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this influence of light on vegetables, the lecturer statedthat Dr. Draper had found that it was not in the heatingnor in the chemical rays of the spectrum, but in those ofthe greatest illuminating power, that vegetable life wasfound to be the most actively developed. How closelydoes physiology connect itself with the highest branchesof natural philosophy! leading us to contemplate theactual blending of all the imponderable agencies together.How beautiful is the view that the same agent whichbrings all objects to our sight should be also the greatpromoter of all life under the Divine will! Withdraw its

bright and benignant influence, and the earth would beagain" without form and void," and would float throughspace a lifeless corpse.

MEDICAL PROTECTION ASSEMBLY.

EXETER HALL, AUG. 19, 1844.

THERE was a very numerous meeting of the committeethis evening. After the usual business had been trans-acted the question of appointing a paid secretary wastaken into consideration, and, finally, the choice of thecommittee fell upon Mr. Dimsdale, who was a candidatefor the office. The thanks of the committee were then

unanimously voted to Mr Rugg, on the motion of Mr.D. 0. Edwards, seconded by Mr. Hunter, for the abilityand zeal he had displayed whilst discharging theduties in the character of temporary honorary secre-

tary. A sub-committee was appointed to draw up areport, and aid the arrangements preparatory to thegeneral meeting of the Assembly, on Monday next,August 26th, at three o’clock, at Exeter Hall.

MEDICAL FEES AND INSURANCE COMPANIES.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SiB,—A few days since I received, as a referee, twoletters, from two different life assurance-offices,. one fromGlasgow, enclosing a sovereign, the other from the

English and Scottish Law Assurance, London,-merelya printed copy of its usual queries,-and without any re-mitted fee. To the first I immediately, by return of post,gave to the best of my knowledge every desired informa-tion, and to the second made the reply, which I trans-cribe for you below, and which you are at liberty to pub-lish if you think its subject one not already worn out.Sir, your obedient servant,

JOHN COOPER, F.R.C.S.E.Liverpool, July 25, 1844.

" To the Actuary of the English and ScottishAssurance-office, 147, Strand, London.

14 Sir,-It may be necessary, perhaps, to explain toyou, as well as to Mr. -, why I must withhold fromany assurance-office information which I consider so

essential, in all cases, to the assurers, until I receivefrom them a proper remuneration for the services they, intruth, require. Who can speak so decidedly of the stateof health, of the habits, of the constitutional pecu-liarities, and of the probabilities of a long or of a shortlife, in any individual, as his ordinary medical attend-ant ? And is this medical attendant, generally the inti-mate friend of the party, to disclose, in strict confi-dence,’ that is, privately, to the actuary of an assurancecompany, circumstances that may cause the proposedassurance to be declined, and possibly thereby the

cutting off of all hopes of security from future poverty toa family that might otherwise be totally unprovided for?

11 How any set of men, professing, as such companiesusually do, liberal principles,’-how any body of richand educated men, such as I believe, without exception,form the directories of such companies, can object to soplain a proposition,-that they ought to pay for theirown accommodation and advantage,-that is, for themeans of rendering their policies more safe speculations, Icannot well conceive! True, they pay their own ap-pointed medical referee. What then ? This is merelyas a counter-check to render the assurance doubly sure’to themselves. And, as an additional guarantee of theirown nicely-calculated per-centage profits!

" I do not argue upon mercenary views, but upon theprinciples of truth and justice, and with a determinationof supporting as far and as long as I can the rights of anill-used profession. I am, Sir, respectfully yours,

z JOHN COOPER, Surgeon, F.R.C.S.E.« Liverpool, July 25, 1844."" P. S. It is Mr. Cooper’s wish and request that Mr.

Williams will lay this appeal before the directors of thecompany for which he acts, and that he may represent tothem that other assurance companies have alreadyyielded to, and acknowledged the just claims of, thosewhom, for their own interests, they may choose toconsult."

THE APOTHECARIES’ COMPANY AND THENEW BILL.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-There is a portion of Sir J. Graham’s MedicalBill so palpably false and unjust that it may be justlyconsidered an unanswerable proof of the Right HonourableBaronet’s sheer ignorance of the way in which proceed-ings have been carried on by a body of men to whom weare all indebted ; I allude to the Apothecaries’ Company.He says, 11 that entrance might be obtained into it byapprenticeship, BIRTH, or by almost any mode except byexamination as to qualification !" What tyro in the

profession does not know that for many years the exa-mination at the Hall was incomparably more searchingthan that of any other medical body in England ?August 18th, 1844. A. B.

NEWS OF THE WEEK

UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS.-GRADUATION OF DOCTORS

IN MEDICINE.

On Tuesday, the 6th of August instant, the SenatusAcademicus of this university, conducted by the pro-fessors of anatomy, chemistry, and humanity, Dr. Ro-bertson, Professor of Surgery, Edinburgh, and Dr.

