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the small book of Dr. Lombe Atthill is deservedly popular. IOf like scpe is the handbook by Dr. Galabiu. More exten-sive iuformation may be found in the larger works of Drs.Barnes, Gr,iily Hewitt, and Thomas. ,

Dermatology.—Liveing’s Diagnosis, Fox’s Epitome, Duh-ring. Malcolm Morris; Tilbury Fox, Neumann (Pullar’stranslation) Atlases: Tilbury Fox, Duhring. The studentwill iiaJ ample information within a small compass in thefirst-named works. Dahring’s book is not so well known inthis country as it deserves to be, and Neumann’s is especiallyrich in cutaneous pathology.Diseases of the Eye.—Nettleship, Lawson, Macnamara,

Soelber;; Wells. The most useful for the student are the twofirst named.Diseases of the Ear.—Allen, Dalby, Keene, Field, Hinton,

Woakes.Dental Anatomy and Surgery.—C. Tomes, J. Tomes,

Salter, Harris.Medical Electricity.—De Watteville, Reynolds, Poore.Hygiene—Wilson Parkes De 0.h",nm()nt, Teale

We need but enumerate the authors in the-above subjects ;and we have only to add one subject which is still includedin the University of London curriculum for candidates forthe M.D. degree :Logic and IITomcl Philosophy.—Bain and Jevons are the

authors most generally read; but those who can make theacquaintance of Mill, Lewes, and Spencer will not regret it.

PRELIMINARY EDUCATION.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—After carefully reading your article in THE LANCETof August 28th, dealing with Dr. Karl Hillebrand’s view onthe advantages to be derived from a classical education bythe medical student, and having mentally given my completeacquiescence to the views therein contained, I was not alittle surprised, as well as rather amused, to find a letter byDr. J. Niven in the same journal a few pages further on,inasmuch as I found it to contain views so utterly and dia-metrically opposed to those I had just been perusing.Now, I certainly am of opinion that it would be advisable

for the intending medical student to have some sort of prac-tical acquaintance with chemistry, physiology, and botanyprior to the commencement of his professional studies ; in-deed, I think these subjects should be included in the schemeof the preliminary examinations, but not rendered conapatl-sory, and for the reason asserted by Dr. Hillebrand, thatthere is such a tendency in the present age to learn too manyfacts, to read too many books. For a knowledge of a pro-fession holding such a position as that of medicine, it isessential that a large mass of facts and details should becommitted to memory; but do we not, in the first place,require a mind capable of appreciating those facts-a mindwhich, from its previous training and the culture thencederived, has been rendered capable of suitably marshallingthose facts, of appreciating them duly, and of distinguishingbetween such as are useful and such as are comparativelyuseless for the purpose in hand ? Now, Dr. Niven admitsthe study of the French and German languages to be useful,not, as H mental traininp’ in the flrst place—no. he utterlv

ignores that very great advantage derived from the study ofa language,-but to enable a man to read foreign authorsand glean from them more facts. It is well known, andfew, I think, would be rash enough to gainsay the state-ment nowaiays, that as a means of mental training, as ameaus teiidii)g above measure to refine a man’s manner andelevate his intellectual faculties, a good classical substratumis of the highest benefit and importance. With regard to somany medical and scientific terms being derived from thelanguages of ancient Greece and Rome, I think I need makeno remark.

Call the acquirement of the classics, as some do with asneer, a " mere accomplishment " even, but let us bear thisin mind, that medicine owes its position as a learned pro-fession to the accomplishments of those who adorn its ranks,and it is as well to bear in mind this little piece of history,to wit, the fact that Linnaeus was not only the first founderof a College of Medicine, but the first who gave lectures inCreek at Oxford and Cambridge, and that great andrenowned scholar Erasmus asserted that the best scholars of

his age-a golden age of classical scholarship-were thephysicians of England.The unravelling the particular meaning connoted by a

particular word used in a particular sentence, the comparisonof its meaning as employed there with that of its meaningas employed elsewhere, the investigation of the laws

