Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Education, Universities, Botany, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment

    Noting the abstruse scientific language contained in a botanical question included in a medical examination at the University of Edinburgh, wonders why such a question was asked and notes how unlikely it is that a patient would ask his doctor the same question. Insists that a doctor possessing such knowledge would suggest 'a mind especially devoted to other things than medical science'. Contrasts such useless botanical knowledge with a doctor knowing how to set an arm. Concludes by suggesting that the doctors of Edinburgh University should continue to set such examination questions if they wish their 'brotherhood' to consist of individuals whose 'memory is all their intellect' and who are not 'thinking men'.