the existence of an equal fitness in women for other professions must be assumed.” An amendment proposing the admission of these paragraphs was moved by Dr. PARKES and seconded by Dr. BENNETT. After a long discussion, the amendment was carried, and was then submitted as a substantive motion. Upon this, Dr. ROLLESTON moved the further amendment "That the report be remitted to the Committee, and be brought up tomorrow, and that Dr. Bennett be added to the Committee." This proposition was seconded by Mr. TURNER, and carried unanimously. The Council then adjourned. EIGHTH DAY.-FRIDAY, JUNE 25. In consequence of a statement by the President that the amended report on Mr. Simon's letter had been drawn up, but had not been delivered by the printer, the further discussion on that topic was deferred to a later part of the meeting. MEDICAL EDUCATION OF WOMEN. The following letters from Miss Jex-Blake and Mr. Arthur Norton on the medical education of women were laid before the Council: "32, Bernard-street, London, W.C., June 17, 1875. "Sir,-May I beg you, as President of the General Medical Council, to lay the enclosed letter before the Council. Awaiting the favour of an early reply, "I remain, Sir, yours obediently, "SOPHIA JEX-BLAKE." (Signed) [Copy.] "32, Bernard-street, London, W.C., June 17, 1875. "Gentlemen,-In the year 1869, we, the undersigned, were registered as students of medicine by the Registrar of the Branch Council of Scotland in the Government Register kept by order of the General Medical Council, and we inscribed ourselves as students of the Medical Faculty of the University of Edinburgh, for that and the three following years. "In that University, and in the Extra-Mural School of Medicine of Edinburgh, we attended during five years all the classes comprised in the full medical curriculum, taking some of them also a second time. We also complied with the usual requirements respecting hospital attendance and dispensary practice, including practical midwifery, pharmacy, and vaccination, and received clinical instruction in both medicine and surgery from recognised teachers of these subjects. "Having thus completed the full course of study usually required from medical practitioners, we are ready to submit to the ordinary examinations, with a view to placing our names on the Register as ordained by the Medical Act of 1858. "As, however, it appears that the examining boards are unwilling to admit women to their ordinary examinations, although we are not aware that the Act of 1858 gives them any authority to draw such distinction, we beg to apply to you, as the highest medical court in this country, for instructions respecting the course which it is now incumbent upon us to pursue with a view to comply with the existing laws regulating medical practice. "We have the honour to be, Gentlemen, "Your obedient Servants, (Signed) "SOPHIA JEX-BLAKE. ISABEL THORNE. MARY EDITH PECHEY." "6, Wimpole-street, June 18, 1875. "Sir,-As the General Medical Council will, probably this day, take into consideration the matter referred to the Council by the Lord President of the Privy Council, concerning the registration of women as qualified practitioners of medicine, I beg to submit to your notice the following facts: "1. That there is at the present time a school of medicine for women in London. 2. That the lectures and demonstrations given at this school are precisely the same as at other medical schools. 3. That the lecturers and teachers are for the most part teaching the same subjects at other medical schools, as shown by the enclosed prospectus. 4. That since October last twenty-three women students have attended lectures at this school. "5. That application has been made to the several examining bodies in Great Britain and Ireland to register the names of students attending this medical school with a view to admit them to examination at the termination of the required curriculum. And that the replies have been to the effect that the examining bodies do not consider themselves empowered to admit women to examination. "I am, Sir, your obedient Servant, (Signed) "ARTHUR T. NORTON, Dean of the School. "Dr. Acland, Chairman of the General Medical Council." Dr. ANDREW WOOD moved that the foregoing letters be acknowledged, with a statement that they had been considered by the Council. Dr. BENNETT seconded the motion. Dr. STORRAR said that the letters asked a distinct question. He thought that the Council could not advise on the subject. He doubted whether it would be a fair answer to say that the letters had been considered when the fact was otherwise. The ladies, however the Council might differ from them, were respectable ladies, and ought to be dealt with fairly. Dr. ANDREW WOOD said that the letters had been referred to a committee. Dr. STORRAR: There has been no report of the committee to the Council. The motion was carried nem. con. FOREIGN DEGREES. The following letter from Dr. Shuttleworth, on the registration of foreign degrees, was read by the Registrar:— "Royal Albert Asylum for Idiots and Imbeciles of the Northern Counties, Lancaster, June 21, 1875. "Sir,-Having, on behalf of myself and several other registered practitioners who are graduates in medicine of foreign universities, been in communication with Mr. Cowper-Temple on the subject of the Bill which I find is now referred to the consideration of the Medical Council, I beg leave to bring to your notice, as President of the Council, the following facts and suggestions: "1. That there is a considerable number of registered British practitioners, some occupying important public positions, who, for various reasons, have, since 1858, obtained degrees in medicine at foreign universities of repute. "2. That such degrees, though possessing no legal value, have been generally recognised, not only by the courtesy of the profession, but by many of the examining boards in this country, as