LONDON DOCTORS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5251, 24 July 1885, Page 4

LONDON DOCTORS.

The English correspondent of the San Francisco Clironide writes : — ln England the medical profession is recruited almost exclusively from the middle classes of society. Among the aristocracy the idea still prevails that but three professions are open to the scions of the nobility. The son and heir of a man of title has no need to follow a profession, and although occasionally, for the fun of the thing, the first-born son of a peer will enter one of the- crack cavalry regiments, he rarely remains longer in the service than a few years, at the expiration of which time, having attained the rank of Captain, or possibly Major, he retires from the profession of arms, and turns his attention to the turf, agriculture, or, possibly, politics. If a nobleman is not wealthy particularly,' and is blessed by Providence with a liberal allowance, of male children, the younger sons will be trained for the 'army, the. navy, orthe Church. There are few peers that haver not one or more livings in the. English Church subject to their patronage,' r and : their own influence or that of their aristocratic friends will insure rapid promotion for their youngsters, either in the military or naval service. With the middle classes, however, the medical profession is exceedingly popular. Paterr familias,, a struggling city merchant, perhaps, with a brood of some ten or twelve ickly youngsters, ponders on what a, profitable profession a doctor's must be when he ruefully writes out his cheque for the family medical attendant, but solaces himself with the thought that young Jack shall be brought up a sawbones. There are to-day in practice in London abeut 3000^ doctors. About 1000 of these are physicians, while the remainder are surgeons, but many of the latter also hold a physician's deploma. In the course of a conversation I had recently with a leading London physician he told me that the average earnings of London medical men do not exceed £400 per annum. On the other hand, there are a ; score or bo of doctors in London whose professional income is enormous. Referring to individual cases, I suppose Sir Andrew Clarke's earnings are and have been for some years past greater than those of any man in the profession. His professional income to-day riiay beset down roughly at £15,000 per annum. Sir Andrew practises in Saville Row, the head-quarters of the elite of the medical profession. He is a remarkable man in more ways than one, and relies in his practice far less on drugs and nostrums than upon diet and change of air. The usual fee for a consulting physician in London is calculated by the mileage covered in visiting a patient. One guinea per mile is the charge paid, but of course, when a man of the standing of Clarke, Ferrier, Crichett or Barnes attends a consultation in the country, the fee is enormous, as any of these men would not probably be away from London for twentyfour hours for less than LIOO. The fee of any ordinary practitioner for visiting a patient at his or her residence may be set down at 5 shillings. The semi-fashionable physician's fee will be double that amount, while the shining lights of the profession will not visit a patient under two guineas, though they will treat one at their office for half that sum. There are hundreds of doctors in London, however, who will pay a visit to the house and prescribe for the patient for half a crown, and, iniraible dictu, there are scores of fully qualified and able medical men in London who will pay three visis to a sick person and provide him with medicine for the absurdly small sum of two shillings. It takes a great deal more capital to enable a medical inan'to start in practice in England than it does in America. There are few young men who would think of starting in practice for themselves until they were in a position to spend at leas L4OO during the first year of their practice. Of lady doctors there are at present few in practice in the country, but the select few of the fair sex who have been bold enough to defy the conventionalities and study medicine, take their degrees and start in practice, are already reaping a rich harvest of fees. The two most distinguished lady practitioners in London are Dr Garrett Anderson, as sister of the wife of the late Professor Fawcett, and Dr Arabella Kenealy, a daughter of the late Dr Kenealy, a brilliant advocate and finished scholar. Both the ladies I have named enjoy large and lucrative practices, and medical men of the highest standing, who have met them in consultation, while strongly objecting to the admission of ladies into the profession, have told me that they are certainly not inferior in ability to doctors of the higest standing of like age and experience.