166 TRINIDAD. 



their patients but always retire in time from any unprofitable 

 field. How many accidents occur, how many lives are lost, in 

 consequence of this perverse neglect ! As regards midwives, 

 matters are still worse ; for not only do they indulge in the most 

 silly and disgusting manoeuvres in ordinary instances, but they 

 have recourse to most abominable practices (such as flogging, 

 suspension, &c.,) in protracted cases of accouchment, the child, 

 or mother, or both, being, but too often, the untimely victims of 

 those self-confident commeres. Their directions, regarding the 

 management of infants, are barbarous in the extreme. 



There is a provision in the Medical Ordinance, that no one 

 shall practice as a midwife, in Port-of- Spain, without a license 

 granted by the Medical Board ; and, in the rural districts, without 

 a certificate signed by the medical practitioner of the locality ; 

 but as the enforcement of the law is left to the midwives already 

 licensed, and to the members of the profession, with the view only 

 of affording them an opportunity of protecting their own interest, 

 that wise proviso remains unexecuted. Surely the government 

 ought to interfere, if merely for the sake of the public welfare. 



As to hospitals, nothing can be less creditable than the 

 establishment at present existing in Port-of- Spain and San 

 Fernando ; but, as the buildings were never intended for hospitals, 

 I will say nothing of their accommodations. As to administration, 

 everything is placed under, and left to, the management of the 

 house-surgeon, who is, at the same time, surgeon, physician, and 

 manager. He prescribes for the patients, sends requisitions for 

 medicines, food, and other articles, which must be approved by 

 the Colonial Secretary : there was once a committee of manage- 

 ment, but it is now either defunct, or, at least, it has ceased to 

 act. The surgeon, in Port- of- Spain, receives 400 sterling per 

 annum, with a regular supply of bread and wine. Of course, the 

 appointment is one of the best in the gift of government, and to 

 obtain it, the applicant must be a favourite. This is proved by 

 the nomination of the present house-surgeon, who was comfortably 

 housed in the snug berth, irrespective of claims and qualifications, 

 and merely because he happened to be the protege of the Colonial 



Secretary. Dr. M , the present holder of office, arrived in 



Trinidad with a view to the adoption of the planting business. 

 After a few years of unsuccessful apprenticeship, as overseer, he 

 altogether abandoned agricultural pursuits, to become, in 1849, 