possessing examinational value. "3. That, were it lawful for the Council to register, as additional qualification, well-attested foreign degrees in the case of persons previously admitted to registration as qualified by British diplomas to practise medicine, no objection could be urged on the ground of public policy. The registration, under such conditions, of bond fide foreign degrees would moreover clear the way for the stringent suppression by law of the use, by unqualified persons, of medical titles based upon worthless (so-called) degrees. The concession suggested in the last paragraph, though not reaching the extent contemplated in Mr. Cowper-Temple's Bill, would probably be received with satisfaction by the promoters of that Bill, as recognising the medical qualifications already held by women, contingently upon their being hereafter admitted to examinations under the control of the Council. At the same time, it would satisfy the just aspirations of those who, like myself, possess a foreign degree, the examinational value of which is confessedly superior to that of the 'minimum' British qualifying diplomas, but who, in the present state of the law, can require only the lower and not the higher class of qualification. "I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient Servant, B.A. Lond., M.D. Heidelberg, M.R.C.S. Eng., L.S.A. (Regd.), "H. W. Acland, Esq., M.D., F.R.S., Pres. Med. Council. "P.S.-In apologising for troubling you with this letter, I may mention that a memorial to the Council would have been drawn up had time permitted, but that the views I have ventured to put forward are, I believe, shared by the undermentioned foreign graduates with whom I have been in communication: (Degrees unregistered having been acquired since 1858.) "BALTHAZAR FOSTER, M.D., Erlangen, F.R.C.P. Lond., Physician to the General Hospital, Birmingham. GEO. FOWLER BODINGTON, M.D. Geissen, M.R.C.P. Lond., F.R.C.S. WILLIAM ORANGE, M.D. Heidelberg, M.R.C.P. Lond., Med. Supt. WILLIAM HOFFMEISTER, M.D. Heidelberg, Cowes, L.R.C.P. Lond., JOHN HARKER, M.D. Heidelberg, L.R.C.P. Ed., Surgeon to Lancaster W. WINGATE SAUL, M.D. Heidelberg, M.R.C.S., etc., Surgeon to Dr. LAKING, M.R.C.P. Lond., Apoth. in Ord. to Her Majesty's DR. HARDWICKE, Coroner for Central; Middlesex, are two well-known London foreign graduates." Dr. SHARPEY said that it was quite clear that the proposal in Dr. Shuttleworth's letter could not be carried into effect without an amendment of the Medical Act; but before that letter was written it had occurred to him that it might be an advantage to have some sort of registration of foreign degrees acquired in foreign schools of repute. This would lead to no misconception on the part of the public. He did not intend to ask the Council to consider this subject so late in the session, but he would move-" That the Council take into consideration at a future meeting whether, with a view of furthering the desire of extended accomplishments in medicine and science among the medical profession, it would not be advantageous to make it lawful for the Council to insert in the Medical Register, after the name of the person registered, and the quali fications in medicine and surgery obtained in the United Kingdom, the appropriate title indicative of the medical degree obtained after study and examination in a foreign or colonial university approved for this purpose by her Majesty's Privy Council, on the recommendation of the Medical Council." Dr. ROLLESTON seconded the motion. Dr. HUMPHRY regarded the matter as a most important one. Next to medical education there was, perhaps, no subject more deserving attention than the registration of honours after admission. Any stimulus given in that way by the Medical Council would be of the greatest importance to the profession. Sir DOMINIC CORRIGAN said that there was a technical objection to the Council deciding on such a resolution as was now before them. It was not in the power of the Board to say that any particular course should be taken in future sessions. The Council next year might be composed of different members, and could not be pledged to any particular line of action by the present members. at the The PRESIDENT said that the objection would be met if Dr. Sharpey would insert the words "that it is desirable beginning of the resolution. This having been assented to by Dr. Sharpey, the motion was altered accordingly, and carried unanimously. It was then resolved-"That the receipt of Mr. Shuttleworth's letter be acknowledged, and that he be informed that the Council have reserved the consideration of the subject of his letter." MR. RICKARD'S LETTER ON THE MEDICAL ACTS. The following report was presented by the Committee on Mr. Rickard's letter, which was laid before the Council on the 17th inst. : Report. The Committee appointed to consider the proposed repeals of parts of the Medical Acts, submitted for the consideration of the Medical Council by E. K. Rickards, Esq., the Speaker's Counsel (as contained in the appended schedule), after consulting the Solicitor to the Council, is of opinion that the repeals proposed are merely formal, and do not alter the principle or effect of the several Acts. The only doubt the Committee has had is whether the whole of Section 46 of the Medical Act, 1858, should be repealed, or only that portion of it which relates to students who had commenced their studies before the passing of the Act. On the whole, however, the Committee is of opinion that no part of the section is now required, and that the whole may be repealed. June 21, 1875. JOHN STORRAR, Chairman. SCHEDULE of proposed Repeals of the Medical Acts, submitted for the consideration of the Medical Council. purpose. Section 17 and Schedule B provided for the registration of persons actually practising before August, 1815. Having regard to the time which has elapsed (sixty years), it would seem to be