Page:KIdd 1841 Observations on medical reform.djvu/18

 requires very calm consideration, as well with reference to its original expediency as to its requisite extent.

If the united voice of nearly all the individuals who constitute the medical profession may be admitted as a just indication of the necessity for reform, nothing more need be said in proof of the existence of that necessity; for that united voice is already raised in favour of the measure. But there still remain to be discovered the best means of effecting such salutary changes as may with the least inconvenience remedy the several evils which require correction.

It happens, almost necessarily, from the insulated position of the medical profession, that the conflicting interests of its several branches, and the unequal demands of its chartered institutions with reference to the professional qualifications of its members, are but very imperfectly known, and cannot therefore be duly estimated by any one out of the profession. And this circumstance affords perhaps the best apology for any one within the pale of the profession, who, as in the present instance, proposes to offer his observations on the subject of Medical Reform: for thus other individuals, and more especially those from whom alone any national legislative measure can proceed, may probably be induced to examine the question more accurately, and be enabled to elicit more appropriate and important information. In the mean time, I would respectfully solicit all those whose interests are directly