49

1.—14.

T. CAHILL.I

The Chairman : Do you think the practice of hypnotism should be regulated by the State ?— Personally I would suppress its practice entirely. Surely we have here arrived at a most extraordinary position. You are at present legislating to suppress the tohungaism of the Maori, which in some of its most objectionable forms of " tapu " is merely hypnotism; and yet, I understand, some legislators would give this imposture a legal status when practised by Europeans. But if the people have not made up their mind of its worthlessness and dangers they should at least be protected from charlatanism and imposture. 'What would you suggest? —The absolute suppression of hypnotic exhibitions and the advertising of hypnotic cures. Its practice should not take place except in the presence of at least a third party, one of whom should be a legally registered medical man. I think there should also be a permit from the Health Department. 173. Do you think people should be allowed to give massage treatment for payment without having passed an examination?— No. 174. We have been told by one witness that herbal medicines cannot be accurately analysed ?— That is not correct. All substances can be analysed by some method or another; but many vegetable substances are so alike in composition that the analyst cannot always trace them to their botanic source. He can, however, group them into classes and demonstrate their qualities. But what is more important for your Committee is that the medical value can be estimated independently of the analysis. As an example, we cannot analyse electricity by a chemical method, but its value as a curative remedy has been accurately ascertained. These vegetable substances, which yield nothing chemically characteristic by which they could be individually identified, are as a whole inert and valueless for medical purposes. 175. Is it a common practice here for medical men to dispense ? —I keep a few drugs for cases of emergency. I think some do, but not the majority, 176. I wanted to know if medical men are doing their own prescribing?—l do not know that it is a common practice. 177. Do you know of any special reason why medical men should dispense?—l know no reason why a medical man should not do so if he wants to. 178. Mr. J. Allen.'] Do you know any reason why there should be any necessity for a medical man to dispense his*own drugs ?—There are many qualities of drugs, especially those derived from the vegetable kingdom. Some that are put on the market are absolutely worthless. They are converted into tinctures ; some can be standardised and others cannot, and there is no supervision by the State or otherwise. If you take a list from the wholesale people you will find English tinctures at a certain price and German tinctures at about half that price. Cheap preparations are made from the refuse of the drug market, and are worthless or worse—dangerous. 179. You think there ought to be State inspection of chemists' drugs in order to insure that the drugs are pure ? —Yes ; they ought to be under some measure like the Foods Act. 180. You think there is need for it ?—Yes, an absolute need for it. 181. With reference to that nurse you gave us the story of, was she a registered nurse ?—I do not know. 182. With regard to the man Elmslie, you say that he was on the New Zealand Register, but that he was taken off the Home Eegister ?—Yes; the secretary of the association wrote Home about the matter. 183. The Act of 1895 says,—" The name of any person who has obtained registration through fraud or misrepresentation, or whose qualification has been withdrawn or cancelled by the college or university of which he is a member, or by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom, may be removed from the Eegister by the Supreme Court upon application made in that behalf by the President of the British Medical Association of New Zealand or his deputy." You see that we have given you power to take such a man off the register ? —I think the onus of prosecution in such cases ought to be placed upon the State. 184. You will not utilise this clause because of its unpleasantness?—l do not say that. 185. Is this clause not effective ?—lt is most effective. 186. Then why not use it?—lf the State prosecutes in other classes of fraud, why not in this? The public sympathy is against the doctor in such matters, and people are apt to say "the doctors are persecuting the poor man." 187. You have given us no evidence about preventives ?■—That is a subject I did not care to go into. 188. We are dealing with it in the Bill, and we want your opinion about it ?—I think it is very rife. 189. The use of preventives ?—Yes. 190. But is it useless, good, bad, or indifferent; what is your opinion?—l think it is most disgraceful. 191 You think it should be stopped ?— Most certainly. 192. The Chairman.] What do you suggest as a means for stopping the sale?— The question is such a large one that I am not prepared to give an answer offhand. 193. Mr. J. Allen.] Will you think about it and send us a suggestion ?—Yes. The public are mighty loose in their opinions about this matter, and the moral tone is low about the whole thing. 194. Can you tell us where you would draw the line between medical men prescribing and registered chemists prescribing ?—I think in any form of disease a chemist has no right to prescribe, but it would be very hard to debar him from selling simple and harmless remedies. No chemist should take the responsibility of treating any disease of any kind, because he is totally unfitted to do so, as he has not received any education on the_ treatment of disease. 195. Can you give us any generic term for cases in which a chemist should prescribe?—No chemist should prescribe, for the reasons I have already given, but every man who has a sore finger, or a scratch or a burn, should not be compelled to employ a medical man. 7—l. 14.