impossible that this provision could ever be acted upon again, and I submit that it may safely be repealed. Sections 32, 34, 36, 37 fixed a date after which registration was to be required for certain purposes. The date was twice postponed ultimately to January 1, 1861, by 23 and 24 Vict., c. 7, s. 3. But I submit that it is not necessary to show that date at all now, and that the words may properly be repealed, leaving the sections to stand as, what they are in fact, an absolute disqualification in default of registration, without regard to a date long since past. Section 46 enabled the Council to dispense with the provisions of the Act in certain cases. With regard to medical students, it would appear that this must have been done, if at all, long ago, and that the section is spent, so far as students are concerned. Qu. Whether it is of any further value at all? Is it likely ever to be acted upon with regard to the other classes of practitioners therein mentioned? or may it be wholly repealed, as spent? Observations. Reasons. Section 1. Virtually repealed by 23 and 24 Vict., c. 7, s. 3,- further postponing the date. Section 2. Superseded by 23 and 24 Vict., c. 7, s. 4. Section 3. Spent. Sections 1 and 2 postponed the date at which certain disqualifying sections of the Medical Act of 1858 were to come into operation. The date was further postponed by 23 and 24 Vict., c. 7, ss. 3, 4, and as the sections have long since come into operation, it is, I think, unnecessary to retain the sections which fixed the date for their coming into operation. Section 3 altered Schedule (D. of the Medical Act of 1858. This alteration would not be affected by the repeal of the section, which may, I think, properly be repealed, as functus officio. Observations. These sections again deferred the operation of certain sections of the Act of 1859 to a later date. As the date at which the sections came into opération has long since passed, and is now of no importance, I submit that these sections may safely be repealed, with the words in 21 and 22 Vict., c. 90, ss. 32, 34, 36, and 37, mentioned above, and 22 Vict., c. 21, ss. 1, 2. GEORGE K. RICKARDS. Speaker's Counsel's Office, House of Commons, S.W., June 4, 1875. Dr. STORRAR moved the adoption of the report. Mr. TURNER moved-"That the last paragraph of the report be omitted." He doubted whether it would be expedient for the Council to give up any power which it now possessed. under the Medical Act. Clause 46 gave a certain power, more especially with regard to the recognition of students who had commenced their studies before the passing of the Act, and it was quite possible that there might yet be some men who were in that position, and who might be desirous to continue their medical studies. It was not desirable that the Council should debar themselves from the privilege which the Act conferred upon them. The amendment was seconded by Mr. MACNAMARA. Dr. STORRAR said that the omission of the last paragraph would not effect the object which Mr. Turner had in view. Dr. QUAIN asked the President whether he could say if it was the intention of the Government to pass a new Act, with all the alterations, in a consolidated form, or to leave persons under the necessity of referring from Act to Act to see what changes had been made. The latter would be very perplexing, and the point was a serious one. Dr. STORRAR said that it would be obvious that the same objection would apply to all Acts of Parliament which had been amended. The revision of the Medical Acts formed but a very small portion of the task which Mr. Rickards would have to perform. Dr. AQUILLA SMITH said that great practical inconvenience would be entailed upon them if the Acts were not reprinted in the altered form. Dr. BENNETT thought that it would be very unbecoming in them to offer any objection to the very necessary and useful proceeding which Mr. Rickards was about to carry out. Dr. APJOHN reminded the Council that the four amendmentз3of the Act of 1858 were all printed separately, and that noattempt had been made to consolidate them. Dr. PARKES did not think that it was at all necessary that any further information should be placed before the Council.. The only question before the meeting was whether the last paragraph in the report should be accepted by the Council. Dr. ROLLESTON said that the appendix to the report showed that the lawyers were of opinion that, so far as students were concerned, section 46 was spent. They had been assured by persons who knew the students that individual cases of hardship would arise. Should individual cases of hardship be allowed to arise because persons wanted to be cutting and pruning like over-busy gardeners? Dr. STORRAR said that he had called the attention of the Solicitor of the Council to the student part of section 46, and that gentleman had said that the way to read the clause was that it was intended to apply to students continuously studying at the time the Act was introduced, and not to a student commencing his studies twenty years ago, and resuming them now. Dr. ANDREW WOOD did not think that it would be regular: to alter the report of the Committee. After a little further discussion, Mr. TURNER withdrew his amendment in the form in which he moved it originally, and substituted the following:-"That the report of the Committee be adopted with the exception of that part which proposes the repeal of Section 46." The amendment was then carried without opposition. It was afterwards put as a substantive resolution, and confirmed. