306 ;WOMAN IN SCIENCE 



of the modest little American town and that of the cow- 

 ardly ruffians of the vaunted ' ' Athens of the North ! ' ' 



But this was not all. The seven young women in ques- 

 tion had matriculated as students of the university with 

 the understanding that they were to have all the rights 

 and privileges of the male students. But after the dis- 

 graceful conduct of the mob just referred to, they discov- 

 ered that the authorities of the university were prepared 

 to break faith with them, and prevent them from getting 

 their coveted degrees, and thus debar them from all chance 

 of medical practice. 



The reason why the university was induced to annul its 

 contract, after the women on their part had fully complied 

 with all its stipulations, soon became apparent. It was 

 purely and simply to make it impossible for women to 

 secure a license as medical practitioners. Both in and 

 outside of Edinburgh the conviction daily grew stronger 

 that women doctors were a menace to the monopoly so long 

 enjoyed by the medical fraternity, and that the movement 

 in their favor should be crushed by fair means or foul 

 before it got beyond control. The Spectator made this clear 

 by stating at the time of the controversy that "every pro- 

 fession in this country " England "is more or less of a 

 trades union/' and yet the members of these professions 

 "would shake their heads and prate about the necessity 

 of stamping out trades unionism among workmen." 

 " Women, " whined one of the doctors, "would snatch the 

 bread from the mouths of poor practitioners." Another 

 doctor who had championed the cause of women physi- 

 cians, when commenting on the hypocritical objection that 

 it was unbecoming for women to practice medicine or sur- 

 gery, expressed the same idea in other words. "It ap- 

 pears," he declared, "that it is most becoming and proper 

 for a woman to discharge all the duties which are inci- 

 dental to our profession for thirty shillings a week ; but, if 

 she is to have three or four guineas a day for discharging 



