COPY OF A LETTER From Dr. W. B. CARPENTER of Bristol (England), to Professor DUNGLISON of Philadelphia, in reference to certain Charges made against the former by Dr. MARTIN PAINE, Professor of the Institutes of Medicine in the University of New York, in his "Examination of Reviews, &c." Bristol, Nov. 16, 1841. MY DEAR SIR,-Having just received from Dr. Paine a copy of his "Examination" of the Critique on his Medical and Physiological Commentaries, which appeared in the April Number of the British and Foreign Medical Review, I find, to my great surprise, that Dr. P. has thought himself justified, not only in singling me out as the Author of it, and in animadverting upon what he considers to be its misrepresentations, as if they were mine (thereby attempting to make that a matter of personal discussion between us, for which the Editor of the Review holds himself responsible,)-but also in fixing upon me a charge of literary plagiarism, which is calculated, if I allow it to remain uncontradicted, to do great injury to my personal as well as to my scientific character. Before going further, I must express my astonishment that any person, holding the position which Dr. Paine occupies, should commit himself to so grave a charge against an individual, to whose discredit he knows nothing, upon evidence so flimsy as that which he adduces;-especially as he must have been aware that, from the distance of the accused party, his defence could not be laid before the public, until many months should have elapsed since its publication, during which time, an injurious impression would have been formed not easily to be eradicated. And I think that I have further a just right to complain, that Dr. Paine's inculpation of me is not confined to surmise; but that, after he has proved his point to his own satisfaction, he has taken it for granted, and, throughout the latter part of his pamphlet, has continually coupled my name with the accusation of gross plagiary. The evidence which Dr. P. adduces in support of his charge, is briefly the following: -Having made up his mind, from certain coincidences of opinion and of expression, between the Critique on his Commentaries and my Principles of Physiology, that ĺ must be the writer of the former, he has searched in previous numbers of the same Review for Articles written as he imagines, by the same Author. In this search he thinks himself assisted by references occasionally made from one article to another,— the complete fallacy of which kind of evidence is exposed in Dr. Forbes's letter. Upon the same evidence, I must have been the Reviewer of my own work; and I am not certain whether Dr. P. does not mean to insinuate as much. Any person, however, who carefully reads that review, which I did not see until it was in print, may find abundant evidence of the absurdity of such an idea. With respect to the other chief source of Dr. P.'s evidence,-coincidence in opinion, and in the mode of expressing it,I will only say that Dr. P. shows great ignorance of the state of physiological science in this country, if he imagines that the opinions expressed in my Principles, on the subjects alluded to, are at all peculiar to myself; and it is very natural that one writer should almost unconsciously adopt the phraseology of another who has recently treated of the same questions, when desiring to express the same ideas. So much for the evidence on which Dr. P.'s charge is founded. I have thus examined it, merely to show how unjustifiable it was in Dr. P. to charge me with the perpetration of a gross literary theft, upon no better grounds. The charge itself,-that in a review of Hunter on the Blood, in a former volume of the same Journal, I unceremoniously adapted certain passages from Dr. Channing's Essay on Milton, to a very different purpose, is easily disposed of. I did not write that review. To those who know me, my simple denial would, I am confident, be amply sufficient; but for the satisfaction of Dr, Paine, who, in his ignorance of my character, may think me as capable of asserting a falsehood as of stealing a paragraph, I enclose a note from Dr. Forbes, confirmatory of my assertion. Dr. Paine considers that his identification of me with the plagiarist is triumphantly confirmed, by a correspondence which he imagines that he has detected, between certain passages in my Principles of Physiology, and others which he has selected from Dr. Channing's Sermons. I am myself completely at a loss to discover this correspondence; and my friends here find it equally difficult. The falsity of this charge is as easily proved as that of the other; for I have never (I speak it almost with shame) read the Sermons from which Dr. P. quotes. The ideas which I have expressed, have so long been familiar to my mind, that I cannot imagine that they involve anything peculiarly Channing-ian. If any correspondence do exist, it is easily accounted for by the fact, that I received my education from one who was, for many years, the respected and attached friend of that illustrious man, and whose mind, cast in the same mould with his, impressed mine with those habits of thought which have led to whatever similarity may present itself between our published opinions. In regard to Dr. Paine's criticisms upon the scientific opinions I have expressed in my Principles of Physiology, I shall not now offer any remarks; nor do I intend to take up the gauntlet from an opponent, who has shown himself so destitute of judgment and of good feeling. Of the merits of our respective productions I am quite content to leave the public to judge. Having few means of placing my statement before the Medical Public of America, save through your mediation, I take the liberty of so far trespassing