MEDICAL EXAMINATION 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 18 8 4 
 
HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA 
 AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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 in 2018 with funding from 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 https://archive.org/details/reportofsecretar00nort_0 
 

 One Aspect of the Subject 
 
 MEDICAL EXAMINATION 
 
 AS SET FORTH IN THE WORK OF THE 
 
 North Carolina Board of Medical Examiners. 
 
 x ■ 
 
 • * i*'v ° 
 
 
 nr t. a 
 
 

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 North Carolina Board of Health, 
 
 ON ONE ASPECT OF THE 
 
 SUBJECT OF MEDICAL EDUCATION, AS SET FORTH IN THE 
 WORK OF THE MEDICAL EXAMINING BOARD. 
 
 M. Whitehead, M. D., 
 
 President of the North Carolina Beard of Health: 
 
 Dear Sir: —At, the last meeting of the State Medical 
 Society, in Raleigh, on the 20th—23d May, the work of the 
 Board of Examiners came prominently forward, it being 
 the outgoing of the fourth and incoming of the fifth Board 
 The retiring Board, through its Secretary, read an account 
 of the work done for six years, and reviewed the entire 
 work of all the Boards since their inauguration in 1859. 
 This report was thoughtfully received, as you will observe 
 by examining the transactions of the State Medical Society 
 for 1884, and it was earnestly desired that the outcome of 
 the endeavors of the profession, as partially represented in 
 such a practical and concrete form, should be fairly set 
 before the people of North Carolina. It was justly con¬ 
 ceived that if the people were fully apprised of the fidelity 
 with which the Slate Society and Board of Examiners had 
 used its trust, many times doubling the talents entrusted to 
 them, that they the people would in due time instruct their 
 representatives to accord due credit for such wor^and de¬ 
 mand that thepowe'rs of the Board of Examiners should be 
 increased. It seemed to be the unanimous feeling of the 
 
ii Report of the Secretary of the 
 
 Society that there was not a wide-spread information among 
 the people of the State as to our aims and objects, and that 
 only a small number had ever conceived the truth of the sit¬ 
 uation, which is this: that the medical profession of the State 
 had voluntarily taken upon themselves the task of working 
 out the problem of providing the people with better doctors, 
 and so in a great measure adding to the comfort and hap¬ 
 piness of the people, and prolonging life; furthermore, that 
 they had undertaken the work at their own expense, with 
 no expectation of present or future pecuniary reward. 
 
 The Board of Health, willing to do its share in the work 
 of informing the people as above recited, agreed to take up 
 the subject, and add such matter as would give a proper 
 conception of what was being done by neighboring States 
 in the same direction, and so rest our cause upon the actual 
 facts. Respectfully yours, 
 
 THOMAS F. WOOD, M. D., 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Wilmington, N. C., Sept. 4th, 1884. 
 
North Carolina Board of Health. iii 
 
 THE WORK OF MEDICAL PROGRESS IN NORTH 
 
 CAROLINA. 
 
 WHAT OTHER STATES ARE DOING. 
 
 Half of the indifference of a people to their own institu¬ 
 tions lies in alack of information of their working, of their 
 aims, of their possibilities. Animosity frequently has its 
 origin just here, because not being informed and not know¬ 
 ing where to go to seek for information, they take scraps of 
 knowledge at second-hand and upon this found their dis¬ 
 likes. The Medical Profession does not propose now to 
 come before the people of the State to set forth complaints, 
 for the object of this report is to greet the thinking citizen 
 with a cheering account of stewardship in one field of its 
 labors. It comes as a profession whose interests are insep¬ 
 arably connected with the every day affairs of the men, 
 women and children of this land, to show what a satisfac¬ 
 tory result has been wrought out from small beginnings, 
 and to enlist them in their own cause—for it is only in part 
 the cause of the doctors—and to say that encouraged by 
 the past, rich in experience gained by twenty-five years of 
 conscientious endeavor, they are still willing to take the 
 lead. 
 
 When the Legislature of 1859 passed the law incorporating 
 the Medical Society of North Carolina, and the Board of 
 Medical Examiners, the importance of the act was not in 
 the smallest degree realized by any but the authors of it. 
 The opposition directed against it was of vital force, al¬ 
 though it perhaps was the fear on the part of the law¬ 
 makers that th^y might go too far, in an untried field, 
 rather than any intention of doing harm. At any rate, ail 
 motives aside, the law as it was first recorded was emascu¬ 
 late and hardly worthy of acceptance on the <part of the 
 memorialists. The amended form of the law, as it now 
 stands is as follows : 
 
IV 
 
 Report of the Secretary of the 
 
 MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Sec. 3121. The association of regularly graduated physicians, call¬ 
 ing themselves “ The State Medical Society,” is hereby declared to 
 be a body politic and corporate, to be known and distinguished by 
 the name of “The Medical Society of the State of North Carolina.” 
 
 Sec. 3122. No person who shall practice medicine or surgery, nor 
 any cf the branches thereof, nor in any case prescribe for the cure 
 of diseases for fee or reward, unless he shall have been first licensed 
 to do so in the manner hereinafter provided: Provided , no person 
 who shall practice in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a 
 misdemeanor. 
 
 Sec. 3123. In order to the proper regulation of the practice of 
 medicine and surgery, there shall be established a board of regu¬ 
 larly graduated physicians, to be known by the title of “TheBoard 
 of Medical Examiners of the State of North Carolina,” which shall 
 consist of seven regularly graduated physicians. 
 
 Sec. 3124. It shall be the duty of the said Board to examine all 
 applicants for license to practice medicine or surgery, or any of the 
 branches thereof, on the following branches of medical science : 
 anatomy, physiology, surgery, pathology, medical hygiene, chemis¬ 
 try, pharmacy, materia medica, therapeutics, obstetrics and practice 
 of medicine, and if on such examination they be found competent, 
 to grant to each applicant a license or diploma, authorizing him to 
 practice medicine and surgery, or any of the branches thereof: Pro¬ 
 vided , five members of the Board shall constitute a quorum and 
 four of those present shall be agreed as to the qualification of the 
 applicant. <. 
 