governing the construction of some abstruse grammaticalsentence, the inquiry into the subtlety of meaning of theGreek particles, in a word, the logical skill, the nicety thusacquired will, in my opinion, prove of the very greatestbenefit to the medical man, who has nearly every day tocall these qualities into action.A man entering upon the study of medicine should cer-

tainly avoid the " useless toil " (for useless toil this mostassuredly is) of acquiring "a smattering of Latin and Greek,"to quote Dr. Niven’s own words, and I would call to hisattention that even in the syntax of any good Latin grammar,abounding as it does in quotations from the "auctoresclassici," "elegance of address and refinements of speechand thought" (sic) cannot but "entangle themselves."Again, why should the intending medical student necessarilyread the Anabasis of Xenophon ? Would it not be morebeneficial for him to peruse the second book of the historyof Thucydides, or some one of the philosophical works ofPlato ?

But what a great benefit is to be derived from the classicallanguages in enabling us to more clearly understand ourown-to appreciate Milton, for example-and that this is asine quet non to a medical man who can deny? The studyof the classics has always been acknowledged to be , enabling men to express their thoughts clearly andaccurately, and giving them the power of methodising andillustrating. Is it to be imagined that these great men " onfame’s eternal bead-roll worthy to be filed," were ignorantof the language in which were couched those elegant com-pliments on their respective merits, when in the SenateHouse at Cambridge the other day they were invested withthe honorary degree of LL.D. ? I fancy not.

" Ordinis hæc virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor,Ut jam nunc dicat, jam debentia dici,Pleraque differat et pæsens in tempus omittat."

The gift of saying at the right time and the right place,and of doing at the right opportunity, that which should besaid and done may be learned from the study of the ancient

! classics. It is by those, too, who have had a good sub-stratum of Greek and Latin scholarship that the modernlanguages are more easily acquired, and this is, I think,

. admitted by most people of the present time. In conclusion, I would ask these two questions, appending the answers :-. Q. In what language did Hippocrates write? A. In the; purest Ionic Greek.

Q. Who was Hippocrates? A. The father of physic.The conclusion is obvious.

. I am. Sir vrmrs obedipntlv.WILLIAM A. GORDON LAING? M.B., C.M., &c.

SESSION 1880-81.

GENERAL COUNCIL OF MEDICAL EDUCATIONAND REGISTRATION OF THE UNITED

KINGDOM.

Registration of Medical Students.-The following regula-tions have been adopted by the General Medical Council inreference to the registration of students in medicine :-Everymedical student shall be registered in the manner prescribedby the General Medical Council. No medical student shallbe registered until he has passed a preliminary examinationas required by the General Medical Council, and has pro-duced evidence that he has commenced medical study. Thecommencement of the course of professional study recognisedby any of the qualifying bodies shall not be reckoned as

. dating earlier than fifteen days before the date of registra-tion. The registration of medical students shall be placedunder the charge of the branch registrars. Each of thebranch registrars shall keep a register of medical students

, according to a prescribed torm, wherein is set forth thename, the preliminary examination and date thereof, the

date of registration, and the place and date of commence-I ment of medical study, a certified by a master or a teacher,E or an official in a medical school or hospital. Every person.

