Volume 1
Report from the Select Committee on Medical Education : with the minutes of evidence, and appendix.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Medical Education.
- Date:
- 1834
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report from the Select Committee on Medical Education : with the minutes of evidence, and appendix. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
332/370 page 320
![W7n. Macmichad, Dr. Hebei'den, and to the early volumes he was a most liberal contributor. Dr. He- Esq. M.D. berden says in one of his papers, vol. I. p. 45, ‘ One use of such collections of medical papers as the College now proposes to publish, is to preserve any materials 3 1^34- ag tiiey occur, which are true, and original, and useful towards better ascertaining the nature of a disease, or the power of a remedy, without wailing till we have time to draw up a perfect history.’ More than 10 years have elapsed since the last volume of the Transactions was published : a considerable part of this time was occupied in the removal of the college to its present situation. When the new building was completed (1825), one of the first subjects which came under consi- deration, was how (besides fulfilling the main purpose of its first establishment, viz. to supervise the practice of physic, and to guard the public, as far as the law allows, against the abuses of ignorant pretenders) the College might best promote the cause of science, and be rendered most useful to the medical profession at large. It possesses a library and a museum of morbid preparations; but the first, consisting as it chiefly does of donations and bequests, is by no means complete ; and the museum, though very useful for the illustration of the lectures delivered annually within its walls, is not of that magnitude as to be eagerly sought after by those who are in pursuit of rare specimens of disease. It was not therefore by making the library and museum more accessible to the public than they have always hitherto been, that the College could expect to attain the object it had in view : but any cause of assembling which might unite the leading members of every class of the profession, and combine the reading of a medical paper with the ease and facilities of social intercourse, appeared to fulfil that intention. The evening meetings at the College of Physicians were accordingly determined upon, and the manner in which they have been attended is the best proof of the usefulness and propriety of their establishment. From the character of the meeting, the papers were necessarily short, and occasionally written, as well as delivered, in the tone of animated conversation ; for being addressed to large audiences, their attention is more easily kept up by this manner of address than by a discourse of greater for- mality. In imitation of the practice of the learned bodies established in different parts of Europe, more especially of the Royal Society in London, which had so greatly contributed to the advancement of natural knowledge by collecting and pre- serving the useful observations that chance or experiment brought to light, the Col- lege of Physicians announced, more than 50 years ago, that they were ready to receive any medical papers that should be presented to them, in order to publish the most useful. It was stated at the same time that, though to perfect the history of diseases and ascertain the eflects of medicines was the principal view of the College, yet that papers which related in any manner to medical subjects could be received. An inspection of the contents of the six volumes of the Medical Trans- actions already published will show that they have contributed not a little to our present stock of professional information ; and to form an estimate of the value f some of the communications, it may be sufficient to mention, that among them will be found the original essays of Dr. Heberden on Angina Pectoris, of Sir George Baker on the Painter’s Colic, and of Dr. Darwin upon the use of Digitalis in Dropsy. But these are important strides made in the pursuit of knowledge, which can only be expected to be the rare reward of the labour of many years of anxious diligence and patient investigation. The practice of physic is however receiving constant im- provement from the zeal and assiduity of physicians of experience; and these less considerable but daily contributions should be treasured up and given at intervals to the public. To encourage as much as possible the contribution of papers by those engaged in professional duties at home, was not the only method by which the College endeavoured to enlarge the boundaries of science. They drew up also a string of questions relating to the medical statistics of distant countries. These, by the liberal assistance and co-operation of different departments of His Majesty’s Government, have been widely distributed, and are constantly bringing home the most satisfactory answers from all quarters of the globe. Such an extensive cir- culation of printed forms, asking distinct and pertinent questions which admit of short and definite answers, are likely soon to collect a great mass of valuable infor- mation ; which beincr transmitted to a common centre, can be communicated to the public in a compendious and easily accessible manner.” 4660. There have been evening meetings instituted at the College?—There have. 466]. Do they still go on ?—Yes, there will be one on Monday next, at which a paper by the Dean of Westminster will be read. 4662, You stated in your former evidence that there was a very important paper](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28406680_0001_0336.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