 Sec. 3125. To prevent delay and inconvenience, two members of 
 the Board of Medical Examiners may grant a temporary license to 
 any applicant and make report thereof to the next regular meet¬ 
 ing of the Board for confirmation: Provided, such temporary li¬ 
 cense shall not continue in force longer than the next regular meet¬ 
 ing of the Board, and such temporary license shall in no case be 
 granted after the applicant has been refused a license by the Board 
 of Medical Examiners. 
 
 Sec. 3126. The Medical Society shall have power to appoint the 
 Board of Medical Examiners. 
 
 Sec. 3127. The Board of Medical Examiners shall assemble at the 
 same time and places, when and where the Medical Society assem¬ 
 bles, which Society shall assemble at least once in every year at such 
 time and place as the said Society, at its next preceding meeting, 
 
North Carolina Board of Health. 
 
 v 
 
 shall have fixed; and the said Board shall remain in session from 
 day to day, until all applicants who may present themselves for ex¬ 
 amination within the first five days after its meetingsliall have been 
 examined and disposed of. 
 
 Sec. 3128. The Board of Medical Examiners are authorized to 
 elect all such officers, and to frame all such by-laws as may be neces¬ 
 sary, and in the event of any vacancy by death, resignation or other¬ 
 wise, of any member of said Board, the Board, or a quorum thereof, 
 is empowered to fill such vacancy. 
 
 Sec. 3129. The Board of Examiners shall keep a regular record of 
 its proceedings in a book kept for that purpose, which shall always 
 be open for inspection, and shall cause to be entered on a book kept 
 for the purpose the name of each applicant for license, and the name 
 of each applicant licensed to practice medicine and surgery, and the 
 time of granting the same, together with the names of the members 
 of the Board present, and shall publish the names of those licensed 
 in two of the newspapers published in the city of Raleigh, within 
 thirty days after the granting of the same. 
 
 Sec. 3130. The Board shall have power to demand of every ap¬ 
 plicant thus licensed the sum of ten dollars before issuing a license 
 or diploma, and the sum of five dollars for each temporary license, 
 to be paid to the Secretary of the Board. 
 
 Sec. 3131. The members of the said Board shall receive as a com¬ 
 pensation for their services four dollars per day during the time of 
 their session and in addition thereto their traveling expenses to and 
 from their places of meeting by the most direct route from their re¬ 
 spective places of residence, to be paid by the Secretary of the 
 Board out any moneys in his hands, upon the certificate of the Pres¬ 
 ident of the Board of Medical Examiners. 
 
 Sec. 3132. Any person who shall practice medicine or surgery 
 without having first applied lor and obtained license from the said 
 Board of Medical Examiners, shall not be entitled to sue for or re¬ 
 cover before any court any medical bill for services rendered in the 
 practice of medicine or surgery or any of the branches thereof. 
 
 Sec. 3133. The said Board shall have power to rescind any license 
 granted by them when upon satisfactory proof it shall appear that 
 any physician thus licensed has been guilty of grossly immoral con¬ 
 duct. 
 
 Sec. 3134. The Secretary of the Board of Medical Examiners 
 shall give bond with good surety, to the President of the Board, for 
 the safe-keeping and proper payment of all moneys that may come 
 into his hands.—Chap. 34, new Code of N. C. 
 
VI 
 
 Report or the Secretary of the 
 
 A careful perusal of the above law, in the light which 
 we are enabled to throw upon it, will convince any one of 
 its inadequacy. That it has worked well, and that it has 
 materially accomplished the intentions of the framers of 
 it, is due to the moral influence which the profession has 
 been able to throw around it, and as a consequence, to the 
 support which the public—at least that portion of it in¬ 
 formed of its objects—gave to its maintenance. 
 
 Now having presented the law, almost sterile in its re¬ 
 quirements, it gives ns pleasure to lay before the citizens of 
 North Carolina the fruits which the law has produced : 
 
 REPORT OF THE FOURTH BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAM¬ 
 INERS OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, 
 
 AT THE CONCLUSION OF THEIR 
 TERM OF OFFICE—(1879-84) — 
 
 MAY 25th, 1884. 
 
 t . ■ 
 
 The Legislature of North Carolina, on the 17th of February, 1859, 
 passed “An act to incorporate the Medical Society of the State of 
 North Carolina, and for the establishment of a Medical Board of 
 Examiners.” In this paper a brief history is given of the work ac¬ 
 complished by the Board of Medical Examiners during the twenty- 
 five years of its existence. 
 
 The law as originally passed required the Medical Examiners to 
 meet alternately in Raleigh and Morganton, on the first Monday in 
 May of every year. Only in 1881 was the law so amended that 
 they were allowed to meet at the same times and places as the Med¬ 
 ical Society assembled, and traveling expenses and a small per diem 
 were to be paid out of such money as they might receive from the 
 granting of licenses. That under such difficulties and hardships the 
 Board maintained its existence, is certainly creditable to the medical 
 profession in North Carolina. 
 
 The first Board, elected in 1859, Avas composed of the following 
 gentlemen: 
 
 ■ . t ‘ ; ' * *’v ! ' , ' 
 
 Dr. Jas. H. Dickson, of Wilmington, President. 
 
 “ Chas. E. Johnson, of Raleigh. 
 
 “ Caleb Winslow, of Hertford. 
 
 “ Otis F. Manson, of Townsville, now of Richmond, Va. 
 
North Carolina Board op Health. 
 
 yii 
 
 Dr. Wm. H. McKee, of Raleigh. 
 
 “ Christopher Happoldt, of Morganton. 
 
 “ J. Graham Tull, of Newbern. 
 