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. The election of the Executive Committee by ballot took place, and resulted in the choice of Dr. Bennett, Dr. Humphry, Dr. Andrew Wood, Dr. Aquilla Smith, Dr. Sharpey, and Dr. Quain. CONJOINT EXAMINATION SCHEME AND EXAMINATION IN STATE MEDICINE. Dr. PARKES moved, according to notice-"That, in reference to the communication from the University of Oxford, relative to qualifications in State Medicine, the Council considers that,, in the interests both of the public and of the advancement of medical science, the principle embodied in the Conjoint Examination Scheme for licences to practise medicine and surgery should be extended to any licences or certificates in State medicine or public health." He said that, as the University of Oxford had thought it necessary to bring to the notice of the Council its sense that the multiplication of qualifications in State medicine ought to be avoided if possible, it seemed extremely desirable to follow up the communication of the University with such a motion as that which he had brought forward, in order to prepare the way for carrying out the principle of the communication at some future time. The Council had so often strongly insisted on the advisability of conjoint examinations, that he thought they would have no hesitation in adopting the principle of the resolution. Mr. QUAIN seconded the motion. Mr. TURNER said that they were asked to declare that the principle embodied in the Conjoint Examination Scheme, for licences to practise medicine and surgery, ought to be extended to licences or certificates in State medicine and public health. For the purpose of getting information, he would ask whether the principle of the Conjoint Examination Scheme was before them at all; or, perhaps, he ought to ask whether there was any conjoint examination scheme in existence. (Laughter.) On turning to the programme for the day he found a notice of motion by Dr. Bennett, that the President should be asked whether there was any foundation for the report that the Royal College of Surgeons of England have virtually seceded from the Conjoint Scheme. If the report was true, it would seem that the Conjoint Scheme was not in existence. Therefore, he felt a doubt as to whether they could adopt the resolution, even if they were inclined to do so. But there was another difficulty. Was it to be laid down that the universities of the United Kingdom were not to confer degrees in State medicine if it should please them to do so? ("No.") That certainly was the reading of the motion. Speaking for the University of Edinburgh, he might say that they had passed through the various bodies of that University a scheme for conferring degrees in public health. One candidate had been examined and had passed with honours, and he was now a graduate of the University in that particular department, he having previously graduated in medicine. They did not admit anyone even as a candidate for a degree in public health unless he was a graduate in medicine of a British university. Dr. STORRAR said that he was not sure that he entirely understood the bearing of Dr. Parkes's proposal. Those who had taken any interest in the Conjoint Scheme knew that what was proposed was that it should apply to the pass-examination in medicine and surgery. The University of London had drawn up a scheme for establishing a certificate in State medicine, and one of the early paragraphs was—“That a special examination be instituted in the subjects which relate to public health, and that a certificate of proficiency in those subjects be granted to candidates who shall have passed this examination; that no bachelor of medicine in this University be admissible to this examination." In this case, therefore, it would be impossible to blend the degree in public health with the conjoint pass-examination. Dr. ROLLESTON said that the State already required that a person who acted as an officer of health should have a licence to practise. The point was, whether the Council were prepared to give their repeated endorsement to a uniform system. Political philosophers of all kinds said that it was a mistake, and they recommended unlimited competition in all departments. Mr. Robert Lowe had, however, repudiated the application of unlimited competition to examining boards, and had said, "Let us have the greatest freedom in teaching, but do not let us have competition between examining boards. Minimise the number of examining boards; because, when they come to compete one with the other, you get a very low standard of excellence." Dr. STORRAR: May I ask Dr. Rolleston whether he is prepared to consolidate all the degrees of universities? Dr. ROLLESTON said that the resolution spoke of qualifications in State medicine, but it did not say anything about degrees at all. It referred simply to putting a "trade-mark" upon a man, and thereby empowering him to deal with the bodies of her Majesty's lieges, and that was a different question from the question of degrees. Dr. HUMPHRY thought that the proposal in Dr. Parkes's motion was perfectly clear and perfectly correct. It simply said that the principle of the Conjoint Examination Scheme should be extended to licences in State medicine. It had been asked whether there was any such scheme in existence. The answer was that it existed on the minutes of the Council. The principle had been often recognised by this Council, and what was now proposed was that it should be extended to certificates and licences in State medicine and public health. The University of Cambridge had already instituted an examination in State medicine. He believed that it was the only fully established one in England. Cambridge saw no distinct probability of such an examination being established elsewhere at present, and so it had begun by itself. So far as he was able to state, Cambridge would be willing to join with other bodies when they were prepared to adopt an examination in this subject. Dr. AQUILLA SMITH regarded the words "conjoint examination" as rendering the motion inadmissible. The resolution appeared to be an attempt to get from this Council a vote in favour of a uniform scheme. The Conjoint Scheme had really never been fully confirmed. It was true that there was a