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desirous of being registered as a medical student shall applyto the branch registrar of the division of the United King-dom in which he is residing; and shall produce or forwardto the branch registrar a certificate of his having passed apreliminary examination as required by the General MedicalCouncil, and evidence that lae has commenced medical study.The branch registrar shall enter the applicant’s name andother particulars in the Students’ Register, and shall givehim a certificate of such registration. Each of the branchregistrars shall supply to the several qualifying bodies,medical schools, and hospitals, in that part of the UnitedKingdom of which he is registrar, a sufficient number ofblank forms of application for the registration of medicalstudents. The several Branch Councils have power to admitspecial exceptions to the foregoing regulations as to regis-tration, for reasons which shall appear to them satisfactory.A copy of the Register of Medical Students, prepared byeach of the branch registrars, shall be transmitted on orbefore Dec. 31st, in each year, to the registrar of the GeneralCouncil, who shall, as soon as possible thereafter, prepareand print, under the direction of the Executive Committee,an alphabetical list of all students registered in the precedingyear, and supply copies of such authorised list to each of thebodies enumerated in Schedule A to the Medical Acts, andthrough the branch registrars to the several medical schoolsand hospitals. The several qualifying bodies are recom-mended not to admit to the final examination for a qualifi-cation under the Medical Acts any candidate (not exemptedfrom registration) whose name has not been entered in theMedical Students’ Register at least forty-five months pre-viously. In the case of candidates from other than schoolsof the United Kingdom, the Branch Councils have power toadmit exceptions to this recommendation.Pursuant to a resolution passed by the General Council at

its meeting on July 14th, 1880, the changes made by theCouncil in its Regulations for Preliminary General Educa-tion, will from January 1st, 1882, be as follows : - Onand after the first day of January, 1882, no person shallbe allowed to be registered as a medical student unless heshall have previously passed a Preliminary Examinationin the subjects of General Education as specified in thefollowing list :-(1) English Language, including Grammarand Composition ;1 (2) English History ; (3) Modern Geo-graphy ; (4) Latin, including Translation from the originaland Grammar; (5) Elements of Mathematics, comprising(a) Arithmetic, including Vulgar and Decimal Fractions;(b) Algebra, iucluding simple Equations ; (c) Geometry, in-cludiug the first two books of Euclid or the subjects thereof;(6) Elementary Mechanics of Solids and Fluids, coni-

prising the Elements of Statics, Dynamics, and Hydrosta.tics ;2 (7) One of the following optional subjects:—(a) Greek;(b) French ; (c) German ; (d) Italian ; (e) any other ModernLanguage ; (f) Logic; (g) Botany; (la) Elementary Che-mistry.Communications relating to the Medical Students’Register,

or to the registration of medical students, should be sent tothe registrars as foltows :—W. J. C. Miller, B.A., Registrarof the General Council, 315, Oxford-street, London, W.-Archibald Inglis, M.D., Registrar of the Branch Council forScotland, 33, Albany-street, Edinburgh.- W. E. Steele,M.D., Registrar of the Branch Council for Ireland, 35,Dawson-street, Dublin.

REGULATIONSOF THE

MEDICAL EXAMINING BOARDS IN THEUNITED KINGDOM.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

Every student must reside in one or other of the Collegesor Halls, or in licensed lodgings, for three years, passing atleast two examinations in Arts, and one in either Mathe-matics, Natural Science, Law, Modern History, or Fbeology,

1 The Grnersl Medica.1 Council will not consider any Examination inthe English Ld.ngua.ge sufficient that does not fully test the ability ofthe csuUidite :—(1) To write sentences in correct English on a giventheme, attention being paid to spelling and punctuation as well as tocompu-ition ; (2) to write correctly from dictation ; (3) to explain thegrammatical construction cf enteuces ; (4) to point out the grammaticalerrors in sentences ungrammatically composed, and to explain thrirnature ; and (5) to give the derivation and definition of English words in

CO::l1illOD :; This subject may be passed either as Preliminary, or before, or atthe first Professional Exammation.

when, if he obtain a first, second, or third class, he can takehis B.A. degree ; if he do not gain such honour, he has topass a third examination in Literis Humanioribus.A student desiring to graduate in Medicine must pass

the requisite examinations for the degree of B.A. He mustafterwards spend two years in study3 prior to the first orscientific examination for the degree of Bacheloi of Medicine,and two years more, after passing the first, prior to the finalor practical examination for the same degree. Evidencemust be brought to show that he has studied the practicalparts of his profession in a first-class hospital.There is an examination in State Medicine and Public

