that it shall be fixed at ten shillings annually for each member, or six sovereigns as a life subscription. It becomes highly desirable that in the interval before the General Meeting on Saturday the 25th of June, all officers, at least all such as may be within the United Kingdom, should communicate to either of the Secretaries, Commander Henry Downes, R. N. and Lieut. Hall, H. P. Royal Irish, 4, Carlton Chambers, Regent-street, their intention of forwarding this design, and give general directions to their agents in London for the payment of the annual subscription, to Charles Downes, Esq. No. 8, Carlton Chambers, Regent-street, the Provisional Treasurer. Other facilities will hereafter be proposed to render communications more complete. ON THE DISTRIBUTION AND DUTIES OF THE UNATTACHED MEDICAL STAFF OF THE ARMY AT HOME. BY A MEDICAL OFFICER. THE following TABLE presents an exact view of the Distribution of the unattached Medical Officers of the Army employed at present at Home, whilst in the OBSERVATIONS which succeed, the Duties these officers have to perform at their respective stations are indicated and occasionally commented upon. In the column of stations in the Table will be found the name of every place in these kingdoms at which a Military Medical Officer is placed, and in the succeeding columns the title of every Rank now recognized in the Medical Department of the Army.* The reader may thus embrace at one view the whole of our domestic establishments as above referred to, and compare together without trouble the staff at different stations both with respect to rank and numbers. As the Officers are thus arranged in a double order, by rank and station, so are the Observations also; one following another in such a manner that easy reference may be made from the table to the observations, or the reverse. With these explanatory remarks no difficulty can be found in tracing the connection which exists between the different parts of this communication, and therefore we shall add nothing further in the way of introduction. TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION, † MADE UP TO APRIL 1831. Amongst these the titles of Director General, Principal Inspector General, Physician General, and Surgeon General will not be met with, as belonging rather to individuals (under special appointments) than to the Department. The individuals at present distinguished by those titles are however included under the class of Inspector General, the highest Rank admitted by His Majesty's Warrant of the 29th July 1830. This Table has cost us some trouble, the information contained in the Army Lists with respect to the Medical Department being so arranged, as to render it rather difficult to ascertain the exact number employed, &c. We shall point out hereafter a mode of correcting this deficiency. OBSERVATIONS. LONDON-HEAD-QUARTERS. Inspector General.-This being the highest rank now recognized in the Medical Department of the army, we have included under it, as already intimated, the Director-General Sir James M Grigor, and the Principal Inspector-General Sir William Franklin, who hold their respective offices by special appointment. With respect to the duties of these officers it will be sufficient to observe that they embrace every thing connected with the superintendance and patronage of the Department, and that in the discharge of these duties the parties sometimes appear to act independently of each other, and sometimes in conjunction as a Board. Whether acting separately or in conjunction however, every thing seems in reality to be regulated by the Director-General, as indeed it ought to be; nor have we ever been able to discover that the Principal-Inspector has any duties to perform, which an officer of inferior rank might not discharge with equal propriety and advantage. We might perhaps go farther and say, with greater propriety to himself, and greater advantage to the service; for the Principal-Inspector-General approaches so nearly in rank to the Director-General that he can scarcely be called upon to discharge any subordinate duties, and must therefore be in a great measure unemployed, or voluntarily engaged in a manner not quite befitting his rank and station. For these reasons it has sometimes occurred to us that it might perhaps be worth while on the part of those in authority to inquire, whether the business of the office in Berkeley Street might not be conducted in a more efficient manner if the services of a Staff-Surgeon were substituted for those of a Principal-Inspector-General there. A more due degree of subordination would thus be obtained amongst the members of the Board, to each of whom distinct and peculiar duties might be allotted, whilst the whole responsibility of regulating and conducting the business of the office would be thrown as it ought to be on the Head of the Department. Nor should it be forgotten in these times of economy and retrenchment that a considerable pecuniary saving might thus be effected for the public, an object always desirable when as in the present instance it can be attained without injury to the service. Thus the highest pay a Staff-Surgeon can claim will not with his allowances amount to more than about 500l. per annum, whilst a Principal-Inspector-General receives by special appointment an annual salary of 1200l. And if at some future period an officer with the rank and pay of Inspector-General be placed at the head of the Medical Department of the Army, a still greater saving may thus be effected for the public, without impairing in any degree the efficiency or the respectability of the office.† Superintendence and Patronage.-Between these two classes of duties no necessary connexion exists, except in the very highest department of the service. Any such connexion therefore in any other quarter must be defended if questioned on the grounds of expediency alone. Now we much doubt whether in the Medical Department such a defence could be successfully maintained under existing cir cumstances. The present Board (Medical Officers) costs the country about 38001. per Ann. thus,Director-General, salary, Principal-Inspector, do. £2000. 1200. Assistant-Inspector, pay, &c. say, 600. A Board constituted as here proposed would not cost at the utmost more than £2100 per Ann. thus, Inspector-General, pay, &c. say, £1200. Staff-Surgeon, do. do. 600. 500. Before quitting this topic we cannot help adverting to another medical appointment, which though not strictly within our present limits is yet too closely connected with the object we have in view to escape notice altogether; we mean that of Director-General of the Ordnance Medical Department. It cannot however be necessary for us to enter into any details upon this subject here, it having been already announced in the most public and authentic manner that the whole department, as a distinct establishment, is to be broken up and its members incorporated with the general Medical-Staff of the Army, on the first convenient opportunity.* Opportunities of this kind however seldom come unsought for, and are never long absent when anxiously desired. Assistant-Inspector, 1.