 Samuel T. Iredell, Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 At their first meeting, in 1859, one applicant was examined and 
 granted license, viz : 
 
 Lucius C. Coke, M. 1)., Palmyra, Halifax county. 
 
 In 1860, seventeen licenses were granted and one refused. 
 
 In 1861, twelve licenses were granted. 
 
 In 1862, one license was granted and two refused. 
 
 There is no record of any meeting of the Hoard during the three 
 following years. 
 
 In 1866, the second Board was elected : 
 
 Dr. N. J. Pittman, Tarboro, President. 
 
 “ E. Burke Haywood, Raleigh. 
 
 “ R. H. Winborne, Edenton. 
 
 “ S. S. Satchwell, Rocky Point. 
 
 “ J. J. Summerell, Salisbury. 
 
 “ R. B. Haywood, Raleigh. 
 
 “ M. AVhitehead, Salisbury. 
 
 “ Wm. Little was chosen Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 Dr. Whitehead resigned in 1868, and Dr. J. F. Siiaffner, of 
 Salem, was elected to fill the unexpired term. 
 
 In 1867, five licenses were granted. 
 
 In 1868, there is no record of any meeting. (*Seven licenses were 
 granted.) 
 
 In 1869, eight licenses were granted. 
 
 In 1870, five licenses were granted. 
 
 In 1871, one license was granted. 
 
 In 1872, two licenses were granted. 
 
 The third Board was elected in 1872 : 
 
 Dr. Charles J. O’ Hagan, Greenville, President. 
 
 “ W. A. B. Norcom, Edenton. 
 
 “ C. Tate Murphy, Clinton. 
 
 “ George A. Foote, Warrenton. 
 
 “ J. W. Jones, Tarboro. 
 
 “ R. L. Payne, Lexington. 
 
 “ Charles Duffy, Jr., Newbern, Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 * According to the official report of the Medical Society of N. C., the Board 
 of Examiners at the meeting in Warrenton, in 1868, licensed the following gen¬ 
 tlemen: Drs. F. J. Haywood, Jr., Raleigh; Samuel Brietz, Salem; Chas. H. 
 Barron, Edgecombe county; J. B. Williams, Warren county; Walter Debnam, 
 Wake county; E. Porter, Onslow county; B. P. Alston, Warren county. 
 
VIII 
 
 Report of the Secretary of the 
 
 In 1873, nine licenses were granted and one refused. 
 
 In 1874, seven licenses were granted. 
 
 In 1875, thirteen licenses were granted. 
 
 In 1876, seven licenses were granted. 
 
 In 1877, fifteen licenses were granted. 
 
 In 1878, fifteen licenses were granted. 
 
 In 1878 the fourth Board was elected : 
 
 Dr. P. E. Hines, Raleigh, President. 
 
 “ T. D. Haigti, Fayetteville. 
 
 “ R. I. Hicks, Williamsboro. 
 
 “ Georoe L. Kirby, Goldsboro. 
 
 “ Thomas F. Wood, Wilmington. 
 
 “ Jos. Graham, Charlotte. 
 
 “ H. T. Bahnson, Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 In 1880 Dr. R. I. Hicks resigned his position, and Dr. Richard 
 H. Lewis, of Raleigh, elected to fill the vacancy. 
 
 In 1879, thirty-four licenses were granted—five refused. 
 
 In 1880, twenty-six licenses were granted—seven refused. 
 
 In 1881, thirty-eight licenses were granted—five refused. 
 
 In 1882, twenty licenses were granted—five refused. 
 
 In 1883, thirty-one licenses were granted—one refused. 
 
 In 1884, thirty-four licenses were granted—two refused. 
 
 One license was rescinded on account of grossly immoral conduct 
 of the recipient. 
 
 Previous to the organization of the present Board a branch of 
 medicine was assigned to each Examiner, who for the six years of 
 his term conducted examinations on that branch alone. The pres¬ 
 ent Board, at its first meeting, instituted a system of rotation, so 
 that each member would examine on a different branch each year. 
 The first examination of the applicant for license was conducted 
 privately by each Examiner. The notes of these examinations were 
 afterwards compared at a meeting of the whole Board, and the 
 result determined by vote. In cases where a re-examination was 
 required, this was conducted before the whole Board, and a member 
 of the Board was selected by the President to examine on such 
 branches as had at the first examination been assigned to other 
 members of the Board. The fairness of this method cannot be 
 questioned, and the unanimity of opinion thus acquired by the 
 whole Board, in the case of each applicant examined, was most 
 remarkable. In the light of these explanations the following tabu¬ 
 lated statement is interesting : 
 
North Carolina Board of Health. 
 
 ix 
 
 From University of New York-21 graduates licensed, none refused. 
 
 Bellevue Hospital Medical College,.21 
 
 Jefferson Medical College..21 
 
 “ University of Virginia. 5 
 
 Medical College of South Carolina,_ 6 
 
 “ University of Maryland.... -- 2 9 
 
 University of Pennsylvania_ 5 
 
 Long Island College Hospital_2 
 
 “ Philadelphia University.. 
 
 University of Edinburg, Scotland.. 
 
 “ Harvard College.. 
 
 Medical College of Richmond, Va__ 
 
 “ University of Iowa... 
 
 “ Coll. Physicians and Surgeons, N. Y. 
 
 “ Washington University, Baltimore..15 - •• 3 
 
 “ Coll. Physicians and Surgeons, Balt. .25 “ “ 4 
 
 “ Louisville Medical College..11 “ “ 1 
 
 “ Kentucky School of Medicine. 1 “ “ 1 
 
 “ Baltimore Medical College_ 1 “ ‘ • 1 
 
 “ Central Univ., Louisville, Ky.,_ o “ “ 1 
 
 44 Edenboro College, N. C. o “ “ 1 
 
 44 Vanderbilt University, Nashville_3 “ “ j 
 
 “ University of Tenn., Nashville_o “ “ 1 
 
 44 Atlanta Medical College .. 1 “ “ 1 
 
 Non-graduates.. g “ “ g 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 Total.183 
 
 25—208. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 The first Board of Medical Examiners examined thirty-four ap¬ 
 plicants, granted license to thirty-one and refused three. 
 
