Surely this is not too much to ask, and no more is absolutely essential. If, indeed, the assertions so often made about the incapacity of women are true, the result of such examinations (which may be both theoretical and practical, scientific and clinical,) will triumphantly prove the point. If the examinations are left in the hands of competent men, we may be very sure that all unqualified women will be summarily rejected, as indeed it is to be desired that they should be. If, on the contrary, some women, however few, can, under all existing disadvantages, successfully pass the ordeal, and go forth with the full authority of the degree of Doctor of Medicine, surely all will be glad to welcome their perhaps unexpected success, and bid every such woman, as she sets forth on her mission of healing, a hearty God-speed! FOOTNOTES: [1] See _Note A_. [2] _Athenæum_, Sept. 28, 1867. [3] In his “Essai sur les Femmes,” Thomas points out that “Chez la plupart des sauvages ... la médecine et la magie sont entre les mains des femmes.” [4] The passage is thus rendered by Professor Blackie:-- “His eldest born, hight Agamede, with golden hair, A leech was she, and well she knew all herbs on ground that grew.” (Iliad, xi. 739). In his Notes the translator remarks that “it seems undeniable that women have a natural vocation for exercising certain branches of the medical profession with dexterity and tact.... It is gratifying therefore to find that a field of activity which has been recently claimed for the sex ... finds a precedent in the venerable pages of the Iliad.... In fact, nothing was more common in ancient times than medical skill possessed by females,” in proof of which assertion he mentions Œnone and others. (Professor Blackie’s “Homer and the Iliad.” Edmonston & Douglas.) [5] Odyssey, iv. 227. [6] Hippolytus, 293–7. [7] Finauer’s “Allgemeines Verzeichniss gelehrten Frauenzimmer.”