draft for a conjoint scheme on the minutes, but it had been departed from to a very great extent. ("No.") Dr. WooD thought that the resolution would do harm. One university after another was instituting licences in State medicine propria motu, and this resolution if passed would throw a damper upon them. The Conjoint Scheme existed in a very shady state at present, and they did not know that it would be successful. To pledge the Council to a principle which had never been seen in action, and which might be a failure, would not be wise. Sir WILLIAM GULL would vote for the motion. The object was to ensure that, whatever honours and degrees were given in State medicine, they should indicate that the persons upon whom they were conferred possessed some qualifications over and above those required for the ordinary practice of the profession. There was a tendency amongst bodies to compete downwards, and that tendency would be checked by the conjoint principle. Sir DOMINIC CORRIGAN hoped that Dr. Parkes would withdraw his motion. It would have been reasonable and proper on the part of the Chairman to ask Dr. Parkes what the Conjoint Scheme was. There was no such scheme before the Council, and none had ever been approved of by them. Dr. HUMPHRY: The Scheme is not complete. Sir DOMINIC CORRIGAN: Then, if the Scheme is not complete, it does not exist. That is a sufficient answer. Dr. PARKES having replied, The resolution was carried by fourteen against eight. FEMALE PRACTITIONERS. The print of the amended report of the Committee appointed to consider Mr. Simon's letter having arrived, the Council was resolved into a committee as yesterday. The following amended report was then read by Mr. TURNER: The Committee, having taken this letter into consideration, recommend the General Medical Council to adopt the following as the reply to be sent to the Lord President of the Privy Council: (a.) In reply to the communication addressed to them by the Lord President of the Privy Council, the Medical Council have to state that they have felt bound to consider the whole question of the admission of women to the medical profession. (b.) The Medical Council are of opinion that the study and practice of medicine and surgery, instead of affording a field of exertion well fitted for women, do, on the contrary, present special difficulties which cannot be safely disregarded. (c.) With regard to Mr. Cowper-Temple's Bill, considered by itself, and apart from its bearings on the "general question whether women ought to be able to look to medical practice, or certain branches of it, as open to them equally with men as a profession and means of livelihood," the Council have found no difficulty in forming an opinion. By the Medical Act, 1858, the Council are precluded from granting admission to the Medical Register to persons holding foreign degrees, and consequently have been compelled repeatedly to refuse to register foreign degrees held by men. (d.) The reason for this is obvious-viz., that the Council have no means of exercising that supervision and control over the education and examination required for foreign degrees to which the licensing bodies of this country, whether universities or corporations, are, by the Act of 1858, subjected. But this privilege, which the Medical Act refuses (and, the Council believe, very properly refuses) to men, Mr. Cowper-Temple's Bill proposes to grant to women. To such a proposal the Council feel bound to offer a respectful but decided protest, as being subversive of the main principle of the Medical Act. (e.) If it should appear to the Government and the Legislature expedient that women who desire to obtain a legal status as medical practitioners in this country should not be debarred from obtaining that status, the Council are of opinion that it should be under some such arrangements as the following:-1. That in the interests of public order, the education and examinations of female students of medicine should be conducted entirely apart from those of male students. 2. That with reference to the "xamination-rules or other conditions" which prevent women from accomplishing their wish, the Medical Council have to state that, under the provisions of the Medical Act, those persons only can be placed upon the Medical Register who have been admitted to medical degrees in the universities, or who have been admitted fellows, members, or licentiates of one of the medical corporations of the United Kingdom. It appears that most or all of the universities and corporations are unable or unwilling to admit women to their degrees, or to admit them as members of the respective corporations. The Council are of opinion that sufficient provision would be made to enable women to obtain a "legal status as medical practitioners in this country," if an Act of Parliament were passed which should enable the Medical Council to recognise such examination or examinations as the Medical Council may, from time to time, deem sufficient for the purpose of granting admission of women to the Medical Register under the title of "Licensed Practitioners of Medicine." But the Council are of opinion that any course of legislation which would interfere with the free action of the universities and corporations mentioned in Schedule (A), in respect of the medical education, examination, and licensing of women, is undesirable. 3. That the examinations of female candidates for a licence entitling their names to be placed on the Register should be equivalent to those of male candidates. 