 The second Board granted twenty-one licenses. 
 
 The third Board granted sixty-six licenses and refused one. 
 
 Under these three Boards, therefore, a total of one hundred and 
 twenty-two were examined, of whom one hundred and eighteen 
 received license. 
 
 [Note' —It is probable that no accurate record was kept of applicants who 
 were refused license.] 
 
 During the six years of its existence the fourth Board of Medical 
 Examiners has examined two hundred and eight applicants for 
 license. To one hundred and eighty-three of these licenses were 
 granted. Twenty-five were found unfit to receive license, and of 
 this number sixteen were graduates of chartered medical schools. 
 
 Jn conclusion, the Board return their sincere thanks to the Medi¬ 
 cal Society, the Press and the people of the State for their cordial 
 support and co-operation. They have endeavored to do their duty 
 without fear, favor or prejudice, and now resign their trust into the 
 hands of those from whom, six years ago, they received it. They 
 
X 
 
 Report of the Secretary of the 
 
 retire from their arduous and most unpleasant field of labor with 
 the belief that their conscientious effort to maintain the standard 
 of medical education and protect the people of their State against 
 ignorance and incompetency have not been in vain. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 P. E. HINES, M. 13., President. 
 
 T. 1). IIAIGH, M. 13., 
 
 GEO. L. KIRBY, M. 13., 
 
 THOMAS F. WOOD, M. 33., 
 
 JOS. GRAHAM, M. 13., 
 
 RICHARD H. LEWIS, M. D., 
 
 HENRY T. BAHNSON, M. 13., Secretary. 
 
 Raleigh, N. C., May 22, 1884. 
 
 It inay not fully appear to the non-professional reader in 
 what way this report indicates service of value to the people 
 of the State, and some explanation will be entered upon. 
 
 Early in the history of the State, even at the beginning 
 of the present century there were few men practicing med¬ 
 icine who did so by virtue of a diploma from a Medical 
 College. Medical education w 7 as difficult to obtain. There 
 were no railroads, and it was necessary to make a long 
 journey to Philadelphia by private conveyance or stage, to 
 reach the only Medical College in the country. The peo¬ 
 ple in their distress sought aid from the more intelligent of 
 their neighbors, who posssessed a meagre knowledge of 
 medicine obtained from the very scarce works on practice 
 then in circulation. Some of these became in the end use¬ 
 ful and successful practitioners. This was a necessity of 
 our pioneer communities. Later, as time passed by, and 
 medical colleges increased, and the demand for doctors in¬ 
 creased, competition among some of these colleges got to be 
 very shameful. The public have had a rehearsal of the 
 culmination of this outrage in the Buchanan School, of 
 Philadelphia; but this was not the only example. None 
 knew better than the physicians themselves who had at¬ 
 tended these medical colleges, how imperfect the scheme of 
 education w r as, how utterly destitute the students were of 
 
North Carolina Board of Health 
 
 xi 
 
 disciplinary restraint, and bow rare a thing it was for any 
 student to come away without a diploma. Many schools 
 there were, of course, which maintained discipline, and in¬ 
 sisted upon a standard of acquirements, but unfortunately 
 for the public there was no test to apply to anv given o-rad- 
 uate, to determine the standing of his college. Further¬ 
 more, the large number of persons practicing without a 
 diploma at a time after a medical education was easier to 
 get, included some very shameless quacks; but at the same 
 time it numbered a respectable body of highly experienced 
 men, invaluable tf) their communities. It was with a full 
 understanding of these points that the friends of the law 
 saw the injustice of demanding a retroactive application, 
 had it been constitutional. 
 
 Nothing shows more plainly that the medical profession 
 had well considered its course, than the result of the exam¬ 
 inations of the several State Boards. Had the law been 
 more imperative in its demands, requiring that the candi¬ 
 date should receive the entire vote of the Board, the list of 
 successful examinations would have been much reduced. 
 
 We learn by this report that the Board found 25 doctors 
 out of a total of 183, examined in six years , who could not pass 
 a 'practical examination , although sixteen of that number held 
 diplomas from regularly chartered medical colleges. When we 
 consider that there are a great many doctors who although 
 coming into practice since 1859, have not appeared before 
 the Board, it is reasonable that the number of incompetent 
 doctors now plying their avocation would swell the number 
 of rejections to more than double. Who are the sufferers 
 by such a state of things? Surely not the regular physi¬ 
 cians who have received training and an approved educa¬ 
 tion, but the unsuspecting men, women and children. Is 
 it not very clear that the law was a wise one, and that it is, 
 even in its imperfect condition, a tower of defense for the 
 helpless sick people? 
 
XII 
 
 Report of the Secretary of the 
 
 We claim that the law has accomplished : 
 
 1. A comparative defense of the people against unedu¬ 
 cated doctors. 
 
 2. That it has stimulated the rising generation of stu¬ 
 dents to a more diligent pursuit of their profession. 
 
 3. That it has made some of the medical colleges more 
 careful in their personal attention to students, especially to 
 the students from this State. 
 
 4. That it has materially added to the dignity and honor 
 of the medical profession in the State. 
 
 5. That it has had a salutary influence upon other States 
 in stimulating them to enact similar laws. 
 
 Many States in the Union have followed our lead, some 
 of them going far ahead of us in the construction of the 
 law, and some of them falling below; but all of them 
 striving with the same intent, of improving the profes¬ 
 sional qualities of physicians. 
 
 This brings us now to a very important point in the his¬ 
 tory of our law, and as we will be able to show, we have 
 soon to act upon the defensive by reason of the “ Law to 
 Regulate the Practice of Medicine and Surgery ,” enacted by the 
 General Assembly of Virginia in 1884. We give below a 
 copy of this law : 
 
 ACT TO REGULATE THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE 
 
 AND SURGERY. 
 
