[NOTE N], [p. 107].
The following is the petition referred to:—
“To the honourable the Managers of the Royal Infirmary.
“My Lord and Gentlemen,—We, the undersigned Students of Medicine, moved solely by feelings of honour and justice, desire to approach your honourable board on behalf of our female fellow-students, whom, we understand, you object to admit to the practice of the Infirmary, under any circumstances whatever.
“We do not pretend to offer any opinion on the question of mixed classes, or on the medical education of women; but we consider that, as the University of Edinburgh has admitted those ladies as students of medicine, and as they have now been engaged for some time in striving honourably and successfully to gain a knowledge of our profession, it is great injustice to attempt to bar their further progress by refusing them permission to attend the practice of the Infirmary.
“We also have certain pretensions to feelings of decency and morality, but we are not aware that the lady students have either attempted or succeeded in outraging them. On the contrary, our feelings have been outraged by the unthinking and misguided of those of our own class who oppose them; for their disgraceful actions we would seek to atone by asking your honourable Board to make some arrangement by which the ladies may be admitted to the practice of the wards.
“As a matter of compromise, we would respectfully request that the ladies be admitted to the wards of the three medical gentlemen who are willing to receive them. On our part we beg leave to express our perfect willingness to attend with them in considering the most serious and delicate cases in the wards.
“We feel proud to assert our ability to study those cases from scientific and philanthropic points of view, with those feelings of delicacy and kindness which ought to actuate every medical man who has female patients under his care.”
[NOTE O], [p. 109].
The results of the winter session 1869–70 have been given in the text. During the succeeding summer session all the lady students (six in number) appeared in the prize lists in both classes which they attended, viz., Botany and Natural History. During the next winter, 1870–71, the classes taken were Anatomy and Surgery. Out of seven ladies, three were in honours in Anatomy (one of them in two departments), and four in Surgery. During the summer of 1871 there were five lady medical students in the Botany Class, and of these three appeared in the prize lists,—one of them in two departments. During the winter 1871–72, nine ladies attended Chemistry, and, of these, seven appeared in first-class honours, Miss Pechey, in this her second course, obtaining 100 per cent.; nine also attended Physiology, and, of these, two obtained first-class and three second-class honours; six being also in honours in Practical Physiology.
It must be understood that, in the above statement, I have included only those ladies who were regular students of medicine; other ladies, on several occasions, joined the classes, and also appeared in the prize lists.