GOLIAD GUARD. 
owner thereof; for which service 
said Clerk shall bo entitled to receive 
from each, any and every such ap- 
plicant the sum of one dollar. 
Sec. 3. That the Presiding Judges 
of the District Courts of the several 
Judicial Districts shall, at the first 
regular term of their courts after 
this act shall become a law, or as 
soon thereafter as practicable, sever- 
ally appoint a Board of Medical Ex- 
aminers,.' for their respective dis- 
tricts, to be composed of not less 
thfin three practicing physicians of 
known ability, and having certifi- 
cates of qualification foi' the practice 
of medicine under the “Act to reg- 
ulate the practice of medicine,” 
passed May 10, 1873, and said Board 
of Examiners to continue, in office 
two years from and after Jtheir ap- 
pointment; and they shall, imme- 
diately after accepting such appoint- 
ment', select . otic of their number 
President and one as Secretary, and 
adopt all necessary rules for the 
guidance and control of their meet- 
ings. It shall be the duty of said 
Board of Medical Examiners to ex- 
amins all applicants for certificates 
of qualification to practice medicine, 
in any of its branches or depart- 
ments, in this State, whether such 
applicants are furnished.with medi- 
cal diplomas or not, upon the follow- 
ing named subjects,to'-wit: Anatomy, 
physiology, pathological anatomy 
and pathology, surgery, obstetrics, 
and chemistry; said examination to 
be thorough. When the said Board 
of Medical Examiners shall hive 
been satisfied as to the qualifications 
of said applicant, they shall grant 
to him a certificate to that effect, 
which certificate shall be recorded 
with the Clerk of the District Court 
of the county in which said appli- 
cant may reside or sojourn, as pro- 
vided in section two of this act, 
which certificate shall entitle him to 
practice anywhere in this State. 
SncU Board of Examiners shall be 
entitled to receive the sum of fifteen 
dollars for each and eyery such ap- 
plicant, to be paid by the applicant 
or party so examined; any two of 
them shall have authority to grant 
certificates, and whenever a yacancy 
occurs in any of said Boards, the 
same shall be filled by appointment 
by the Judge of the district in which 
such vacancy cAeu’rg. 
Sec. 4. That said Board shall 
meet semi-annually at some central 
R. if DitWlarrublisher. 
GOLIAD, 
TEXAS 
JULY 17, 1886, 
An Act to Regulate tne Practice 
ot Medicine. 
In calling attention to the laws 
regulating the practice of medicine 
in this State, it would afford me 
much pleasure t'o point out its lame- 
ness and defects, but I feel that the 
populace are not yet sufficiently 
educated from a medical standpoint 
to appreciate the goftd to be derived 
from raising the standard of what 
should constitute a doctor and from 
rooting out quackery from our entire 
state, so I desist and save time by 
foregoing the promptings of my in- 
clinations and simply giving you 
the law as it is and when you have 
learned to appreciate, this will be 
time enough to talk of more strin- 
gent laws, better doctors,Sanitation, 
Hygiene, etc., etc. Yours truly, 
T. H. Nott, M. D., 
Pres.Tex. State Medical Association. 
Section 1. Be it enacted by the 
Legislature of the State of lexas, 
That no person shall be permitted to 
practice medicine, in any of its 
branches or departments, in this 
State, without first having a certi- 
ficate of qualification from some 
authorized Board of Medical Exam- 
iners, as hereinafter provided. 
Sec. 2. That every person who 
may hereafter engage in the practice* 
of medicine, in any of its branches, 
of departments, in this State, shall, 
before entering upon such practice, 
furnish to the Clerk of the District 
Court of the county in which such 
practitioner may reside or sojourn, 
his certificate of qualification; and 
said Clerk shall enter the name of 
said person in a well bound book" 
kept in his office for that purpose, 
together with the time when, the 
I place where, and the person or per- 
sons by whom such certificate of 
qualification was given, after which 
lie shall return the .certificate to the point in their respective districts, to 
conduct examinations and grant cer- 
tificates, as hereinbefore., proyided, 
and they shall give at least one 
month’s public notice of said meet- 
ing, by publication in some paper 
published in the judicial district, 
specifying the time and place there- 
of; provided, that any member of 
any of said Boards shall have author- 
ity to grant a temporary license or 
certificate to an applicant, upon ex- 
amination, until the next regular 
meeting of the Board, at which 
time the temporary license shall 
cease, but the said applicant mu'fet 
apply for a thorough examination. 
Each and every one of such Boards 
shall procure a seal as soon as prac- 
ticable after their organization, 
which seal shall be impressed upon 
every certificate granted. 
