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their highly important charges, and the frequently conflictingelements which often congregated beneath their medical care,demanded a large amount of delicacy, tact, and discretion on

their part.When it is considered how many differents corps and ser-vices have been mixed up indiscriminately together, including the sensitiveness and pretensions of the ship’s interests as well, no surprise need be felt at the amount of skill required to tone down and harmonise the whole ; and it is an admittedfact that the hospital ships have done admirable service, and ! have gained the praise and goodwill of all.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,May 20th, 1868.

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FAIR PLAY I

CHANCELLORSHIP OF THE EDINBURGHUNIVERSITY.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,-It is well that your numerous readers should be made

aware that the announcement which had been sent to you, andto various of your contemporaries, last week, that " It hasbeen unanimously resolved by the supporters of the late LordBrougham to propose Mr. Gladstone for the vacant Chancellor-ship of the University of Edinburgh" is not correct. A smallsection are very anxious to have it so believed; but the fact is-that the great bulk of the former supporters of Lord Broug-ham have as yet had no time to express an opinion ; and thatamong most of those who have, including the principal mem-bers, the prevalent feeling is that the putting forward of Mr.’Gladstone’s name is hasty and ill-advised, and that politicalconsiderations ought not to be imported into the -Universityelection. Lord Brougham’s election was carried by a combi-nation of men of all shades of political opinion. Medical

.graduates will, therefore, do well to be on their guard againstthis use-or abuse-of the late Chancellor’s name, and will, I,dare say, not allow themselves thus to be led by the nose bythe presumption of this small and somewhat peculiar party.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,May 25th, 1868. M.D. Edin.

DUBLIN.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

THE busiest day in our medical year here is just at hand ;the first Monday in June being the day upon which the IrishMedical Association holds its annual meeting in this city; alsoupon that day is held the annual meeting of the Royal MedicalBenevolent Fund Society, which Society meets each alternateyear in the College of Surgeons or of Physicians, the chairbeing occupied by the president of the College in which themeeting is held. This year the meeting will be held in theCollege of Physicians, under the presidentship of that distin-guished physician and well-known author, Dr. Churchill.Upon that day also will be held our annual election at the’College of Surgeons for president, vice-president, and Council,.as upon that day, by our charter, all these offices becomevacant, and unless re-elected, all will become functi officio. As.a matter of routine, the outgoing vice-president will be electedpresident. So the highest honour in their gift will this yearbe conferred, by what I am sure will prove the unanimousvotes of his brother Fellows, upon our present vice-president,that well-known and distinguished surgeon and practitioner,Mr. Porter ; and no more popular man ever occupied the pre-sidential chair, nor one more calculated to discharge its dutieswith greater efficiency or hospitality than our present incomingpresident. I believe that Professor Macnamara will be our new

vice-president,-at least he is so far the only candidate for the-office ; and in his case, also, I believe that the choice will beunanimous, as it is generally understood that the complimentwill be paid him of allowing him to walk over the course un-opposed. As to the Council, the outgoing councillors, withthe exception of Mr. Macnamara, who looks for the vice-pre-sident’s chair, as already stated, are all candidates for re-eiection ; and this leaves but one place to be filled, presumingthat the Fellows may see fit to re-elect all the outgoing coun-cillors, and this place I expect to see filled by the world-re-nowned Robert Adams, -our outgoing president. Otherwell - known names, however, are also candidates forthe honour of a seat at the Council board. John Hamil-ton, surgeon to the Richmond Hospital, well known inthe literature of our profession for his admirable essayson various topics of surgical interest, prominent among

