Medical reform. An address read to the Harveian Society ... 1847 / [Thomas Hodgkin].

  • Hodgkin, Thomas, 1798-1866
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical reform. An address read to the Harveian Society ... 1847 / [Thomas Hodgkin]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the compilation of the Pharmacopoeia, and in the visitation of druggists’shops and warehouses, and of Dispensaries both public and private, should be confided to the same College, which, for various reasons, ought, I am convinced, to comprise, not only General Practitioners, but also Practitioners in Pharmacy only. The latter, although not required to pass the State-Examination for a licence to practice, should be required to submit to so much of the examination as relates to Chemistry, Botany, Materia Medica, and Pharmacy, before becoming duly quali¬ fied Chemists and Druggists. The accomplished Pharma- cians and practical Chemists, many of whom would be an ornament to any body to which they might be attached, would thus receive a distinction which has long been due to them; whilst the very important business of preparing and dispensing medicines, which, with great risk to the lives and health of the public, has hitherto been left wholly uncontrolled, would be placed under the superintendence of the body best qualified to undertake it. That most difficult practical question,—how the business of the Druggist and that of the Apothecary are to be mutually adjusted, so that they may not interfere with each other,—would be decided by the parties themselves, united in the same Council. The occasional production of a new Phar¬ macopoeia, and the introduction of new formulae, would also be placed in the hands of those most competent to perform the task. I anticipate that some General Practitioners may say,—“This plan does.not meet our wishes ; it does not augment our pro¬ fessional reputation ; but connects us more closely with art and commerce.”—To this it may be replied, that the State-Exami¬ nation and licence would place them on a par with Physicians and Surgeons ;> that they would have an equal share in con¬ ducting and directing this examination ; and that their con¬ nexion with art and manufacture depends on the inseparable connexion between the particular business in question, and professional and scientific knowledge. The General Practi¬ tioners, who are understood to exercise both the art and the profession, constitute the legitimate link, and are the parties on whom, for the good of the public, as well as of medical men them¬ selves, the duties and honours assigned to them may best devolve. Individual distinctions, which, by academic titles and various proofs of proficiency, intimate protracted study or superior