 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 
 
 1. There shall be for this State a Board of Medical Examiners, 
 consisting of three members from each Congressional District in the 
 State, and two from the State at large, whose terms of office shall 
 be font* years, or until their successors are appointed and qualified. 
 The term of office of the Board first appointed shall commence on 
 the first day of January, 1885. 
 
 2. The said Board shall consist of men learned in medicine and 
 surgery, and shall be appointed by the Governor on the first day of 
 November, 1884, and every fourth year thereafter, from a list of 
 names to be recommended by the Medical Society of Virginia. Va- 
 
North Carolina Board of Health. 
 
 xiii 
 
 cancies occurring in such Board for unexpired terms shall be filled 
 in the same manner. Such recommendations shall be by the votes 
 of a majority present at some meeting of said Society, and the same 
 shall be certified to the Governor by the President and Secretary of 
 such meeting : Provided , however , that in case such Society fail to 
 make such recommendations prior to the time of appointment, or if 
 the Governor shall, in any case, consider the person so recommended, 
 or any of them, unsuitable, then he shall appoint such Board, either 
 in whole or in part, without regard to such recommendations.* If 
 any of said Examiners shall cease to reside in the district for which 
 he was appointed, it shall vacate his office. 
 
 3. The members of said Board of Medical Examiners shall qualify 
 and take usual oath of office before the county or corporation court 
 of the county or corporation in which they shall respectively reside. 
 The officers of said Board shall be a President, Vice-President, and 
 Secretary (who shall also act as Treasurer)—such officers to be mem¬ 
 bers of and elected by said Board. The first meeting of the same 
 shall be at Richmond, at such time as the Governor shall notify the 
 members by mail to assemble. Subsequent regular meetings shall 
 be at such times and places as the Board may prescribe, and special 
 meetings may be had upon the call of the President and two mem¬ 
 bers ; but there shall not be less than one regular meeting per annum. 
 Five members of said Board shall be a quorum ; said Board may 
 organize at its first meeting, and may, at its first or any subsequent 
 meeting, prescribe rules, regulations and by-laws for its proceedings 
 and government, and for the examinations of candidates for the 
 practice of medicine and surgery by its individual members. 
 
 4. It shall be the duty of said Board, at any of its meetings, and 
 of the individual members of said Board, at any time, to examine 
 all persons making applications to them, who shall desire to com¬ 
 mence the practice of medicine or surgery in this State. When the 
 examination is by an individual member of the Board, he shall re¬ 
 port the result of the same to the President thereof; and when an 
 applicant shall have passed an examination satisfactory as to pro¬ 
 ficiency before three individual members of said Board, or before 
 the Board in session, the President thereof shall grant to such ap¬ 
 plicant certificate to that effect. A fee to be prescribed by said 
 Board, but not to exceed five dollars, shall be paid to said Board 
 (through such officers or members as it may designate,) by each ap¬ 
 plicant before such examination is had. In case any applicant shall 
 
 * Amended then, so as to give the State Medical Society three months in 
 which to make new nominations. 
 
XT V 
 
 Report op tiie Secretary of the 
 
 fail to pass a satisfactory examination before the Board or before 
 the three individual members to whom he shall first apply, he shall 
 not be permitted to stand any further examination within the next 
 three months thereafter: Provided, however , no applicant shall be 
 rejected upon his examination on account of his adherence to any 
 particular school of medicine or system of practice, nor on account 
 of his views as to the method of treatment and cure of diseases. 
 
 5. The fund realized from the fees aforesaid shall be applied by 
 the Board towards its expenses, including a reasonable compensa¬ 
 tion to the President and Secretary. 
 
 G. Any person who shall obtain a certificate as aforesaid from the 
 President of said Board, shall cause his name to be registered in the 
 Clerk’s office of the county or corporation court for the county or 
 corporation in which he shall resides, and it shall be the duty of said 
 Clerk to register the name of every such person presenting such cer¬ 
 tificate, together with the date thereof and the name of the Presi¬ 
 dent of the Board signing the same, in a book kept for that purpose 
 as a part of the records of his court, which shall also give the date 
 of each registration, and his fee for each registration shall be one 
 dollar, to be paid by the person whose name is registered. 
 
 7. No person who shall commence the practice of medicine or 
 surgery after the first day of January, 1885, shall practice as a phy¬ 
 sician or surgeon for compensation without having first obtained a 
 certificate and caused his name to be registered as aforesaid. Any 
 person violating the provisions of this section shall pay a fine of not 
 less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars for each offence, 
 and shall be debarred from receiving any compensation for services 
 rendered as such physician or surgeon. 
 
 8. Any person who shall have been assessed with a license tax as 
 a physician or surgeon by any commissioner of the revenue in this 
 State at any time prior to the first day of January, 1885, shall be 
 taken as having commenced the practice of medicine or surgery 
 prior to that date; but any person who shall not have been assessed 
 shall be taken as not having commenced such practice prior to that 
 date. 
 
 9. Any physician or surgeon who shall commence to practice after 
 the first day January, 1885, and who shall reside in an adjoining 
 State within ten miles of: the boundary lines of this State, shall be 
 entitled to stand the examination and receive the certificate herein- 
 before jwovided for, and such certificate shall be registered as here¬ 
 inbefore provided—in that county in this State which is nearest his 
 place of residence; and such certificate and registration shall make 
 it lawful for him to practice medicine and surgery. 
 
North Carolina Board of Health. 
 
 xv 
 
 10. Nothing in this act shall be taken as including or affecting in 
 any way the practice of dentistry, nor shall it include physicians or 
 surgeons residing in other States and called in consultation in a spe¬ 
 cial case with a physician or surgeon residing in this State; nor shall 
 it be construed as affecting or changing in any way the laws in ref¬ 
 erence to the license tax to be paid by physicians, surgeons and 
 dentists. 
 
