Commontuealtf) of 
In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-five. 
AN ACT 
TO ESTABLISH A BOARD OF REGISTRATION IN MEDICINE AND 
SURGERY. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: 
Section 1. The governor, with the advice and consent of 
the council, shall appoint nine persons, residents in this Com- 
monwealth, who shall be graduates of a legally chartered medi- 
cal college or university having the power to confer degrees in 
medicine and surgery, and who shall have been actively em- 
ployed in the practice of their profession for a period of not less 
than ten years, who shall constitute a board of registration in 
medicine and surgery. Such persons shall be appointed and hold 
office, beginning on the first day of July next, three for one year, 
three for two years, three for three years ; and thereafter the gov- 
ernor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall appoint 
before the first day of July in each year three persons qualified 
as aforesaid to hold office for three years from the first day of 
July next ensuing. No member of said board shall belong to 
the faculty of any medical college or university, nor shall more 
than four members of said board belong to the same medical 
society or school of medicine. All vacancies occurring in said 
board shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of this act 
for the establishment of the original board. Any member of 
said board may be removed from office for cause by the governor 
with the advice and consent of the council. 
Sect. 2. The members of said board shall meet on the sec- 
ond Tuesday of July next, at such time and place as they may 2 
determine, and shall immediately proceed to organize by electing 
a chairman and secretary, who shall liold their respective offices 
for the term ofj one year. The secretary shall give to the treas- 
urer of the Commonwealth a bond with sufficient sureties, to be 
approved by the governor and council, for the faithful discharge 
of the duties of his office. The said board shall hold three reg- 
ular meetings in each year, one on the second Tuesday of March, 
one on the second Tuesday of July, and one on the second Tues- 
day of November, and such additional meetings at such times 
and places as they may determine. 
Sect. 3. It shall be the duty of said board, immediately upon 
its organization, to notify all persons practising medicine or sur- 
gery in this Commonwealth of the provisions of this act, and 
every such person who is a graduate of a legally chartered medi- 
cal college or university having power to confer degrees in medi- 
cine and surgery, and every person who shall satisfy said board 
that lie has been a practitioner of medicine or surgery in this 
Commonwealth continuously for a period of ten years prior to 
the passage hereof, shall upon the payment of a fee of one dollar 
be registered as a physician and surgeon, and said board shall 
issue to him a certificate thereof signed by the chairman and 
secretary. 
Sect. 4. Any person not entitled to registration, as aforesaid, 
shall upon payment of a fee of ten dollars be entitled to exam- 
ination, and if found qualified by five or more members of said 
board, shall be registered as a physician and surgeon, and shall 
receive a certificate thereof provided for in section three. Any 
person refused registration may be reexamined at any regular 
meeting of said board within one year of the time of such re- 
fusal, without additional fee, and thereafter he may be examined 
as often as he may desire upon the payment of the fee of ten dol- 
lars for each examination. Said board, for cause shown and after 
hearing, may by unanimous vote revoke any certificate issued by 
them and cancel the registration of the person to whom the same 
was issued. All fees received by the board under this act shall 
be paid by the secretary thereof into the treasury of the Com- 
monwealth once in each month. 3 
Sect. 5. The compensation and incidental and travelling ex- 
penses of the board shall be paid from the treasury of the Com- 
monwealth. The compensation of the board shall be five dollars 
each for every day actually spent in the discharge of their duties, 
and three cents per mile each way for necessary travelling ex- 
penses in attending the meetings of the board, but in no case 
shall any more be paid than was actually expended. Such com- 
pensation and the incidental and travelling expenses shall be 
approved by the board and sent to the auditor of the Common- 
wealth, who shall certify to the governor and council the amounts 
due, as in case of all other bills and accounts approved by him 
under the provisions of law : provided, that the amounts so paid 
shall not exceed the amount received by the treasurer and re- 
ceiver general of the Commonwealth from the board in fees, as 
herein specified; and so much of said receipts as may be necessary 
is hereby appropriated for the compensation and expenses of the 
board as aforesaid. 
Sect. 6. The board shall keep a record of the names of all 
persons registered hereunder, and a record of all moneys received 
and disbursed by said board, a duplicate whereof shall always 
be open to inspection in the office of the secretary of the Com- 
monwealth. Said board shall annually report to the governor, 
on or before the first day of January in each year, the condition of 
medicine and surgery in this Commonwealth, which report shall 
contain a full and complete record of all its official acts during 
the year, and shall also contain a statement of the receipts and 
disbursements of the board. 
Sect. 7. It shall be the duty of the board to investigate all 
complaints of disregard, non-compliance, or violation of the pro- 
visions of this act, and to bring all such cases to the notice of 
the proper prosecuting officers. 
Sect. 8. After July, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, the 
said board shall examine all applicants for license to practise 
medicine and surgery in this Commonwealth. Applicants must 
give, satisfactory proof of being twenty-one years of age, and of 
good moral character. 
Sect. 9. Examinations shall be, in whole or in part, in writ- 4 
ing, and shall be of an elementary and practical character. They 
shall embrace the general snbjects of anatomy, surgery, physiol- 
ogy, chemistry, pathology, and obstetrics, and shall be sufficiently 
strict to test the qualifications of the candidate as a practitioner 
of medicine and surgery. 
Sect. 10. Whoever, not being registered as aforesaid, shall 
practise medicine or surgery, or advertise or hold himself out to 
the public as a physician or surgeon, or practitioner of medicine 
or surgery, in this Commonwealth, shall be punished by fine of 
not less than fifty, nor more than five hundred dollars. 
Sect. 11. This act shall not apply to commissioned officers 
of the United States army, navy, or marine hospital service, or to 
a physician or surgeon who is called from another state to treat a 
particular case, and who does not otherwise practise in this state, 
or to prohibit gratuitous services in cases of emergency. 
Sect. 12. For the purposes of the appointment of said board 
and of registration of persons by them hereunder, this act shall 
take effect upon its passage, and shall take full effect on the first 
day of January in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-six.