164

queries annexed, and transmit the same to the manager of theoffice in Edinburgh, or, if you should prefer it, to Dr. -, ,Edinburgh, the society’s consulting physician. Whatever in-formation you may be pleased to communicate, you may dependon being considered as strictly confidential by the society.-I am, Sir, &c., ____

A. B.To Dr. —— Jan. 6th, 1842.

SiR,— Mr. B- wrote me that you had declined to sign areport about your knowledge of the state of his health till youwere paid for it, in accordance with some regulation amongyour profession: it must only be a part of them, for, except inone instance here, I never met with the objection. But Irather think it proceeds in a mistake on your part, as thequestions sent you are not sent to you by the office, but byyour own patient, who is liable to you for any payment you areentitled to, but which, except in the case to which I allude, Ihave never known exacted, and when I mentioned the matterto the M.D., he gave the requisite information at once. Theinsurance office employ a medical man and pay him, but theynever pay the medical attendant of the party to whom herefers.

Unless you want to prevent Mr. B- doing a prudentthing for his own family, I think you will see the propriety ofreturning the answers to the queries. When the office makereference to you, which they may have to do, you will bereadily and thankfully paid,* but neither the office for whichI act nor any other office in Edinburgh do it; and you maybe assured that none of the respectable practitioners of yourprofession will decline to say what they know of any patient’sstate of health, in reference to a contemplated insurance onhis life for the benefit of his family.-I am, Sir, &c.,To Dr. -.

____ C. D--, Writer. i

Aberfeldy, Jan. 8th, 1842.

SiR,—I have just received yours of the 6th inst. I wouldbe very sorry " to prevent Mr. B- doing a prudent thing"either for himself or " his family," and if you ask him he willtell you that I said,-" Should his insurance depend on myreturning answers to the director’s queries, I would cheer-fully do so for him." And it does not " proceed from a mis-take on my part" as to which party sent the questions, thatI did not do so before; but because, being Mr. B-’s me-dical attendant, I thought I ought to have been referred toat the first by the office, as in that case I would be paid,according to your own showing.But I would ask the directors,--Why do they " employ a

medical man and pay him?"-but whose report, it appears,(as in this case,) is not sufficient; at the same time that theabsolutely necessary report of another medical man must beobtained for nothing! You state, that " when the office makereference to me, which they may have to do, I shall be readilypaid." The present instance is a good illustration. Let

never so many apply for insurance, the " confidential" letter

is ready for their signature, and this crafty plan will becarried on ad infinitum. I shall not, however, "prevent"Mr. B ’s insurance.-I am, &c.To C. D-. Esq., Writer.

(The sentences marked * and t are the statements referredto. The subjoined letter from the agent to Mr. B- speaksfor itself, and " reports" its own character.-J. T.)

———, 8th Jan. 1842.

SiR,—As I mentioned to you, I had written to Dr. Thomson,who I hope has filled up and returned the report. Youshould immediately see him, and if he wont do it withoutpayment, you had better pay him. I suppose five shillings,or seven shillings and sixpence at most. The office fee is tenshillings and sixpence; but the doctor has a great deal to dofor this, which the medical attendant of the party has not;his work may be done in five minutes. If you cannot get areport from him, your proposal will be rejected next week.-I am, &c.To A. B.

_____

C. D.

THE QUACKS AND THEIR ABETTORS.To the Editor of THE LANCBT.

DR. FALCONER’S REPLY TO "A SUBSCRIBER."SIR,—It was not until the evening of July the 29th that I

had an opportunity of perusing THE LANCET of July the llth,(p. 59,) and therefore I was not earlier aware of the attackmade on me by " A SUBSCRIBER."

I cannot, Sir, envy that man’s feelings who holds so slighta regard for the character of another as to hazard an attackof so serious a nature as that made by " A SUBSCRIBER" onmyself without first inquiring into the correctness or incor-

rectness of the statements on which he was about to found hisinvectives. I say nothing of his doing so under an assumedname, excepting that I consider such a proceeding as alwaysa dishonest mode of attacking either the private or publiccharacter of another. The Tenby and Pembrokeshire Chronicledid not come " into existence about the latter end of last year:"the first number was published on the 7th of February, 1846.My connexion with that paper as Editor ceased on the 16th ofApril; on the 9th of May I ceased to be one of the proprietorsof it; and have been subsequently only a subscriber to it.Before its publication, I stated, in a Committee of the Pro-prietors, a strong wish that all quack advertisements shouldbe excluded from the paper; and at a subsequent meeting ofthe Committee, I reiterated my decided opinion against theirbeing admitted; but I was not on either occasion supported byany of the other proprietors of the paper. My duty as Editorwas limited to providing, by myself or by others, editorialarticles, and to deciding on the correspondence and currentnews to be inserted in the Chronicle. The advertisementswere solely the care of the publisher of the paper. I did not,nor do I, consider myself responsible for any advertisementswhich might have been inserted in it; and the attempts I hadmade to obtain the exclusion from it of quack advertisementshad been frustrated. If " A SUBSCRIBER" has made his attackfrom a sincere wish to promote the welfare of the medical pro-fession, he will find that in doing so heedlessly, he has onlycontributed to injure it. If he has the feelings of a man, hewill now, unhesitatingly and honestly, express his regret atthe attempt he has made to injure me. I abstain from imposinga name upon him, which his merits, such as they are, demand,because every reader will give it in an appropriate word.— Iremain, Sir, your obedient Servant,Tenby, July, 1846. R. WILBRAHAM FALCONER. M.D.

P.S.-Since writing the above, I have had an interview withthe Chairman of the committee above alluded to,-WilliamRichards, Esq., mayor of Tenby,-who substantiates the state-ment I have made regarding my opposition to quack adver-tisements, and further states, that I had no power to refusethe insertion of any advertisements in the Chronicle, havingnothing to do with that department of the paper.

THE MESMERIC HOSPITAL.To the Editor of THE LAxcS2.

" Somne levis quanquam certissima mortis imago,Consortem cupio te tamen esse tori :

Alma quies, optata veni-nam sic sine vitaVivere quam suave est, sic sine morte mori !"

SIR,—IT appears from your last, as I erst had suspected,That a Mesmeric Hospital’s to be erected;And if the subscriptions pour in pretty fast,The scheme will perhaps be accomplish’d at last.Dr. E- will, of course, be the leading physician-A man of acknowledged and vast erudition,Well versed in the art; and the cream of the joke is,He has booked, for the nurses, the two little Okeys !Then away with examiners, drugs, and degrees-Away with old fashions, excepting the fees!Away with the Hall, and away with the College; /Away with chirurgico-medical knowledge !The "passes" will act like the wand of a fairy,For Mesmer’s " the grand plenipotentiary !"All the Hospitals’ heads will be hid and diminishedThe moment thisfcotat MESMERIC is finished;And paupers in future will learn to despiseKing’s College, the London, St. George’s, and Guy’s.No more shall we hear the afflicted complain-Operations will give more of pleasure than pain ;And ladies will smile, in their mesmerized trance,As the pains of their uterine efforts advance!Then shut up the schools-burn the Pharmacopœia,-Let us carry out old Dr. Mesmer’s idea ;And whilst sceptics their agonized vigils are keeping,His disciples will through their afflictions be sleeping.

Chelmsford, July, 1846. B-.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL.—We have authorityto state, that the charge against one of the assistant-dispensersat St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, contained in THE LANCET, July18th, of publicly advertising in the county newspapers forpatients, who might receive from him advice and medicines,upon the transmission of a fee by post, has been followed by arigorous investigation, which terminated in that person’s imme-diate dismissal from the hospital by order of the treasurer.