The bestowal of a knighthood on Mr. Barker, - who practises "manipulative
surgery" without a medical or surgical qualifi- cation, was bound to excite drscussion. Correspondents in Tues- day's Times point out that the General Medical Council rigidly boycotts any medical practitioner who assists Mr. Barker. They recall the case of Dr. Axham, a medical man of great experience, who in 1911 was removed from the Medical Register simply because he had acted as Mr. Barker's anaesthetist. They contrast the limited powers of the Law Sooiety with the absolute authority of the General Medical Council. The Law Society must apply to the High Court to remove an offending solicitor from the roll, but the General Medical Council can oxpel and ruin a medical man of whom it disapproves without recourse to the law. Now that the Prime Minister has advised the King to knight Mr. Barker for his skill in " manipulative surgery," the position of the General Medical Council has become somewhat equivocal. There would seem to be good grounds for imposing some legal check upon the proceedings of the Council. Prac- titioners whom it disqualifies for reasons of professional etiquette rather than of ordinary misconduct might at least have a right of appeal to the High Court.
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