Did the Royal College of Physicians of London forbid judgment by urine alone? disputed

Positions

1. A statute of Thomas Linacre

   A popular urology history says that Linacre, the College's first president, passed a statute forbidding diagnosis on urine alone. No year is given.

   Sources

   1. Goddard, Uroscopy (Urology News) Secondary

2. A College ruling of 1555

   Two web accounts say that in 1555 the College forbade apothecaries to carry patients' urine to physicians and to dispense medicine on the strength of the urine alone. One of them also names Linacre as its author.

   Sources

   1. corpus.nz: How to be a pisse-prophet Secondary
   2. Art & Object: uroscopy's sordid history Secondary

Evidence

The film's research found no statute text for either version. Linacre died in 1524, so a 1555 ruling cannot be his. John Caius was president of the College nine times and kept its Annals from 1555, so a ruling of that year sits in his period rather than Linacre's; this is an inference, not a document. A published abstract confirms that orthodox practitioners and the College worked hard to distance themselves from uroscopy.

Current standing

Unresolved. The defensible statement is that by the mid-1500s the London College was trying to stop judgment by urine alone. No statute should be quoted, and none should be credited to Linacre. The film does not mention the College.

All sources