4. That the education and examination for these licences should be under the supervision of the Medical Council, in the same way as is required for the other licences of this country. (f.) The Council have already had their attention drawn to the importance of securing more efficient instruction for women who engage in the practice of midwifery, and whose services are largely employed, especially by the poor of this country. The Council feel very strongly that it is desirable that some means should be adopted for securing a better education, and granting certificates of competency to women who act as midwives. For, whilst fully admitting that, for the safe and efficient practice of midwifery as a branch of medical science, a full and complete education both in medicine and surgery is required, the Council believe that a much more limited and less expensive education might be afforded to women, who after due examination might, as midwives, render valuable service to the community, and supply a deficiency long felt and expressed. For women thus educated and certificated, it might be desirable that a special register should be provided, and which the Council think might be secured by an alteration in Schedule (D) of the Medical Act. (9.) It is right to observe that the Committee were not unanimous on some of the propositions in this report. WM. TURNER, Chairman. Moved by Mr. TURNER, and seconded by Mr. QUAIN, that paragraph (a) be adopted. Dr. BENNETT moved, as an amendment, the substitution of the following paragraph in lieu of paragraph (a) in the report of the Committee:-"(a.) In accordance with the request of the Lord President, as conveyed in your letter of the 8th inst., I have the honour to inform you that I have brought under the consideration of the General Medical Council the Bill which has been introduced in the House of Commons by Mr. Cowper-Temple, 'to amend the Medical Act, 1858, so far as relates to the registration of women who have taken the degree of doctor of medicine in a foreign university.' Mr. MACNAMARA seconded the amendment. Dr. ROLLESTON said that the proposal of Dr. Bennett would involve a large amount of rearrangement without carrying the matter to any real issue. Dr. BENNETT said that this was not simply a rearrangement. He objected to the words "feel bound to consider," and to the principle underlying the first paragraph of the Committee's reply. Mr. Sir WILLIAM GULL agreed with Dr. Bennett. Mr. CowperTemple's Bill was at the bottom of the whole question. Cowper-Temple would go before the House of Commons and say "In England a woman can obtain no education in medicine, and no recognition of her knowledge. Therefore, you must enable her to register foreign degrees." And Mr. Cowper-Temple would have good ground for saying it. There were only two courses open to the Council. Either they must admit Mr. Cowper-Temple's Bill and shelve the whole question as regards England, or take up the whole question and take the pith out of Mr. Cowper-Temple's Bill. That Bill came in to remedy what was thought to be a hardship upon the public. The public say-" We wish to have women to practise medicine," and they wish to know whether women are fitted for the practice. The medical corporations and schools in England all said-"We cannot take any part in this matter." Then women went abroad and got a degree, and came back and asked to be put on the Register. It was a very hard thing to say-"You shall not have a degree here, and you shall not register a foreign degree." Dr. QUAIN did not quite agree with Sir William Gull. It would be more systematic to answer the first question of the letter, and then take up the whole subject afterwards. The Council were quite prepared to go into the main question. Dr. ANDREW WOOD hoped that they were not about to discuss the whole question upon an amendment as to the mere arrangement of the paragraphs. Sir DOMINIC CORRIGAN thought that the discussion which had arisen as to the order of the reply was an absurd waste of time. Mr. MACNAMARA said that he had seconded the amendment because he felt it important that the Council should send to the Privy Council a document which would be worthy of it. The business-like method was to deal with the paragraphs in the order in which they occurred in the letter. Dr. THOMSON concurred with the last speaker. Mr. TURNER then moved the adoption of paragraph (¿). Dr. PARKES moved as an amendment that the words "which cannot be safely disregarded" be omitted, and replaced by the words "but the Council are not prepared to say that women ought to be excluded from the profession." Dr. PYLE seconded the amendment. Sir WILLIAM GULL said that he saw no objection to the admission of the words in the amendment. So far he should vote for them. Mr. TURNER could not accept the amendment. There was no statement in the report that women ought to be excluded. Mr. QUAIN said that such words as those of the amendment were originally in the paragraph, but they were left out to conciliate support. Dr. PARKES said that the paragraph in the report seemed to imply exclusion. Dr. SHARPEY said that the amendment exactly expressed his views. He should dissuade women from entering the medical profession; but dissuasion was one thing, and denial was another. Dr. ANDREW WOOD said that they were now fairly in face of the main question. He rose to give the amendment his opposition, because he thought that women ought to be excluded. He should be prepared to move another amendment when the opportunity arrived. They had been asked to enter upon the question in its entirety, whether women ought to be admitted to the medical profession, either to practise it generally or to practise certain branches of it. From the beginning of the agitation he had always taken up one consistent course, and maintained that women were not adapted to the profession, and the profession was not adapted to them. He had had to stand considerable volleys of abuse from the faction which carried on the agitation for the advancement of "women's rights," on account of his having sturdily stated his opinion. He gave that faction credit for honesty, and he wished that they would accord the same credit to him in return. If we were to judge by the noise and the dust which had been "kicked up by the