MR. PACK - BERESFORDsaid, he wished to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Is he aware that the gentleman recently appointed Resident Medical Superintendent of the Carlow Lunatic Asylum has taken no Medical Degree, and is not entitled to be designated M.D., and is Mr. Michael Howlett, improperly described as such in the warrant of appointment signed by Lord Kimberley, bearing date 7th July, 1866; and, if so, does it not appear that some misapprehension as to his qualification must have existed; also, if the diploma of Licentiate, granted by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, constitutes Mr. Howlett a physician in the sense required by the Act, as one of the essential qualifications necessary to the holding of the important and responsible situation of Resident Medical Superintendent of a County Lunatic Asylum in Ireland?
LORD NAASsaid, in reply, that he had made inquiries with regard to the qualifi- 1531 cations of Mr. Howlett, who had been appointed resident medical superintendent of the Carlow Lunatic Asylum, and the best answer to the Question would be to read a letter which he had received from Dr. Hatchell, one of the Inspectors of Lunatic Asylums in Ireland. The noble Lord then read the letter, which stated that the diploma of Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, did constitute Dr. Howlett a physician in the sense required by the Act, and though no other medical officer of lunatic asylums held the same qualification, that circumstance did not invalidate the appointment, inasmuch as Dr. Howlett was duly qualified for the service, having both a medical and surgical degree.