237 



is a fixed salary paid from the treasury of the state. The schools 

 are few in proportion to the population, particularly when compared 

 with those of this country : one central power controls their number, 

 ordains the method of their organization, and in a general manner 

 governs their proceedings. How different is the condition of things 

 here, where the establishment and direction of similar institutions 

 are left to private enterprise, the central government taking no cog- 

 nizance of them, and the local legislatures rarely extending their 

 assistance farther than the grant of charters. 



2. So far as the committee have learned, the courses of instruc- 

 tion, the requirements for graduation, and the mode of examination 

 of candidates in our medical schools, generally remain in the same 

 condition as at the time of the last meeting of the Association. It 

 is with pleasure, however, that they can mention several exceptions. 

 The University of Pennsylvania, and the College of Physicians and 

 Surgeons of New York, adopted the recommendations of this body 

 at its last meeting, and extended their term of instruction, the former 

 to five and a-half and the latter to five months. The College of 

 Physicians and Surgeons of New York, also established an additional 

 professorship. Your committee are happy to add, that this prompt 

 and cheerful acquiescence in the views of the Association by two of 

 the most venerable and respected institutions of the United States, 

 has been approved by public opinion and sustained by public patron- 

 age. The Franklin Medical College of Philadelphia, incorporated 

 in 1846, commenced its first course of lectures with a session of four 

 months and three weeks, for which period the course of the last ses- 

 sion, 1847-8, was also prolonged — the month of October previous 

 to the commencement of the session having been occupied with pre- 

 liminary lectures. 



At several other schools, series of lectures preliminary to the 

 stated course have been delivered, thus measurably fulfilling the 

 recommendations of the Association upon this subject. 



Besides these already accomplished improvements, several others 

 have been prospectively made. The faculty of the Buffalo Medical 

 College have given notice, that their term of lectures for the ensuing 

 session will be five months, aside from a preliminary month devoted 

 to dissection. 



The faculty of the Medical Department of the University, at 

 Louisville, have determined to lengthen their term at the ensuing 

 session, and it is possible that some others may have done the same, 

 but if so, the fact has not come to the knowledge of your committee. 



