Professor Huxley then refers to the democratic spirit of the Bible, that the Jewish and Christian Scriptures have been the instigators of revolt against the worst forms of clerical and political despotism. No State, he says, has had a constitution in which the interests of her people are so largely taken into account, in which the duties, so much more than the privileges, of rulers are insisted upon, as that drawn up for Israel in Deuteronomy and Leviticus; nowhere is the fundamental truth that the welfare of the State, in the long run, depends on the uprightness of the citizen so strongly laid down,

"But," concludes Professor Huxley, "the enormous influence which has thus been exerted by the Jewish and Christian Scriptures has had no necessary connection with cosmogonies, demonologies, and miraculous interferences. Their strength lies in their appeals, not to the reason, but to the ethical sense."1

The distinction here asserted is further emphasised in the essay on "The Interpreters of Genesis."

"The antagonism of science is not to religion, but to heathen survivals and the bad philosophy under which religion herself is often well-nigh crushed. And, for my part, I trust that this antagonism will never cease; but that to the end of time true science will continue to fulfil one of her most beneficent functions, that of relieving men from the burden of false science which is imposed upon them in the name of religion.""

If Education Authorities would bear these distinctions in mind, the difficulties with regard to religious instruction and Bible reading in schools would soon tend to disappear; but as long as ancient theories, traditions, and fables are taught as religious truths, the opposition to such teaching will not only continue, but will be intensified. Meanwhile, not only religion, but education suffers, the intellectual development of the children is arrested, and as they grow older and learn the truth about the world and its history, often from very incompetent teachers, they become not only indifferent to religion, but opposed to it as it appears to them, through the way in which they have been taught, to be based upon ignorance and superstition. The great opportunities for the moral training of the children are neglecte i, and they are left practically without guidance in the difficult path of life. An enormous responsibility rests upon Education Authorities in this matter, and it is to be hoped that they will deal more intelligently with it in the future than they have done in the past.

1 Essays on Controverted Questions, p. 53.

WALTER LLOYD.

Ibid., pp. 96, 97.

THE R.A.M.C.

EVERYTHING about the late war is so evidently distasteful to the British public that I should not venture to put in print my ideas about the Medical Department of the Army if I did not occupy a quite unique position with regard to the subject.

I am, I believe, the only medical officer who has served under Lord Raglan at Scutari and in the Crimea, and under Lord Kitchener in South Africa. I was a judicial medical officer (but a fully qualified one) in the General Hospital at Scutari when Miss Florence Nightingale was organising the female nursing staff in the base hospitals. I was in Pinetown Bridge Hospital, near Durban, as a patient, nursed by some of the successors of Miss Nightingale's nurses. I have attended the wounded from Alma, Inkermann, Balaklava, and the trenches before Sebastopol, and I have notes of cases wounded during the last months of the war. I have, besides, served for about sixteen years as a medical officer of Volunteers in the North Staffords and in New Zealand.

Besides these military appointments I have had to organise two hospitals, and have been a medical officer, either resident or visiting, of four hospitals of over 100 beds, and of some smaller ones.

I mention these facts in order to justify an unknown man in putting his opinions on a most important subject before the British public.

I suppose it will be admitted that few questions, except the military capacity of the generals, are of so much importance as the medical capacity of the army doctors. Very unjust blame is often attached to them, very much more is often expected than is reasonable, or even possible; in time of peace their advice and recommendations are commonly put aside and neglected; and in time of war, when the disastrous effects of this neglect become apparent, it is too late to do more than, at vast cost of lives and money, to endeavour partially to repair the damage that is inevitable.

Now I do not profess to hold a brief for the R.A.M.C-they are not a popular corps in the army-it is easy to see that-they stard aloof and apart from any other, they have made themselves ridiculous by struggling for military titles to which they have no more claim than a combatant officer who has gone through a course of "first aid," has to the title Member or Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons; they have by this alienated all the sympathies of those of VOL. 162.-No. 1.

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the profession who are outside the service, but who, from mere esprit de corps, would have been their advocates and supporters. But for all this, let justice be done to them; do not blame them for what they cannot help or hinder; and, above all, do not expect from them superhuman virtues, or qualities which all their environments tend to dwarf or to suppress.

First let us consider what the British Government requires from the R.A.M.C. It requires that every candidate for employment in that department shall be a fully qualified and registered medical practitioner, holding a qualification in both medicine and surgery. It requires, moreover, that he shall be in perfect physical healthhe must submit to an examination similar to one for life insurance before he can enter for the professional examinations. His eyesight is tested, his hearing is tested, his teeth are examined, he must have a certain chest capacity according to height-in fact, he has to pass the same kind of examination as a recruit for the ranks.

He is required to produce a certificate of moral character from the Dean of the Medical College or School in which he has studied, and he must prove that he is between twenty-one and twenty-eight years of age, and of pure European descent. When he has fulfilled all these requirements, which are all additions to his certificate of registration as a duly qualified medical practitioner, he is then, on payment of a fee of £1, admissible to the first professional examination for the R.A.M.C.

This examination is "of a clinical and practical character, partly written and partly oral."