Health, to which Bachelors of Medicine of the University areadmissible. Copies of the examination-papers in the severalexaminations may be obtained through any bookseller.A dissertation has to be publicly read, three years after

obtaining the M.B., before being eligible for the M.D.The study of Natural Science is carried on at the Museum,

in which are extensive opportunities for the study ofPhysics, Chemistry, General, Comparative, and HumanAnatomy, Histology, and other departments of NaturalScience, together with courses of lectures and of practicalinstruction by the several professors. Collections illustratethe various subjects. There is in the medical department apathological series, including the collection of SchroederVan der Kolk, and a sanitary laboratory, conducted by thepublic analyst. The Radcliffe Library, containing above25,000 scientific volumes, is open to all students daily from10 till 4, and on certain evenings during term. There arelectures and practical instruction in Botany at the BotanicalGardens, and clinical instruction at the Infirmary.The medical examinations take place this year in the

Michaelmas term; after which, in the Trinity (summer) term,scholarships of about the value of £75 are obtainable atChrist Church, Magdalen, and other colleges, by competitiveexamination in Natural Science. Every year a RadcliffeTravelling Fellowship is competed for by any who, havingtaken a first class in any of the schools, or having ohtained aUniversity prize or scholarship, propose to study Medicine.The Travelling Fellows receive £200 a year for three years,half this period being spent in study abroad.More detailed information may be obtained from the

University Calendar; from the Student’s Handbook to theUniversity ; from the Regius Professor of Medicine ; fromthe Professors in the several departments; from E. Chapman,Esq., M.A., Frewin Hall; and from the Sub-Librarian inthe Radcliffe Library at the Museum.

Regius Professor of Medicine-H. W. Acland, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S.Professor of Geometry-H. S. Smith, M.A., F.R.S.Professor of Natural Philosophy-Rev. B. Price, M.A., F.R.S.Professor of Experimental Physics-S. Clifton, M.A., F.R.S.Linacre Professor of Physiology-G. Rolleston, M.D., F.R.S.Professor of Chemistry-W. Odling, M.A., F.R.S.Professor of Zoology-J. 0. Westwood, M.A., F.L.S.Professor of Geology-J. Prestwich, M.A., F.R.S.Professor of Botany-M. Lawson, M.A.Professor of Mineralogy-N. S. Maskelyne, M.A., F.R.S.Lee’s Reader in Anatomy-J. B. Thompson, B.A.Lee’s Reader in Physics, Christ Ch.-R. E. Baynes, M.A.Lee’s Reader in Chemistry, Christ Ch.-A. G. V. Harcourt, M.A.Lecturer in Natural Science, Exeter Coll.-W. L. Morgan, B.A.Lecturer in Natural Science, Balliol-W. W. Fisher, M.A.Millard Lecturer in Physics, Trinity-A. Macdonell, B.A.Lecturers in Natural Science, Magdalen-E. Chapman, M.A., and

C. J. F. Yule, M.A.Lecturer in Natural Science, St. John’s-W. H. Jackson, M.A.Lecturer in Physical Science, Jesus-E. Chapman, M.A.Lecturer in Natural Science, Keble-E. B. Poulton, M.A.Demonstrator in Anatomy-Charles Robertson, Esq.Demonstrator in Chemistry-W. W. Fisher, M.A.Public Analyst in Sanitary Laboratory-W. F. Donkin, M.A.

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.The student must enter at one of the Colleges, or as a

non-collegiate student, and keep terms for three years byresidence in the University. He must pass the PreviousExamination in Classics and Mathematics, which may bedone, and should if possible be done, in the first or secondterm of residence, or, through the Oxford and CambridgeSchools Examination Board or the Local Examinations,before commencing residence. He may then devote himselfto medical study in the University, attending the hO:3!1ltaland the medical lectures, dissecting, &c. Or he may proceedto take a degree in Arts, either continuing mathematical and

3 If he have taken the higher honours in the Natural So J.ce Schoolhe may go in for the first M.B. examination on the first ppor ,and so have a longer period of practical study befoie the second M.B.examinatiun.