Sec. 5. That any person violating 
any of the provisioUs of this act shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on 
conviction thereof, before any court 
having competent jurisdiction, shall 
be fined: in any sum not less than 
fifty dollars, and not more than flye 
hundred (&500) dollars, for. every 
such offense, one*half of such flue 
shall be paid to the prosecutor, and 
the other half into the County 
, Treasury; and it shall bo the duty of 
the Judge of each judicial district, 
at each term of the District Court in 
tho respective counties composing 
his district, to charge tho grand 
jury with the preserving this act 
inyiolate, and to admonish them of 
their duty to find presentments 
against any and all persons guilty of 
its infraction; provided, that noth- 
ing ih this act shall he so construed 
as to exclude or disqualify any per- 
son wlio may liayc been already qual- . 
ified for the practice of medicine 
I under the act of May 1G, 1873; pro- 
I vided, that nothing in this act shall 
[ he so construed as to apply to those 
who have been regularly engaged in 
the general practice of medicine in 
this State, in any of its branches or 
departments, for a period of five 
consecutive years in this Stale prior 
to the first day of January, 1875; 
nor to those wljo have obtained cer- 
tificates of qualification under said 
act; nor to females who follow the 
practice of midwifery, strictly as 
such. 
Sec. 0. An act entitled “An Act 
to regulate the practice of medicine,” 
passed sixteen li of May, 1873, and 
all other laws or parts of laws in con- 
flict herewith, are hereby repealed. 
Sf.c. 7. It being important that 
the benefits of this act be realized at 
once, creates such imperative public 
necessity and an emergency as re- 
quires that it be of force and effect 
upon its passage, and if is so declared. 
Approved Angus/ 31, 1876. 
Takes effect ninety days from 
ament, - 
Kotice, Citizens. 
The law under which the Medica) 
Examining Board is called to organ- 
ize was passed for your protection, 
and not ours. Good physicians need 
no laws to protect them. Their : 
merit is sufficient. Quacks, char- 
latans, and irregular practitioners 
may deprive us of some money*?,, 
while they deprive you and your 
loved ones of your liyes. We can . 
stand the loss if you can. In many ; 
of the States the citizens have pro- . 
tected themselves by passing good 
laws and having them rigidly en- . 
forced. Our law is yery deficient 
and too leniently applied. This has 
caused hundreds ol quacks (murder- 
ers) to flock to our State to ply their 
murderous vocation. They .have 
been driven out of most of the States , 
as incompetent to take charge of ; 
humair life. But they find a hearty 
welcome in Texas, and may put out 
their signs and go to work anywhere. ; 
Are our lives and our loyqd ojies less 
dear to us of Texas that they should 
be thus sacrificd .by the thousands , 
every year to .support incompetent 
physicians Who have been driven out 
from other States, or in many in- 
stances from one portion of our own 
State where the law is..enforced,, toe 
some other portion where it is a 
nullity. Why don’t wq epforoe the , 
law you ask? For many reasons. 
First. We,as a class,have less at,stake 
than any other class—only money. 
This we can afford to lose if you can 
afford to sacrifice your wives and 
children in order that wo may lose 
it. Besides, if wo or any of our 
families are sick, wq aro competent to judge who are good physicians 
and who are not. You. can only , 
find out by sacrificing the lives of , 
your families or by haying these men 
examined by a competent board as 
required by law. ..'yp ’ 
Second. F we dare to force their, 
to an examination by plro’secution, 
they cry persecution, euv}g jeaLousy, . 
and so arouse the sympathies of the . 
people that it is almost impossible 
to find a jury who Will meet out the t 
punishment so richly merited. i 
Third. I am sorry to admit, that ; 
we liaye some Examining Boards , 
I in our State who are afraid to reject 
an applicant because the people 
might cry persecution,, and thereby 
injure the practice (pecuniarily) of 
some member of said board. 
Fourth, It is not our business to 
carry out the law. Wo are not a 
board of prosecuting attorneys, but 
of Medical Examiners. It ,is pur . 
duty to examine all who apply for it 
and thereby inform the .people , 
whether such applicant is competent,,. 
| to take charge of their lives, I tip 
the duty of every good citizen to see 
! that rigid laws are. passed regulating 
the practice of medicine ip this 
State and that they are strictly en- 
forced. Yon have more at stake in 
enforcing such a law than all the" 
other laws combined. The six- 
• IT' ' 
shooter with all its ravages jpalqs 
into insignificance when compared, 
with the homes made desolate, hearts \ 
bereaved, wiyes made widows, moth- 
ers childless, happy children made 
destitute orphans, noble husbands 
made despondent, drunkards or 
reckless desperadoes—all by quacks 
and quackery. Think of it, citizens; 
take it home and sleep on it. And 
then if yon don’t have your'rcpre- 
sentatiyes to every legislative hod/' 
put a plank in their platform pledg- 
ing theniselyes to use their utmost 
endeavors to have laws passed to 
protect you aud your families from 
such outrages. I say if you don’t 
have this done then take the conse- 
quences, and may a just God not 
yisit your sins upon you in your 
children’s blood at the day of: final 
accounts. Our profession lfded no 
protection and ask none . We are at 
your service and will heartily co- 
operate with you in framing, pass-> 
ing and executing such laws as will 
keep from our midst quackery, yel- 
low foyer, charlatanery or cholera, 
humbugery or pestilence, pretenders 
or any other plague. 
I trust that each county paper in 
the State will copy this and let the' 
people read and digest it and then 
act as they like. 
T. H. Non, M. D. 
Pros. Tex, State Medical Association 
Goliad, Tex., JiTno23, 1836.