The histories of the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and of the Apothecaries' Company : including the manuscript annals of the London College of Physicians, from 1682 to 1749 : with the editor's plan of medical reform.
- Edwards Crisp
- Date:
- 1851
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The histories of the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and of the Apothecaries' Company : including the manuscript annals of the London College of Physicians, from 1682 to 1749 : with the editor's plan of medical reform. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![Ul« author.^ Extracts from the Registers of the Royal College of Physicians oj London, from 1682 to 1749: John Lewis Petit, J-/.Z)., Coll. Regal. Med. Lond. Soc., S.R.S., and S.S.A. Manuscript 3 vols., including 21 hooks of the College Annals. The books are described, and the pages given. Library of the Medical Society of London, perfect. We have, in the last three numbers of our Journal, given the sta- tistics of the medical profession; the ])resent status of the general practitioner; and the position he is likely to occupy if he allow bimself to be taken into the custody of the Colleges of Surgeons and Physicians. It will now be our business to place before the general practitioner the histoiy of these corporations, so that he may not hereafter, if he should fall into the trap that is laid for him, have the excuse of ignorance. He should take warning from the past, and be forearmed. By a most fortunate and opportune circumstance, we have discovered in the library of the Medical Society of London, the three volumes of manuscript above-named. Their authenticity is undeniable ; and they fill up a gap in the records of the College of Physicians which we believe would otherwise remain vacant. They were in the possession of Mr. Warburton during the Parliamentary Enquiry, 1834; but, as far as we know, they have never been made public. Before we commence our review of these annals let us, in a few words, give a brief history of the College of Physicians. The six physicians whose names are recorded in the charter took their degrees at foreign universities. Harvey, and the most celebrated men con- nected with this college, obtained the foundation of their knowledge in other countries. The charter was granted in 1519 (Henry VIII.), to prevent ignorant persons practising medicine and surgery ; but this only applied to those persons practising in London, and within seven miles thereof. Previous to this the Bishop of London, or the Dean of St. Paul's, with four Doctors of Physic, bcensed for London, and the Bishop, or his vicar-general, were the scrutators of the provincials. Ihis charter empowered the college to make lawful ordinances or bye- laws. The corporation consisted of a president, four censors, and eight elects, as at present. The former for the examination of the metro- politan practitioners, the latter for the provincial; all self-elected. 'Ihe candidates were to be “profound, sad, discreet, groundly learned, and deeply studied in physic.” In 1688 this college, in an addi’ess to its members, expressed its determination that the profession “ should not be invaded by the vulgar, which had been the usual support of the younger sons of the gentry of the kingdom.'^ The reader must also bear in mind that the charter stated that all medical men who practised medicine loere to undergo a practical examination, and that this college was spoken of as a “ commonaltie:' The iniquitous bye-laws, after- wai-ds passed, rendered the institution one of the most despotic of the rotten corporations” of the country, as our analysis of these annals wdl show:— “ Dr. Gideon Harvey, physician to the king, 1686, says, ‘ This famous conclave G](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22334981_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
