The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1874-02-19


s A sFornanss Vie v. 90. aIae Gaze
Before the Social Ss;eDce Congress. re-
GENTLY ia session at Norwich, England, |
Miss Jex Blake read i paper on the med
zeal education of wsmep- The lady /
maintains the afHil native side Of the
/ question whether women should be adj !
mitted to the profession. ind some OF her
remarks are Tntere-g ing to everybody |
i She commenced By saying that It appears
to be the most naIufal and proper ar
raugement that tn MEDICAL care or each
/ Sax should be eonfidgaI 10 nlemSers Of that
| sex She said that there are reasons to
suppose that women have naturally more
taste for medical work than men, where
neither have had ans t,fevieus training.
If by medical work Mis- Blake means
attention 10 the sick as nurses, she IS
unouestionablv correct The experience
i Of the world testifies to the supreme use
fitness of women in the sick chamber.
THEY certainly are the physicians best
aid in the administration of medicine
and the general charge of tn sickreom.
Sometimes as much depends on the nurse
as ON the doctor Training schools for
I nurses DdAE buC NA+et14s
of all physicians, and many life Is due
to the care, wa.chiulaess and asslduity OF
the female hurss - doctor without
the title
Miss Blake rem-tAel that 81 collsid-
cradle demand Tor M medical services of
women certainly Nj-r- Sire said that
probably many woh - vent without prop
er medical treatment. tnd that others ar
-
tpnee. because 1t was 4acessarv "a seek
il II the hands of the opposite sex. III
Miss Blake intends, A. Il would seem,
principally to contend tor women as
doctors for women. and men for men,
she would steer clear Of the opposition of
some of the opponents Of the contemplated
, change, but, at the same time, she
would fail to meet the views Of those who
, contend for the equality ofthe sexes.
Going into the history of the subject,
! Miss Blake adverted to the fact that the
practice of medicine by women is no in
novation. 1t seems to have been quite
common even in the time Of Homer and
in the consequent classical times. In
| the middle ages medical skill was COM
] monty fond in religious retreats for wo-
I men. such as converts and abbeyS, where
: the knights woun'led in battle were
: frequently healed ami the wise wo-
men" of the time had ut least an equal
position with apotEccarles and barber
surgeons. Miss Blake did not, however,
say, as she might have done, that the
: medical practice Of the middle ages, as
conducted by apothecaries and barber
surgeons, was not singh art. With
such male practitioners rs the alerna-
tive it is no wonder that "wise women"
: would have not mere equality, but prefer
ence. Probably he world found out the
superior claims Of women in that day,
andthe male practitioners were render
ed irate, for IN 1921 a petition was pre-
sented to Henry V, that" no woman
use the practice Of physic under pain of
long imprisonment.
In the time of Henry VIII. an act was
passed for the relief of the irregular
practitioners, both men and women"
who had been sued, vexed and troubled"
by the Fellowshipof Surgeons of London,
who endeavored to obtain a monopoly of
practice As both men and women were
''sued, vexed and troubled" the objec-
> ton seems to have been not SO much as
to sex as to the incompetence. What
ever else the organization of the profess
ion has done, and whatever mere empires
may have suffered in consequence, one
thing is certain, since the praOtce of medi-
! cine has been elevated to science, a
2 medical decree has become a guarantee
g that he who holds it has devoted time
and study to attaiI. the requisite knowl
| edge forregular and enlightened treatment
of disease. 1t is to the privilege of
! claiming this endorsement that women
now aspire.
Miss Blake cited some other facts
, much more to her purpose. Women
formerly studied medicine in considera-
. BILE numbers in the Italian Universities.
Seven have held professorships in the
! University of Bologna, three of them be-
ing in the medical faculty, viz: Dorotha
), Bucca, professor of medicine, in 400;
; Anna MazZOlini, professor of Anatomy,
in 1860, and Maria dele Dome, professor
of Midwifery, IN 1900. But Miss Blake
, argued, if no historical precedents exist
5 ed few people would question the right
; OF every Intelligent human being to
e choose his or her work, at his or her own
risk. eff women made worse doctors
4 than men, they would fail in competition
, with them. Artificial opposition to the
e admission to their profession was at once
e unjust and unnecess lry.
$ After reviewing the present attitul lie
of the question in Great Britain, ISIS
Blake, in conclusion. said .'She only
+ asked that if women were secladed from
all schools at present existing, they should
! at least be allowed by their own labor
and at their expense, with such help as
might be voluntarily vouchsafed to them,
to organize medical schools of their own,
IS and thatat completion of their studies
o they should be admitted to the ordinary
i examinations, and thus be enabled to
a place their names on the National Regis
:. ter of Medical Practitioners This was
i all that is absolutely necessary, and she
left it to the justice of her eountrymen to
say whether this was too much to ask "
; Miss Blake's plea for medical schools, es-
. tablished by women for women, has been
f carried into practice in Philadelphia,
o where they have their own college and
. their own hospital, in the northwestern
II part of the city, both of them being meri-
torious institutions.
: Hundr IDS of men have no time to gel
: acquainted with their children They
{ see in general way that they are clean
: and wholesome looking, they pay the quar-
! terly school bills, and they grudge no ex-
"a