It includes examinations (oral) in "clinical cases" in medicine and surgery, including the pathology of such cases, their "morbid histology," and an oral examination in "clinical cases, including diseases of the eye, and surgical instruments and appliances." This odd combination of subjects may gain seventy-five marks; "operative surgery and surgical anatomy," seventy-five marks. The directions given for drawing up the reports of the cases are very full, and must necessitate a very thorough knowledge of disease on the part of the candidate.

This examination is held in London, and will occupy four days. If successful at the entrance examination the candidate is appointed a "lieutentant on probation." He then undergoes two months' instruction in hygiene and bacteriology, after which he will be examined in those subjects. If successful, he is sent to the depot of the R.A.M.C. at Aldershot for a three months' course of instruction in the technical duties of the corps, and at the end of the course he will undergo a third examination. "A lieutenant on probation who fails to qualify in either of these examinations will be allowed a second trial, and should he qualify will be placed at

the bottom of the list.

Should he again fail in either examination

his commission will not be confirmed."

The last examination is in drill, discipline, making out returns and reports, &c.

Now it must be admitted that the Army authorities are exacting enough in their demands. All these three examinations taking place in the course of six months, after a man has undergone the examinations necessary to qualify him for registration as a medical practitioner, must have a certain deterrent effect. I have myself undergone seventeen examinations, including pass, honour, and competitive examinations, and the disgust one feels for them cannot be expressed in words suitable for publication.

The pay given to a lieutenant, whether on probation or confirmed, is 14s. a day. It must be remembered, however, that in addition to this the officer gets lodging, light, and fuel, a servant and the privilege of belonging to a mess. And yet the service is not popular amongst English medical men, and does not attract even the best of the Scotch and Irish.

One very great advantage is given to any lieutenant on probation who holds, or is about to hold, a resident appointment in any recognised civil hospital. He may be seconded for a period not exceeding one year, during which he holds the appointment. During this time, of course, he receives no Army pay, but his time reckons towards promotion, increase of pay, gratuity, and pension.

After three and a half years' service a lieutenant is eligible for promotion to the rank of captain, and to that of major after twelve years' service. All these promotions require a previous examination. These examinations, if properly carried out, must entirely preclude the promotion of incompetent or indolent officers. Of course everything depends on how they are carried out.

A captain under seven years' service gets 15s. 6d. a day, after seven years 17s, and after ten years 21s.; a major, £1 3s. 6d., after three years as such £1 6s.; a lieutenant-colonel, £1 10s.; colonel £2; surgeon-general, £3. All these payments are exclusive of allowances. In the Colonies, for example, there is a colonial allowance, on active service field allowance; then there is forage for horses, charge pay for the seniors when in charge of a hospital or of a division of a general hospital.

The retiring allowances or pensions are distinctly good, and far and away beyond anything an ordinary practitioner can expect to gain in general practice.

The retiring pension of a surgeon-general is £2 a day; of a colonel, £1 15s; of a lieutenant-colonel, according to length of service, from £1 to £1 10s.; of a major, after twenty years' service £1, and after twenty-five years, £1 2s. 6d.

A major or captain, after five years' service in the rank of captain,

and of course having served three and a half as a lieutenant, if allowed to retire, receives a gratuity of £1000; after three years in the rank of major £1800, after six years in that rank £2500. Lieutenant-colonels or majors of the Household Troops, after fifteen years' service, receive a gratuity of £1800, after eighteen years' service £2500.

Now if we suppose a young man joins the service at twenty-two, and after eighteen years' service, of which six are in the rank of major, he feels inclined to settle down. He is probably married; or, if not, would at forty like to be married and settled. He retires with the rank, and if he chooses to use it, the title of major in the Army, and a lump sum of £2500, at the age of forty. Now how many civilian doctors, after living for eighteen years as an Army man can live on the pay he receives, can say that he has £2500 clear? When he retires he is sure to receive a few months' leave on full pay, during which he can look about him for a practice. He can get a share in a very good practice for a thousand or twelve. hundred pounds, and learn the ways of private practice. The remainder of his gratuity will suffice to furnish his house, buy horses and a carriage, and help out the first year's household expenses. In the second year, if sober and possessed of any tact, he ought to be making at least six or seven hundred a year.

After an experience extending over more than fifty-five years of practice, public and private, in England, the Tropics, and the Australasian Colonies, I can assure my non-medical readers that I know of no medical career affording such good pecuniary prospects.

If the medical officer can pass the numerous examinations, and shows any special administrative talent (it does not matter in the least what his purely medical acquirements may be), he will gradually climb up, and may get the D.S.O., the C.B., or the K.C.B. or corresponding ranks in Michael and George.

There are nine in the Army List for July 1902 possessed of these titles. This gives about one title among fourteen of the staff. It must be borne in mind that no civilian doctor has the slightest chance of obtaining any of these honours as a doctor. If he resides in the Colonies and goes into politics, he may get the C.M.G., but this will be on account of his political position. He will also be entitled to pension as stated above, which he can commute for a lump sum if he likes. Now in return for this, unquestionably, very liberal rate of pay, what has the British taxpayer a right to expect?

He has a right to expect qualified medical practitioners at least equal in professional ability, acquirements and character (I lay emphasis on this last word), to the physicians and surgeons of the provincial hospitals which have no medical schools attached to them, but attendance on the practice of which counts for a partial fulfilment of the curriculum required by the Medical Council. Such