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SELECTED ARTICLES. 
well educated men, rather than upon those who, amongst the 
whole number of practitioners, were the least qualified from 
their education to practise ? I think that that has been the 
case. Do you mean to say, that where gentlemen have 
passed through all the courses of lectures, and the hospital 
practice required for obtaining degrees or diplomas in the 
Scotch schools, that these were the individuals who were 
most ignorant and the least competent to exercise the func- 
tions of apothecaries ; and, therefore, the most likely to 
endanger the health and lives of the community ? The pro- 
secutions have been principally against the very ignorant, if 
not entirely. According to your previous statement, it was 
not the want of education of the party that formed the grounds 
of prosecution, but the activity displayed by some neighbour- 
ing practitioner in discovering that his rival had never served 
as an apprentice, and in informing against him? I apprehend 
very rarely indeed; if he was a well educated man he was 
qualified to be examined. Of what use in court would his 
good education be, if he had not served an apprenticeship? 
Of course that made the difficulty. Then, supposing a person 
to have been well educated, but not to have served the re- 
quisite apprenticeship ; if such person were informed against 
and your Society were made cognizant of those facts, have 
they been wont to forbear instituting a prosecution ? I am 
perfectly sure they would have been unwilling to prosecute. 
I will not say that they never did, but it must have been a 
rare occurrence, because they have acted with great lenity, 
particularly with respect to apprenticeships. Ought they not 
to select for prosecution the most ignorant? They generally 
have done so. Might not several instances be produced, 
where the parties have really received a good medical educa- 
tion? I apprehend very few indeed. * * Has your Society 
a right to exercise its discretion, whether to prosecute or not, 
or is it compulsory upon them to do so, whenever they re- 
ceive information ? Not compulsory, absolutely, but they 
have often been abused in such a manner for not prosecuting, 
that they could not well avoid it." 
The expense of these prosecutions is enormous, and the 
