THE ACT OF INCORPORATION, TOGETHER WITH THE MEDICAL POLICE, BY-LAWS AND RULES, OF THE RHODE-ISLAND MEDICAL SOCIETY.
Providence: Cranston & Hammond, 1831. Original printed wrappers, stitched. 31, [1 blank] pp. Scattered foxing, Very Good.
The Society was incorporated in 1812. OCLC records copies printed in 1821 and 1849, but only facsimiles of this 1831 edition, of which American Imprints notes four locations. The most interesting Section, entitled "Of Medical Police", dives into what must have been a hornet's nest of unpleasant intra-physician relationships, warning against "rivalship or jealousy," and admonishing doctors to "divest themselves of private resentments or opinions of one another" in order to put the patient's welfare first.
The Society wielded a great deal of power over the admission to practice medicine. "Censors" screened candidates; the course of preparatory study is prescribed. "Quackery" is discouraged. Members who advertise for sale medicines with "secret" ingredients to cure disease are "liable to expulsion."
AI 8979 [4]. Item #30781
Price: $350.00