N.—a. 



(CIRCULAR.) 



Richmond, September 13th, 1847. 

 To the Clerk of the County of 



Sir : — At a meeting of the National Medical Convention, held in the 

 City of Philadelphia in May last, the following resolution, offered by Dr. 

 Pierce of Michigan, was adopted: — 



"Resolved, That the delegates to this Convention be requested to ascer- 

 tain, as far as may be practicable, and report to the next annual meeting, 

 the number of Practitioners of Medicine in their respective States — desig- 

 nating the number who may have received a diploma from a Medical Col- 

 lege, the number who may have been licensed by a Medical Society, and 

 the number who practice medicine without any authority whatever." 



In order to carry out the very important objects embraced in the above 

 resolution, in this State, the Medical Society of Virginia, at its last meet- 

 ing, adopted the following resolution: — 



"Resolved, That a committee be appointed, whose duty it shall.be, to 

 address a letter to the Clerks of the several County Courts in this Com- 

 monwealth, and to the Clerks of the Hustings Courts in its towns and 

 cities, asking for the information required by the resolution of Dr. Pierce." 



In conformity with this resolution, we, the Committee of the Medical 

 Society of Virginia, would most respectfully and earnestly ask your aid in 

 obtaining the required information. We would thank you at your earliest 

 convenience to inform us of the number of Medical Practitioners in your 

 county; how many of them practice with the authority of a diploma, and 

 how many without any authority whatever. We of course cannot expect 

 that you will be able to give us the information we desire with great accu- 

 racy, and we shall receive your statement as the nearest approximation to 

 the actual condition of the matter, at which you have been able to arrive. 



This subject is one of very vital importance, not only to the Medical Pro- 

 fession of our country, but to the interest and welfare of the whole com- 

 munity, and you will materially aid in its investigation by affording us the 

 desired information. 



We are very respectfully, your o'bt serv'ts, 

 CARTER P. JOHNSON, M. D. 1 



JAMES H. CONWAY, M. D. ^Committee. 



HORACE D. TALLIAFERRO, M. D. j 

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