Page:Whalley 1822 A vindication of the University of Edinburgh .djvu/6

6 Physicians, educated at other Universities, nor arrogate to their own members the sole right of becoming Fellows of the College of Physicians. Doctors of Physic of the Scotch, Irish, and Foreign Universities, are allowed to become Members of the Royal College of Physicians of London, if, after due examination, they be found qualified, but are not allowed the least share in the government of the College; nor, observe reader, in the publication of the Pharmacopeia: indeed, all Physicians residing in London, or practising within seven miles of it, are compelled to undergo an examination before the Royal College, and are either allowed to practise or prevented from practising, within the limits of their jurisdiction; any Physician offending in this respect is liable to a prosecution; several, in consequence, have been prosecuted by the College, and verdicts obtained against them. The charter of the College was given them by King Henry the Eighth, for the purpose of examining all Physicians who practise medicine, in London, and within a district of seven miles round, (this part of their duty they punctually and very authoritatively perform,) for the prevention of Quackery, (which flourishes most luxuriantly in spite of them;) for the inspection of medicines, in the shops of the London Apothecaries; they are also authorized by an Act