To Regulate Doctors

The question of the regulation of the practice of medicine is one of the most perplexinc with whieh the legislature has to deal. The doctors are so sensltiveonthe point; tbe different schools of medicine are ho antagonista and powerful ; and the varying opinions as to how far the state should go in p'acing restrictions about the profession, all mV( it oractically impossible to get any regulation of doctors that will regúlate. There are those who, Hke the Evening News, say that the state should not concern itself in the education of physicians and in rcgulaüng the prartice of medicine, claiming that the people ought to be allowed to eraploy ignorant men as doctors if they want to doBO.and tl.at private enterpnse will be Bufficient to give iw good phyiiciani. There are others wbo take dirert issue Tfith that position. Onr present law reqmnng the regwiration of physiciana does no good in preventing ignorant men from nndertaking to practico medicine. If we accept the proposition tliat there shall be some restriction. what thall be its nature? Evidently thcre will have to be some board of examination, and sorne sort of examination. As to the examination we are quite elear that a bilí now before the legislatare coniains the riirlit principie. It was introduced by Bep. Hanscom, and probably hBsn't the filiost of a chance of becoming a luw until all doctors agree, whicli i prover&ially a far distant event. The principie of the bill is that no pereon shall be perniittod to undertake tocure mankind of diseases which flesh is heir to untess he be educated in the gciences that have to do with such cnring. The bill does not undertako to prescribe any syBtem or school of medicine ; it recognizes no "pathy;" but it does say that i f anyone Nti himself up to cure, he should give evidence oí ability to read and write.of a fair knowledge of undisputed facts in auatomy, physiology, pathology, setiology, chemistry, toxicology, and sanitary science. A man may use bis own preference in choosing between allopathy, homceopathy, ttie eclectic school, and others, but require all doctors alike to know the bones of the body, the organs of the body and thelr loeatlon and ftinctions, the raain lines of chemistry, etc. We think th%t is fair. No man ought to pretend to br able to cure unless he knows tbat much. The test of reading and writing, to eay nothing about anatomyand physiology, would knncK out raany so-called doctors. If it were possible to construct an ■ amining board that would have theconfidence of the roally intelligent physicians of the various schools, we think there would be little difBculty in establishing such a test as Mr. Hanscom's bill providee, and it would unquestionablyrid the medical professionof rnurh odium and make it more useful.