Hannay, Professor of Medicine, Glasgow, in the presenceof the senate, conferred the degree of Doctor in Medicineupon twenty-two gentlemen. The examiners were occu-pied from nine in the morning until nine in the evening,and the degree was afterwards conferred, in public, onthe successful candidates, by the Rev. Robert Haldane,D. D., Principal, in the large hall of the universitylibrary. Twenty-eight candidates presented themselvesfor the degree, which, with twenty-five who offered them-selves at last graduation-day, make fifty-three who havesubmitted to examination in this university during thepresent year, of which number forty-five obtained thedegree and eight were remitted to their studies.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.Gentlemen admitted members on Friday, August 16, ]844:—W.

Carey, F. H. Duffort, F. C. G. Ellerton, G. Walker, W. Box, J.Bourne, E. Lawless, J. Terry, W. W. Kemp, W. Bencraft, H. B.Pickess.

APOTHECARIES’ HALL, LONDON.NAMES of gentlemen who obtained certificates of qualification to

practise as apothecaries on Thursday, August 15, 1844 :-RichardHodges, London; Henry James Shirley, London.

CORRESPONDENTS.

On consultiug the Medical Bill, which we publishedlast week, A Surgeon in P,’ospective will find (clause 14)that the diploma of the Irish Apothecaries’ Company isnot therein recognised for the purposes of registration.The Bill does not interfere with the existing regulationsof the various colleges which are recognised, althoughthe Council of Health might do so hereafter. The regis-tration of a licentiate in medicine and surgery may takeplace at the age of twenty-one.

Inquirer will find that we have noticed this week all,or nearly all, the points alluded to in his list of questions.

If our Aldborough correspondent were to write to theRegistrar of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of

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London, Dr. R. W. Rothman, Somerset House, he would,no doubt, obtain from him the information he requires.A Constant Reader.-We never prescribe in THE LANCET.

Any well-informed medical practitioner will be able to ’,icure the patient. iTyro.-We know of no work of the description alluded

Ito. The gentleman to whom Tyru is articled will be hisbest guide.Our Manchester friend had better address his re-

marks directly to the Apothecaries’ Company, where ’

they would, no doubt, meet with due attention. We Iagree with him that the course on materia medica wouldbe more useful at a later period. The new Bill will not Iinterfere with the examinations of the College of Surgeons. IThe subject respecting which Dr. Vaughan (Clonmell) I

writes has been for some time under our consideration.We are much obliged to Dr. Vaughan for the informationwhich he has conveyed to us, and shall certainly availourselves of it at an early period.The M.D. degree of the London University is the one

which A Subscriber would most probably obtain with theleast loss of time. If he will procure " Churchill’sMedical Almanac" for 1844, he will therein find all themost recent regulations of the colleges.A correspondent (Af. R. C. 5".) complains that there is

such a continued sound of music and singing to be heardfrom the clerk’s office in the College of Surgeons as tointerfere with the studies of those members who are inthe library or museum.We are unable to answer the question of Scapula, which

should be addressed to the College of Surgeons.A GeneraIPractitioner.-The registered licentiate in me-

dicine and surgery of the new Bill would be a duly quali-fied practitioner, and entitled to recover charges as wellas the registered physician and surgeon (clauses 14 and 30).A Dublin Practitioner.-The extracts alluded to will

be published occasionally in THE LANCET. Therecan be no doubt but that Sir James Graham’s Billwould expose the public and the profession to theinroads of quackery. We must hope, however, that itwill not become a law. Indeed, it is impossible that it

should, if the profession be but true to itself.Juvenis.-The Paris hospitals are. all open, free of any

charge, to medical practitioners and students, whethernatives or foreigners. We should advise Juvenis, on hisarrival in Paris, to join the Parisian Medical Society,the rooms of which are in Rue Neuve Racine, No. 3.He will there gain all the other information he requires.We have received a letter from a correspondent, com-

plaining that Dr. Martin Paine, of New York, has sent tohim, by post, a pamphlet relating to a private discussion,thus putting his unwilling correspondent to the expense ofpostage. Such conduct is certainly unjusti6able, and wehope that Dr. Paine will be induced to abstain from thus

putting British medical practitioners to expense. If Dr.Paine wishes his pamphlets to be read in this country, heought to adopt some other mode of propagating them.We speak severely, because we have already alludedto the subject on a previous occasion.

L. A. C.-The Act does not afford protection in thoseislands. All writs from British courts of judicature arethere inoperative, and the inhabitants are wholly freefrom the effects of Parliament, unless the Act be backedby an order of the local council.