 It will be observed that section 7 of the above law inflicts 
 a penalty upon any person who shall attempt to practice as 
 a physician or surgeon for compensation after the 1st day 
 of January , 1885, without first procuring the license of the 
 Virginia Board. 
 
 Now let us put equivalent sections of the North Carolina 
 
 and Virginia law side bv sid 
 understood : 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA LAW. 
 
 Sec. 2. Be it further enacted , 
 That from and after the 15th day 
 of April, 1859, no person shall 
 practice medicine or surgery, or 
 any of the branches thereof, or 
 in any case prescribe for the cure 
 of diseases for fee or reward, 
 unless he or they shall have been 
 first licensed to do so in the man¬ 
 ner hereinafter described : Pro¬ 
 vided\ That no person who shall 
 practice in violation of this act 
 shall be deemed guilty of a mis¬ 
 demeanor. 
 
 Sec. 15. Be it further enated , 
 That any person who shall prac¬ 
 tice medicine or surgery in this 
 State without having first ap¬ 
 plied for and obtained license 
 from said Board of Examiners as 
 provided for by this act, shall 
 not be entitled to sue for or re¬ 
 cover before any magistrate or 
 court in this State any medical 
 bill for services rendered in the 
 practice of medicine or surgery 
 or any of the branches thereof. 
 
 , that they may be the better 
 
 VIRGINIA LAW. 
 
 7. No person who shall com¬ 
 mence the practice of medicine 
 or surgery after the first day of 
 January, 1885, shall practice as 
 a physician or surgeon for com¬ 
 pensation without having first 
 obtained a certificate and caused 
 his name to be registered as 
 aforesaid. Any person violating 
 the provisions of this section 
 shall pay a fine of not less than 
 fifty nor more than five hundred 
 dollars for each offence, and shall 
 be debarred from receiving any 
 compensation for service ren¬ 
 dered as such physician or sur¬ 
 geon. 
 
XVI 
 
 Report of the Secretary of the 
 
 It becomes apparent that in North Carolina there is no 
 penalty against this admitted violation of the law, except 
 that the violator shall be deprived of collecting his fees, 
 and all shrewd people will see that this is a minor contin¬ 
 gency. Fortunately, public opinion has been, of late, hold¬ 
 ing the lash over the unlicensed with some degree of ear¬ 
 nestness, which will doubtless increase if the executors of 
 the law as it now is, pursue their duty with the intense 
 earnestness which they have shown in the past. 
 
 The Virginia law punishes the violator with a fine, and 
 so gives the sort of emphasis to its meaning which the dull¬ 
 est people can understand. But what must be the result of 
 Virginia’s action as far as this State is concerned? It is 
 not difficult to make out. The unlicensed from that State 
 will seek a field where they can ply their business with only 
 a little more care as to getting their fees, and so avoid all 
 penalties. As our business and social relations are more 
 intimate with that State than any other, North Carolina 
 will become as of old, the asylum for unsuccessful or rebel¬ 
 lious Viiginians, and we will have her half educated, un¬ 
 educated and quackish doctors added to our own dismal 
 list, and the sufferers will be the innocent, the ignorant, the 
 unwary sick of all sexes and races. 
 
 It is no imaginary evil, therefore, that we are combatting. 
 Our own law must be made stronger. Our Legislature 
 must take out that negative expression from the proviso of 
 the 2d section of our law, and cause it to read : “ That any 
 •person who shall practice in violation of this act shall he guilty 
 of a misdemeanor 
 
 Is that demand unreasonable? Let us examine what 
 other States besides Virgina have enacted upon this point. 
 Here is a part of the Alabama law upon the subject, dated 
 1S77 : 
 
 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Alabama : 
 
 Section 1. That no person, except those proposing to practice 
 some irregular system of medicine, shall be permitted to practice 
 
North Carolina Board of Health. 
 
 xvii 
 
 medicine in any of its branches or departments as a profession and 
 means of livelihood in this State, without having obtained a certifi¬ 
 cate of^qualification from some authorized Board of Medical Exam¬ 
 iners, as hereinafter provided. 
 
 Sec.‘ 2. That no person shall be permitted to practice any irregu¬ 
 lar system of medicine in any of its branches or departments as a 
 profession or means of livelihood, in this State, without having ob¬ 
 tained a diploma or certificate of qualification in anatomy, physiol¬ 
 ogy, chemistry and the mechanism of labor from some authorized 
 Board of Medical Examiners, as hereinafter provided. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Sec. 6. That any parson practicing medicine in this State in violation 
 of any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 
 and, upon conviction thereof before any court having competent 
 jurisdiction, shall be fined in the sum of not more than one hundred 
 dollars for every such offense; and if the fine so imposed be not im¬ 
 mediately paid, said person shall be imprisoned in the county jail 
 for not more than one year for such offense. 
 
 Arkansas, in 1881, enacted a law to regulate the prac- 
 of medicine, in terms similar to Alabama. Here is the 
 penalty clause of that act: 
 
 Sec. 11. Any person who shall hereafter engage in the practice of 
 medicine and surgery, or either, in this State, without being regis¬ 
 tered under this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
 upon conviction, in any court having jurisdiction of the laws of this 
 State, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten nor more than one 
 hundred dollars. And each day said physician shall practice medi¬ 
 cine, without being registered, as hereinbefore required, shall be 
 deemed a separate offense. 
 
 California, in 1876, enacted a law to regulate the prac¬ 
 tice of medicine and surgery, from which we quote the fol¬ 
 lowing penalty clauses: 
 
 Any person practicing medicine or surgery in this State, without 
 first having procured a certificate to so practice from one of the 
 Boards of Examiners appointed by one of the Sociefies mentioned 
 in section two of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
 
 9 
 
XVJII 
 
 Report of the Secretary of the 
 
 and shall be subject to the penalties provided in section thirteen of 
 the act to which this act is amendatory and supplemental. 
 
