Perhaps many of the readers of China papers know what a "Port Doctor' is; but for the benefit of any who do not know, it may be a good thing to give afew words of explanation. We have such an office in Ningpo; though the one who fills the office is not a bit more of a permanency than he of the British Consulate. The office is always filled by a physician, though Dr. J. 8. Grant, of the American Bap-fist Mission, has stood in the breach for several years, dividing his time between the "Settlement" and his hospital. Dr. B. Score Browne helped him out for about a year, till he went back to England to offer his services at the front during this terrible war. Some weeks ago, however, we were pleased to welcome to our community Dr. Edmund George Sugg, who left a good practice in Chicago, Illinois, to become the "Port Doctor" in Ningpo. It does one good to see what strides he taking in getting hold of the Ningpo colloquial, And he is surely finding work enough to do.
But I promised to tell what a "Port Doctor" is like. He is paid for keeping one well: and not as ordinary physicians are paid. If you are sick he is bound to come to see you. But if you are not sick at all he can't make charge against you if he happens to call. He calls to see one whether he is called or not. You pay him just as much when you are well as you do when vou are ill. It is a most happy arrangement. It is a wonder to me, now that T know what the benefits of such an arrangement are, that this plan is not more universal. It better for the doctor: and it is better for the patients. One can plan things more easily when he knows actly what his doctor's bill is. te and the doctor is more apt to
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.