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aftei'TTards contributed in a v^^ry great measure to the 
efficiency of the Civil Medical Department, 
Dr. Kevett, in 1835, was the first who attempted to 
organize a Medical class. His pupils were the late 
Mr. Ferdinands of Kandy, E F Kelaart, P H Van- 
Coylenburg, M B Misso, Trask, Cleveland, and 
Bbert of our service. Of this number, Kelaart having 
obtained the opportunity of a free passage to England 
as Surgeon's Assistant, accompanied the 78th High- 
landers, and returned with a commission as Staff 
Assistant Surgeon, in 1840. Dr. Kelaart may, there- 
fore be considered as the first Ceylonese who acquired 
a British medical degree, and his career as a physician 
and naturalist, was distinguished. His work (con- 
tributions to the Zoology of Ceylon) is a monument 
of his talent and industry. 
In 1857 a Select Committee was appointed by the 
Legislative council to report upon the fixed establish- 
ments of the Colony and one of the recommendations 
made was that the Civil Medical Department should 
be separated from the Military Medical Department 
and placed under the control of a Civil MeJical 
Officer, as the existing Civil Department was insuffi- 
cient for the requirements of the island, and the 
Military heads of the Department were shifted too 
often for opportunities to acquire local experience. 
A Civil Medical Establishment was proposed, con 
sisting, of a Principal Civil Medical Officer, two 
Colonial Surgeons, eight Assistant Colonial Surgeons, 
and twenty-eight Medical Assistants, all with salaries 
adapted to secure efficiency and ability. Dc Elliott 
emiaent in Ceylon as a public man and well-known for 
his ability and philanthrophy, was in England when 
the report was published and he lost no time in apply- 
ing to the Secretary of State for the Colonies for the 
new office of Principal Civil Medical Officer, and Mr 
Labouchere recognized in him the individual suited 
for the appointment. Although best known as the editor 
of the leading newspaper in the Island the Ceylon 
Observe?', Df Elliott was known far and wide for his 
medical skill and was resorted to by rich and poor in 
their hours of difficulty and trial. 
The year 1870 marked a new epoch in the medical 
history of Ceylon. To Sir Hercules Bobiuson belongs 
the credit of sanctioning the inauguration of the Medi- 
cal School which was raised to the dignity of "College" 
in 1880, when the late Sir John Douglas k, c. m. g., 
was Lieutenant-Governor. 