 The penalty referred to is as follows: 
 
 Any person practicing medicine or surgery in this State, without 
 complying with the provisions of this act, shall be punished b v a fine 
 of not less than fifty dollars ($50), nor more than five hundred dol¬ 
 lars ($500), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not 
 less than thirty days nor more than three hundred and sixty-five 
 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, for each and every 
 offense; and any person filing or attempting to file, as his own, the 
 the diploma or certificate of another, or a forged affidavit of identi¬ 
 fication, shall be guilty of felony, and, upon conviction, shall be 
 subject to such fine and imprisonment as are made and provided by 
 the statutes of this State for the crime of forgery. 
 
 To meet another class of offenders, a class that so often 
 traverses our State depleting the pockets of the ignorant, 
 California enacted another section in the same law already 
 quoted from as follows : 
 
 Any itinerant vender who shall sell or offer for sale any drug, nos¬ 
 trum, ointment, or appliance of any kind intended for the treat¬ 
 ment of disease or injury; or any person who shall, by writing or 
 printing, or by any other method, publicly profess to cure or treat 
 disease, injury or deformity by any medicine, drug or drugs, nostrum, 
 manipulation, or other expedient, shall pay a license of one hundred 
 dollars a month. Such license shall be collected as other licenses 
 are. 
 
 Georgia, in 1881, passed a law known as a “ Registration 
 Law,” and for a violation of its requirements, enacted the 
 following penalty : 
 
 Sec. 5. * * * That any person who violates either of the four 
 preceding sections of this act, or who shall practice or offer to prac¬ 
 tice medicine without lawful authority, or under cover of a diploma 
 or license illegally obtained, shall be deemed guilty of a misde¬ 
 meanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less 
 than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by 
 
North Carolina Board of Health. 
 
 xix 
 
 imprisonment for not less than thirty nor more than ninety days, or 
 both. The line, when collected, shall be paid the one-half to the 
 person, persons or corporation making the complaint, the other half 
 into the county treasury. 
 
 Illinois has a law (it is a registration law) for the Regu¬ 
 lation of the Practice of Medicine, which has done a great 
 deal to encourage and stimulate all the States in the Union 
 having a similar population to deal with. Its management 
 is a part of the duty of the State Board of Health. That 
 is verifying and registering their diplomas, or standing an 
 examination. The penalty clauses of this law are as follows: 
 
 License to Itinerant Venders : 
 
 Sec. 12. Any itinerant vender of any drug, nostrum, ointment or 
 appliance of any kind, intended for the treatment of disease or in¬ 
 jury, or shall, by writing or printing, or any other method, publicly 
 profess to cure or treat diseases, injury or deformity by any drug, 
 nostrum, manipulation or other expedient, shall pay a license of one 
 hundred dollars a month, to be collected in the usual way. 
 
 Penalties for non-compliance with this act: 
 
 Sec. 13. Any person practicing medicine or surgery in this State 
 without complying with the provisions of this act, shall be punished 
 by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred 
 dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not 
 less than thirty days nor more than three hundred and sixty-five 
 days, or both such fine and imprisonment, for each and every offense; 
 and any person filing or attempting to file, as his own, the diploma 
 or certificate of another, or a forged affidavit of identification, shall 
 be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be subject to such 
 line and imprisonment as are made and provided by the statutes of 
 this State for the crime of forgery, but the penalties shall not be 
 enforced till on and after the thirty-first day of December, eighteen 
 hundred and seventy-seven: Provided , that the provisions of this 
 act shall not apply to those that have been practicing medicine ten 
 years within this State. 
 
 Kentucky, in 1874, enacted a law Regulating the Prac¬ 
 tice of Medicine which requires the verification of a medical 
 
XX 
 
 Report of the Secretary of the 
 
 diploma, and under certain conditions an examination be¬ 
 fore a Board of Medical Examiners. The penalty clause in 
 this act is as follows: 
 
 Sec. 8. Any person living in this State, or any person coining into 
 this State, who shall practice medicine or attempt to practice medi¬ 
 cine, in any of its departments, or who shall perform or attempt to 
 perform any surgical operation, for or upon any person within the 
 limits of this State, for reward or compensation, in violation of the 
 provisions of this act, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined fifty 
 dollars, and upon each and every subsequent conviction be fined one 
 hundred dollars and imprisoned thirty days, or either, or both, in 
 the discretion of the jury; and in no case where the provision of 
 this act has been violated, shall the person so violating be entitled 
 to receive compensation for services rendered. 
 
 Louisiana has recently (1882) enacted a Registration 
 Law, and any person practicing medicine or surgery in the 
 State in violation of the law comes under the following pen¬ 
 alty clause: 
 
 Sec. G. That any practitioner of medicine or surgery, failing to 
 comply with the requirements of this act, shall not be exempt from 
 jury or militia duty, nor be permitted to collect any fees or charges 
 for services rendered, nor be allowed to testify as a medical or surgi¬ 
 cal expert in legal or Stato medicine in any court of this State, nor 
 to execute any certificate as a surgeon or physician, nor to hold any 
 medical office, nor to be recognized by the State or any parish or 
 municipal corporation as a physician or surgeon; nor shall he be 
 entitled to enjoy any of the privileges, rights or exemptions granted 
 to physicians or surgeons by the laws of this State; and moreover, 
 he shall forfeit and be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for 
 each and every violation of this act, and for each and every time he 
 so violates it, said sum or sums to be recovered in a civil action to be 
 brought before any court of competent jurisdiction, in the name 
 and for the benefit of the Charity Hospital at New Orleans; and he 
 shall, in addition thereto, be subject to criminal prosecution and be 
 punished in the manner prescribed by law for violations of this act. 
 
