ABSTRACT
The outstanding characteristics of the pre-Victorian irregulars, as the Hull collection of pamphlets shows, were their variety, individuality and salesmanship. In the early years of the century, however, the regular practitioners classified the irregulars into four clear groups—the druggists, the midwives, the itinerants and the local or ‘stationary’ irregulars. The plan for medical reform devised by Edward Harrison grew directly from his researches into irregular practice. Accusing the druggists of treating diseases about which they knew nothing, classed them as new members of the ‘vile race of quacks’. The irregular therefore continued to practise with as much impunity after the Act as before. Medical reform, which had started with the aim of defeating the irregular, turned inwards from its prime objective and became, instead, an intraprofessional quarrel. The plan for medical reform devised by Edward Harrison grew directly from his researches into irregular practice.
