THE HISTORY OF THE SURGEONS' COMPANY, 1745-1800 By Cecil Wall
In this book (Hutchinson, los. 6d.) Dr. Cecil Wall has dealt with the period between 1745, when the Surgeons finally broke away from the Barbers, and .I800, the year when the Royal College of Surgeons received, its charier. This is essentially a book for the serious student of medical history and is likely to be the definitive authority for the period that it covers. As archivist to the Society of Apothecaries, Dr. Cecil Wall has had special opportunities for studying contemporary documents and threading his way through all the petitions and counter-petitions that led to the establishment of the surgical profession as we now know it. Such great names as Cheselden, Percival Pat, the Hunters, Blizard, Cline and Astley Cooper appear in a less familiar but very interesting capacity as members of committees and formulators of legis- lation, and even for the lay reader there should be material in the pages of this book both of education and some amuse- ment. They contain a chronicle of procedure that is at least completely and characteristically English.
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