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To Correspondents.A Reader.-It is true that Dr. Sievehing is about to retire from the editorship

of the British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review. The pressure of

private engagements is, we believe, the cause of what all will acknowledgeto be a public loss.

E. B. F.-Evidence will be taken by the Court of Examiners of the candidatehaving passed the required time with a surgeon. An indenture is not ne-

cessary.THE PUZZLER : WHAT IS A DOCTOR ?

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-In a late number of a medical journal, the Editor in-a leading articleasks the question, " What is a doctor ?" Will you allow me a little space inyour columns to advise that Editor to ask the question of any unlettered coun-tryman or remote islander, any individual, rich or poor, young or old, in any ofthe counties of England, Ireland, Scotland, or Waies, or indeed wherever theEnglish language is spoken, and they all, without exception, will tell him thata doctor is a physician. After that (for the sake ot argument) he ma) askthem, What is a physician ? and very likely they will tell him that he is adoctor.We as physicians, in calling ourselves doctors, do not usurp the title of M.D.

any more than we usurp the titles D.D. or LL.D. We only call ourselves by aname popular, intelligible, and recognizable by individuals in every rank ofsociety. No licentiate of a College of Physicians would think of signing lunacyor assurance certificates with M.D. after his name, any more than he wouldthink of signing D.D. or L.L.D. As to the superior merit of one class of medi-cal men over the other, it must be acknowledged that it is not absolutely ne-cessary to study within the walls of a University to become a M.D. It is alsowell known that physicians must have studied at Universities or schools ofmedicine; they must pass examinations as strict and as stringent as M.D.s;they are as capable of teaching or practising the art and science of medicine asM.D.s; and I am sure (in England at least) the title physician is as much re-spected and honoured as the title M.D.; nay, I am sure more so; and if theM.D.s, in their illiberality and narrow-mindedness, refuse to give what’ thepublic have already given us, we may with equal justice deny the title of phy-sician to many of our worthy and respected friends, who are M.D.s practisingas physicians, and are recognised and respected by the public as such; while,according to the M.D. view of the question, they are not physicians, but doctorsof medicine. Laying aside the educational merits of graduates and licentiatesand their titles, true merit lies not now-a-days in the number of letters a manmay place after his name, but in the high rank of society and the professionwhich talent alone can command, and which the voice of the people awardshim. Say what we will on this much-vexed question, the pith of the argumentstill will be, that doctors are physicians, and physicians are doctors; at leastthe people say so, and will say so, irrespective of all academic titles, and all thedecrees of Councils and Colleges. Yours truly,

Sunderland, July, 1860. G. B., Ph.

Z. Z.-Any of the schools in Dublin afford the means of a student obtaining aEound education.

District Medical Officer.-It is a customary right, but it is questionable how farit is legal.

A Sufferer.- It would be contrary to our custom to insert such a letter.

EDINBURGH LICENTIATES.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—I see that, by order of the Medical Council, several gentlemen who areforeign graduates without examination have been denied the privilege of regis-tration. May I ask why licentiates of the Edinburgh College of Physicians, bypurchase merely, are allowed to register ? Ought not they to be excluded uponthe same principle as the foreign M.D.s ? Yours, &c.,

July, 1860. QUERY.

- Dr. T. T. Pyle.-The caution respecting John Rutherford has already ap-peared in THE LANCET. The letter, however, shall be inserted next week.

dn Old Subseriber.-The appointment rests with the guardians of the poor orwith the vestry.

Dr. R. S. Sisson.-To Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson, Finsbury-circus, London.

THE OFFICE OF APOTITECARY TO THE LEEDS HOUSE OF RECOVERY.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,-I beg to draw the attention of your readers to an advertisement which

has appeared twice in the columns of TnE LANCET, headed "Leeds House ofRecovery," and advertising for a resident apothecary.Wishing to become a candidate for the appointment, at some little trouble-

and expense I collected various testimonials, and caused them to be printedand circulated. Being acquainted with the present apothecary, I called uponhim, and afterwards saw Dr. Chadwick, who was then the only physician tothe institution, and with whom therefore, according to one of the rules, theappointment solely rests. The advertisement first appeared on July 21st, andon July 24th I called on Dr. Chadwick, when, to my surprise, he told me thatit would be useless for me to proceed further in the matter, as he had used hisprerogative on fourteen previous occasions, and had promised his support forthe present one. I then asked why the advertisement was inserted, andlearned that it was usual to do so a certain number of times, and that it wouldon that account be repeated. The gentleman thus favoured, at that time, hadnot obtained the licence of the Apothecaries’ Company, and is, 1 learn, onlytwenty-three years of age.Now, appointments have always been, and I suppose will continue to be,

’ bestowed by favour; but surely they, in whose gift they rest, should be con-tent with this, and not delude persons, who perhaps may be ill able to afford

) it, into spending money and time uselessly in collecting and printing testi-monials, &e.