agitators, we should be apt to imagine that the whole country, or a large majority, was in favour of the admission of women. He was not prepared to admit that, for he believed that if the population was polled, and especially if the women were polled, it would be found that there was an immense majority against the movement. When he and others who held his views ventured to advocate those views, they were told, "You are putting yourselves in opposition to public opinion." He denied that public opinion was in favour of the admission of women to the profession. Those who advocated it were a mere section, but they were a persistent and noisy section, and they made themselves heard in the press and on the platform, and kept up a forced agitation for the purpose of thrusting women into a position in which they ought never to be placed. Those who advocated the introduction of women into the profession knew nothing about what either the study or the practice of medicine involved. Many of them thought that doctors had nothing to do but to sit at home and write prescriptions and take their guineas. They were unaware of the toils and dangers and perplexities and anxieties attaching to the profession. They were unacquainted with the repulsiveness of the dissecting-room, and the bloody scenes of the operating-room, and the other matters which caused even men to refrain from becoming doctors. In fact, it was a very peculiar race of men that could be induced to enter upon the practice of the profession. He had always thought that it was an axiom that woman had a particular sphere, but those persons who ventured in Edinburgh to speak of woman's sphere were sneered at, and told that woman had no sphere less than that of man. That he held to be utter nonsense. The sphere of woman was the home, and related to the bearing, suckling of children, and the training of the young. If women wanted a new occupation, why did they come to the medical profession? That, of all the professions, was the least adapted to them. Why did she not go to the law or to the church? She would there have no dissectingroom to enter, no blood to encounter, and no necessity for the exercise of an amount of brute strength which women very seldom possessed. Fancy a woman called to reduce a dislocation of the hip-joint, or to perform various other operations, which she might be required to take in hand on an emergency! The attempt would be painful both to the operator and to her poor patients. He repudiated with scorn the charge that those who opposed the change did so because they were a trades-union, and their craft was in danger. The medical profession was a noble and unselfish profession, and lavished its labours and skill gratuitously more than any profession in England. There were some persons who disapproved of women entering the profession, and thought that it was the worst occupation they could take up, but who said, "Well, although we think all that, the change is inevitable, and we must bow to the inevitable; and since it must come, is not it far better for us to take measures to make it easy?" If they thought it was the worst profession for women, it was inconsistent to endeavour to help the inevitable, and make it easy. Then another set of persons said, "Oh, don't make such a noise. It is a mere farce. Only a very few women will enter the profession. Nobody will care much about them, and in a few years they will become miserable and uncomfortable, and the thing will die out." He, however, though it wrong to lead them to venture on the ice if he knew that they would be drowned; and he maintained that he was the honestest friend of the women if he opposed them. They had experienced in Edinburgh some of the evils of leading women upon the ice. The city was in a constant turmoil; and he would appeal to the professors and the students as to whether their comfort was increased by the change. One of the most important arguments was that women demanded female doctors, and that it would be cruel to deny them. He disputed the statement, for he had taken the opinions of women of all classes and all ages on the subject, and their almost invariable answer was that they would not employ a female doctor. Women themselves were the most inveterate and sturdy opponents of the movement. He had been in the profession forty years, and he had never found that women shrank from telling him their ailments, and it was the most delicate women who had the least difficulty in making their complaints known. Then it was said that though women might not be equal to all the different departments of medicine and surgery, yet surely it would be natural that they should practise midwifery. But midwifery was just that branch for which they were least fitted. Ninety-nine cases out of a hundred might be managed by anybody, but the critical case might occur first. Who would like to entrust his wife to a woman in a case of embryulcia? Who would like to see a woman using the crochet, or the long forceps, and pulling with all her might with the sweat on her face? Would they like to see a woman in charge of a case in which the blood was gushing in torrents from the womb? And could a woman be expected, in such a case, to have the readiness and nerve which would save the patient from being lost? It was remarkable that, though at the beginning of this century very few women were attended by anyone but female midwives, yet now even the very poorest women in Edinburgh always employed a man. With regard to the argument founded on political economy, and the lack of employment for women, he admitted that every suitable field ought to be opened for the exertions of women. There were now, however, many more modes in which they were employed, compared to the former state of things. They were employed in public offices and in various businesses in which they could sit quietly, without having to encounter those dreadful