-This officer is called Professional-Assistant to the Board, of which he thus in a manner constitutes a part; of his duties it is not necessary to say anything further at present. Staff-Surgeon, 1; Assistant-Surgeon, 1.-These officers constitute properly speaking the London Medical-Staff, for all the others located there belong to the army in general, rather than to the particular district in which they are placed. As London is a great Recruiting station, the seat of a General Hospital,+ and the resort of sick officers and soldiers from all parts of the world, it may be easily imagined that the services of these two officers cannot well be dispensed with. We are indeed strongly inclined to believe the number ought rather to be augmented, and that a second Assistant-Surgeon might with great propriety and advantage be added to the Staff of London. Purveyor.-There is no officer of this rank now employed in Great Britain, nor indeed on any station either at home or abroad. Nor is there in London even a Deputy-Purveyor, although we have here a small General Hospital already referred to, and although an officer of that rank is supposed to be necessary at Chatham, and at Dublin, and at Cork. The truth is, Purveyors and Deputy-Purveyors are not Medical Officers, and never should have been so classed; but are to all intents and purposes Commissaries, as every one acquainted with their respective duties must be perfectly aware.‡ With the Commissaries therefore they should be incorporated, and an officer from that Department of suitable rank might then be attached to each General Hospital or medical station where such aid was deemed necessary. Apothecary, 1.5-This officer belongs, properly speaking, to the Medical Board, and should be so considered and enumerated, his duty being to retain in charge and issue under orders from the Director-General, the medicines and medical stores collected in London for the use of the army at large. As the rank and title of Apothecary was abolished in the army by the Warrant of the 29th of July last, it is time we should think to discard the term altogether, and introduce that by which those officers are hereafter to be distinguished. Let them then at once be assimilated and identified with the Surgeons or Assistant-Surgeons of the army according to their claims and services, for to one or other of these two classes must the duties hitherto discharged by the Apothecary be ultimately transferred. Vide Speech of Sir H. Hardinge, then Secretary-at-War, in debate on Ordnance Estimates, Feb. 1829. The whole of the Ordnance Medical-Staff on fullpay at present amount only to thirty-eight, and of these, if incorporated, some probably might be spared. + The York Hospital at Chelsea. The Purveyor has charge of and is responsible for the care, management and issue of all provisions and stores, medicines excepted, belonging to the Hospital; and for the due supply of the same by contract, purchase, 'or requisition.-Instructions for General Hospitals, p. 79.-Horse-Guards, June 1824. § Apothecary.-This being the title of a class and still continued in the Army Lists, we have been obliged to admit it into the Table, though it must now be considered as obsolete, and deservedly so. # CHATHAM. Assistant-Inspector, 1.-Chatham may with great propriety be considered as the Head-Quarters of the Medical-Staff of England, the number of officers there being always greater than at any other station, and the establishment itself more complete and more extensive than any other of the kind in these kingdoms. Under these circumstances one would expect to find at the head of this establishment an officer of higher rank than an AssistantInspector. And no doubt such would have been the case if the appointment and distribution of Medical Staff-Officers were regulated in our service by any fixed or general principles. For Dublin and Cork has each at this moment a Deputy-Inspector-General, to execute or to superintend the execution of duties much less onerous and much less important, than those confided at Chatham to an Assistant-Inspector. But sometimes, as it would appear, men are selected for stations, whilst at others stations are selected for men. Staff Surgeons, 2.-One of these officers has generally charge of the Lunatic Asylum, the other of the surgical cases in the General Hospital. Two are necessary and perhaps sufficient for the duties of the place, but the number ought not to be too strictly limited, as one or two supernumeraries of this rank might occasionally be employed at Chatham with much advantage to themselves and to the service." Assistant Surgeons, 10.-One half at least of these gentlemen may be considered as supernumeraries,† that is, persons whose presence is not absolutely necessary here for the purposes of duty, but who are retained at the place either as a reserve to meet contingencies or for the purposes of instructions, &c. It would indeed be very desirable that every Medical Officer on his first appointment to the service should be permitted or rather obliged to pass a few months at Chatham, for the purpose of receiving instruction and acquiring information with respect to those duties of which, as peculiar to the army, no knowledge can be obtained in the schools and colleges of civil life. We may even add that this object is one of the most important which an establishment like that at Chatham might be rendered subservient to, and that too without interfering in any manner with the treatment of the sick, or throwing upon the public any additional expense whatsoever. Nor should this routine of duty be confined to officers on their first appointment, for all Medical Officers should at one time or other be permitted to make themselves acquainted, as favourable opportunities offer, with the mode of conducting the business of a General Hospital, which differs in so many respects from that which necessity compels us to observe in Regiment Establishments. Apothecary-Deputy Purveyor.-We have nothing to add to the observations already made with respect to those officers under the head of London. BRISTOL, COVENTRY, EDINBURGH, GLASGOW, LEEDS, AND LIVERPOOL. These are all Recruiting depôts, to each of which under the present system a Staff Surgeon is necessarily attached, for the purposes of inspection and attendance on the recruits and parties, &c.t Of these stations it is not now necessary to say any thing particular with the exception of Liverpool, of which we may mention that the duties of the In fact the Hospital at Chatham may be considered as the only specimen of a General Hospital in these kingdoms, and as such should be supported, were it only for the purposes alluded to in the text. Some officers of this rank must always be retained on full-pay as supernumeraries, were it only to take charge of transports proceeding with troops to foreign stations. But the number should be limited, and the duty at Chatham be taken in rotation through the whole class. There are four other Recruiting Depôts in these kingdoms besides those above mentioned, with each a Staff-Surgeon attached, viz. London, Dublin, Cork and Newry. |