Verdicts of coroners' juries : the case of the late Mr. Cordwell / by P.F. Curie.

  • Curie, Paul Francis, 1799-1853.
Date:
1845
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Verdicts of coroners' juries : the case of the late Mr. Cordwell / by P.F. Curie. 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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    everything that could be supposed to stimulate his stomach.” The treatment to which he had been exposed was of the opposite kind. Dr. Curie had ordered him a powder for his physic, and cold spring water for his food ! Now, let us look at the bearing of this case on Sir James Graham’s proposed medical reform. Sir Astley Cooper, who could have taken a general and com- prehensive view of the subject, and who, feeling that confidence which results from the consciousness of mental ability and of its successful exercise, was above being influenced by petty jealousies, stated in his examination before the committee of the House of Commons, appointed in 1834, for inquiring into the education and practice of the medical profession, that “ the Apothecaries’ Company had done infinite service to this country by getting their bill enacted,” and that “he very much attributed to the Apothecaries’ Act, which enforced examination, the great im- provement which the general practitioner had undergone in the last eighteen or twenty years.” Sir David Barry “believed that the examination established by the Company of Apothecaries is now (1834) by far the most comprehensive examination in Lon- don ; and that if it were not for that examination, the young men who are now rising would not be nearly so well educated as they are.” Such was the state of things ten years before Sir James Graham took up the matter. We may well ask what could have induced him to have interfered with so happy a progress. We seek for it in the same evidence, and there we find that Sir Ben- jamin Brodie delivered himself to the following effect : — “I would not interfere with the right of individuals to employ whom they please. It is very hard that I may not employ a quack doctor if I am foolish enough to wish it!” Very hard, forsooth ! “ Very hard,” that a fool is not to have his full swing. “Very hard,” that regulations, acknowledged by the highest authorities to have been of infinite service to the coun- try, should be allowed to have the force of law, when there are fools who would be better pleased to be doctored by knaves. “Very hard” that a fool may not indulge in the peculiar plea- sure of being robbed of his health as well as of his money by a