 Mississippi passed a law Regulating the Practice of Med¬ 
 icine in 1882, requiring every person intending to pursue 
 
North Carolina Board of Health. 
 
 xxi 
 
 medical practice in that State to take out a license. The 
 following is the penalty clause of this act: 
 
 Sec. 23. That every person or persons offending against the pro¬ 
 visions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con¬ 
 viction thereof, shall, for each offence, be fined in a sum of not less 
 than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in 
 the county jail not less than ten nor more than thirty days, or both 
 such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court. 
 
 The State of Texas enacted the following penalty in 
 1879: 
 
 Art. 396. If any person shall practice for pay, or as a regular prac¬ 
 titioner of medicine in this State, in any of its branches or depart¬ 
 ments, or offer or attempt to practice, without first having obtained 
 a certificate of professional qualifications from some authorized 
 Board of Medical Examiners, or without having a diploma from 
 some accredited Medical College, chartered by the Legislature of 
 the State or its authority, in which the same is situated, he shall be 
 punished by fine of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 Art. 398. If any person shall hereafter engage in the practice of 
 medicine in any of its branches or departments, for pay or as a reg¬ 
 ular practitioner, without having first filed for record with the Clerk 
 of the District Court of the county in which such person may reside 
 or sojourn, a certificate from some authorized Board of Medical 
 Examiners, or a diploma from some accredited Medical College, he 
 shall be punished as prescribed in Art. 396. 
 
 West Virginia enacted a law in 1882, making the State 
 Board of Health the Board of Examiners, and the Regula¬ 
 tion of the Practice of Medicine, according the law, is exe¬ 
 cuted by the said Board. The penalty clause in this act is 
 as follows : 
 
 Sec. 15. If any person shall practice, or attempt to practice med¬ 
 icine, surgery or obstetrics in this State without having complied 
 with the provisions of section nine (9) of this chapter, except as 
 therein provided, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined for 
 
XXII 
 
 Report of the Secretary of the 
 
 every such offense not less than fifty nor more than five hundred 
 dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not less than one month-nor 
 more than twelve months, or be punished by both such fine and im¬ 
 prisonment, at the discretion of the court. And if any person shall 
 file or attempt to file as his own, the diploma or certificate of another, 
 or shall file or attempt to file a false or forged affidavit of his iden¬ 
 tity, or shall wilfully swear falsely to any question which maybe 
 propounded to him on his examination, as herein provided for, or to 
 any affidavit herein required to be made or filed by him, he 
 shall, upon conviction thereof, be confined in the penitentiary not 
 less than one nor more than three years, or imprisoned in the county 
 jail not less than six nor more than twelve months, and fined not 
 less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars at the dis¬ 
 cretion of the court. 
 
 It will be seen that North Carolina stands alone in hav¬ 
 ing a law regulating the practice of medicine, devoid of an 
 important penalty clause. It will also be seen that the laws 
 regulating the practice of medicine in the different States, 
 with the exception of this State, are of recent date, indi¬ 
 cating to all thinking people that they were dictated by the 
 necessities of the times, and indicating, furthermore, that 
 the action of one State necessitated the action of others as 
 a matter of self-defence, to prevent the influx of rejected 
 doctors from other States. 
 
 In estimating the legal bearing of medical examinations, 
 too little thought has been given to analagous provisions 
 for the practice of other professions. 
 
 From the earliest day, candidates desirous of engaging 
 in the practice of law were required to come before the 
 Supreme Court and undergo an examination. During the 
 recent revolution succeeding our civil war, this provision 
 was annulled, and the only requirement of the statute was 
 that the candidate should pay $20 and be endorsed by 
 members of the bar. Subsequently, the original requirement 
 of an examination by the Supreme Court was re established, 
 and for the very good reason that it was necessary to base 
 the admission to a responsible and learned profession like 
 
7 
 
 North Carolina Board of Health. xxiii 
 
 the law upon educational qualifications. It was very ap¬ 
 parent that a certain result would follow the removal of 
 educational restrictions, viz : that of overcrowding the legal 
 profession with uneducated, and half educated, and some¬ 
 times unprincipled men. It needs no argument to prove 
 to the people, that the present practice of only admitting 
 lawyers to the bar after an examination, is a necessrry pro¬ 
 vision, not only for the maintenance of the profession of 
 the law at a high standard, but of protection to the people. 
 
 There is another which we will cite, that of the Teaching 
 Profession. The law provides for the examination of per¬ 
 sons intending to teach our public schools. This is as it 
 should be. Teachers of competent qualifications cannot be 
 judged of by letters of recommendation. There must be 
 a legally constituted authority who must determine who 
 may, and who shall not teach our children. 
 
 The professions of Pharmacy and Dentistry have also 
 their safeguards designed for the protection of the interests 
 of the people and for the advancement of these indispensa- 
 able branches of art and science. They are growing yearly 
 in importance, and fulfilling in a marked degree the pre¬ 
 dictions of their founders. 
 
 Look in whatever direction we may, we find that the spirit 
 of the times demands more of the professions. The rapid 
 growth of learning is increasing the responsibilities of 
 those engaged in them. 
 
 Our own State lias solemnly declared by the law, as re¬ 
 gards the medical profession, that those persons who engage 
 in practice shall prove a competent knowledge of med¬ 
 icine in all its branches by an examination before a Board 
 of Examiners, thus admitting the necessity of protection 
 from an unlearned and unskilful profession, but at the 
 same time failing to protect those candidates who, with 
 commendable State pride and professional honor, seek to 
 obey the behests of the law. 
 
XXIV 
 
 Report of the Secretary. 
 
 We say, in conclusion, that having demonstrated the 
 earnestness and zeal of the medical profession by the ex¬ 
 hibition of accomplished work, done in the interests of 
 the entire population, we ask for a studious consideration of 
 our needs. We have already done far more for the State 
 than the State has done for herself in shaping the character 
 of the medical profession, and we trust that she will 
 strengthen us by revising the law under which we work.