The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-18 00:00:00

TEE NEW MEDICAL PROFESSION BILL,

The new bill brought in by Mr. Headlam, Mr.
Brady, and Mr. Craufurd is to take effect, if passed,
on the Ist of August next. A "Medical Council
of the United Kingdom" is to be established, to
consist of one person chosen by each of the follow-
ing bodies—viz., the three Universities of England,
the four of Scotland, the two of Ireland, the three
colleges of surgeons and physicians of England,
Scotland, and Ireland, and the Faculty of Glas-
gow; and also of eight persons to be elected as
hereafter shown. Every person so chosen must
be qualified to be registered under the act, and the
first election is to be made within three months.
The tenure of office by members of the council is
to be triennial. The eight other members of the
council will first be named by the Secretary of
State ; four of them are to be appointed for Eng-
land, two for Ireland, and two for Scotland ; these
eight members will bold office till June 1, 1857,
after which period they will be elected triennially
—four by those recorded in the last printed medical
register for England, two by those registered in
Scotland, and two by those registered in Ireland. The
Medical Council will hold their first meeting at
such time and place as the Secretary of State may
be pleased to name, and afterwards where and
when they themselves may determine. They are
empowered to appoint a treasurer, secretary, and
servants ; and the Secretary of State will appoint
a registrar, to be called the "Medical Registrar.'
This officer will, up to the Ist of December next,
register persons already in practice and duly quali
fled, on payment of a fee of 20s. ; and, after that
period, he will register practitioners qualified as
hereafter shown, for a fee of 10s. After the Ist of
December next parties applying to be registered as
physicians must be 26 years of age, be graduates in
medicine, and furnished with letters testimonial
from one of the Royal Colleges of Physicians. Sur-
geons must be 22 years of age, and have been ex-
amined and passed by the Royal College of Physi-
cians, assisted by five surgeons (in medicine and phar-
macy), and by the Royal College of Surgeons (in sur-
gery and midwifery). Scotch and Irish surgeons must
have been examined by the two Colleges of Physi-
cians and Surgeons (or, in the case of Scetchmen, by
the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow).
Persons registered after the Ist of December must
cause themselves to be admitted as members of the
college from which they received their letters tes-
timonial, but no person offering himself for admis-
sion will be obliged to pass any further examina-
tion. Names struck off the college lists for mis-
conduct will be erased from the register,—a penalty
tantamount to professional extinction. The exa-
minations of the various colleges will be supervised
by the medical council, who will have the power of
compelling the amendment of any faulty system of
examination or the neglect of regulations in the
medical colleges. A "British Pharmacopoeia"
will be published by the council. Registered
practitioners, and none else, will be able to sue for
and recover " reasonable" charges for medicine
and attendance. Unregistered persons are disqua-
lified from holding public appointments. The
council is empowered to make regulations for per-
sons practising in the colonies and students. This
act will in no wise affect the lawful occupation o
chemists and druggists, or interfere with the pr
vileges of duly licensed apothecaries in Ireland.