L. A. C. (No. 2).-There is nothing in the new Bill toprevent the licentiate of the Apothecaries’ Companyfrom styling himself a surgeon. Even had the answerbeen in the negative it would not prevent the partnershipin question.A Subscriber.-It is impossible to state what will be

the provisions of the Bill. Probably, the existing esta-blishments for lunatics would be placed under new andstrict regulations.We have received the letter of Mr. Gutteridge to Lord

Dartmouth, on" the corrupt system of election of themedical officers to the General Hospital, Birmingham."Did Mr. C. H. Hallett, of Tiverton, ever receive an

answer to the question which he submitted to us in June ? 1If not, we beg to apologise to him.

A Subscriber to THE LANCET.-Such a Bill is in a stateof forwardness, but it will not be published until the pro-visions of it have been fully discussed by the professionat their differont associations and societies. Such, atleast, is our present intention.X, and Chirurgus.-The omissions, on some occasions,

are unavoidable. The great quantity of matter that wehave to publish renders perfect regularity, in continuingany subject wiihout intermission, absolutely impossible.So many circumstances require to be considered in

deciding the question of W. P. W., that no satisfactoryanswer, or one of any value, can be given to his inquiry.The letter of Civis next week.Our table is covered with the comments and criticisms

of correspondents on the Medical Bill of Sir James Gra-ham, all of them couched in indignant language, and, forthe most part, displaying an intimate acquaintance withthe true character and tendency of its clauses. Our spacewould not permit us to insert a tithe of the letters towhich we refer, but probably the writers will willinglypardon their omission on perceiving the careful attentionthat we have given to the subject in that part of ourJournal to which the readers of THE LANCET will

naturally look for notices of so important a publicdocument.Communications have been received from Mr. Chip-

pendale, Deter Digniol’i, L. A. C., Mr. G. Ross, J. H. B.,Mr. Nunn, H. --, Guyensis, Mr. R. M. Nunn (Wex-for,d), Dr. John Thomson (Edinburgh), Mr. John Moore(Birmingham), H. B. J., Dr. Jones, Dr. Binns, Mr.Prior, Dr. T. W. Wansbrough, L. Shipland, Dr. R.Wilson, Mr. Boucheir, Dr. John Thomson, Mr. E. Paskell"H. B. T., Mr. Thomas Warner (Chichester), A ProvincialSurgeon, Dr. Newberry, Argus, A Hater of Humbug, AnEnemy to Empty Pretensions, A Country Surgeon, Not11 One of the Council," A Member of the Provincial Medicaland Surgical Asstpciation, Mr. Chadwick, Mr. J. HulmesPerry, Mr. W. S. Gill, An Old Subscriber, R. S., andMr. Molesworth.

ERRATA.

To the Editor.—Sir: In the list of subjects to which theexaminations in botany are limited at the University ofLondon, there are the following errata, not the error ofyour printer, but misprints in the original paper of Pro-fessor Henslow. If not corrected they will be inexplicableto future candidates for the degree who may consult yourlist, as they were to many students of University Collegebefore the mistakes were explained by Professor Lindley.Alternatus should be Alternus, Forbilla should be Fovilla,Rabhe should be Raphe, Turis should be Turio.—R. S. L.

T IVERPOOL INFIRMARY.-SCHOOL of MEDI- CINE.—Winter Session, 1844-5.-The Introductory Lecturewill be given on Tuesday, the 1st of October, at two. p.m., byRichard Formby, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians,Senior Physician to the Infirmary, and Professor of Anatomy inthe Royal Institution.

Principles and Practice of Physic; George Freckleton, M.D.,Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and Physician tothe Infirmary.

Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology; Richard Formby, M.D.;James Long, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Eng-,and, and Senior Surgeon to the Infirmaries.

Principles and Practice of Surgery ; J. P. Halton, Fellow of theRoyal College of Surgeons of England, and Surgeon to theInfirmary. ,

Midwifery, and Diseases of Women and Children; E. Batty,Senior Surgeon to the Ladies’ Charity.Materia Medica and Therapeutics; W. H. Duncan, M.D., Physi--cian to the Infirmary.

Chemistry and Pharmacy ; R. H. Brett, Ph. D., F.L.S.Clinical Medicine, with Instruction in Morbid Anatomy; J. R.W. Vose. M.D., Pbysician to the Infirmary.

Clinical Surgery, with Instruction in Morbid Anatomy; JohnCooper, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England,and Surgeon to the Infirmary.

SUMMER SESSION, to commence May 1, 1845.Botany; Joseph Dickenson, M.D., F.L.S., Physician to the Fever

Hospital.Midwifery, and Diseases of Women and Children ; Mr. Batty.Medical Jurisprudence; J. R. W. Vose, M.D.; R. H. Brett,.Ph. D, F. L S.

Clinical Medicine, with Instruction in Morbid Anatomy; W. H.Duncan, M.D.

Clinical Surgery, with Instruction in Morbid Anatomy; Mr.Cooper.

Particulars of the lectures may be had from the Registrar, Mr.Long, 10, Rodney-street, or at the School at the Infirmary.