on your kindness, as to request you to gain insertion for it in such journals as may give it a circulation equal to that of Dr. Paine's calumnious charges against me. Believe me to remain, Dear Sir, Respectfully and sincerely yours, WILLIAM B. CARPENTER. From Dr. Forbes, Editor of the British and Foreign Medical Review, DEAR CARPENTER,-As I think it would be a piece of silliness, only second to that of writing and publishing the "Examination," to attempt any detailed or serious reply to Dr. Paine's wordy reclamation, or any justification of the article in the Review to which it refers, I shall take no notice whatever of his attack, further than relates to the charge of plagiarism. This is true, so far as the writer of the Review on Hunter is concerned, but false as concerns you,—since you did not write that review. This I am ready to state to all persons, at all times, as the truth, without any reservation or equiVocation. The conduct of the writer of that review, in palming upon the Editor a portion of the writings of another for his own,-if really done intentionally and with a view to deceive (I would fain hope that the fact may admit of some other interpretation), cannot be sufficiently reprobated. Although, as being the first specimen I had had of this person's writing, (and, with one trifling exception, the only one I have ever had), I might be forgiven for not suspecting the authenticity of the surreptitious passages, I take shame to myself for being so little acquainted with the eloquent writings of Dr. Channing, as not to detect the theft before the MS. left my hands for the press. Perhaps when Dr. Paine discovers that he is mistaken in the affiliation of this portion of the Review, he may feel somewhat less confident of the evidence by which he thinks he has traced the authorship of other articles in it to you. I certainly shall not gratify his curiosity on this point, by either affirming or denying the accuracy of his conclusions; and I do not see any reason why you should. It is singular that Dr. Paine should have been so ignorant of the ordinary mode of conducting a review, as not to know that the reference from one article to another is no proof whatever of the identity of the authorship of the two,-even when this reference is made by the writer of the latter article. But, most commonly, such references are made by the Editor, without any communication with the original writer, in the exercise of the privileges inherent in the office of the great editorial wE. In looking at the vast accumulation of words in Dr. Paine's pamphlet, I confess that I feel regret that the review of his book (just and accurate as I still hold it to be), was not more favourable; as it is melancholy to think that so much time and pains should have been stolen from tasks of usefulness, and expended in elaborating a work, which, of course, no human being will read, except the author himself, perhaps the writer of the inculpated article, and alas! the Editor of the Review. It is lamentable to see how this mortification of Dr. Paine's self-love has clouded his judgment throughout the whole composition of his pamphlet; and this obfuscation is nowhere more conspicuous, than where he attempts to convict you of plagiarizing, in your "Principles of Physiology," from Dr. Channing. The very examples he adduces confute the charge. Believe me, Dear Carpenter, to be Most truly yours, JOHN FORBES. Old Burlington Street, Nov. 15, 1841. ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, IN LONDON. December, 16, 1841. THE President and Council finding it necessary to reprint the List of the Members of the College, early in the ensuing year, request all those members who have not attended to the wishes of the Council, as expressed in the following advertisement of the 8th of April last, to send in the proper statement between the 1st of January and the 1st ef February, 1842, on which last day the list will be sent to press. EDMUND BELFOUR, Secretary. ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN LONDON. The Council of the College, desirous of furnishing to the Public a correct List of their Members, request that each Member will be pleased to transmit to the Secretary, between the 1st of June and 1st of July in every year, by letter, a Statement containing his name at full length, address and date of Diploma, in his own handwriting, in order that it may be compared with the Chronological List. The Council will be further obliged by the Member stating it in a similar manner when he has a Degree in Medicine, or the Licence of the Society of Apothecaries. The Council will be glad to receive corresponding Statements from the Members of the Edinburgh or Dublin College of Surgeons, practising in England or Wales. April, 8th, 1841. EDMUND BELFOUR, Secretary. ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN LONDON. All Students of Anatomy and Surgery attending Hospital Practice or Lectures in London, and proposing to be Candidates for the Diploma, are required to Register at the College during the last ten days of January, April and October, the several Tickets for Lectures and Hospital Practice to which they shall have respectively entered :—and no Certificates will be recognized by the Court of Examiners unless they shall correspond with such Registrations. (By order,) EDMUND BELFOUR, Secretary. April, 13, 1840. ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN LONDON. Registration of Members. The President and Council in publishing the Corrected List of the Members of the present year, with the date of each diploma, regret that so many Members have omitted to make the return during the months of June and July, according to the form proposed by the Council. They are anxious to explain to the Members that the object of this Annual Registration is to furnish the Judges, Magistrates, Clerks of the Peace, Poor Law Commissioners, Boards of Guardians, and the Public generally, with a correct List of qualified Surgeons, in order to prevent the various impositions which have been practised upon them, by ignorant pretenders and other unqualified persons. The names of all Members who shall not have registered themselves previously to the months of July, 1842 and 1843, will be omitted in the Corrected List of the latter year. The President and Council particularly wish to intimate to all Public Functionaries, that no Diploma can be genuine, in which there is any erasure, interlineation, or other alteration. October, 14, 1841. N.B.-The Corrected List for 1841, may be purchased at the College for One Shilling. REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL RESPECTING THE PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION OF CANDIDATES FOR THE DIPLOMA. 20th August, 1839. Amended, October 14, 1841. I. Candidates will be required, in addition to a Certificate of being not less than twenty-one years of age, to bring proof 1. Of having been engaged in the acquirement of professional knowledge for not less than four years; during which period they must have studied Practical Pharmacy for six months, and have attended one year on the Practice of Physic, and three years on the Practice of Surgery, at a recognised Hospital or Hospitals in the United Kingdom ;*-three months being allowed for a vacation in each year. 2. Of having studied Anatomy and Physiology, by attendance on Lectures and Demonstrations, and by Dissections, during three Anatomical Seasons or Sessions extending from October to April inclusive. 3. Of having attended at least two Courses of Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Surgery, delivered in two distinct Periods or Seasons, each Course comprising not less than 70 Lectures:-And one Course, of not fewer than 70 Lectures, on each of the following subjects, viz. the Practice of Physic-Chemistry-Materia Medica-and Midwifery with Practical Instruction. II. Members and Licentiates in Surgery of any legally constituted College of *By a Resolution of the Council, on the 7th of November, 1839, no Provincial Hospital will in future be recognised by this College which contains fewer than 100 Patients, and no Metropolitan Hospital which contains fewer than 150 Patients. Surgeons in the United Kingdom, and Graduates in Surgery of any University requiring residence to obtain Degrees, will be admitted for examination on producing their Diploma, Licence, or Degree, together with proofs of being twenty-one years of age, and of having been occupied at least four years in the acquirement of professional knowledge. III. Graduates in Medicine of any legally constituted College or University requiring residence to obtain Degrees, will be admitted for examination on adducing, together with their Diploma or Degree, proof of having completed the anatomical and surgical Education required by the foregoing Regulations, either at the School of the University, where they shall have graduated, or at a recognized School or Schools in the United Kingdom. IV. Certificates will not be recognized from any Hospital unless the Surgeons thereto be members of one of the legally constituted Colleges of Surgeons in the United Kingdom; nor from any school of Anatomy, Physiology, or Midwifery, unless the respective teachers be members of some legally constituted College of Physicians or Surgeons in the United Kingdom; nor from any School of Surgery, unless the respective teachers be members of some legally constituted College of Surgeons in the United Kingdom. V. Certificates will not be received on more than one branch of Science from one and the same Lecturer; but Anatomy and Physiology-Demonstrations and Dissections will be respectively considered as one branch of Science. VI. Certificates will not be received from Candidates for the diploma who have studied in London, unless they shall have registered their Tickets at the College as required, by the regulations, during the last ten days of January, April, and October in each year :-nor from Candidates who have studied elsewhere, unless their names regularly appear in the Registers transmitted from their respective Schools. N.B. In the Certificates of attendance on Hospital Practice and on Lectures, it is required that the dates of commencement, and termination, be clearly expressed, and no interlineation, erasure, or alteration will be allowed. Blank forms of the required Certificates may be obtained on application to the Secretary, to whom they must be delivered properly filled up, ten days before the Candidate can be admitted to examination; and all such Certificates are retained at the College. MUSEUM. The MUSEUM is open to the Members of the College, and to the Trustees of the Hunterian Collection, and to Visitors introduced to them personally, or by written orders stating their names; which orders are not transferable; on the public days, which are Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays; from Twelve to Four o'clock, except during the month of September, when the Mu seum is closed. The Museum is open on public days to all Fellows and Licentiates of the Royal College of Physicians in London, to Peers and Members of Parliament, to the Great Officers of State, and of the Royal Household and their immediate Deputies; to all the Dignitaries of the Church and of the Law, to all General and Flag Officers, to the Members of all the learned and Scientific Bodies in the United Kingdom, to the Members of all the Public Boards, and to persons introduced |