things which they must meet if they became doctors. Using an argumentum ad hominem, he would ask any member of this Council whether he would like to see his sister or his daughter engaged in the medical profession? Would not any of them revolt at the idea? He (Dr. Wood) had seen five or six ladies in a dissecting-room at Edinburgh, dissecting a body, and five or six male students dissecting another body two or three yards off. If they would not like to see their own sisters and daughters undergoing the moiling and discomfort of the profession, ought they to encourage the sisters and daughters of other people to enter into it? If the Council believed that women ought to be doctors, there was no objection to their saying so; but if they believed otherwise, there would be no virtue in compromise. He felt sure that nine-tenths of the profession were against the movement, and when so large a proportion of an honourable profession made an objection there was some reason to think that there must be some truth in it. He hoped that the Council would not take any step which would lead to any entrenchment upon the softness and delicacy of the female sex. He did not wish to disparage women when he declared their unfitness for the profession, but he wished them to remain in that position in which they would command our esteem, our deference, and our love. For that reason he wished to keep them from the delusion, mockery, and snare which was now before them, and to retain them in the condition described by the immortal Scottish poet who addressed them as "ministering angels.' Dr. HUMPHRY said that he regretted that the present question had ever come before them. He had always felt that the profession of medicine was the occupation least suitable for women; but the question was not whether they should be encouraged to enter it, but whether they should be excluded from it. He did not feel that they ought to be absolutely excluded. He had felt, perhaps more than any man, the "disagreeables" and annoyances of medical practice; and not only would he withhold encouragement to his daughter to enter it, but he would hesitate before inducing a son to become a doctor. There were, however, enormous counterbalancing advantages in the way of doing good to one's fellow-men, and he should be unwilling to exclude any class of society or any sex from opportunities of doing good. Allusion had been made to the scenes of the operating-room. But he had never seen an operation at which there was not a woman present; and if women could be there unprofessionally, there was no reason why they should not be there in the way of professional study. If the Council felt that women were mentally and physically disqualified for doctors, it was their duty to negative the amendment. But had they really any mental or physical disqualification? Dr. Wood, who had spoken on this point, was himself an eminent surgeon, and he knew that the reduction of dislocation was now pre-eminently a matter of skill, rather than a matter of force. Then as to the mental disqualifications, Professor Turner had alluded to the size of the brain. Relatively, however, to the size of her body, the brain of a woman was not much below that of a man. The examinations which had taken place at Cambridge indicated in a remarkably clear manner the difference between a woman's faculties and the faculties of a man. In some of the more serious and harder branches of education a woman fell a little below a man; but in many points, such as facility of apprehension, tenacity of memory, readiness of application, and accuracy of statement, the girl was greatly superior to the boy in the early periods of life. Later in life the youth overtook the girl and advanced somewhat in front. He did not, however, believe that there was any real mental disqualification on the part of women. The moral and social view of the question was certainly no unimportant part of the consideration; but it was not easy to say that the practice of medicine by a woman towards a man was a greater moral evil than the practice of medicine by a man towards a woman. He was sure that the latter was not altogether unattended by great moral evils. Dr. Wood had asked whether they would like to see women entering upon the more severe cases of midwifery, and he had instanced embryulcia. But how few men were there whom we could trust on such occasions! Happily, too, such cases were very rare. He was not prepared to say that women were much worse than men in cases of emergency, for he had often been surprised, and even put to shame, by the readiness and courage of women upon such occasions. He felt that, as a matter of public justice, they ought to state seriously their own views, without reference to majorities of any kind; and his own conclusion was, that, as representatives of the medical profession, they ought to hesitate to say that women ought to be excluded. Sir DOMINIC CORRIGAN said that at the time when the question was discussed in the Senate of the Queen's University, he advocated the admission of women into the profession, but he did so because there was nothing which kept up an agitation so much as permitting a grievance to continue; and he believed that if the barriers were removed, not one woman in ten thousand would enter the profession. He remembered attending a board meeting in Ireland many years ago, when some grievance had existed, and it happened that one of the persons concerned in the agitation lost all command over himself, and he dashed his papers on the table, and said, “Will ye give me nothing to fight about?" If the obstacles in this case were removed, there would be nothing to fight about, and the subject would die out. His experience amongst women accorded with that of Dr. Wood as to their aversion to female doctors. Even the nuns, who constituted the most modest class in the community, had told him that they would never |