" MELIORATION ACT."
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Leeward Islands. During his administration, it was again ordained, that no medical man should practice in this island without a licence ; and no licence should be granted unless such persons as applied produced a certificate from the Surgeons' Hall, or from one of the universities in Great Britain, shewing his admittance in them. One reason for this regulation was, on account of the numerous cases of poisoning among the negroes ; and it was conjectured that they procured deleterious drugs from some of the low venders of medicines, who, like Shakspeare's half-starved apothecary— " If a man did need a poison would sell it him."*
This wise regulation appears to have emanated from the governor, who saw the absurdity, if not guilt, of allowing the public to place their lives in the hands of the low " selfeducated physicians," of whom, in those days, the medical body was pretty generally composed. Nor was this the only salutary step proposed by his excellency during his administration. Although, as before mentioned, the general assembly of the Leeward Islands had, during a meeting at St. Kitts, in 1798, passed the " Melioration Act," with the hopes of restricting the owners of slaves from excessive cruelty in their dealings with their negroes. No limits had been put to the number of lashes to be given at one time, and for one offence, and accordingly some maliciously disposed persons had evaded the law, and treated their slaves in a most barbarous manner. The governor had full proof of this soon after his arrival, in the case of a member of the council, at Nevis, who, settingaside the laws of humanity, had caused " 300 lashes of cartwhip, or nearly that number, to be inflicted in the public market-place (without the sentence of a magistrate) upon a * In 1676, a similar law had been brought into force, but from some cause had fallen into disuse. The penalty for practising without a licence was, at that period, confined to a forfeit of 5000 lbs. of sugar.