which may be named his essay on "Syphilitic Sarcocele."Mr. Stapleton is an accomplished surgeon, and for many yearsan able and conscientious member of our Board of Examiners.Mr. Kirkpatrick, surgeon to the Union Hospital, well knownfor his original views upon the treatment of diseased joints ;and, finally, Mr. Tyrrell, one of the most rising and intelligentof our younger surgeons, Professor of Surgery at the CatholicUniversity, and Surgeon to Jervis-street Hospital. So thatthe electors have plenty of room for selection from the old andnew lists, both of which are printed on the same sheet, andleft in abundance, and scattered about the College on the dayof election for the use of each Fellow. The voting is by ballot,but no Fellow is allowed to vote unless personally present.Much important business will be discussed at the meeting of

the Irish Medical Association, full particulars of which I shalllet you have for your next number. I had nearly forgotten toadd that the proceedings of the day are to commence with public breakfast at the Shelborne Hotel, given by Dr. McClin-tock, the Chairman of the Council of the Irish Medical Asso-ciation, and are to wind up with the annual dinner of theAssociation at the Gresham Hotel, at which the chair will betaken by the in-coming President of the Association. So, saidI not right in asserting that the first Monday in June will be abusy day in our medical circles in this city ?May 26th, 1868.

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MEDICAL TRIALS.

LIVERPOOL COUNTY COURT.SURGEONS AND THEIR ASSISTANTS : IMPORTANT DECISION.

AN important case, affecting the right of medical men tocharge for services rendered by their assistants, came beforeMr. Serjeant Wheeler, at the Liverpool County Court, on the26th inst. Mr. George Johnstone, surgeon, Russell-street,sought to recover 6s., for medical attendance and medicine,from Thomas Dawson, Kensington. Mr. Johnstone said, sometime ago he was away on his holidays. The defendant sent forhim to attend his child, but as he was not at home his brother,who was his assistant, went instead. The defendant said henever accepted the services of the assistant. Besides, theyoung man gave the child the wrong medicine. In answer tohis Honour, the plaintiff said that, at the time in question,his assistant was not a properly qualified medical man.-HisHonour : The employment of a medical man is a matter ofpersonal confidence. A person might have confidence in you(the plaintiff), and not in your assistant. In addition, yourassistant was not a legally-qualified medical man.-Plaintiff :But I charge for Dr. Fisher. -Defendant : Dr. Fisher was notsent by our consent.—Plaintiff: He was.-His Honour : It isa very grave question, indeed, this sending for another medi-cal man. If I send for Dr. A., I am not bound to consentthat Dr. B. be sent instead. If Dr. A. is a properly qualifiedmedical man, and he sends a person who is not properlyqualified, certainly I am not bound to accept him. -Thedefendant said he sent for the plaintiff, but he wasnot in. He sent a young man, who gave the childmedicine which threw it into convulsions, and it died incouvulsions.-His Honour : Did you consent to receive Dr.Fisher ?-Defendant : No Sir. We did not know anythingabout him. The child died on Sunday night. The unqualifiedman visited the child on Saturday. Mrs. Johnst ne said, afterthe medicine was sent, "Stop the medicine at once."-Plain-tiff : I do not believe she did anything of the kind.-HisHonour : I am not sure, Mr. Johnstone, if you are entitled tocharge for Dr. Fisher in your name. -Plaintiff : A great manyof the medical men in Liverpool keep assistants who have beenthree years and not got a diploma. They charge for theirservices.-His Honour : I do not care what they charge.-Plaintiff : It has been decided.-His Honour : No, it has notbeen decided. They charge for qualified men, but that is notthe question.-After some further discussion, his Honour heldthat if a person sent for a medical man, and he was not in, andhis deputy, who was not a qualified person, was sent instead,he was not entitled to charge for him. It appeared to hisHonour that Dr Fisher was got by the plaintiff’s brother him-self rather for his own satisfaction than at the instance of thedefendant, and therefore he could not be considered as havingbeen called in by the defendant. His Honour did not thinkthe plaintiff entitled to a verdict. He did not say anythingabout the plaintiff’s brother ; he might be a qualified person,but he was not legally qualified. The plaintiff was thereforenon-suited...