I beg the favour of your inserting this letter, trusting that it may preventothers from paying any attention to an advertisement, which, in reality, islittle else than a vexatious hoax.-I am, Sir, yours respectfully,

Bradford Infirmary, July, 1860. R. EDWIN RUFFE.

Rotherham.-The Register was received, and an answer given in the "Notices."The document shall be returned.

Park-place.-The letter has been forwarded.

Medicus, (Lambeth.)-He is entitled, by custom and courtesy, to prefix " Dr:’to his name.

Dr. Wiblin’s paper, "On Emotional Paralysis," read at the South Hants Medi-cal and Chirurgical Society, sha:l appear in our next impression.

SEA-WATER FOR THE SERPENTINE.

To the Editor of THE LANCET. ,

SIR,-The strongest argument in favour of this undertaking as a means ofpurifying " the lungs of London," the ornamental waters ia the parks, is thatcarbonic acid gas is never present over sea-water, or within half a mile of theshore, as it absorbs this air. dxropos, Dr. M’William, of the Customs, hasproved that no ill results have followed the admixture of the salt-water withthe river-water at London-bridge; while, on the other hand, Dr. Lethebyassert:’, a tort ozc à raison, that it is highly detrimental to the public health.Now, as the absorption of carbonic acid gas by salt-water takes place, it provesthat the process of putrefacticn must thereby be arrested; and I will admitthat it is just possible that the unpleasant odours are caused by the bituminousoils of the sea-water ; for sailors, when becalmed at sea for the space of thirteendays, experience the same bad odours. It is owing to this bituminous oil that

sea-water is injurious to drink as an aperient. Qetcere)-e verum is my onlyobject in penning this. I am, Sir, yours, &c.,

July, 1860. JAMES BRUCE.

M.R.C.S.-There are undoubtedly many difficulties connected with the sub-ject ; but the Colleges aro mainly to blame.

Enquirendo.-The mode of advertising is not in good taste; but, under the-circumstances, admits of an excuse.

A Surgeon-Dentist is thanked for his communication.A Qualified Assistant.-He can call himself an assistant-apothecary.

INTRODUCTION BY ADVERTISEMENT.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-I send you a paper, called the South, London Journal, for July 21st.This paper has started a Novelty-namely, a "Directory," in which tradesmenare allowed to advertise themselves and keep their names before the public.This privilege is to be obtained for the small sum of " ninepence per quarter:’It is matter for regret that one surgeon has thus advertised himself; but it isalso matter for congratulation that only one, and he a has descendedto this unusual and unprofessional mode of publishing himself.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,July, 1860. A CITIZEN.

COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, &e., have been received from-Dr. B. D. Thomson;Mr. J. W. Bradsliaiv; Dr. Thorn; M. Pulvermacher; Mr. Weeden Cooke;Mr. Ashdown; Mr. Wallis; Dr. R. S. Sisson; Dr. -’3roadbeilt; Mr. Higgin-bottom ; Dr. J. II. Robinson; Dr. Maybnry; Dr. Finch; Archdeacon Bevan,(with enclosure;) Dr. Croft; Mr. Gray, (with enclosure;) Mr. Herbert, (withenclosure;) Dr. Phelps, (with enclosure;) Mr. Morris, (with enclosure;) Mr.Woods, (with enclosure;) Mr. Pope, (with enclosure;) Mr. Skey, Reading;Mr. Moore, (with enclosure;) Mr. Ashford, (with enclosure;) Mr. Evershed,(with enclosure;) Mr. Jotham, (with enclosure;) Mr. Penley, (with enclo-sure ;) --vlr. Sulley, (tvith enclosure;) Dr. Pettigrew, (with enclosure;) Dr.Fryer, (with enclosure;) Mr. Kettle, (with enclosure;) Dr. Fitzpatrick ;Mr. C. Wilson, (with enclosure;) Dr. de Lisle Allen; A Reader; M.R.C.S.,(with enclosure;) S. H., (with enclosure;) M.D. and L.r,.C. Phys.; Medicus ;A Thirty-four Years’ Subscriber; A Sufferer; &c. &e.