THE REFORM OF THE MEDICAL CURRICULUM 549 



It is much to be regretted that the scheme put forward by 

 the Consultative Committee, a couple of years ago, for a school- 

 leaving examination conducted in and partly by the schools 

 and with direct reference to the work of the school — the one 

 sane and safe way of testing their educational efficiency — was 

 still-born : the Board appears to have lacked the courage to 

 act upon the recommendation of the Committee and Heads 

 of Schools openly declare that they are afraid of asking to be 

 trusted ; it is only too clear that they are disinclined to accept 

 the responsibility or take the trouble which the execution of 

 such a scheme would entail. Unhappy England : everybody 

 seems to be anxious to be helped by somebody else, in these 

 latter days ; and when this is not the case — especially in the 

 Civil Service — all excepting a very few highly placed persons 

 are denied the opportunity of showing that they can act as 

 responsible, discriminating individuals ; at most, the opportunity 

 comes in later years when the desire and willingness to accept 

 responsibility is lost through complete atrophy of the centres 

 of independence. 



Most unfortunately, University examinations are in the 

 highest degree academic — medical students, as a rule, simply 

 cram for them, knowing perfectly well that they will in a 

 short time inevitably forget almost everything that they are 

 forced to learn for the examination. The disciplinary value 

 of the work they are called upon to do in chemistry, at all 

 events, in most cases, is very slight, as it in no way brings them 

 into touch with the problems of their profession or leads them 

 to understand, in the slightest degree, the nature of the materials 

 and the processes with which they have to deal in the living 

 organism. 



I despair when I think how little we have done since Huxley 

 spoke out — when I think how much we might have done had 

 we only all learnt to work harmoniously together — had we but 

 been willing to co-operate. Enough proposals have been made. 

 It would almost seem, however, that instead of being welcomed, 

 any one is regarded as the common enemy who ventures even 

 to suggest that improvement is desirable and possible and to 

 point out the way in which change could be made with advan- 

 tage. It is our peculiarly English way of progressing, I suppose : 

 every reform has to be effected at the point of the bayonet. 



