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Reade, Charles, 1814-1884

"A Woman-Hater"


"Well, sir, in 1849 Miss Elizabeth Blackwell fought the good fight in the
United States, and had her troubles; because the States were not so
civilized then as now. She graduated doctor at Geneva, in the State of
New York.
"She was practicing in England in 1858, and demanded her place on the
register. She is an Englishwoman by birth; but she is an English M.D.
only through America having more brains than Britain. This one islander
sings, 'Hail, Columbia!' as often as 'God save the Queen!' I reckon.
"Miss Garrett, an enthusiastic student, traveled north, south, east, and
west, and knocked in vain at the doors of every great school and
university in Britain, but at last found a chink in the iron shutters of
the London Apothecaries'. It seems Parliament was wiser in 1815 than in
1858, for it inserted a clause in the Apothecaries Act of 1815
_compelling_ them to examine all persons who should apply to them for
examination after proper courses of study. Their charter contained no
loop-hole to evade the act, and substitute 'him' for 'person;' so they
let Miss Garrett in as a student. Like all the students, she had to
attend lectures on chemistry botany, materia medica, zoology, natural
philosophy, and clinical surgery.


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